The voice of state drill team

A lot of people know Scott Enyart as Mr. Enyart, the fourth grade teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary or Coach Enyart for the golf team. But a couple days a week in early December each year Enyart becomes the voice of the Iowa State Dance and Drill Team Association during the state competition at Wells Fargo Area and Hy-Vee Hall.

Every dancer who has taken the floor at the competition knows Enyart’s voice as he welcomes them to the biggest stage. From the cue to walk out onto the floor to hearing their name announced to the crowd beginning the music and finally a last acknowledgment when they are done performing, Enyart wants the dancers to know what they are doing is means something.

“I think my favorite part of announcing is making sure the kids know how important their routine is. They have put so much time and effort into these, some of them learned these routines back in the summer time and they have been working on it,” Enyart said. “They deserve to be announced with passion and as they are the most important performance right now, your performance counts, your performance is special for you and they need to know that. I think what I like to put behind every announcement that I make, is ‘hey, we’re ready to see the performance and let’s see what you got.’”

The PCM graduate didn’t just happen upon the job, he was born into the first family of Iowa drill team. Enyart’s mom, Kathy, founded the Monroe drill team in 1976, two years before he was born. She went on to serve as director of the ISDTA before handing over the position to her daughter, Andrea Dana, last year.

“The earliest contest that I think I can remember going to was probably in 1983 or 1984 in Urbandale. Then I remember throughout grade school years from 1983 to 1990 it being at Southeast Polk and Pleasantville and attending pretty much all of them.”

Enyart participated in drill team in high school as a part of the co-ed team. During his four years, he was state champion twice along with two second place finishes.

“After I graduated high school, while I was at Central, I would come up and help with tabulation, so I did that from the 1997 contest, which was actually the first year we were at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Before that we were always at high schools,” Enyart said.

Around 2003 or 2004, Enyart took over the announcing position after the previous announcer needed to step away due to a conflict. He had previously helped out during breaks at the contest but became the voice of state drill team full time about 15 years ago.

“One of the other things I helped with behind the scenes from ‘97 even to today is the scheduling of the contest. It is a huge jigsaw puzzle putting 600 performances together for two days,” Enyart said. “There is a total of 24 hours of competition over two days. You have two venues, three panels of judges and it is so much fun to watch the schedule come together.”

Throughout his life, Enyart has seen the competition grow from taking place in at a variety of school gyms to being featured in Veterans Memorial Auditorium and finally making the move to Wells Fargo Arena. Originally, the competition was not in Wells Fargo but grew enough to need two locations during the two-day event.

“One of the neatest things has been being able to see the dance contest grow as much as it has. It impacts so many kids in the state and their families. Now, we are on second and third generations of kids that have participated. It is just fun,” Enyart said. “It is really fun to see former fourth graders, not only on the Newton dance team but then to see them go on. The Mann kids, Morgan and Madison were both on the Iowa State team and several of the kids have been on the Grand View team, the St. Ambrose team and others.”

He also uses what he has learned from his mom in his coaching career. For the past 20 years, Enyart has led the Newton girls’ golf team.

“It is something I grew up with seeing Mom (Kathy) be the dance team director in Monroe. That is really where I got my passion for coaching. It was really from her and seeing what she was able to do with her dance team in the ‘80s,” Enyart said. “I have been able to carry over a lot of the things I learned from her to the golf team. I have been a coach in Newton for 20 years. It is fun to be a part of something as neat as this.”

Another fun aspect of the “job” is the surprise it gives students, colleagues and parents when they hear Enyart’s voice coming from the loud speakers or even their televisions.

“Around 2004-2005, we started doing the television broadcast. I think if there is anything that surprises people is they will be sitting in their living room at night or Sunday afternoon flipping through the channels and all of sudden Mr. Enyart’s voice is on channel 11,” Enyart said. “It is fun to go back to school and hear positive comments, ‘oh, I heard you on the television I didn’t know you were involved with that.’ It is something. I’ll show it to them and that way they know there is more to their teachers than just teaching.”

This year’s broadcast is at 7 p.m. Jan. 25 and 6 p.m. Jan. 26 on IPTV. Even though state competition is a busy time with a lot of work for everyone in his family, it is something Enyart greatly enjoys and wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I have an opportunity to have an impact in my classroom, on the golf team but also, not just on the Newton dance team but several dance teams across the state,” Enyart said. “It is a unique thing to be able to be involved in something as big as this that impacts so many people. It is truly a family passion and I love being a part of it.”

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com