Newly certified Professional member Leigh-ann Hay, who hails from Ohio, comes from a very diverse “baton family.” Athlete, coach, sister, daughter, mom - all of her roles are connected to the sport in some way. Here's what we learned about Leigh-ann:
Inside Loop: Leigh-ann, as the mother of a highly successful athlete, what inspired you to obtain your USTA Professional credentials?
Hay: I have been coaching baton for 28 years. I started as a young "assistant coach" at my mother's studio, The Showstoppers School of Baton on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. I was allowed to coach the littles as I continued to train and competed myself. When I officially retired, I soon became a mom to my daughter Erienne. I never ONCE even considered attempting to teach or coach her individually. She was an athlete on some of my teams but, never once did she have a lesson with me or ever let me watch her at her lessons. She had a studio coach that worked with her when she was little, a number of big sister practice buddies and her competitive coach, Cheryl Wimberley. I was always and have always been, “just Mom.” I recognize there have been and are very successful mother/daughter coach/student success stories, but that was never in the cards for us.
When we first made the decision to join USTA, I did not believe there was a purpose for me to become a Professional member. However, as her success in the organization grew, more of our studio athletes wanted to begin competing locally and more of our members grew interested in USTA. It became necessary for me as a coach of these other athletes to become a Professional member of USTA. This way I could have better access to networking opportunities, training videos, and, in general, better acclimate myself and my coaching towards USTA.
Inside Loop: So, we heard your whole family is truly a “baton family.” Tell us more about that.
Hay: There are so many wonderful baton family legacies! I'm not sure how different my family is, but our journey has been a long and exciting one!
This baton journey began with my mother as a hobby. She was a recreational twirler who began competing late in her teens and aged out at 18 just when she began to truly love the sport. She formed a group, had children, and that is when this hobby turned into her passion. In doing so, it became the passion of myself and my sister. As time moved along, and as we grew up, the passion turned into a business. Although my sister is not involved anymore, my mother still runs the studio and I, along with another full-time coach, Kelly Hoellein, and student instructors, keep the studio chugging along into its 44th year.
The Showstoppers School of Baton was officially formed in 1980. I began "twirling" around the age of four. I use the quotation marks because, well, I was really bad. My sister (Melissa) who is two years younger than me, began twirling literally at the same time I did, so that would make her two. She was the complete opposite, she was a phenom. Everything I struggled with she could do without even thinking about it. She was the bane of my existence when we were young. She was the twirler who excelled at everything, and was rewarded for it over and over again, where I constantly struggled, half quit multiple times and didn't actually begin to reach my full potential until I was almost 16 years old. We did not grow up in USTA, in fact I don't recall knowing much about it until much later in my twirling career. We began in WTA (World Twirling Association), an organization that we are still involved in today. My mom has been involved with the organization since the 60s and both my sister, Erienne, and I competed all the way up through the ranks. My sister and I competed in DMA (Drum Majorettes of America) both winning their top title in 2001 (Melissa) and 2003 (myself). We also competed the first few years we were eligible in AAU Jr Olympics. Melissa won Solo 1 baton and Freestyle, and I won 2-Baton, 3-Baton, and the Joel Farrell Award.
When Erienne was little it was very important to me to allow her the opportunities that my sister and I never got a chance to pursue. I don't mean that in a negative way, or to say that we had been slighted or held back in any way. But by the time she began competing it was important to me that she compete where the stakes were higher, the opportunities bigger, and the rewards greater. Fast forward, in what seems like a blink of an eye, Erienne has competed internationally six times; twice for WFNBTA (Italy and Norway), IBTF Grand Prix (France), WBTF (Italy), IBTF World Championships (Liverpool and Sweden). We like to say that twirling can take you far, but I don't think any of us ever imagined how much of an impact this sport could make, and how much it can change your life. I look at my daughter and all that she has accomplished, and I am so grateful for the studio my mom started, grateful that she connected my sister and I to a coach and mentor that pushed us to succeed on our own track, and grateful that that same coach could take my daughter and help make all her twirling dreams come true!
As my sister and I grew out of competing, priorities switched to coaching. I graduated college, came home, and began helping prep what was then a new studio building. My sister went away to school, coming home to coach when she could. Currently my mom is still running the studio full-time, I am coaching a full schedule, and my sister is working and being a mom to not only her two young children, but also an "if-needed mom" to Erienne while she is attending the University of Cincinnati.
Inside Loop: Lastly, what are three things the baton twirling world probably doesn't know about you?
Hay: Hmmm this is hard.
- I have another child, a son Ethan who is currently a senior in high school. If there is one thing that can get me to drop my baton schedule for a day or a weekend, or for a few days, it is going to watch him play baseball.
- My husband and I just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary at our favorite place on earth. - DISNEY of course!! YES, we are those Disney adults!
- I twirled for one year in college. As a freshman I twirled at the University of Northern Iowa. The school was not for me, so I transferred to Bowling Green State University, where I completed my degree, but did not twirl.