Bay Area hip hop squad prepares to participate in international competition

North Bay dancers are getting ready to represent the United States at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship.

For weeks, dancers from Chapkis Dance Studio in Fairfield have been practicing 12-plus hours a day.

On Sunday, they leave for Arizona to compete against dancers from more than 30 countries.

"It's basically like the Olympics of hip hop dance," said 18-year-old Chapkis dancer Adan Cerda. "Countries from all over the world come to this one spot just to compete for that gold medal."

Chapkis is sending three teams and most of their members are kids under the age of 18.

“It's really like a sport,” said 15-year-old Chapkis dancer Mateo Escobedo, who is also the son of NBC Bay Area reporter Jodi Hernandez. “We have people showing up from 11 to 11. It's all day rehearsals. We get breaks but it's still pretty intense."

Escobedo is no stranger to this competition. He, along with the Chapkis squad competed at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship last year.

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"Last year we got second place,”said Escobedo. “We were so close to first. Getting second last year motivates us to get first this year and I feel like we have an incredibly strong team so it's definitely doable."

One of their routines features Vallejo rapper E-40’s song “Yay Area.”

"It's definitely exciting to be able to represent not only the USA but also the Bay Area because everyone in our community supports us," said Cerda.