MAPDA
MAPDA
About Us
About Us
Our Mission
Our Mission
- To provide guidance to young people so they may grow in spirit and human understanding as well as abilities and knowledge.
- To provide the best and fairest atmosphere of competition keeping in mind that sportsmanship and personal achievement are the marks of victors, not trophies.
- To provide educational instruction to judges, squad members and coaches in an effort to further enhance the quality of performance in dance.
What we do
What we do
Host Competitions
General Consulting with Coaches / Sponsors
Pom & Dance Judging Criteria
Tryouts Planning and Judging
Routine Critique / Routine Clean Up
Our History
Our History
In 1979, the pom squads representing the Prince George's County High Schools met to formulate an organized sport form their fulfilling yet limited activity. At that time, squads focused on their roles as support groups promoting school spirit. Individual schools using homemade score sheets, no standard criteria, and judges with limited or no backgrounds in poms organized competitions. However, the events were always fun and challenging.
Late in 1979, the Prince George's County Pom Pon Association was formed. That group of individuals and those that followed defined their sport. They analyzed the various aspects of their performance and criteria for judging and created standard score sheets. They chose interested and informed judges and trained them in the designated criteria and score sheet usage.
In 1986, the Prince George's County Clinic Team was organized. The team consists of 4-6 individuals, experts in areas such as marching and maneuvering, dance, general effect, routine construction and conditioning. They also assist with items such as goal-setting, how to practice and the importance of being a pom. This group has become a very popular useful addition to our association. Over the years, the Clinic Team has helped many high schools in Prince George's County and throughout the Baltimore-Washington Metro area.
Beginning in 1991, The Prince George's County Pom Pon Association, Prince George's County Pom Pon Judges Association, and the Prince George's County Clinic Team changed their name to the Maryland Pom Pon Association, Maryland Pom Pon Judges Association, and the Maryland Clinic Team respectfully, to accommodate the needs of squads in all counties. In 1996 MPPA sponsored the first annual Maryland State Pom &Dance Championships and at that time introduced short categories .
In early 1997, the Associations and the Clinic Team changed their names once again to include a larger geographic area and competitive focus. The new names are Mid-Atlantic Pom and Dance Association, Mid-Atlantic Pom and Dance Judges Association and the Mid-Atlantic Pom and Dance Clinic Team.