GRAND JUNCTION — Color guard. It’s more than twirling flags and being an auxiliary unit for a high school’s marching band.

At Central High, dance skills, tumbling, dexterity and discipline are needed to make the team. Along with the desire to participate beyond the football season.

While those elements are important. It’s also a positive mindset that’s made the current 10-member team successful, according to head coach Francisco Casteneda.

Casteneda, who teaches full time at Grand Mesa Middle School, has been Central’s head coach since the winter team was formed in 2003.

“Color guard is a combination of elements,” he said at a recent team practice. “They have to have the discipline. But, mostly, it’s all in their heads. If they believe they can do it, it will be achieved.”

And through events like last weekend’s state competition in Boulder, the achievements of Central’s color guard are getting noticed.

“I feel that things are getting a lot better here at Central,” Casteneda said. “The fact that we are starting to make a name for ourselves, people are starting to see this is a legitimate thing that we do. Many people who have never heard of it think it’s just about flags. That’s nothing. What they have to do is not easy. They have to have a lot of strength from within.”

The team practices inside the school’s original gym 10 hours a week. The amount of time Casteneda’s students put in, he said, is low among other competitive teams of its ilk statewide.

“Some schools go as much as 15 to 20 hours,” the coach explained. “We do about half the other groups do. But that’s enough for the level that we compete in. The 10 hours is perfect for us.”

Unlike in the fall, winter color guards compete individually. Without bands. Indoors.

Last weekend, Central, with the other teams in their regional Class A division, displayed their talents at the University of Colorado’s Coors Events Center.

At state competition, each unit’s routine is watched by five judges versus one at fall band competitions.

Rather than band music, winter color guard teams perform to taped music.

“A routine has to be three-and-a-half to four minutes long with a minimum of three minutes performing with equipment,” Casteneda said.

Equipment includes twirling flags. But Casteneda also incorporates rifles and sabers to enhance the look of the team’s routine.

“Some groups would just go out and dance, so they added this requirement,” he said.

But don’t be fooled.

“Our routine, it’s a combination of dance and equipment,” noted Casteneda. “A lot of people on the Western Slope think it’s just the flags. Actually, it’s a combination of jazz dance and ballet.”

As part of the routine’s choreography, Casteneda has also incorporated a team tumbling pass.

Another difference that distinguishes winter color guard competition is that teams are broken down divisionally by skill and the number of competitors rather than by a school’s total student enrollment.

“There’s five different classes. All are based on team’s skill,” Casteneda explained. “It has nothing to do with school size. It’s strictly based on skill level. At the beginning of the season, you place your guard where you feel where you should go.”

To assist teams, judges also help place units in a division where they compete with teams of similar skills.

“I personally like this a lot better,” he said. “It’s really fair because you are competing against guards of your level of ability.”

Music’s another factor. Winter guard teams can use recorded band music, should they wish. Most, Casteneda mentioned, use contemporary music.

“It really depends on the music you listen to,” he said. “My style is based on what my coach did when I was in guard. (My coach’s) style was more graceful. But if a song calls for more hip-hop, I try to incorporate it. What I try to do as a choreographer is make the music come to life.”

And for Central’s winter guard, life is good.

Casteneda said the team is currently among the best in its division. And with the majority of the 2008 unit consisting of underclassmen, a move up to the next competitive level is being contemplated.

No matter where Central placed at state over the weekend, what’s most important to Casteneda is how his students feel as they exited the competitive floor.

“For me, personally, is for each of them to come off feeling they have done there best,” he said. “They do this for fun. So that’s the ultimate goal. And that they enjoyed this, even thought the season was tough. It was worth it, and they can say, ‘I am proud of myself.’”