“It’s what?!” yells head H-F step coach Wesley Stewart and assistant coach Lovie Greer from the back of the room.

At every step competition, the head coach of the step team is always their biggest supporter. They are the only people in the room yelling from the back of the theater to cheer on the team.

“It’s different,” the steppers holler back from the stage.

It is. Different. The H-F step team has been called the best step team in Illinois.

As state Sen. Michael Hastings wrote in a letter to the H-F step team, it “reflects great credit upon the state of Illinois.”

So, on Oct. 19, when the H-F Steppers were asked to perform during intermission at NIU’s step show at the Convocation Center, it didn’t come as much of a surprise.

The H-F Steppers performed at the intermission of NIU’s 13th Annual NPHC Homecoming Step Show on Oct. 19, in front of several Black sororities and fraternities, including The Ivies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and The Nupes of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.

It’s important to recognize who they are and where they come from to understand why this is an accomplishment for the step team.

“Step is a form of dance that slaves used to partake in because they couldn’t do anything else to express themselves. So step is an expression, a movement; it’s expressing yourself with chants, with stepping,” said Stewart.

And yes, Coach Wesley, affectionately known as Coach Wes, knows much about step, its history, and the team at H-F.

“I graduated from H-F 11 years ago and was on the step team 14 years ago,” Coach Wes said. “The team has always been big-sized, but the participation in step was bigger at least 14 years ago. The team has changed for the better in the past four years. We’ve won three national championships in under 10 years.”

He also explained how the team started at H-F in 1994. This legacy, spanning over 30 years, has only improved over time. From national titles to guest performances, one is left wondering how they did it.

To answer this question, look no further than the team captains.

Ruby “Lethal Weapon” Baker is a legacy stepper for the H-F step team. With two older sisters who have been, as the coach calls them, “heavy hitters,” it’s as if Baker was made to be in the role.

The captain, known as Weapon, is heavily focused on her team and her new members.

“When they came in, there were a lot of freshmen and sophomores, so I was thinking, ‘Oh, we are going to have to teach them from scratch—step, everything,’” Baker said. “But they are very fast learners. They’re doing a really good job.”

This shows that having an experienced captain leads to progress.

This would not have been possible without Captain Lachez “Kill Switch” Williams.

Williams explains that the step team consists of diverse individuals with varying ideas.

“Over the past three years, there’s been a different amount of people, different types of people, different kinds of people,” she said.

All this to say, the step team has gotten this far by relying on each other.

They are a true team, and a true team is a single unit.

“I love the unity. It feels so good to be surrounded by a bunch of sisters I’ve gained on this team,” newbie Kyra “2 Short” Levi said.

Yet this all leads to a few special questions.

What’s next? Where does the team go from here? How will this legacy expand?

And to that, Captain Baker had one thing to say: “Stay tuned…”