Lakeville Guard
Established in 2016, Lakeville Color Guard is the color guard visual performance section in the Lakeville South and Lakeville North Marching Bands during summer/fall season.
Joining the program in 2020, Lakeville Winter Guard takes center stage and competes indoors as a united team during the winter season both locally, within Minnesota's Northstar Circuit and nationally, as members of WGI: Winter Guard International.
Lakeville Guard’s mission is inclusive performance opportunities for all children in "The Sport of the Arts."
We are a non-profit (501c3) with The Lakeville South Marching Band Booster Club.
The Sport of the Arts
We PROUDLY perform with passion and pride in local, national and international events!
Lakeville Guard Rolling Newsletter
Scroll to the bottom of the page for photography information
Championships Preview!
Come see our groups in a preview performance before they compete in North Start Circuit Championships!
Scholastic A: Thursday March 27th at 7:40 PM.
Scholastic Regional A: Friday March 28th at 7:40 PM.
Both in the McGuire Middle School Gym.
Free Spring "Try It Out" Clinics!
Every Tuesday in May from 5-8 PM in the band room at LSHS!
Newcomers interested in learning more about summer/fall color guard
and
color guard veterans are welcome to come spin in these free clinics!
No registration required!
Just show up and bring a friend!
Open to ALL 1st-12th grade students who attend Lakeville ISD194!
*Lakeville ISD194 open-enrolled students are approved to join.
*Homeschool or online students who live within Lakeville ISD194 district boundaries are approved to join.
*For summer and fall color guard, we are unable to accommodate out of district students. If out of district students are interested in summer/fall color guard, please contact us.
*If you have a Cadet student (grades 1-5 in '25/'26) who does not attend school in Lakeville ISD194, please contact us-exceptions can be made at the Cadet level.
Our Last Regular Season Competition!
Congrats to both our High School and Middle School teams on earning 1st place in their last regular season competition at The Coulee Colors Show in Lacrosse, WI!
We Have BIG News!
Congratulations To Our WGI-Regional "Scholastic A" Champions!
AND...
Congratulations To Our WGI-Regional "Scholastic Regional A" Champions!
Winter 2025 Is In Full Swing!
It has been a busy start to winter guard season and all 3 shows have hit the competition floor!
We are so blessed to have amazing parent-photographers Dan Hotchkiss, Chrystie Twigg and Laura Miller capturing our beautiful guards in action.
Here are a few moments from our season so far!
It's almost MIDNIGHT but our 2025 Cadets team just cannot seem to settle down and rest during their ultra fun winter guard sleepover- shhhhhh, don't tell MOM!
Who could be calling at 5 AM on a school day?!? Why it's Superintendent Baumann calling to give our 2025 Middle School team a SNOW DAY of course!
Fun Fact: Since competition officially started, our teams have had 3 REAL snow days!
Our high school team has leaned into 2025 as a beacon of strength and inspiration proving to us all that in both the joys and challenges of life, every step forward is GOLDEN!
Our LVG Alum Spinning With Our Friends At River City Rhythm In Their 2025 Show "The Great Abyss"
Let's Go Jellies!
We Are Jumping For Joy!!
We are so excited to announce that our LVG family has grown!
Mike Andrle, Jeff Olson, and Becky Zoellner have joined Melissa, Jenna, Amy, Brody, Bella, Ryleigh and all of our incredible LVG performers this season!
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
On Saturday Oct 12th, The Lakeville South Marching Cougars competed in their 6th Youth in Music Minnesota State Championship.
After being notified that The Cougars were being promoted to Class AAA on the state level earleir in the season, a larger and more competitive class, The Cougars got to work this season striving to bring their talent and dedication to the next level.
Lakeville South earned Class AAA 2nd place in STATE and advanced to Grande Championships where they placed 7th overall out of all 34 bands across all classes.
Our guard has faced many challenges this season including performing in 30 INCH HAIR EXTENSIONS!
