Collegiate Twirler Spotlight - Southern Methodist University Feature Twirler

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

It is amazing how fast this season has gone. We are only a few weeks away from the entry deadline for the ATX Holiday Twirl Fest (visit ATX Holiday Twirl Fest for more details), and 14 days away from the Fall Kick Off Contest, which is the first NBTA Texas contest of the season! We also cannot believe that today we are meeting one of our last few collegiate twirlers for this Fall.

This week’s Collegiate Twirler Spotlight is the Southern Methodist University Doll!

Southern Methodist University is located in the heart of Dallas, Texas, and is the home of the Best Dressed Band in the Land, and their centerpiece, “The Doll”. The position of the SMU Feature Twirler, known as “the Doll”, has been held by a long history of amazing Texas twirlers. Many State, Regional, and National titles have come home to SMU. Continuing the legacy of excellence is the current “Doll”, Sophia Dinubilo!

With a unique title name for their Feature Twirler, we had to know where that came from. Sophia told us its origin. “The Feature Twirler is called The Doll, because until 1977 the band was all male except for the feature twirler. They were referred to as “96 guys and a doll.” The name stuck and the feature twirler has been called The Doll ever since.”

Making the choice which college to audition at can be a tough one. We asked Sophia what brought her to SMU, and she told us, “I chose this university because it had been my dream school since I visited when I was in 7th grade. It has a beautiful campus, it is academically excellent, has a great faculty to student ratio, and an excellent job placement rate for graduates.”

We wanted to know more about the audition process to earn such a prestigious position. Sophia filled us in. “About 2-3 weeks prior to the tryout date I sent in a twirling resume and a tryout video as well as some videos of my performances at halftimes and band competitions. The tryout was in person and included a 3-minute routine with 1,2,3 and 4 batons, a short fight song routine, and then a round table interview with the band directors and the judges. (past feature twirlers are invited to judge along with the band directors).”

Now that she has a couple months of attending SMU under her belt, we had to find out what her favorite thing is about attending her dream school. “My school is not so huge that you feel lost in the crowd. My freshman classes don’t have 200-300 people in a giant auditorium. They are small enough that I can develop relationships with professors and classmates. (One of them has about 25 people!) I feel like I get the best of both worlds: a big university education, athletics and access in a big exciting city, but in a setting that’s still small enough to feel personal.”

Being Sophia’s dream school, we knew SMU had to have some amazing traditions. We asked her what her favorite one was, and she said it had to be the Boulevard. “We don’t tailgate. We boulevard. Groups and individuals set up tents along the beautiful long boulevard before home games for pre-game parties. The tents are often super fancy with pointed tops, TVs, sometimes even private toilet facilities. Some get really elaborate with silver, crystal and even chandeliers in the tents!”

Sophia also loves their school mascot and being a part of a college marching band that marches to the beat of its own drum (literally). “Our mascot is Peruna the Pony. He is a super cute little black Shetland pony that comes to every home game and leads the parade on the boulevard with the band into the stadium. Also, our band is not a typical marching band: we are a jazz band that performs on the field. The band has a very unique look: candy striped blazers, no polyester uniforms for us! The feature twirler is the only non-musical performer with the band and is their one and only featured performer!”

Now that we have learned more about being “The SMU Doll”, let’s learn more about Sophia!

Sophia Dinubilo
Sophia is a freshman from The Woodlands, Texas, that is majoring in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs with a minor in Journalism. In addition to being “The Doll”, she is also a member of the Hegi Career Leaders Program. Sophia is an advanced level twirler that has been twirling for 10 years. She is a member of the Mickey’s Majorettes and is coached by Patti Mickey and Kayli Mickey-McIntosh. In her twirling career, she has many title she is proud of including being a 2023 Member of Team USA, the 2023 Southwest Regional Senior 1 baton, 2 baton, and 3 baton Champion, and the 2022 Miss Majorette of the Southwest. Sophia’s favorite competition tricks are a 5 spin or a Fujimi with cutbacks, and her favorite field tricks are a leap walkover or elbow pops into splits. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by former SHSU Feature Twirler/former TWCPHS Co-Feature Madison Frantzen. “My freshman year in high school I twirled with Madison Frantzen who was a senior. She took me under her wing and taught everything I needed to know to survive my first year of high school marching band. She was patient, kind and always helpful. We were put in the band competition show for the first time in school history late in the season and we had to work really hard to get it down, but she made it fun. We had a great band season, set a new standard at our school (the twirler has been included as part of the show ever since) and formed a lifelong friendship!” After College, Sophia hopes to get a job in a large corporation working in communications, marketing or PR. “Or maybe grad school? Not sure about that yet!”

