Baton and dance school continues to win awards and trophies

(Continued from Page 3) for students with special needs.

The Diamondettes attended the 2023 All East Baton Twirling Championship on the weekend of April 28-30 at the Wildwoods Convention Center on the boardwalk – a convention center and indoor arena located on the Boardwalk at 4522 Ocean Ave.

Placca said it’s run by some of the biggest names in the baton-twirling industry: “It was the first time my studio has ever attended this event,” she said. “In one of these categories, they actually won an All-East state title for a small twirl team, baton and dance category. Five girls were competing from my team. There had to be more than 30 teams, but in the category they were in, it was small. But just to get there was amazing.”

It was an honor to be in attendance, she added, but the fact that the team won a first-place State Dance Twirl title was a huge victory for the newly established group of novice twirlers.

“Some parents stayed all night, some drove up, but I was there all weekend,” Placca said.

“Their success hasn’t stopped there.”

For the second year in a row, the Diamondettes attended the United States Twirling Association State Championships on Sunday, May 7. Here they won first place in the Juvenile Dance Twirl Small Team Category.

But for all her school’s success, Placca alway has her eyes on the future, and that means offering her baton-twirling classes to even more students.

“I offer classes in many Union County towns, in particular Union,” she said. “That is starting to become more consis- tent with growing students and, most importantly, Diamond Gym, which has been the main home.”