Another week of those Friday Night Lights has come and gone, and UIL Region Marching Weekend is here! We want to wish good luck to all our Texas Twirlers performing with their marching bands tomorrow, whether you are playing an instrument, spinning with the guard, or twirling your baton.
Each season this blog likes to get to know our awesome Texas twirlers a little better by learning about them and their experiences. We will be meeting a new High School twirler each Friday and discovering more about our Texas Collegians during the week. Make sure to follow us at facebook.com/twirlingiscatchingtx or on Instagram @twirlingiscatchingtx for live content and Insta-story take overs by some of your favorites.
This week’s Friday Night Lights Feature is the Flour Bluff High School Twirlers!
Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi is the home of the Hornets, and a history of wonderful Feature Twirlers. Being right next to the Nancy Eisenhauer School of Baton Twirling, many Stingerettes have continued their twirling into High School with the Hornet Marching Band. That includes the four awesome twirlers we are meeting today… Cayla Watson, Sophie Carnes, Stephanie Garza, and Megan Garcia!
With so many great twirlers in Corpus Christi, we know the audition process is very important. We asked them how that all works, and they told us, “the audition process is very simple. The directors post a sign-up sheet and have tryouts in our band hall a few weeks later. Our 5 band directors plus an anonymous person judges the tryouts.”
As a part of the Hornet Marching Band, these twirlers get to have lots of fun experiences. They tell us that their favorite Flour Bluff tradition is when the band plays the school song at the beginning and end of every game. They also love those Friday Night Lights. “Friday night games are so awesome! We have a great time performing for the audience and supporting the football team!” While FNLs are the best, they said the moment they will never forget from this year was their first pep-rally performance. “It was so much fun!”
They also have their fair share of funny times together. One such situation was when they had to do a run through of their entire show at practice without batons. Their guard coach called it “air baton”. The band has their own hilarious jokes to share, and the twirlers told us all about the importance of ‘Shants.’ “One of our trumpet players always wears basketball shorts over his jeans and calls them shants. It all started when he didn’t know if we had indoor or outdoor rehearsal, so he decided to dress for both.”
Now that we have learned more about twirling at FBHS, let’s learn more about the twirlers!
Competition Level: Advanced
Cayla has been twirling for 15 years and works with coaches Keely Davis, Michael Lopez, and Nancy Eisenhauer. The title that she is the proudest of winning was the Advanced Senior State Solo Champion. Her favorite field trick is a toss front walkover. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by Alyssa Beaupré. After High School she would like to attend a university and represent the school as a feature twirler while majoring in Civil Engineering.
Competition Level: Intermediate
Sophie has been twirling for 9 years and is coached by Kathy O’Leal. The title she is the proudest of winning was three baton, which is also her favorite field trick. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by Savannah Miller. After High School she hopes to go to college and major in psychology.
Competition Level: Intermediate
Stephanie has been twirling for 8 years with coaches Nancy Eisenhauer and Kim Berger. The title she is the proudest of winning was the 2018 Junior Beginner Southwest Regional Pageant. Her favorite field trick is an exchange that they do together. “We had this really cool two baton exchange that we learned during summer band and doing it blows my mind every time!” In Baton twirling, she has been most inspired by Kaylynn Lambert. After High School she hopes to become a writer and possibly a collegiate twirler.
Competition Level: Advanced
Megan has been twirling for 11 years and works with coach Keely Davis. The competition title she is the proudest of winning was the 2016 Southwest Regional pageant. Her favorite field trick is a toss walkover. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by Lauren Castellanos. After High School she hopes to go to Baylor University.
Fun Facts!
Favorite Color – “I like them all!” (Cayla), Teal (Sophie), Yellow & Pink (Stephanie), Purple (Megan)
Favorite Movie – “Soul Surfer" (Cayla), “10 Things I Hate About You” (Sophie), “Beauty and the Beast” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (Stephanie), “Bride Wars” (Megan)
Favorite Music – “I listen to a lot of music, but currently my favorite song is ‘Put your head on my shoulder’ by Paul Anka” (Cayla)
Favorite Book – “The Great Gatsby” (Stephanie)
Favorite Quote…- Cayla – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
- Sophie – “A healthy life is a happy life”
- Stephanie – “When you feel like nothing, God is up to something”
- Megan – “This is your world. You are the creator. Find freedom on this canvas. Believe that you can do it, ‘Cuz you can do it. You can do it.” – Bob Ross
When they are not twirling, they love to…
- Cayla – “Cook! I enjoy baking for my friends and family.”
- Sophie – “Hang out with my friends.”
- Stephanie – “Write and paint!”
- Megan – “Bake.”
- Cayla – “I currently attend TAMU-CC! The only class I take at Flour Bluff is Band. I will graduate high school with over 40 college hours!”
- Sophie – “I am a very picky eater.”
- Stephanie – “I am a huge bookworm!”
- Megan – “I’m obsessed with Bob Ross!”
- Cayla – “Go out there and have fun!”
- Sophie – “Don’t worry about the competition. Just go out there and have fun twirling. Don’t worry about winning or losing, just have fun and show them what you can do.”
- Stephanie – “If you don’t practice like you perform, then your practice didn’t mean a thing.”
- Megan – "Do it no matter what, because if you don’t, you’ll never know what you’re capable of.”
We asked these ladies what they feel the number one skill they have learned from baton twirling is and they told us it was confidence. “Being a feature twirler comes with a lot of performances in front of big crowds that puts you out of your comfort zone but helps you gain so much confidence through time!”
Two of the FBHS twirlers are seniors this year, and after several years of representing their school, we wanted to know what they will miss the most when they graduate. “Twirling with each other. We are so close because we’ve twirler together for several years at the studio but practicing everyday doing something you love is unforgettable.”
Finally, we wrapped up our interview by asking the Twirlers what advice they would pass along to any twirlers wanting to one day twirl for their High School, and they kept it concise… “Don’t ever give up!”
We want to wish these four fantastic twirlers a great rest of their football season! Go Hornets!
We hope you have enjoyed this blog post. We are always looking for great new stories about Texas twirlers. Do you have an idea or some information we could use to help highlight our sport? Contact us at texastwirlcontact@gmail.com and we would love to hear more about it.
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