CALIFORNIA BATON COUNCIL

THE 2018-2019 WELCOME LETTER FROM CA BATON COUNCIL PRESIDENT, KRISTINE RODRIGUES !

To California Baton Council Members, Parents, Coaches, and Athletes:  

The California Baton Council would like to welcome you to the 2018-2019 baton twirling season.  We have a few changes and highlights for this upcoming season.  First off, I would like to start by introducing the 2018-2019 CBC Board Officers and Board of Directors.  Without this wonderful group of dedicated women and men, this season would not be possible!

 The CBC Board Officers are:

President                Kristine Rodrigues

Vice President         Sarah Enos

Secretary               Kaleo Crawford

Treasurer               Tina Allman

The CBC Board of Directors are: Jeannie DiPaola, Alex Garibay, Catreena Johnson, Berta Lane, Irene Mazzini, Kellie Perelman, Jennifer Sawin, and Jennifer Young.  Thank you isn’t enough for the time, energy and dedication that former Board Members have provided the Board over the past many many years!  Thank you Cynthia Barden, Mary Brace and Mark Nash.  Although, no longer on the Board, we are hopeful to work with you in a different capacity as we appreciate all you do for this sport.

Competition Schedule:

We are planning another full season this year starting with our December event.   Below are important dates:

12/08/18                           Nash Twirling Academy – Sacramento/Lincoln General Area

01/26/19                          Revolution – Sacramento Area

02/24/19                          Valley Baton Club – San Jose/Brentwood Areas

02/12 – 2/18/19                Twirl Mania – Florida

03/16/19                           Buckeye Cuties – Redding Area

04/06/19                         Revolution – Sacramento Area

04/27/19                           PHMC – Folsom (pending final approval)

05/19 – 05/20/19              State Championships – Brentwood (pending final approval)

06/21 & 22/19                   Western Regionals – TBD

07/10 – 7/13/19                 National Championships – Fairborn, Ohio

 

Depending upon gym availability the competitions may be on the Sunday of the same weekend.  We will update our website and Facebook page as gym confirmations are made.  Competition Directors put a lot of time and energy into their competitions, I am hopeful everyone will support all the CBC sponsored competitions.

 

Competition Reminders/Updates/Changes:

• For the safety of our athletes and your own safety, we are asking that parents do not enter the floor. For clarity, the floor is the entire floor area, not just the part used for the competition.  Parents and family members should remain in the stands.  The Competition Director and the Board Members will ensure that the floor is clear for the safety of the athletes.
• Once the music begins, there must NOT be any walking back and forth on the floor, for the respect and safety of the athletes. The Competition Director and the Board Members will be monitoring to ensure the athletes’ safety.
• Competition Directors have the discretion on how the tables are arranged at the competition. Facility and competition size is all taken into consideration.  You may see some competitions set up like the Nationals format – where all tables are facing the audience.  It is critical that #2 above is strictly followed with ANY set-up, but this format (if utilized by the competition director) it is critical.
• Coaches and parents are reminded not to approach the judge’s table. Only coaches can discuss scoring with the judges and that conversation occurs after completion of the competition.
• Coaches, please do not stand directly behind the lane your athlete is performing in. Stand off to the side of the competition floor.
• Parents and coaches, please be familiar with the USTA rules regarding the number of wins for each level. The CBC does not monitor or track these results, so please ensure that you are tracking your athlete’s wins, and entering the appropriate category.  For more information on the number of wins, please see Chapter 3 of the USTA Rule Book.  You can locate the USTA Rule Book on www.ustwirling.com under Members Only, then in the Documents tab.

 

Please remember all wins at First places won at any level of competition in an event count toward advancement in that event. In advancing from one level to the next (beginner to intermediate, etc.) the USTA DOES recognize other twirling association wins in that respective event. The only exception is in the strut event, where the USTA DOES NOT recognize any other twirling association wins in the strut event.

 

• Please limit activity at the announcers table. If a Coach, Parent or Judge needs to discuss a matter with the Competition Director, please keep it brief or wait till the end of the competition.
• We will continue the Critique Fundraiser (C/F) and 50% of the funds collected will be provided directly to the CBC athletes attending the World or International Cup event. The remaining 50% will remain with the Competition Director to offset the costs in running this event.
• To be eligible for the C/F fund distribution, the California athlete must compete in 3 CBC Competitions during the current competition year, be entered in at least one C/F event and be a California resident. The maximum contribution would be $1,000 per athlete.  Any remaining funds will be carried over each year.
• Compulsories: Will continue to remain a part of the set system with assigned lanes, and set numbers, or may occur during Freestyle or Foundation events in a separate lane or room. Competition Director discretion on scheduling.
• Team awards: Team Awards will be announced right after Minute to Spin. The announcement will allow the teams who place within their category to receive recognition.
• We will continue a couple of non-sanctioned events. We will continue the Flag & Rifle event and we are excited to announce that we will continue to include the High School/Collegiate show routine. This routine will be done to your fight song, band music or your own music and is intended to be either a half-time or field show routine.  This event will occur during the freestyle event ($25) and the judges will provide critique similar to the freestyle events.  CBC is very supportive of our athletes performing for their school and excited to see these fun and peppy routines.
• The Competition Director has been provided the discretion to set the start time for the competition. The start time may vary between 8 and 9 am – so be aware that the start time might vary.
• CBC will be developing a generic volunteer listing to assist all competition directors throughout the year. Look for this email and ensure that you and your love ones’ volunteer for a role (or roles) throughout this season. This is extremely important to ensure the competitions run smoothly and assist everyone with consistency.

