Here we are at another Friday Night, and so ready for those lights to appear.
Each season this blog likes to get to know some of these awesome twirlers a little better by learning about them and their experiences. We will be meeting a new High School twirler each Friday through the season with the Friday Night Lights Features, and discovering more about our Texas Collegians with the Collegiate Twirler Spotlights during the week. Make sure to follow us at facebook.com/twirlingiscatchingtx or on Instagram @twirlingiscatchingtx for lots of live content and Insta-story take overs by some of your favorites.
Today's Friday Night Lights Feature interview is with the Byron Nelson High School Twirlers!
This interview is another special one because these two twirlers are not only co-features, they are also sisters! We were so excited to meet Maggie & Lilly Barnett this week and learn more about their experiences sharing the field as the Byron Nelson High School Feature Twirlers.
BNHS, located in Trophy Club, Texas, did not have a history of twirlers before the Barnetts. We know newer schools can be a challenge when it comes to adding twirlers, so we asked what they had to do to get on the field. “Our high school had never had a twirler before, actually our district had never had one. We weren’t really sure how our band directors would feel about twirlers, so we set up a meeting to talk about it before Maggie’s freshman year. We gave some twirling background and it helped that Maggie was also a great oboe player and band student, so things fell into place. Our band directors, school staff, and students have all been so supportive of our twirling and we are so appreciative and grateful. They know we are willing to twirl and show school spirit whenever there’s an opportunity”. We love hearing about the success stories of first time twirlers, and even better, we love supportive band directors and schools!
As they get to be a big part of the Bobcat Spirit Community, we know they experiencing the games from right on the field and sidelines. We asked them what their favorite school tradition was, and of course, it had to do with Game Day! “We have a large student section at our football games, and every time we score a touchdown the student section shakes water bottles and splashes everyone with water. Sometimes it’s lots of water! Although we don’t sit in the splash zone, sometimes we can be twirling in front of it and get splashed too!” Water and batons? Not always the best combination, but that sounds fun anyway!
Both Maggie and Lilly are accomplished musicians, so being a part of the band program means a lot to them. They get to have a lot of fun twirling, as well as participating in the band. Maggie says her favorite part of marching season is when she gets to perform with the drumline, and Lilly said her favorite part of marching season is getting to twirl and march an instrument with the band. “Sometimes I even march in my twirling costume”. They also enjoy the weekly tradition of Meme Mondays. “Everyone submits band memes throughout the week and every Monday the drum majors pick their favorite and post it in the band hall”. You have to love a good band meme!
It is no surprise that when asked what they will miss the most about marching season they agreed on the football games, but not just because they get to twirl. They both really enjoy the unity of game days. “We both love how it is a time everyone from the school is involved and comes to show support, but we also live in a community that is very involved and it’s great to see so many community members, parents, and even younger kids that will attend Byron Nelson someday”.
Now that we have learned more about life as a BNHS Bobcat, let’s learn more about Maggie & Lilly!
Competition Level: Advanced
Maggie has been twirling for 13 years and is taught by coach Janice Jackson Seamands. The competition title she is the most proud of winning is 2019 Miss Majorette of Texas. Her favorite twirling trick is elbow pops into the splits. In baton twirling she has been most inspired by Laney Puhalla. After High School she hopes to twirl in college and also wants to double major in music performance (oboe) and something with International Relations.
Competition Level: Advanced
Lilly has been twirling for 9 years and is taught by coach Janice Jackson Seamands. The titles she is the most proud of winning were the 2019 Southwest Regional and Texas State Intermediate Junior Solo events, as those wins helped move her in to the advanced division. Her favorite twirling trick is back neck rolls. In baton twirling she has been most inspired by Trenton Haltom and Steffany Lien. After High School she hopes to twirl and play bassoon in college, “I just don’t know where yet!”
Fun Facts!
Favorite Color – Blue (Lilly)
Favorite Animal – Bobcat (Maggie)
Favorite Movie – Clue (Maggie)
Favorite TV Show – Golden Girls (Maggie), FRIENDS (Lilly)
Favorite Food – Chick-Fil-A (Maggie), Chips and Queso (Lilly)
Favorite Subject – History (Maggie), Writing (Lilly)
Favorite Quote…
Lilly – “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. -Eleanor Roosevelt”
When they are not twirling they love to…
Maggie – “Play oboe and hang out with friends”
Lilly – “Play bassoon and saxophone”
Something most people might not know about them is...
Maggie – “I’m a geography nerd and I can name all the countries in the world...and their capitals”
Lilly – “I have an eye condition called vertical phoria, it’s very similar to dyslexia”
Most Memorable Advice from her coach…
Maggie – “It’s all about the degree of perfection”
Lilly – “No matter what, always keep going”
It is not super common for sisters to get the opportunity to twirl on the same field, and when we asked Maggie and Lilly what their favorite moment of field twirling was, they both answered “the first time we twirled together.” How sweet is that? What a special moment, and we can imagine mom was just on cloud nine watching.
We also asked them what is the #1 non-twirling life skill they have learned from baton twirling, and the girls agreed it was being timely and prepared. “Being on time is being 15 minutes early!”
Finally, we asked Maggie and Lilly what their best advice was to a future Feature twirler, and they said, “Remember to always positively represent yourself because you are not twirling just for you, you are representing your band, school, district, and community, as well as the sport of baton twirling”. Wise words!
Before we wrap up this interview, we wanted to take a moment to recognize Maggie. Every year a small group of baton twirlers from around the country are selected to be Baton Twirling Ambassadors in Peru for the Festival Internacional de Primavera. For 2019, the 69th year of the Festival, there have been two excellent baton twirlers selected from the state of Texas, including Maggie! Maggie will be traveling alongside fellow Texas Twirler, and 2019 Miss Majorette of the Southwest, K.K. Tunnell. We are so incredibly excited for these ladies, and we cannot wait to hear all about their visit when they return, so stay tuned for that interview next month.
If you would like to support Maggie on her adventure to Peru, she is raising money to help cover the expenses of airfare and to provide gifts to the people she will meet in Peru. You can visit her GoFundMe Page Here. She is only a little bit away from her goal, so let’s see if we can help her out!
We want to send our best wishes to both Maggie & Lilly on a fantastic field season, and an extra congrats to Maggie for being selected as a Peru Ambassador. Go Bobcats!
Photo Credit: BNHS Band photographers Douglas and Amy Pennington.
We hope you have enjoyed this edition of our FNL Feature. Have a favorite High School or Collegiate Twirler that you would like to see interviewed? Please contact us at texastwirlcontact@gmail.com with their name and email address so that we can reach out to them!
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