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GREENSBORO — Dudley’s male step team traveled to New York to compete for a $5,000 prize on national television Wednesday.

They won’t return to North Carolina empty-handed.

UMOJA beat out two teams from New York and Alabama  on BET’s 106 & Park in a segment called “Wild-Out Wednesday.”

Khaleel Loyd, a senior and captain of the team, said the boys were overwhelmed with excitement. The team would probably ride through Times Square to celebrate, he said.

“It just means a lot for the team,” Loyd said. “We went up there in January. Now just coming back and getting back-to-back wins, it shows all of the hard work.”

The prize money will go toward travel, uniforms and scholarships for senior members. The team doesn’t receive financial support from the school.

The steppers had been contacting BET for about two years, Loyd said. They sent a video of a performance to get on the show, “106 & Park.”

UMOJA won a preliminary round in New York in January.

On Wednesday, voters had to cast their ballots online after seven members of the 10-man team performed a new routine sans music.

The steppers, wearing black track suits with gold trim, stomped their feet and clapped their hands in rhythmic unison.
UMOJA won with 52 percent of the vote.

“I know that we had Greensboro and the whole Triad on our side,” Loyd said. “We thank everybody that voted for us.”

UMOJA — a Swahili word meaning “unity” — has been around since 1997. The team takes the African American dance tradition to colleges, church fellowship halls and community gatherings.

Desiree Best, the team’s adviser and an English teacher, said she was proud of UMOJA.

The team beat many others to be in the top three to perform on live television.

“For them to be representing Greensboro and the Triad, it’s absolutely phenomenal,” she said.

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7090 or dioni.wise@news-record.com