SUBMITTED PHOTOIt’s a sunny Saturday afternoon at Carson Park. Fans cheer on their beloved Blugolds, when the horn sounds, signifying the end of the second quarter.
As the announcer recaps the score and makes the necessary announcements, the level of anticipation and excitement begins to rise in not only those in the stands, but also those who are waiting for the signal to kick off yet another halftime show.
Suddenly, and precisely on cue, the Blugold Marching Band breaks into its rendition of “Onward to Victory” – the Blugold fight song.
It is at this point, sophomore twirler Emily Schneider said, she feels the most alive.
Schneider, an elementary education major from Ashwaubenon, is UW-Eau Claire’s first baton twirler and one of only a handful of people in Wisconsin who perform at the college level. She said being a show twirler is one of the most exciting things she has ever experienced.
“I love performing with the band,” she said. “I love the anticipation of walking out onto the field. The energy is so huge when you have the entire band behind you.”
Schneider said she considers herself lucky and attributes her early success to having found a private coach at such an early age.
She started twirling when she was 4 years old and competed year-round until the age of 10.
Jacki Schneider, Emily Schneider’s mother, said she had taken twirling lessons in high school from a girl she knew from a different school. When 4-year-old Emily Schneider began taking a gymnastics class, Jacki Schneider discovered that her friend also had enrolled her daughters in the class.
The two mothers got reacquainted, Jacki Schneider said, and her one-time coach asked her if her daughter would be interested in learning how to twirl as well.
“I said, ‘If she’s interested, she can do it; if not, I’m not going to force her,’ ” Jacki Schneider said. “But once she had the baton in her hand, she loved it.”
Not long after, Emily Schneider was participating in local, regional and state competitions and served as a guest twirler for the Ashwaubenon High School Marching Band at the age of 5.
“It absolutely became a passion for her,” Jacki Schneider said.
After taking a break during middle school, Schneider resumed her passion by twirling at her high school with the Ashwaubenon High School Marching Band.
In eighth grade, her high school marching band director, Greg Sauve, approached her and asked her to be the twirler for the high school band, providing her first opportunity to do show twirling instead of just competition.
“I fell it love with it,” Schneider said.
Schneider was one of the only high school twirlers in her conference to perform with a marching band and got the chance to perform at a variety of big-name events including the Rose Bowl parade as well as the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York and a Packer game in Green Bay.
After high school, Emily Schneider found a coach through one of her teachers who was in physical therapy. The therapist, Lori Keisic, was a former twirler for the Detroit Lions and heard that Schneider was in search of a twirling coach.
Keisic said she and Schneider only had four weeks to put together routines their first summer as coach and twirler before Schneider came to Eau Claire.
During the summer, Schneider practices with Keisic once a week for two hours as well as every day individually for an hour to two hours.
“Emily has improved tremendously; I’m very proud to work with her,” Keisic said, adding she has been extremely dedicated to the sport.
“This past summer was a real treat because we got the chance to (know) each other more,” she said. “It’s been wonderful.”
Going off to college
At orientation, Schneider said she was looking at a choral display when she met one of the choir directors who, after talking with her about her interest in twirling, told her to talk to associate professor of music and Blugold Marching Band Director Randy Dickerson.
Schneider contacted Dickerson, who had no knowledge of Eau Claire ever having a twirler perform with its marching band. She started performing during her freshman year in the fall of 2004.
Sophomore Jayme LeJeune, a member of the Eau Claire Color Guard, met Schneider early on during their freshman year when both would practice and perform together. Now, LeJeune said, they have become good friends, both on and off the field.
“She’s an awesome twirler and really good,” LeJeune said. “She puts so much time, so much heart and so much effort into it.”
Both women are in auxiliary groups, LeJeune said, meaning that while they are part of the halftime show, they don’t march with instruments.
“We kind of include (Emily) with the color guard since she is the only twirler,” she said.
LeJeune said Schneider is very hard working and described her as always being very positive.
“She always has a smile on her face,” LeJeune said. “You could be in the worst mood and go to practice, and she would always make you smile.”
As far as the transition from high school to college, Schneider said she finds it has given her a whole new perspective on what she does.
“I gained a whole new confidence making the transition to (the college level),” she said, which is something that really improved her overall performance during the 2005 season.
