ALLY GROOMS SET TO COMPETE FOR TEAM USA

October 2018

The Pride of Clover will be sending one of their own, sophomore Ally Grooms, to France next August to compete with Team USA in the Grand Prix and International Cup, both of which are competitions for baton twirlers around the world to jump, flip, and spin their way to the gold.

The fifteen-year-old baton twirler has been practicing her craft for over half of her life and said she practices daily for at least an hour to perfect her twirling.

Over the summer Grooms competed at Notre Dame where she qualified for the Grand Prix. “This past summer I basically spent the summer in Columbia with my coaches, and we would practice every single day for like 6 hours,” said Grooms. “I went to nationals and I qualified for two-baton finals, and I did really well in that. So that qualified me for Grand Prix.”

The young athlete said when she first heard the news about being Team USA, she almost didn’t believe it.

“It didn’t really settle with me until like a week after when I got the commitment letter and stuff,” said Grooms. “But I was so excited because I’ve never been out of the country even. I’ve always wanted to be a part of Team USA, and I get to go to France, so that’s exciting.”

In preparation for the national competitions, Grooms plans to do a lot of summer training in addition to her usual practice routine. She said, “Next summer I’ll basically spend the whole summer in Columbia with my team and with my coaches, and we’ll probably just practice like 6 hours a day. It’ll be crazy.”

Gulledge said he has been finding ways to incorporate Grooms into the band’s choreography, and she’s fit in well. “She has been Team Clover from the moment she came in,” he said.

“Between her work ethic and her just being a team player, I see why she would be picked to do something like that [the Grand Prix]. Her skill level is extremely high,” said Gulledge. “She’s maybe one of the best I’ve ever seen at the high school level.”

In August 2019 Grooms will be representing not only her school, but also her country in multiple events including: two-baton, solo, teams, and artistic twirl.     

After the competitions she said the next step is becoming a Feature Twirler for a major university. “I really want to go to Clemson because my whole family has been Clemson fans, so that would be exciting,” said Grooms.

Gulledge said Grooms will likely have multiple options for Feature Twirling in college. “It’s just a matter of graduating and which school is going to take her. I think she’s going to have her pick honestly,” said Gulledge.