Kay Teer Crawford

Kay Teer Crawford (1914-2001) was an American choreographer known as the "mother of drill team".

She was born Kay Waweehie Teer on August 16, 1914. She had Native American Cherokee and Comanche in her family lineage. She was raised in Grainger, Texas and lived in extreme poverty during her childhood. Crawford attended Edinburg High School (Edinburg, Texas), where she started the first "modern dance drill team" in 1929 after she had earned a spot on the school's cheerleading squad but 90 of her schoolmates did not. Her drill team idea was inspired by the marching styles of Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets at a local community college. The following year, her idea came to fruition when the Edinburg High School "Seargenettes" took the field in the fall of 1930.

Crawford earned degrees from Edinburg Junior College, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, the University of Texas, and University of Southern California (where she wrote her master's thesis on the subject of drill team). She earned her doctorate degree from Baylor University. Kay Crawford was a professor at Santa Monica College, UCLA, and USC. To support this endeavor, she also opened an annual summer camp called "Drill Team World". The event and pageant format were registered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1973.

The event later moved preliminary competition to Santa Monica College, with the final round being held at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena when the event blossomed to include over 6000 participants. In 1978, contestants and teams from 25 U.S. states participated in the national competition. At the 1980 national competition, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a "Drill Team Day" and City of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley declared it "Drill Team Week". Crawford's "Miss Dance Drill Team USA" is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The international event moved to Japan in 1985, when Crawford's international coordinator Jack C. Kogoma received support from the International Cultural Association of Japan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The event was held at Kokugikan, a prominent sumo-wrestling arena in Tokyo, Japan. It later moved to Yoyogi National Gymnasium, one of the venues built for the 1964 Olympic Games. It later moved to Rainbow Hall in Nagoya, Japan. Miss Dance Drill Team International was later held in Australia and South Africa before returning to Southern California where it continues to be held today (concurrently with U.S. Nationals).

Olympic Games Producer David L. Wolper worked with Kay Crawford, who recruited and directed 1,268 performers from the national MDDTUSA competition to perform during the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. She was also recruited for the same effort during the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games

Up until her death, Crawford had campaigned to make dance-sport precision teams and dance/drill team competitions an officially recognized athletic event in the Olympics.

Notable performances In 1986, Crawford choreographed a dance/drill performance for the rededication of The Statue of Liberty in New York City. The performance consisted of approximately 1000 all-star participants from each of the 50 U.S. states.

In 1987, she recruited and choreographed 287 girls to perform in angel costumes for Pope John Paul II during the mass he gave at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

Crawford directed and choreographed halftime shows for seven NFL Pro Bowls, ten NFL Super Bowls, and four NCAA Rose Bowl games.