Lakeville Guard won the Class AAA Outstanding Color Guard caption (in their first year as a AAA guard) and 2nd place overall across all class levels just behind the iconic Rosemount Color Guard!
In fact, Lakeville Guard earned their competition class Outstanding Color Guard caption award in EVERY field competition they entered this season demonstrating their continued passion, pride and dedication to excellence we have all come to know and love!
Congratulations Lakeville South Marching Cougars and Lakeville Guard!
OUR 2024 LAKEVILLE SOUTH MARCHING COUGARS COLOR GUARD!
A Bird's Eye View!
Enjoy some incredible aerial footage of The Marching Cougars hard at work!
We are so lucky to have the amazingly talented Carlton McMillan as part of the band family.
If you would like more information on Carlton and his video/photography services, please contact us!
RPReplay_Final1728335247.movBOCO!!
When The Marching Cougars started competing in 2016, one unanticipated complication arose: they frequently miss the HOMECOMING dance because they are at a competition. Not wanting the kids to miss out on this important right of passage, past students and parents organized a special formal dance just for band members called BOCO (Band Homecoming) and a tradition was born!
2024 BOCO was held this past Saturday 10/5 and as you can see, The Marching Cougars were NOT disappointed!
A Knight of Music!
After a fun night entertaining the crowd at the homecoming football game, The Marching Cougars were back to business for week 3 of competition performing in Irondale High School's Music of the Knight Field Competition. The Marching Cougars earned their highest score of the season, finished the night with a class AA first place trophy and the Outstanding Color Guard caption.
The color guard at Irondale HS became our friends after our winter guard teams traveled together to WGI World Championships last April, and our kids always enjoy reuniting with their friends at Irondale!
Friday Night Lights!
Both North and South Color Guards have been entertaining the crowds at football games all season with BOTH guards celebrating homecoming on Friday 9/29!
The Waseca Marching Classic!
The Panther Band and The Marching Cougars both hit the streets in The Waseca Marching Classic!
Do you remember the 21st night of September? We sure do!
In their DEBUT competition, The Panther Band earned Class AAA 3rd place and Peoples' Choice Award!!
The Marching Cougars earned Class AAA 1st place and Parade Sweepstakes Award (high score)!!
The Marching Cougars then hit the field for the field show competition (while the Panther Band cheered them on from the stands) earning the...
-Outstanding Color Guard Caption
-Class AAA 1st place
-Field Sweepstakes Award (high score)
and
-Butch Default Sweepstakes Award (Waseca Marching Classic Grand Champions)
Lakeville South Marching Cougars Take The Field In Competition!
The Marching Cougars competed in The Rosemount Marching Band Festival on Saturday 9/14 earning 1st place overall and the outstanding color guard caption in class AA competition!
The Cougars then advanced to the grand championship round where they competed in the top 10 bands from all class levels finishing in 4th place!
Way to start off the competition season South!
Representing Lakeville with PRIDE at U of MN Band Day!
They may be two teams but they are always united!
The Great Minnesota Get Together!
Our summer parade season concluded with both North and South Marching Bands competing at the MN State Fair!
Lakeville Guard Alumni March DCI!
Coach Melissa was able to visit with two Lakeville Guard Alum during their tour with Madison Scouts
WGI: WE DID A THING!
Earlier this April, The Lakeville Guard Varsity Winter Guard Team competed in their FIRST EVER WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio. Performing their 2024 show "Match Point", our incredible performers put on quite a show and advanced to the semi-finals round (as a rookie team) and placed 24th overall earning these stunning competitors a place in the World Top 25 for their class!
But... the most amazing part of this year at WGI was the support and friendship the kids experienced from their MN friends and fellow competitors at River City Rhythm and our travel companions at Irondale High School! Hearing RCR and Irondale cheering for them from the stands instantly erased all the nerves and allowed them to shine!
We are incredibly grateful for our friends at River City Rhythm and Irondale High School!
