Emily Doyle and Domenica Iocco know who they’re taking over for.
After all, Catherine Ramirez, a recent USC graduate and former feature twirler judged their auditions and has started coaching them.
“I’m glad that I’m transitioning into the spot of someone that I already knew,” Iocco said. “I feel like that’ll make it a little bit easier.”
But, at the same time, knowing Ramirez makes the girls even more nervous.
“Catherine left big shoes to fill,” Doyle said. “That’s my biggest fear because Catherine was so good, its going to be hard to fill her shoes.”
Although the incoming twirlers are nervous about twirling for the first time in Williams-Brice, Ramirez thinks they’re extremely prepared, given their competition background.
“Having a competitive twirler on the field, nerves [are] not as much of an issue as you might think it is,” Ramirez said. “Because we’re just so used to twirling at the national — and even the world — level, it becomes a lot easier to handle the pressure of football games.”
With her days as the feature twirler in Ramirez’s not-so-distant past, she hopes her successors sit back and enjoy what they’ve prepared their entire lives for.
“Four years flies by very, very fast,” Ramirez said. “Football season only happens in the fall semester, and you blink and you feel like you’re already at the bowl game.”
Despite their extensive experience, Ramirez said Doyle and Iocco are up for the biggest twirling opportunity of their lives thus far.
But Ramirez is confident that the two “really great girls” are perfect for the future of Carolina twirling.
“They’re both really personable and outgoing and I think that makes a really good feature twirler,” Ramirez said. “I really think that Emily and Domenica are going to be great.”
Despite their extensive experience, Ramirez said Doyle and Iocco are up for the biggest twirling opportunity of their lives thus far.
That’s because, for Ramirez, competing at the national and world levels doesn’t measure up to twirling in Columbia.
“There’s not really a comparison to standing on the field the first time at the Williams-Brice Stadium,” Ramirez said. “It’s just so meaningful because everyone bleeds garnet and black.”
Read the full article here: “http://www.dailygamecock.com/article/2014/08/twirl-friends”
Read more about Doyle here: “http://www.dailygamecock.com/article/2014/08/twirl-friends-emily-doyle”
Read more about Iocco here: “http://www.dailygamecock.com/article/2014/08/twirl-friends-domenica-iocco”