The countdown continues toward the 2017 Miss Texas pageant. With the Miss Texas Baton Twirling Clinic this coming Sunday (visit www.misstexas.org/events for more details), and summer upon us, we are only 28 days from this year's representatives taking the stage to compete for one of the biggest pageant honors in the State.
In order to make sure the four Texas twirlers competing get the proper level of support from the twirling community, each week leading up to the Miss Texas pageant (June 27th to July 1st) we will be doing an interview with each of the four baton twirlers that will be competing. We want to come together and unite to celebrate and support these four young women as they represent our community and show Texas what twirlers can do!
This week's Miss Texas twirling representative is the 2017 Miss Aggieland, Aly Beaupré!
Aly is 21 years old and hails from Corpus Christi, TX. Aly is well known within the NBTA competition circuit as she has held titles including Miss Majorette of Texas, Miss Majorette of Mississippi, and is a former Ole' Miss Feature Twirler. Aly is a member of Texas Touch of Class and is coached by Shirley Payne and Sheila Payne Rigelsky. Aly current attends Texas A&M University where she is a Junior.
Now, lets learn a little more about Aly, how twirling is helped her, and what she has learned about herself through her journey to the Miss Texas stage...
PEOPLE'S CHOICE VOTING IS OPEN! Help support our Texas Twirlers in their mission to get baton twirling to the finals! Top 2 highest "votes" get a guaranteed spot to perform in the finals. Check out the People's Choice voting site to donate. Currently we have THREE twirlers in the Top 6 spots. Can we help ensure these ladies take both of the People's Choice Winner spots? This is how we get twirling on the main stage! You can vote up until June 29th!!!
Miss Texas Platform: American Heart Association
Life Motto: “I take nothing fro granted. I now only have good days, or great days.” – Lance Armstrong
Favorite Twirling Experience: That would definitely be twirling for Ole Miss. Although I enjoyed all the game, well, except for the one where I chipped my front tooth and fractured my pinky! I especially enjoyed twirling at the bowl game against TCU my freshman year on New Years Eve. The atmosphere was so fun and exciting!
What made you pursue competing in the MAO?
Seeing some of my life long twirling friends such as our current Miss Texas, Caroline Carothers, former Miss Lubbbock, Sydney Webster, and current Miss Alamo City, Ashley Sneed, compete over the years, I decided I wanted to give it a try. I love that the MAO includes a talent portion so that I’m able to showcase my talent that I started learning at the age of 4! I had gone into “retirement” after leaving Ole Miss, and while I don’t have plans to compete anymore, it’s nice to be able to bring out my batons for some fun performances in College Station and on the Miss Texas stage! And who knows, maybe even the Miss America stage!
How would you say Baton Twirling has helped you in your MAO journey?
Twirling has shaped me into who I am today. From my work ethic to my social skills, it’s taught me so much and I will never be able to give enough back to this sport. I wouldn’t say, by any means, do we have to do any less preparations to do than the other contestants, but being that twirling has prepared us so well for modeling or interview, I believe twirling will definitely be a helping factor for myself and the other three baton twirlers competing!
Why did you select your platform? What made it special to you?
I chose the American Heart Association because of my grandfather suffering from a stroke my sophomore year of college, as well as him having type 2 diabetes. I have seen first hand how hard it has been on him and my family. Being that type 2 is at least able to be delayed, or even prevented, I think it’s so important to stress to today's youth about eating healthy and remaining active!
What has been the most rewarding moment as Miss Aggieland?
I have had the opportunity to visit a few elementary schools this semester and talk about my platform. Seeing the kids get so excited is something I find satisfying and lets me leave knowing I made a difference to those kids. It definitely makes my day every time!
What has been the hardest part about competing in the MAO pageants?
Being that it is my first year competing, I had no idea what to expect. I went into the Miss Houston/Sugarland/Harris County pageant expecting to walk away with a crown. Easy enough, right? I left disappointed and discouraged because I went in with the wrong mindset, and that was a learning experience for me. When I won my title, Miss Aggieland, I didn’t go into the day thinking I HAD to win. I went in looking to learn more and have fun; and if I did happen to be lucky enough to win, that would be the icing on the cake.
What advice would you have for other twirlers thinking about going the pageant route?
I say go for it! In just 9 months, I’ve learned more about myself than ever before and the MAO has impacted my life immensely. Think about all of the friends you’ve made in twirling.. it’s like a family, right? The MAO is the same way and I wouldn’t take back my new experiences for anything. Whether I walk away this year as Miss Texas 2017 or not, I will forever cherish my time in this system.
Thank you so much to Aly for taking time to answer our questions. We wish you the best of luck as you compete on the Miss Texas stage, and just know, all the Texas twirling community is behind you! You got this Miss Aggieland! Gig Em!
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.
