Bel Air teen baton twirler wins Capital Area Marching Association competition

It takes more than a pretty face and a few flicks of the wrist to be a champion baton twirler, something 13-year-old Haley Herbert knows a lot about.

The Bel Air Middle School student won the Miss CAMA title for the 10-12 age group in September's Captial Area Marching Association (CAMA) competition, an annual baton twirling competition in Maryland, and has her sights set on nationals, modeling and being a featured twirler when she goes to high school — a little more than what the average teen has on her plate.

Haley began twirling eight years ago when she and her family saw an ad for a group dedicated to the sport. Since she didn't have any other extracurricular activities at the time, "we decided to try it out, and I liked it and kept doing it," she remembered.

What grabbed Haley's attention was how different the sport was. Of course, the fun didn't hurt.

"I met a lot of people that were really nice and stuff," Haley said. "I thought I did pretty well." She has been competing for the last three years; the same amount of time Anna Bryant of Linthicum has been her coach.

"I've seen her grow the last three years from being recreational to being more demanding and more involved," Bryant, 53, said about Haley's dedication. She has also seen the teen twirler become "more aggressive" and "diligent" with her sport and the amount of time she practices, which is every Sunday at the Bel Air YMCA. Bryant's daughter, Casey, also coaches Haley.

Before the National Baton Twirling Association championship competition in July at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Haley and others on Bryant's team, Class Act, had a four-week twirling camp, where the girls practiced every day at the YMCA.

While Haley didn't win during that competition, she did place in the top 10 for each category she participated in. She also won first place in the American Girl modeling portion for America's Youth on Parade competition. All of her dedication paid off a few months later when she won in her age group the 2011 Miss CAMA title on Sept. 25. "When they [the participants] put more into it, they get more out of it," Bryant said.

That competition is scored in three categories, Haley explained: modeling, strut and a solo. Her solo, which involves high tosses and finger tricks as part of the criteria, was done to a medley of songs from Disney's "The Little Mermaid," and involved a treasure chest prop and under the sea background.

The scores are then combined to determine where a person places. For coming in first in all three categories, Haley received a sash, tiara, bouquet of flowers and a plaque to commemorate her win.

"I was excited and really happy because of winning the sash and all of that," she said.

Bryant was proud of Haley and her accomplishments, as well.

"The best thing about Haley is she has such a good attitude," she remarked. "It's such a pleasure to work with her." Bryant, who has been coaching baton twirling for 10 years, expects Haley to continue competing and to do even better next year. "I have high hopes for her for better national [competitions] in years to come."