As a little girl, sophomore Megan Staszak saw an interesting flyer in her 3rd grade class. The flyer wasn’t for dance lessons or karate, but for something a little more unusual: baton twirling.

“It just sounded like fun, so I just tried it one day,” Staszak said.

Baton twirling involves routines which including dancing and twirling a baton. Some routines, like one of Staszak’s favorites, involve ribbons. The hardest part for Staszak was always staying on beak with the music and remembering what to do.

Until December 2009, Staszak was on a team through the Rockwood School District called the Sugarbabies, coached by Lisa Bartfeld.

Staszak quit the team because she didn’t have as much time to devote to twirling, but she sometimes goes back to visit and twirl with the team to keep up her skill.

The Sugarbabies team of 15 members included three levels; Staszak was on the highest level with four other team members.

The team participated in five or six competitions a year. Staszak said there are many different categories for different types of routines, and her team did two or three routines for each competition. In each category, she said, four or five teams compete against each other.

“You do your routine in front of the entire audience and the judges are scattered throughout and they write down your scores,” Staszak said.

There are also opportunities to perform a solo. Staszak soloed a little, but mostly stuck to choreographed team routines.

Staszak’s last competition was in October where the Sugarbabies won a first and a second.

In addition to competitions, Staszak’s team performed at the St. Patrick’s Day parade downtown, the Creve Coeur parade and the Ballwin Days Parade every year.

“It’s a really unique skill, and you get a lot of teamwork out of it and I made a lot of friends and it really kept up my creativity and athletics,” Staszak said.