Taking a deep breath at the center of the football field, Sydney Moroney, junior, prepares herself to perform her favorite trick: the “Bruiser.”

The motion involves spinning a baton horizontally and then kicking it into the air. This move is just one component of her minute-long routine.

“Whenever I finish a routine without any mistakes, I feel a great sense of accomplishment, as well as relief,” Moroney said. “If I am able to avoid mistakes even while having the pressure of being in front of a crowd, I feel very proud.”

Moroney performs at junior varsity football games during halftime and varsity football games on the sidelines. The two other twirlers that performed during Moroney’s freshman and sophomore years have graduated, leaving her as the sole twirler.

“Now that I am the only twirler at Marquette, I feel more of a pressure to do well and present an accurate representation of baton twirling to the school,” Moroney said. “However, it’s also nice because I have more opportunities to perform.”

A baton twirler is not a designated role at MHS so twirlers have to advocate for themselves in order to perform at school. When Moroney was a freshman, she spoke to the activities director, the cheer coach and the dance coach to convince them to let her perform.

Moroney is part of the more than 25-year-old SugarBabies team led by Lisa Bartfeld, twirling coach.

Moroney started twirling when she was 8 years old in a Parkway-Rockwood Community Ed class taught by Bartfeld who is a registered judge for the National Baton Twirling Association.

“We love our unique sport,” Bartfeld said, “It requires stamina, coordination, grace, timing, accuracy, courage and so much more. Just to make it more challenging, you’re implementing all of those skills with a steel rod spinning just inches above your head.”

Bartfeld attends Moroney’s school performances, along with Kim Moroney, Sydney’s mother. Kim has supported Moroney’s twirling since she started, when she was inspired to start twirling after attending a Purdue football game in the fall of 2015.

“Sydney was mesmerized by the twirlers’ halftime performance and immediately said that she was going to learn how to twirl and was going to become a Purdue Feature Twirler,” Kim said.

Since that moment, Moroney has learned to perform well under pressure, Kim said.

“Sydney isn’t typically one who likes to bring attention to herself, but when she twirls, she can really bring it,” Kim said.

This story was originally published on Marquette Messenger on September 21, 2023.