Friday Night Lights Feature - Rockwall-Heath High School

 Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

We are back for week five of High School Football! This year may look a little different, but twirlers all over Texas are making it work, and we are so excited to be able to Feature many of them over the next couple of months. As those Friday Night Lights turn on in stadiums all over Texas, we hope to see many face masks and safety precautions being taken so that we can continue to enjoy the sights and sounds of football teams, marching bands, and our favorite, lots of talented baton twirlers. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @twirlingiscatchingtx or at facebook.com/twirlingiscatchingtx so you don't miss a thing!

This weekend’s Friday Night Lights Feature is the Rockwall-Heath High School Feature Twirler! 

Rockwall-Heath High School is located in Heath, TX, which is a suburb East of Dallas. Rockwall-Heath High School is also the home of the Hawks, and today’s FNL Feature Twirler, Alexandra (Lexi) Kinney! We hope you all enjoyed following along with Lexi on Friday evening as she took over the @twirlingiscatchingtx Instagram Story. It was so much fun to watch her share what a RHHS Game Day looks like as both a Varsity Cheerleader and Feature Twirler. 

We asked Lexi what she had to do to be named the Rockwall-Heath Feature Twirler and she told us, “The audition process for my school is very simple. I gave my twirling background, such as titles that I’ve won, what level I’m in, etc. I also had to send in videos of me twirling with one, two, and three batons so they knew I had experience. I have not had to try out since freshman year, as long as I keep up my skills.”

The past seven months have made it difficult for many to keep their skills up, so we asked how Lexi made sure she was Game Day ready even with the challenges of the quarantine. “To keep myself ready to twirl I stretched every day, and I bought a linoleum floor to practice with outside while the gyms were closed.”  Being flexible with practice space has definitely been key for those twirlers that pushed through the gym closures, which is something Lexi faced during this time. “The take away from this experience for me was learning to practice anywhere and everywhere.”

With everyone being affected by the pandemic, we wanted to know how it changed the season at RHHS. “COVID affected our football season by pushing it back a couple weeks. It also pushed back the start of school. We got the choice of doing a hybrid schedule or all online. The band met about a week before the start of school to work on marching techniques. The changes being made for football games is capacity in the stadium, tickets being pre purchased. More importantly, as a twirler the band is not allowed to attend away games, they can only perform at home games.”

Despite these changes, the Rockwall-Heath community has done their best to keep their traditions alive. According to Lexi, one of her favorite traditions is their ‘Battle Cry’. “The best tradition at my high school is during our pep rallies we do something called battle cry. It’s a competition between each grade to see who is the loudest/most spirited. However, the inside joke is that everyone boo’s the freshman as a rite of passage.” 

Now that we have learned a little about Rockwall-Heath HS, let’s learn more about Lexi!

Alexandra (Lexi) Kinney
Junior Feature Twirler
Lexi is an advanced level competitor that has been twirling for 12 years and is coached by Ashley Moss. She has also twirled with Angel Dunlap and Candy Kimble, with some assistance by Whitney Coons. The competition placement she is the proudest of achieving was being 2019 & 2020 Southwest Regional Junior Pageant Royalty. Her favorite field tricks are high toss front walkovers, double illusions, and rolls. “They always get the crowd excited!” In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by Caroline Carothers. “I absolutely love the way she presents herself at any occasion, and I also love the way she twirls at football games.” After High School, Lexi is still undecided on what her academic goals are, but right now she plans to major in business and minor in dance. “Whatever University I go to, I hope to twirl as a feature or on a line.”

Fun Facts!

Favorite Color – Red
Favorite Movie – “I love all types of movies!”
Favorite Music – The Indie Genre
Favorite Book – “The Things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien

Life Motto – “I like to go by, ‘Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry!’ I tend to worry a lot, so when I start to worry about anything, I remember this saying.”

When she is not twirling, she loves to… 

“Cheer and hang out with my friends!”

Something people might not know about her is… 

“I was born in my family’s minivan on the way to the hospital.”

Most memorable advice from her coach… 

“ 'It’s not over until you salute.' This advice is the most memorable to me because when I first started baton I would start to give up if my routine did not go the way I wanted it to.”

Favorite time of the year as a baton twirler… 

“Every year at nationals. It gives a great rush of excitement to see friends from around the country and compete in the arenas.”

Funniest moments as a baton twirler… 

“Getting black eyes! Of course, at the time it is painful. However, at nationals I always get a black eye, whether I give it to myself or another flying baton hits me by accident. It always happens.”

Lexi has learned many things from baton twirling over the last twelve years, but she says the work ethic she has developed has been the most valuable. “Sometimes I may not want to practice but I push myself through and try my best to make it perfect!” This persistence has been a key to her success, and is something she wants to share with future twirlers. Her best piece of advice to them is to, “Never say the word can’t. There are so many tricks that I said I could not do, but I kept working hard and eventually got it.”

High School has been a lot of fun for Lexi, but between being a Varsity Cheerleader and the Feature Twirler, she is often very busy. She has to put in a lot of time to be in both activities, so her favorite days would have to be the football games, where she gets to bring both of her activities together. “The games are so full of energy from the crowd and the band. The whole environment is amazing.”

While it does take a lot of work, being a part of the RHHS Hawk marching band has been a great experience for Lexi. As a member of the band, she has further developed her time management skills. She tells us that she loves marching season and the rehearsals. “I always miss the practices when the season is over because it always gives me something else to do and be a part of instead of always doing homework.” 

One part of the practices Lexi loves to take part in is the dismissal that the Hawk Marching Band does after rehearsals. “At the end of practice we all say a little chant that the drum major starts. It is powerful.”

We want to thank Lexi for sharing her Game Day and wish her a great rest of her season! Go Hawks!

We hope you have enjoyed this edition of our FNL Feature. Have a favorite HS 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!