History of Baton Twirling

A baton is alight metal rod that is used for keeping time, twirling, and juggling in marching band, cheerleading, and parade performances, usually by drum majors or majorettes(Drum majors typically use either the larger mace or the smaller military baton.)

Baton twirling isa sport ofunknown origin. Many people say that the Dutchintroduced baton twirling to America in 1681 when they landed inPennsylvania,others say Major Millsap created baton twirling when he establishedMillsapsCollege in Mississippi after the Civil War. Thesport has expanded beyond parades and is now more comparable torhythmic gymnastics (which includesmanipulation of ribbons and light objects). In the USA, the toptwirlingorganization is the United States Twirling Association.Other organizations include Drum Majorettes of America, the NationalBatonTwirling Association, Twirling Unlimited, and TwirlMania. The sport ispopularin many countries including Japan, France, Italy and Canada. Manycountriescompete each year at the World Baton Twirling Championships.

The United StatesTwirling Association is dedicated to the development of the sport of baton twirling. TheAssociation was founded in 1958 as the first national twirling organization to be run democratically and it remains the only twirling organization that elect sits Board of Directors through its membership.

The United StatesTwirlingAssociation is incorporated in the State of Indiana and is classifiedas a 501(c)(3) non-for-profit organization by the Internal Revenue Service.Currently,the United States Twirling Association has a membership of over 6,000of which750 are of professional status.

There is United StatesTwirling Association activity in almost every state with the largest memberships being California, Ohio, Texas and New York. Many of thestates haveState Councils which promote and govern United States Twirling Association twirling in that state. Every United States Twirling Association Certified Coach at least 18 years of age is automatically entitled membership in the Council of the state where he/she resides.

The U.S.T.A. isa sport-oriented organization, that sanctions approximately 200 local,state& regional competitions each year. The organization utilizes accompetitive format, which is aligned with other subjectively judged sports adjudicated on an Olympic level scoring system where scores are shown to the competitors and audience immediately following each athletes performance.

Each year the United StatesTwirling Association holds the National Baton Twirling ChampionshipsandFestival of the Future competition. The location is rotated geographically to encourage participation by all its membership and to help developtwirlingthroughout the United States. This competition selects the U.S.NationalChampions in Men's and Women's Solo, Strut, Dance Twirl, Two Baton,Three Baton, Teams, and Corps. The Festival of the Future is a competition for beginner and intermediate twirlers and teams.

TheU.S.T.A. also annually offers the U.S. Trials Competition to select a team of competitors representing theUnitedStates intothe World Baton Twirling Championships

The United StatesTwirling Association also sponsors National and Regional Conventions in alteringyears.These conventions provide training classes and seminars for coaches andathletes in twirling and related areas such as dance, gymnastics,sportsmedicine and psychology. The National Convention also includes theGeneralAssembly where the Board of Directors is elected and other business maybebrought to the floor by United States Twirling Association Members.UnitedStates Twirling Association provisions may apply to serve on one of theCommissions which propose rule and procedure changes and establish newprograms. The current Commissions are: Essential Events, CompetitiveEvents,Coaches, Judges, Marketing, and Public Relations. Commissions arechosenbiannually and meet at the National Convention.

TheU.S.T.A. has developed extensive and comprehensive ProfessionalTrainingPrograms for member athletes, coaches and judges:

The Association is theofficial representative of the United State to the World Baton TwirlingFederation, which hosts the annual World Championships each summer.There arenow 22 other countries world-wide which participate in theseChampionships. TheUnited States Twirling Association is also a member of the NationalCouncil ofYouth Sports.

Baton Twirling History