Jennifer got the baton bug at the age of six, which began her fourteen-year journey as an athlete. Throughout these years she was fortunate enough to visit a variety of place and work with many different coaches and choreographers including Elizabeth Roller, Nadine Bailey, Shannon Webster, Michelle Smith and Leah Holiday.
By the age of fourteen she knew she was hooked for life so as soon as it was available Jennifer signed up for the coaches level 1 program where She began her coaches training and spent the next few years as an assistant coach under the direction of Nadine Bailey at Batons West Twirling Club in Richmond.
Jennifer retired as an athlete after winning gold in her division at Nationals. That following September of 2006 She was offered a position on the Coaching team at Let’s Twirl in Abbotsford under the direction of Shannon Webster.
That same winter Jennifer completed her coaches’ level 2 and judges module 1. She worked to complete her judge’s certification that spring and officially judged for the first time at the Rocky Mountain Open as part of our 2007 provincial championship in Invermere BC and so began this exciting new phase of Jennifer’s baton career!!
To her delight she discovered that she enjoyed judging as much as twirling and knew she would continue to pursue her judging credentials. In September of 2008 after taking a leave from coaching Jennifer turned her focus to furthering her judging skills.
In March of 2009 Jennifer flew to Red Deer Alberta to participate in the Judges Module 2 and 3 programs. She has since completed the practicums for these levels and judged at the West Coast Open and BC Provincial competitions.
In September of 2009 the wonderful volunteer run team at Batons West Twirling Club asked Jennifer to come back as head coach this time and run their programing. With an overjoyed heart Jennifer returned to Batons West where her coaching career began. This year Jennifer successfully lead her group to BC Provincials where they won first place at the Rocky Mountain Open and first place in the BC Provincial dance twirl teams. In addition her team was awarded the high point trophy for best overall score for this event. In addition two of Jennifer’s twirlers won the level B sweep stakes for Medley. 2009 was a very exciting year for Batons West.
Twirling has meant so much to Jennifer; it is a sport that she is dedicated to and passionate about. Her future baton goals include earning a Masters Judging certification and assisting her students at Batons West in achieving their goals, having fun and to share her passion with future athletes.
