Meet Team USA Member - Analeia Aleman!

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

Such an amazing two weeks of twirling for Team Texas between USTA Nationals and the return of AYOP/NBTA Nationals! We have updates coming for you regarding these two events, but before we jump into the recaps, we have a very special interview for all of you!

Straight from South Bend, Indiana, we had a very talented #TeamTexas twirler turn right around and head to the Netherlands to compete in the WFNBTA World Championship! Wow! We wanted to take a moment to learn more about her so we can all cheer her on as she represents both Texas and the US in Holland. 

Introducing 2022 WFNBTA World Team Member, Analeia Aleman!

Analeia, who is from Sherman, Texas, will be competing in the Pre-Teen Two Baton event. She currently attends Gunter Middle School, where she is also the feature twirler. She is coached by her mother, Christina Aleman, her aunt, Brianna Costello Martin, and Catherine Watters from California. 

We asked Analeia what the best advice was she has received from her coaches, and she said, “My mom always tells me to ‘hang on to your baton and have fun!’” Great advice!

Analeia was named to the World team at AYOP in 2019. We asked her what she was thinking when she found out she made the team, and she said she didn’t even realize it was happening! “I actually didn’t know I made the team when they called my name. My mom never told me about possibly qualifying for Team USA because she didn’t want me to get nervous. It wasn’t until they handed me a flag on the podium that I realized this was different. Then my mom explained it all to me afterwards. I was very excited.”

The WFNBTA World Championship in Holland was scheduled for the summer of 2020, but as we all know, in Spring 2020 COVID-19 came on the scene and changed everyone’s plans. The World Championship was postponed for two whole years and is finally happening this week after a two year wait. With COVID pushing Worlds back, we know it was heartbreaking for many of the Team USA twirlers. We asked Analeia what she did to remind herself to keep working, and she said she remembers her favorite quote: “Hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made”. So true! 

We also wanted to know what Analeia was thinking as it kept getting postponed and how she kept herself mentally ready. “I was disappointed at first; however, I was also happy about having more time to practice. Now that I am three years older than when I originally qualified, I better understand how lucky I am to represent my country.”

Making the World Team is amazing enough, but it also means the chance to travel new places. We asked Analeia what she is looking forward to the most with this trip. “I am most excited about visiting a different country. I have never been out of the United States before. I look forward to seeing twirlers from around the world and hopefully making some new friends. Of course, I am excited about twirling and performing my two-baton, but I am excited about shopping in a new place as well.”

With this being her first trip to another country, we wanted to know if she would get to do any sightseeing in addition to her competition time, and she told us the planned on it. “We are going to visit Anne Frank’s House and a Canal Tour of Amsterdam.”

Finally, we had to know about what this trip meant to Analeia’s family, and she told us a very cool fun fact. “My mom actually competed in Pre-Teen Two-Baton in the first ever World Championships that were also held in Holland. She won’t tell me how long ago that was though!” How amazing it is that Analeia gets to carry on her mom’s legacy thirty years later in the same country? It was clearly meant to be!

We are all so proud of Analeia and we know #TeamTexas will be cheering her on during her adventures in Holland. Congrats on making Team USA! We know you will be amazing!  

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.