Competition Programs:

Again this season, programs will be provided on the CBC website.  We will be emailing a DRAFT program on Monday before the competition to all competition attendees, coaches, and judges for review.  Any changes should be reported immediately to the Competition Director and the FINAL program will be posted on the CBC website Wednesday before the competition.

Competition Format:

There are no changes to the format of the competitions – please be aware of the changes in a couple of event names.  For additional information please refer to the USTA Website.  The CBC will maintain the same schedule as last year.

Email Addresses:

Please ensure that the parent’s email address is on the entry form (instead of the athlete) as we use the entry email address to send periodic information and updates.  We will also be sending the DRAFT program to the address on the entry form.

Donation Programs:

There are at least two ways for you to donate funds to the CBC:  E-Scrip:  Register your debit/credit cards and with every purchase at participating merchants a certain percentage of your purchase will go directly to the CBC.  If you participate in the survey after your purchase (sent to you via email) you can double your E-Scrip donation.  Employer matching program:  Certain employers will match your donation to a non-profit organization.  Kaiser is one such organization and the past several years the CBC has received a large donation from Kaiser.  A big thank you to those CBC members who work and participate through Kaiser.  CBC is also exploring other way to develop additional fundraising for the CBC.

Membership and Booster Membership: 

Are you a member of the CBC?  This season we are hoping to increase our membership in all three categories.   Get your CBC membership today as CBC Members will have access to ALL photos taken at local and State competitions.  The photos will be access via a website and password.  Tina Allman is CBC’s Membership Coordinator, any questions, please connect with Tina.  The membership form is included in this email.  The membership fees will be increased for the 2019 season. The Individual Membership will be $20 and the Booster Membership will be $10.  No increase for the business membership.

Entry Forms:

The local entry form is on the website.  Please remember for the STATE ENTRY do not use the regular season entries.  Please remember the State competition entry form is different and will be available on the website once complete.  The PayPal fee is being increased to 3.5% to ensure all fees are covered.

Late Entries:

Each competition – except State – will have two deadlines.  Please make note of the entry deadlines.  Again, this season late entries WILL NOT be accepted.  To ensure that the competition program is correctly updated on Monday and the correct awards are available for our athletes, we MUST comply with the deadlines.  Please mark your calendar.

Minute to Spin It:

Thank you to Paige Campbell for facilitating this extremely fun event for all.  We will continue this event again this season.  Following compulsories, Paige will announce the twirl/or skill – and every participant who completes the task will be recognized with a special treat!  THIS IS A FREE EVENT OPEN TO ALL ATHLETES, AND NON-ATHLETES, OF ALL LEVELS!  We look forward to having more judges, coaches, parents, dads, grandparents, council members, etc. out on the floor to participate!

WOW Twirler:

The WOW Twirler is an athlete which displays extraordinary sportsmanship during our competitions.  Congratulations to Baylee Pine (2012), Jenna Arlie (2013), Jacey Callahan (2014), Kira O’Grady (2015), Faith Bellinger (2106), Thea Seely (2017)  and Alexis Enos (2018) who have been deserving recipients.  Anyone (parent, coach, sibling or athlete) can submit nominations each competition in the WOW Twirler box located at the membership table if you see any act of kindness or sportsmanship.  The Board looks forward to reading all the wonderful entries and the WOW Twirler will be announced during the State competition.

PHMC Theme and Essay Questions:

The Patsy Hamilton Memorial Competition (PHMC) is an annual baton twirling competition dedicated to the memory of Patsy.  Patsy loved to write and had just renewed that love by taking some writing classes, just prior to her untimely passing at a baton competition.  Thus the reasons for our essay contest each year in her honor.  We are in communication with the Hamilton family regarding this year’s essay competition – more information will be forthcoming.

High School Seniors – Scholarship Program:

Are you going to college next year?  Would some additional funds assist you in your endeavor?  Kurtis Hubbell (2012), Emily McCrone (2013), Brianne Turnbull (2015), Jade McVay (2016), and Amelia DiPaola (2018) have been recipients of the CBC High School Senior Scholarship.  This Scholarship program is for all high school seniors.  Coaches:  All applicants will be recognized at the State competition.  The application will be posted on the CBC website shortly.

Communication:

Make sure to check out our website (www.cabatoncouncil.com) and Facebook page (California Baton Council) frequently for updates throughout the season.  We are also going to be using other forms of communication to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information.  Please feel free to let any Board Member know your thoughts on these new tools.

Closing:

We value your input, and appreciate the responses we received throughout the season.  Please feel free to contact with any one of the Board Members with questions, concerns, or ideas for improvement.  We look forward to receiving continued feedback from all of you throughout this season.

As this season gets started, we are excited to see the growth in all the current athletes and look forward to all those fresh faces that are new to this awesome sport.  The CBC Board is looking forward to another successful twirling season with our California athletes.

Ready, Set…Twirl!

Always,

Kristine M. Rodrigues

President, California Baton Council

moraetoo@gmail.com

916-690-5593

USTA has made a few changes beginning this year: