Local baton twirlers are preparing to host the provincial baton twirling championships May 4-6 next year at the Ralph Klein Centre (RKC).
They took a big step in those preparations by attending a baton twirling workshop Oct. 14 and 15 at the RKC.
The camp, offered in two-day and one-day sessions, attracted twirlers from across the Prairies, including eight local athletes.
"They were learning all different types of skills and choreography," says Jenna Jemieff, who runs the Inspire Baton Club and is the Alberta Baton Twirling Association technical chair. She coordinated the workshop, along with Alberta Baton Twirling Association administrative staffer Shari Foster.
Seventy-one athletes attended the two-day camp and 14 took part in the one-day camp.
Eight athletes from the Inspire Baton Club in Olds took part. Cadence Witcher and Natasha Tarrant participated in the two-day camp. Allie Hawman, Brianna Kilpatrick, Palin Lentz, Emma Petten, Alyssa Campbell and Allison Tarrant participated in the one-day session.
Jemieff says the good turnout is a result of the top quality judges and coaches who attended the workshop.
They included Savannah Miller, a feature twirler at the University of Arkansas.
"She's currently ranked the second best twirler in the world," Jemieff says.
Dale White of Ohio was another high-powered judge and instructor.
"He is a world-ranked choreographer, coach and judge," Jemieff says.
Another well-known judge and instructor was Kiera West.
"She attended the first world championships and now is a world-level judge," Jemieff says.
Other instructors were assistant Olds instructor Tianna Tedford, Larissa Dearing and Wendy Cruickshank of Red Deer, Cory Archer of Canmore and dance instructor Alex Michael of Calgary.
Jemieff says all the judges and instructors were impressed with what they saw.
"They absolutely loved working with our athletes, they absolutely loved the facility. They thought that we had some incredible local talent," she says.
"It was a huge success. This is the first time in years that we've had Saskatchewan and Manitoba athletes attend. Usually just Alberta athletes will attend so we were really happy to see that," Jemieff says.
"By bringing out those big coaches from the U.S., we were able to draw people from other areas. They stayed at (local) hotels, they really boosted the economy, so it was great to see."
As they get ready for the provincials, local baton twirlers will attend local competitions next February, March, April and May.
"By bringing out those big coaches from the U.S., we were able to draw people from other areas. They stayed at (local) hotels, they really boosted the economy, so it was great to see."JENNA JEMIEFFINSPIRE BATON CLUB
