Baton twirling is not a sport that you will typically find outdoors. It relies on good and consistent lighting, a hard wood floor and enough heat to stop fingers from feeling numb when twirling a baton! But where there is a will, there is a way and Northern Star Twirlers, a club based in North Dublin, have been adapting to training outdoors over the past few months.
Since September a floodlit tennis court at Dean Swift Sports Club in Coolock has been the training location for Northern Star’s athletes who range in age from 2 to 18. The club continued its training outdoors with 6 sessions a week. Speaking about the past few months for their club, the Northern Star coaches said; “Even though it’s not ideal to be outdoors, particularly in the Winter, our athletes have been glad to be able to keep going and we are very grateful to have had the use of a floodlit facility, particularly as the darker evenings set in. The members of our club, along with their parents, have been incredible – no matter what the challenge, they have met it head on. Our young people have shown us so much to be proud of. We would like to thank Dublin City Council for helping us find somewhere to train, our national governing body BTSAI for all the support they provide to us, and Sport Ireland and the Federation of Irish Sport for continuing to advocate for sports like ours. This has been a tough year for everyone but we’re looking forward to 2021 with hope and excitement for a complete return to the sport we love”.