LAKEVILLE SOUTH COLOR GUARD MARCHES ST. PATRICKS DAY IN IRELAND!
The Lakeville South Marching Cougars had the incredible experience of marching in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland entertaining over 670,000 spectators from across the World!
They also perfomred for thousands of spectators at Kilkenny Castle before marching the streets of Kilkenny celebrating St. Patrick's Day across Ireland!
AND
They competed in Limerick's International Band Competition winning BEST international band & Overall Parade GRANDE CHAMPIONS!
CONGRATS TO OUR 2024 WINTER TEAMS!
Our Jr. Varsity and Varsity teams had an incredible weekend at The WGI-Bellevue Regional Competition in Nebraska!
Both of our LVG teams advanced to finals at Bellevue and finished with incredible accolades!
LAKEVILLE NORTH WENT TO ITALY!!
The Lakeville North Color Guard traveled with the Panther Band internationally, for the first time ever, to ITALY where they had the incredible experience of performing for over 100,000 spectators at The Rome New Year's Day Parade!
WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT...
Your 2023 MN Class AA State Champions: The Lakeville South Marching Cougars!
2023 MARCHING COUGARS SEASON RECAP!
MN State Fair Parade Competition (8/29 results): 1st Place
Rosemount Marching Band Field Competition: 1st Place AA
Waseca Marching Classic Parade Competition: 2nd Place AAA*
Waseca Marching Classic Field Competition: 2nd Place AAA*
Irondale Music of the Knight Field Competition: 1st place AA
Youth in Music Marching Band State Championships: 1st place AA
*While South normally competes in class AA, Waseca rules state they must compete in class AAA
A WILD SWEEP!
Rosemount Marching Band Field Competition: Outstanding Color Guard Caption AA
Waseca Marching Classic Parade Competition: Outstanding Color Guard Caption AAA*
Waseca Marching Classic Field Competition: Outstanding Color Guard Caption AAA*
Irondale Music of the Knight Field Competition: Outstanding Color Guard Caption AA
Youth in Music Marching Band State Championships: Outstanding Color Guard Caption AA
*While South normally competes in class AA, Waseca rules state they must compete in class AAA
CONGRATS PANTHER COLOR GUARD ON AN AMAZING 2023 SEASON!
Lakeville Guard Support
Lakeville Guard is currently fundraising and inviting sponsors for our upcoming marching band and winter guard seasons including travel to Rome and Ireland!
As always, we appreciate the incredible support from our community!
Click the links below to learn more about our current fundraisers and how you can support The Lakeville Guard!
Guard Selfie Station
It might be cheesy, but it's TRADITION!
Questions?
Visit the "About" page at the top for an overview of Lakeville Guard and meet our staff!
Visit the "Our Guards" tab at the top for information on all of our color guard programs!
Visit our "FAQ" page under the "more info" tab at the top!
Contact Us Directly!
Image and Art Supporters
We proudly feature photos and videos taken by our amazing parents and volunteers shared within our program messaging apps and program social media pages. If you would like credit for a specific photograph you shared, please email us at Lakevilleguard@gmail.com and indicate which photograph you would like credit for. We are so appreciative of the incredible artists who show the beauty of our Lakeville Guard!
We are very blessed to have a talented group of parent professional photographers as a part of our guard family!
Laura Miller Photography, Dan Hotchkiss Photography, C.M. Twigg Photography, Alice Carlson Photography, Jim and Ruth Lindquist Photography, and Carlton McMillan Photography all provide the beautiful art that showcases our guards' talent! Follow the links below to view their websites!
Innovative Graphics, thank you so much for your talented logo creations that give Lakeville Guard our brand!
We want to give a huge shout out to Ryleigh Papacek for managing our social media image!
Lastly, thank you to all our parents, families, and fans who constantly take video and post photos of our guards entertaining our community!
You just might see some of your talents proudly displayed on this site.
Forever Grateful!
