NEWS

On Saturday, October 15th, a number of Saco Jets/Thornton Academy Alumni helped Thornton celebrate it's bicentennial by marching in the homecoming parade. These Saco Jets athletes performed under the direction of Linda Ladakakos and Susan Skaggs (who are both alumni as well).

The alumni ranged in age from 22 to 67. All marched the mile and a half route without stopping. There was even one that recently had a hip replacement but did not let that stop her!  The crowd along the way cheered and clapped as they enjoyed the almost flawless performance.

Congratulations SACO JETS for keeping the true spirit of baton twirling alive and well in Maine!
 

The members of the World Baton Twirling Federation send their loving wishes on to the very much missed members of the contingency from Japan.  Thank you to Jason Lee of the United States for this video and the messages of love and concern it contains  for our friends in Japan.  Watch it here.

We Moved!  As of October 1st, the BTNI offices are located at the Island Garden in West Hempstead, NY.  The Island Garden is the premier basketball center on Long Island.  It is a fabulous sports center and we are thrilled to be among the other in house sports programs.  Our new address is:

BTNI

Island Garden

45 Cherry Valley Avenue

West Hempstead, NY 11552

CATHERINE RAMIREZ, NEW JERSEY

BTNI CAMP ALUMNI &

2011 Northeast Regional Champion

Congratulations to BTNI Camp Alumni Catherine Ramirez for her performances at the USTA Northeast Regional Championships that earned her the Senior Grand Championship Titles in Solo, Three Baton, Strut and Dance Twirl.  Catherine has had an exciting and successful year so far and is looking forward to Nationals and the International Cup.

Catherine's 2010/2011 twirling season began last August with band camp at the University of South Carolina.  Catherine says,"I was proud and thrilled to begin my freshman year of college as the feature twirler with the USC Mighty Sound of the Southeast Marching Band. As our team progressed from the regular season to winning the SEC East, I had the opportunity to regularly perform before 82,000 cheering fans. The culmination of the season was our trip to Atlanta for the  Chick-Fil-A Bowl Game and Parade. In February I represented USC at the Twirl Mania Collegiate Classic. As a finalist, I had the honor of performing at the EPCOT World Showcase and placing third out of a field of thirty. In March, I was a finalist in the 2011 Congressional Cup Invitational".      

Catherine first attended BTNI Camp when she was ten years old. It was at camp that Catherine says she met many of her closest friends with whom she still shares good times and a love of our sport. She learned to twirl three batons at camp the summer she turned eleven, and came home with her first strut when she turned 13. "BTNI Camp allowed me to work with the best coaches in the country and fostered my love of all events" claims Catherine. She continues to compete in 1, 2, 3, Dance Twirl, Strut and Freestyle. Catherine also shares that another high point in her twirling career was marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with BTNI’s USA Baton Twirling All Stars.

Catherine looks forward to the National Championships in Little Rock, Arkansas and the International Cup Championships in Jacksonville, Florida. She would like to thank Karen and David for all they do to promote the sport of baton twirling and wishes the best of luck to the next generation of BTNI Campers.

Michael James Walsh

9/30/39 - 5/22/11

Director of The Sparklers of New York

'As long as we live, they too will live; for they are now a part of us, as we remember them."

Mike was born to parents Rose and James Walsh in Brooklyn, New York in May of 1939.  He had a brother Frankie, who passed away shortly after his birth and a sister Margaret who he is survived by.  Mike went to Catholic elementary school, graduated from Erasmus High School in 1956 and continued on to Seton Hall College.

Mike started his life long drive to be financially secure at a very young age.  At the age of ten, he started shining shoes.  Some of his other early occupations were; shoemaker, delivery boy for a drug company and store manager on upper Broadway in New York.   Eventually, Mike became a NYC police officer.  As a result of his many years of service, dedication and integrity came his promotion to Sergeant.  He was a member of the force for 26 years.  Being somewhat of a workaholic, Mike continued to work in other fields after retirement such as; selling steel and working for a travel agency.

As a young man Mike excelled in biology and did not play sports.  One of his favorite past times was attending dances, teaching religion and roller skating.  In 1955, at the Empire Roller Dome,  Mike met his first wife Pat.  They were married three years later in August of 1958.  Mike and Pat had five children; Michael, Tom, Steven, Linda and Jimmy.  After Steven was born, the family moved to Brentwood, New York where Mike resided until his death.  Being totally devoted to his wife and children, Mike became very active in the BYA (Brentwood Youth Activities) coaching his sons in their different sports.  He also served as Cub Master for the Boy Scouts, taught religion and enjoyed accompanying the kids on school and group trips.

It was daughter Linda’s interests that led Mike to create a baton twirling organization with his wife Pat in 1974: The Sparklers of New York.  Together they enjoyed working as volunteers while they dedicated their efforts to building an organization that began as a group of six and stands in the area of 2,000 members currently.  Upon Pat’s sudden passing in 2002, Mike promised to her that he would ‘preserve this wonderful gift you have given so many children”.   For the past 37 years, Mike kept his promise and has served as the Executive Director of one of the most successful nonprofit twirling organizations in the country.  With his dedication to the children and communities he served came the committed and lifelong service of those adults also involved in the organization around him.   His passion was contagious!

Mike’s family grew by leaps and bounds.  As each of his and Pat’s five children married, he was blessed with fifteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  In 2004, Mike began to explore a closer relationship with, at that time an associate of his from the U.S. Twirling Association, Julienne Close of Lake Station, Indiana.  After several years they became engaged and in 2010 were married.  With this marriage came an extended family of three sons, Mark, Jason and Chad and eight more grandchildren. 

Working hard throughout his life, Mike experienced the hardest work of all  these past few years, his battle with cancer.   His spirit; living each day to its fullest and his strong unwillingness to stop living were incredible to watch.  On May 22^nd, surrounded by those he loved most in life, Mike left this world for a better one.  Mike's funeral mass was held at Saint Patrick's R.C. Church in Bayshore, NY.  He will be missed more than words can express. 

   AAU's 81st James E. Sullivan Award Ceremony 

        at the prestigious New York Athletic Club

Karrissa Wimberley was of course every twirler's favorite of the five finalists in the AAU's 81st James E. Sullivan Award.  After a wonderful autograph session with all five finalists and a buffet reception, the award ceremony was held.  Each of the finalists had a chance to speak about their life, why they got involved in their sport of choice and about the other things in their lives they find rewarding.  Each of these young people were so inspiring.  When the winner was announced: Evan Lysacek the Olympic Gold Medal Figure Skater was this year's recipient.

Karrissa made all of us in attendance so proud.  She was the perfect spokesperson for our sport.  This award is like the Academy Award for amateur athletics.  Only one of the fabulous finalists can win but each and all of them were outstanding and deserving the honor.  It was a fantastic evening with the five finalists shining like the brilliant stars they are. 

No matter where you live, what association you are affiliated with, what stage of baton twirling you are in, what level of competitive baton twirling you compete on, whether you are a parent of a twirler, a coach, a judge, a director of a program or even only a baton enthusiast.......Karrissa Wimberley as a finalist for the James E. Sullivan Award put baton twirling on the legitimate and recognized sports map.  It has taken the sport fifty plus years to take this giant step and we are just so thrilled it has finally happened.

Thank you Karrissa for representing us with such talent and class.  It was so exciting to experience this with you tonight.

Thank you to EVERYONE who voted in the USA Today vote.  Congratulations Karrissa, her coach Jackie Stewart and to the Wimberley family. (because we do know it is a family affair!

KARRISSA WIMBERLEY

AAU JAMES E. SULLIVAN AWARD

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

FINALIST

Jackie Stewart of Tennessee called today to say she has received official notification from the AAU that her athlete, Karrissa Wimberley has made it to the final five in the contest for the James E. Sullivan Athlete of the Year Award!  How cool is that?  Monday, March 14th the winner will be announced at a wonderful ceremony at the prestigious NY Athletic Club.

We spoke to Karrissa and her mom Cheryl today, as well, and they are so excited for Karrissa to represent all baton twirlers, as the sport will finally be recognized along side the other great sports that the USA and other countries participate in.

Karrissa is extremely humbled to have been tapped with this honor and promises to represent our favorite sport and the many, many other baton athletes who, within the decades that baton twirling has existed competitively, are or were deserving of this level of recognition and respect as well.

This is a milestone for the sport of baton and aren't we all PROUD!  Thank you to all the organizations who got their members out to vote and to the AAU for offering this award and opportunity to all amateur athletes.  (Coaches on a side note:  The AAU is holding their first James E. Sullivan Award for high school athletes.  Go to www.aausports.org  and read about it)

KARRISSA WIMBERLEY 

In the running for the James E. Sullivan Athlete of the Year Award

As you may or may not know, the AAU, annually, presents the James E. Sullivan Athlete of the Year Award to an outstanding amateur athlete. 

Known as the “Oscar” of sports awards, and older than The Heisman, the AAU Sullivan Award honors the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. It has been presented annually by the AAU since 1930 as a salute to founder and past president of the Amateur Athletic Union, and a pioneer in amateur sports, James E. Sullivan. Based on the qualities of leadership, character, sportsmanship, and the ideals of amateurism, the AAU Sullivan Award goes far beyond athletic accomplishments and honors those who have shown strong moral character.

This year, after attending the ceremony last year and having a better understanding of the award, what it stands for and the whole nomination process;  Karen Cammer, NY Metro AAU Sport Director for Baton Twirling,  nominated Karrissa Wimberley, NBTA, USTA, WBTF  champion and University of Georgia at Athens feature twirler as an outstanding candidate for sport Baton Twirling. 

The field of nominees was narrowed down to just twelve Semi Finalists.   Those twelve semi finalists will be cut down to the five finalists after voting is completed.  The winner is announced at a ceremony on March 14, 2011 at the famous NY Athletic Club in New York City.

The AAU Sullivan Committee proudly announced the 2010 AAU Sullivan Award Semi-finalists today and we are thrilled to tell you, that Karrissa is among the twelve athletes selected, sharing this distinction with the current Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton as well as Olympic Gold Medalist in Figure Skating, Evan Lysacek.  All of the outstanding semi finalist athletes give it their all on and off the field or court. They possess talent, leadership, character and sportsmanship; they have what it takes to be one of the top in their sport.  

Voting begins February 14, 2011.   You will need to go to USA Today to vote.  (Those details will come out this weekend) We are hoping you will all do what you can to get the members in your district as well as anyone you know (regardless of what their favorite sport is), to go on to USA Today, starting on Monday the 14^th, and vote for Karrissa Wimberley to be honored with the 81st Annual AAU Sullivan Award.

Karrissa Wimberley Bio

THANK YOU DIANA REED and ALL THE ATHLETES AND COACHES WHO ATTENDED THE 11TH ANNUAL WINTERFEST CLINIC

Sunday, December 5th

Our Clinician: Diana Reed, FL picked up her first baton at the age of four and has since won numerous state, regional and national titles including Miss Majorette of the North, AAU Jr. Olympic Gold Medalist and twelve time National Show Twirl Champion.  She attended college on a full athletic scholarship as the University of Iowa Golden Girl, twirling in front of audiences of over 70,000 each weekend and performing for five major college Bowl Games (Orange Bowl, Outback Bowls, Capital One Bowl, and Alamo Bowl). Diana was a top 10 finalist and won the preliminary talent award with her twirling routine at the 2008 Miss America Pageant.  Diana made her Broadway dance debut with Christina Applegate in the musical Sweet Charity and currently performs professionally at Walt Disney World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando.  Diana is a certified NBTA judge and coach, and she loves sharing her passion of performing with other twirlers.

Here is a great educational recommendation from one of the world's finest guard and baton judges.  Dale White is a master judge.  He is one of the WGI's most valuable judges and is the USA Judges' Rep to the WBTF.  Here is what he said:

Dale

Home from Norway with lots of fabulous performances under their belts.  CONGRATULATIONS to Team USA and Team Coordinator Paige Campbell.  Once again you made us proud!

CONGRATULATIONS AAU ATHLETES IN THE

2010 AAU JUNIOR OLYMPICS

&

 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!

We are so proud of the Baton Twirlers who added this competition to their 2010 season.  For results of the baton twirling competition click below.

August 3rd  

August 4th  

August 5th 

August 6th

Go to WWW.Twirlmagazine.com to read about our WONDERFUL 2008 experiences at the NYC Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

LIGHTS, CAMERAS, ACTION!

"The Bounty Hunter"; with Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler and 7 fabulous twirlers opens today.  The girls were in the July 4th  parade scene which is in the first, oh 5 minutes or so of the movie.  It was fun to be on the street watching how scenes are created.  What you see while filming and being a part of it all is NOTHING like what ends up on the big screen.  We enjoyed being a part of the buzz for 2 days while filming in Brooklyn, NY.  It was great to get a feel for Hollywood!  Movie making is a unique art.  It is all about the life experiences.                Great job girls...Great fun!

Some of BTNI Summer Camp Alumni Make American Team