Her mom was once a feature twirler at USC, so it may seem natural that Emily Doyle also took to twirling.
But when Doyle first started lessons at eight years old, she said she wanted nothing to do with the sport. She would have been perfectly happy sticking to basketball.
But when her dad told her it would help with hand-eye coordination, she stuck with it. And after a while, it became her chosen sport.
“I realized I was a little bit better [at] baton twirling so I stuck with that, and I haven’t done anything else since.”
And now that baton has become such an important part of her life, Doyle loves to show people it’s just as much of a sport as basketball.
“It’s kind of a sport that not a lot of people do and it’s kind of got a reputation of being an older sport, but when people see hardcore baton twirling for the first time they’re really surprised to see it,” Doyle said. “I like to open people’s eyes to what the actual sport of baton twirling is.”
Like any other sport, practice helps to perfect twirlers’ routines, but Doyle said sometimes practice still isn’t enough.
Whether it’s the wind blowing the wrong way or a slight change in the way the baton is held, a trick can still flop.
“There’s just so many things that can hinder catching it, and that’s difficult,” Doyle said. “No matter how much you practice, sometimes you just can’t be perfect.”
Read the full article here: “http://www.dailygamecock.com/article/2014/08/twirl-friends”
Read about feature twirler Domenica Iocco here: “http://www.dailygamecock.com/article/2014/08/twirl-friends-domenica-iocco”
Read about twirler coach Catherine Ramirez here: “http://www.dailygamecock.com/article/2014/08/twirl-friends-catherine-ramirez”