Carolina Girls step up the spirit
The dance team members who bring energy to Tar Heel football and men’s basketball games also form lasting friendships.
Together with the sounds of the band and the sea of fans wearing Carolina Blue at Tar Heel football and men’s basketball games, the Carolina Girls dance team brings the energy to hype up the crowds in Kenan Stadium and the Dean E. Smith Center.
The Carolina Girls dance and cheer at games while also participating in community events like dance marathons, blood drives, dance classes and hospital visits with Carolina for the Kids.
Students can try out for the team as high school seniors. They submit a virtual audition showing technical skills and then more videos with dance combinations of hip hop and jazz routines. At in-person auditions, they stretch, learn new dance combinations and conduct floor techniques for a panel of judges. Finalists complete interviews before finding out if they’ve made the team.
“There’s such a unique thing about dance in general because it’s an art and a sport. To be at this level, you have to be driven, goal-oriented and know how to manage your time well,” said Sarah Parker Harris, a senior on the Carolina Girls dance team. “We have students with hard majors, students involved in community groups, girls who are working 12 hours night shifts during the work week. The passion and drive these girls have is incredible.”
Harris and Mia Pitts, a fellow senior, grew up only seven minutes away from each other in High Point but never met until a Carolina Girls pre-tryout clinic. They connected again while practicing over the summer together before their first year at Carolina in 2022.
Carolina Girls provided the foundation for Parker Harris and Mia Pitts’ continued friendship. (Submitted photo)
“When we saw each other for the first time, she remembered seeing me at a dance competition years before when we were younger,” said Harris. “At the clinic, we talked for a second and then ended up getting coffee after tryouts, and we connected right off the bat. From then on, we have been best friends.”
Harris comes from a family of Carolina alumni: Her parents went here, as did her two older sisters, who were part of the Carolina Girls. Her sisters inspired her to take up dancing, starting classes at age 3.
Pitts always knew she wanted to dance in college. Her mom, Jada Pitts, is a dance teacher, and she started dance classes when she was 2.
The Carolina Girls also bond with activities outside of dance.
“After practicing super late at night, we’ll go back to my apartment to make cookies and do homework together,” said Harris. “It’s amazing having a group of people that you love who are on a similar schedule and you spend so much time with be alongside you and make you feel supported. We all have this one shared passion, even though each of us is so different and authentic.”
(Submitted photo)
The Carolina Girls participate in the jazz and game day competitions at Universal Dance Association, a national meet for college dance teams throughout the United States. In 2025, the team placed fifth nationally in game day and reached the semifinals for jazz. This year they placed sixth in game day.
The team just celebrated its 40-year anniversary last year by welcoming alumnae back to Chapel Hill for a football game.
“I’ll miss the dance team, having a group of girls that share the same passion as you, spending so much time together and working towards the same goal together all year,” said Pitts. “I’ll miss the team aspect, sharing the same love with people and having community with everyone.”
