For our final post of the year, we wanted to bring you a special interview with a young lady that has been featured many times in this blog, but as she continues to break down barriers and serves as an amazing role model for younger twirlers and pageant hopefuls, we just had to learn more.
Our Collegiate Twirler Spotlight is the University of Incarnate Word Feature Twirler, Ashley Sneed!
On top of being the University of Incarnate Word Feature Twirler, Ashley has spent the last year serving as Miss San Antonio. Balancing these roles has been challenging, but Ashley has done an amazing job representing UIW and her hometown in the Miss America Organization.
She really enjoys being a part of the UIW community. Her favorite twirling moments are when she has a no drop on the field in front of the Cardinal fans. Ashley also appreciates the atmosphere on game days. In her opinion, the best school tradition though is pregame because, “something unusual always happens during pregame!” In fact, once during pregame she got hit by the giant flag! “It was very painful!” The band also has its own traditions. A special one of note is when they flip their caps backward when they win a game “because UIW is the Southland Conference Champs!”
Now that we know a little more about Ashley and her experiences at UIW, lets learn more about her twirling career and what got her to where she is now!
Competition Level: Advanced
Ashley is a junior at UIW and is majoring in Fashion Merchandising with a double minor in Business Administration and Marketing. She is from San Antonio, TX, where she has twirled for the last fifteen years as a member of the Texas Gems and is coached by Tori Mays. The competition title she is the most proud of is when she won the Advanced Miss Majorette of the Virgin Islands. Her favorite competition trick is continuous back neck rolls with a double roll on the floor, and her favorite field trick is a toss cartwheel catch in fujimi (under the leg).
Fun Facts!
Favorite Color – “I always consider glitter a color, so anything sparkly is my favorite!”
Favorite Movie – “I do not necessarily have a favorite movie, but anything that makes me laugh will for sure become a favorite of mine”
Favorite Music – “I always love to jam out to hip hop before a performance, but of course my favorite artist is Beyoncé! I always get to channel her out on the floor during competition”.
Favorite Quote – “There is a power in people who dream big and who try hard” – Harold Klemp
When she is not twirling she loves to... “Hang out with my friends, stay involved with my community through community service, promote my non-profit organization, and shop”.
Something people might not know about her is… “I am the first African American Feature Twirler at a Texas NCAA Division I University”.
Twirler she has been most inspired by: Former UCLA Twirler and World Team Member, ReJoyce Green.
What organizations is she involved with in school... At UIW, she is a member of the Black Student Alliance (BSA) and the African Student Organization (ASO).
After college Ashley hopes to work for Ted Baker in London as a buyer and eventually open her own custom costume company. In order to make this happen, she likes to lean on her favorite piece of advice from her coach, “Trust in yourself and your ability”.
Ashley has also learned a lot from baton twirling that she hopes to carry in to her future. She say the number one life lesson she has gained from baton twirling is that “You never lose, you learn!”
When asked what suggestions she would pass on to any future collegiate twirlers, she said she would tell them to “Trust in the process and have FUN!”
We want to thank Ashley for taking the time to talk to us, and we can't wait to see the amazing things this twirler does in the next few years. Go Cardinals!
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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