The Riverside High School Dance Team will leave for Orlando, Florida on Thursday to compete in the 2012 National Dance Team Championship (NDTC) at Walt Disney World. The National Championship is administered by the Universal Dance Association and is the only national-level dance team championship that is endorsed by the National Federation of State High School Associations. There will be 68 teams competing in the Small Varsity category. Riverside will compete in the preliminary round Saturday morning against 17 teams in Pom and 20 teams in Hip Hop. They will need to advance past that round to compete at the semi-finals later that same day. Finals will take place on Sunday afternoon. Fans can view the performance on the Varsity website Saturday and on Sunday a live feed will be available for a fee. According to Coach Penny Lindsey, the team is ready for the challenge. “This is the toughest competition for high school dance teams and we are honored to be able to go and compete against the best in our field,” she said. Team members include: Jill Pope, Brittany Brockman, Heather Coleman, Jessica Pearcy, Brooke Johnson, Maddie Smith, Courtney Beasley, Baileigh Pratt, Caitlyn Montgomery, Sarah Wright, Kassidy Conder, Lauren Dickson, Kristina Roach, Taylor Trull and Courtney Cox. The team is coached by Penny Lindsey and Kristen Smith. .