LeJeune agreed, saying she has seen her improve not only in technique, but also in her level of self-assuredness.
“At a college level, after having a whole year under (her) belt, there is a little bit more confidence that shows through in her,” she said.
Getting ‘ready to rumble’
Dickerson sends Emily Schneider digitally synthesized music files in an e-mail during the summer, she said.
Then Keisic determines what type of routine and twirling style to use and creates a series of moves for her to practice and perform to with the band.
“I’m not so much choreography-smart,” she said, explaining the theme for each particular season dictates the twirling style, costuming and type of baton used.
“Choreographing takes a long time; it’s a time-consuming thing,” Keisic said. “It takes a lot of dedication on Emily’s part to practice body coordination and with the music.
“What we work on are time tosses, which is the repetition of different moves in a certain amount of time. We also work on flexibility and some dance moves too.”
But no matter how ready she might be for the season to begin, Schneider said, when she gets to Eau Claire and begins rehearsing with the band, her routines usually have to change slightly to better fit with the band itself.
“As much as you prepare, there’s adjustments to be made,” she said, but that it’s all worth the effort in the end.
“It’s so fun to see (the audience) enjoy it. That’s what we’re there for – to give them a show.”
Overcoming obstacles
Although Schneider’s experience has been mostly positive, she said, there have been times, especially early in her show-twirling career, when she has received her share of negative comments that come with the position.
In high school, Schneider said, people would shout things out to her while she was performing, making the assumption she only wanted attention.
“That’s not why I do it,” she said. “Some people think I’m in it for the limelight, but that’s not (been) the reason at all, nor is it ever.”
Jacki Schneider said it can be extremely difficult to deal with those who assume she does this because of a need to be glorified by others, but said her daughter has overcome it.
“We tried to teach (her) humility from the beginning,” Jacki Schneider said. “(Emily) is a very healthy, confident human being, and she can rise above any adversity in her life.”
Schneider also said that as she got older, people either started criticizing or commenting on her sometimes-revealing costumes.
One time, Schneider said, her mom got really upset at derogatory remarks made by a spectator at one of the games, but that it didn’t bother her as much as she has “learned to just let it go.”
“A costume is a costume,” Schneider said. “You just have to rise above it, go on with the show and know the reason why you’re there. I have morals and values of my own, and I would never go against those.”
In addition, she said sometimes the physical strain that comes along with twirling takes its toll. Performance-related injuries, Schneider said, have ranged from finger blisters to possible tendonitis in her shoulder.
She said she just has to take a break sometimes in order to rejuvenate herself, though there are high points as well, she said.
“More fun (songs) totally take the stress out of it,” she said, adding that one of this year’s featured songs, “Oye” was one of her favorites.
A family affair
Schneider’s brother, senior Andy Schneider, is also on the field as a kicker for the Blugold football team, something his sister really enjoys about performing.
“It’s awesome!” Emily Schneider said. “It makes it more exciting that I get to watch him. We have this connection; I’m really proud to be able to say ‘That’s my brother.’ ”
In addition to seeing her brother during the game, Schneider’s parents, Al and Jacki Schneider come to every game, she said.
“We are lucky to have such supportive parents,” Emily Schneider said, something that her mom said has been important to her and her husband since their children were born.
“We tell them that when they were born they became our hobby,” Jacki Schneider said. “We really made it an attempt to as a family to be there for them.”
Jacki Schneider said when her daughter started twirling, the entire family would go to watch her compete and perform, including Andy Schneider. The same has been true of Emily Schneider at her brother’s football and hockey games.
“This year, her first performance was going to be a Friday night and Andy’s game was on a Saturday, but we made a decision to go and surprised her by being there,” her mother said.
Looking to the future
Since coming to Eau Claire, Schneider said, she has started following twirling on a national level, but she said at this point, she doesn’t plan on returning to the world of competitive twirling.
However, she said she hopes to continue to become a better twirler and possibly teach.
“There’s nobody to teach or coach here,” Schneider said. “It would be amazing if we could get it up here more than what we do.”
“I want to give other girls the opportunity to do something not a lot of people do,” she said. “I want to give them a chance to learn what I learned.”
Although it’s an individual sport, she said, it also is a form of art, especially when talking about show twirling.
“It’s an art with twirling a baton,” she said. “It’s a matter of putting together moves and tricks and choreographing it so you can get it down.”