Fun facts

• Favorite Color - “Pink of course!”
• Favorite TV show/movie - “FROM, and anything with Timothee Chalamet!!”
• Favorite Book - “Cinder” (sci fi version of Cinderella)
• Favorite Foods - “Spaghetti with butter and Parmesan cheese or baked potatoes.”
• Favorite Drink - “Is and will always be a Starbucks pink drink! I have a bit of an obsession!”

Favorite Quote…
“‘Life is cruel to the shy.‘ My dad used to always say this to my brother and I when we were younger. We had no idea what he meant then and it became kind of a family joke. But as I got older I realized it’s pretty simple but also great advice about life. You won’t ever get anywhere or accomplish anything if you are too afraid (or shy) to put yourself out there and try.”

Favorite Saying…
“‘Not a lick.’ I use this saying many times a day and in many different ways. If someone asks did you save me some or have you done your homework. You reply “not a lick”. It’s basically my way of saying “not at all or no way” but it sounds funnier and makes people laugh.”

When she is not twirling, she loves to…
“Spend time with my friends soaking up the sun, preferably at the beach but a nice pool will do!”

Something people might not know about her is…
“I’m pretty silly and funny. I like to kid and joke around. If a situation starts to get tense or heated I’m the one who’ll crack a joke and try to get everyone to smile or laugh. It’s hard to be mad or feel bad when you’re laughing!”

The best non twirling skill she has learned through twirling is…
“Perseverance! Twirling skills did not necessarily come easy to me! (It took me 2 years to learn back neck rolls!) But I learned that if you stick with something and work consistently you will eventually get where you want to be.”

Best advice from her coach…
“I’ve been coached by Ms Patti since  I was 9 years old. So she’s given me lots of great advice over the years. But the advice I remember the most is, “Don’t show the judge what you can’t do, showcase what you do well!” I think this is great advice not just in twirling but in life as well. Put your best foot forward. Don’t try to do what everyone else does, instead show what is unique and special about you! Highlight what makes you shine!”

Best advice to future collegiate twirlers…
“Get as much video footage and pictures on the field and during competition during your junior and senior years as you can to use for your audition videos. And even though the collegiate audition process can be nerve wracking with lots of ups and downs, you’ll end up where you are meant to be! And you’ll have a blast!”

Favorite memory as a twirler…
“My favorite memory has to be my junior year in high school. My band won the Area UIL marching contest for the first time in our school history. We were so excited jumping up and down and screaming all the way home on the bus! When I got home I had no voice left!”

Funniest memory as a twirler…
“My funniest memory is my freshman year. We were put in the band competition unexpectedly later in the season so we had a lot to learn in a short time. We had one really different and scary stunt at the very end of the show where I had to climb onto Madison’s shoulder and catch her baton. I was super afraid of falling or dropping the baton. The only thing I had to hold onto was her neck. So every time we did the trick I would choke her and her face would be beet red by the time I got down!”

Favorite thing about her marching band program…
“My favorite thing about my university marching band is that it is super supportive and encouraging. From day one, everyone was so welcoming and inviting. After the first week of band camp it felt just like an extended family!”

Favorite marching band program tradition…
“My favorite tradition in band is that we lead the parade up the boulevard into the stadium for every home game. The boulevard is so beautiful and everyone lines up along the boulevard to watch us and the team head into the stadium. It’s like something out of a movie!”

What were you most looking forward to this year…
“This year is my first as The Doll, so I’m looking forward to everything! My first home game and away game went great and were lots of fun. I was really looking forward to the iron skillet (rivalry game between SMU and TCU) because I got to see my Mickey’s Majorettes teammate Stephanie and all of the other great TCU twirlers-KK, Molly, and Haylee!” 

We want to thank Sophia for sharing her Game Day with us, and we loved learning more about her! We wish Sophia a great rest of her freshman season, and we look forward to seeing her on that field for many more years to come. Pony Up!

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.