United States Twirling Association

The United States Twirling Association

Mission Statement

The U.S.T.A provides opportunities for members and supporters to participate in the sport of baton twirling at all recreational and competitive levels.

Vision Statement

The U.S.T.A., as a member of the World Baton Twirling Federation, is committed to the promoting the sport of baton twirling through recreational avenues, educational opportunities, and a fair competitive structure.

The U.S.T.A. is dedicated to promoting excellence and service to its members and supporters by providing opportunities to participate in the sport of baton twirling at local, national and international levels.

Objectives

¨     Membership Support – The U.S.T.A. values its members and will strive to provide the best possible

       member services at all levels

¨     Membership Recruitment - The U.S.T.A. believes that the benefits of health, recreation and competition should be available to everyone through baton twirling.   The U.S.T.A. will strive to expand its membership in order to share these benefits with its athletes and supporters.

¨     Promotion of the sport – The U.S.T.A. will promote the numerous benefits of baton twirling through marketing efforts in order to continue developing strong participation.

¨     Competitive Success - The U.S.T.A. will strive to maintain the United States’ position as one of the leading baton twirling countries in the World. Success at the elite levels has a positive influence on every other facet of our sport.

¨     Sponsors and supporters – The U.S.T.A. values its relationship with sponsors and supporters and will continue to maximize exposure to their products and services by members and supporters of our sport.

Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence

The United States Twirling Association is dedicated to the development of the sport of baton twirling. The Association was founded in 1958 as the first national twirling organization to be run democratically and it remains the only twirling organization that elects its Board of Directors through its membership.

The United States Twirling Association is incorporated in the State of Indiana and is classified as a 501 (c)(3) non-for-profit organization by the Internal Revenue Service. Currently, the United States Twirling Association has a membership of over 6,000 of which 750 are of professional status.

There is United States Twirling Association activity in almost every state with the largest memberships being California, Ohio, Texas and New York. Many of the states have State Councils which promote and govern United States Twirling Association twirling in that state. Every United States Twirling Association Certified Coach at least 18 years of age is automatically entitled membership in the Council of the state where he/she resides.

Th U.S.T.A. is a sport-oriented organization, that sanctions approximately 200 local, state & regional competitions each year. The organization utilizes a competitive format, which is aligned with other subjectively judged sports adjudicated on an Olympic level scoring system where scores are shown to the competitors and audience immediately following each athlete’s performance.

Each year the United States Twirling Association holds the National Baton Twirling Championships and Festival of the Future competition. The location is rotated geographically to encourage participation by all its membership and to help develop twirling throughout the United States. This competition selects the U.S. National Champions in Men's and Women's Solo, Strut, Dance Twirl, Two Baton, Three Baton, Teams, and Corps. The Festival of the Future is a competition for beginner and intermediate twirlers and teams.

The U.S.T.A. also annually offers the U.S. Trials Competition to select a team of competitors representing the United States into the World Baton Twirling Championships

The United States Twirling Association also sponsors National and Regional Conventions in altering years. These conventions provide training classes and seminars for coaches and athletes in twirling and related areas such as dance, gymnastics, sports medicine and psychology. The National Convention also includes the General Assembly where the Board of Directors is elected and other business may be brought to the floor by United States Twirling Association Members. United States Twirling Association provisions may apply to serve on one of the Commissions which propose rule and procedure changes and establish new programs. The current Commissions are: Essential Events, Competitive Events, Coaches, Judges, Marketing, and Public Relations. Commissions are chosen biannually and meet at the National Convention.

The U.S.T.A. has developed extensive and comprehensive Professional Training Programs for member athletes, coaches and judges:

Judges are certified and required to update and retest regularly.
Certification for coaches was developed in coordination with the Judges’ program.
U.S.T.A. offers a complete system with logical, progressive skill development for teachers and coaches for training and educating athletes - The USTA Competitive/Achievement System

The Association is the official representative of the United State to the World Baton Twirling Federation, which hosts the annual World Championships each summer. There are now 22 other countries world-wide which participate in these Championships. The United States Twirling Association is also a member of the National Council of Youth Sports.

· The U.S.T.A. provides a fun-filled magazine, CATCH IT! for its members:

The U.S.T.A. is the leader in the field of sport baton twirling. Not only are all of the above accomplishments FIRSTS – but most also represent ONLYS, too!