Twirl Mania set to invade Disney World on Valentine's Day

In My Own Words
In this installment of In My Own Words, Lauren Powell prepares for Twirl Mania at Disney World.

It is almost Valentine's Day, and people are out buying heart shaped boxes of chocolates. It's a different story for my teammates and I on the Disney team. We will be in  ESPN Wide World of Sports in Disney World on Valentines's Day for the Twirl Mania International Championship competition on February 18.

We are taking two routines called Two Worlds and It's America. Our coach is Melanie Henry and my teammates are Julie Stinson, Kamie Dombrowski, Alyssa Sprout, and I.


My teammates and I practice on Sunday, Friday, and sometimes Monday. It's America is a trio with Kamie, Julie, and I each using one baton. We have been doing this routine since last season but have changed a bit of it to make it a trio.

Two Worlds consists of all four of us. We use two batons and double flag batons. I use a single flag baton, and even gorilla and tiger masks. It took a bit of practice twirling while wearing masks, but we got the hang of it.

Julie, Alyssa, and I went to this competition in 2016 with a lot more teammates. It was a lot of fun going in 2016 but we were very nervous and were not as good of twirlers as we are now. I think that we are more prepared this year and have worked hard to perfect our routines.

One of the Routines from the 2016 Disney Team

I asked some of my teammates how they were feeling about going to Disney, Julie Stinson said, "I'm excited and happy, a little bit nervous, but I think it will be really fun, exhilarating, and educational, in the sense that I will learn a new trick or something."

Another twirler said, "This is my first time going to twirl mania and I's a bit nervous. My friends have told me that there is a lot of competition, but I am confident that we will do great."

One other twirler said, "Last time we went, I think we were all really nervous and not as confident in ourselves as we now are. We are also way better twirlers than two years ago. I hope we bring home an award."

-- By Lauren Powell, LS News reporter

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