nep-e01-s2 epsa twirling baton passes to city of

NEP-E01-S2 EPSA Nottingham Post Saturday February 1, 2014 5For breaking news go to nottinghampost.com

Twirling baton passes tocity of glittering spectacleA GLITTERING visual spec-tacular of ribbons anddiamantes will soon be des-cending on Nottingham asthe city hosts the 32ndWorld Baton TwirlingC h a m p i o n s h i p s.

It will be the first time theevent has been held in theUK and young twirling en-thusiasts are hoping toshine as brightly as theirsparkling leotards.

Sixteen-year-old LaurenKnott has been baton twirl-ing for around nine yearsand has won several nation-al competitions.

Studying for her GCSEs atSt Paul’s RC SecondarySchool, in Leicester, the teenhas little time to do any-thing but twirl.

“Training takes up a lot oftime as I practise about sixhours a week and thensometimes I do extra ses-sions on a Sunday, whichcan be from 10am to 4pm.”

She added: “Our coacheven encourages us to sleepwith our baton under ourpillow to form a good re-lationship with it.”

Lauren, who lives withher family in Leicester,hopes to train as a coach inSe ptember.

The championships willtake place at the Capital FMArena on August 4-10. It isexpected that 1,500 athletes,officials, coaches and judgeswill attend.

UK Baton Twirling Fed-eration president NickyO’Neil Gibson promises theevent will be the biggest yetwith 20 countries takingpar t.

She said: “Everyone iswelcome to come to our freeopening ceremony on Wed-nesday, August 6, to see whatbaton twirling is all about –it is going to be absolutelys p e c t a c u l a r.

“We have more than 2,000active members in the UK sot h e re ’s no question that it isnow a sport.”

She added: “We have boysand girls from the age ofthree to 40 participating andit just keeps on growing.

“A lot of artistic expres-sion goes into the sport andthat includes the costumes,

By Rachel Gormanrachel.gorman@nottinghampost.com

which this year Team GB’sare being designed by thesame people who have de-signed the costumes forStrictly Come Dancing – asfar as I am concerned, themore glitz the better.”

World Baton TwirlingFederation president SandiWiemers got interestedwhen she was three.

Originally from Kansas,she said: “When I was verylittle I lived across from aschool and I used to wait andwatch the school band comeout and practise – and then Iused to take myself overthere and practise withthem.”

She added: “Anyone whowants to get involved justneeds to find a coach or agroup in their area. All youreally need to invest in is abaton, which in US dollarsis only about $30, and that’sall you really need.”■ Will you be competing?Get in touch: news-desk@nottinghampost.com.

Giving us a twirl: Lauren Knott shows off her skillsPICTURE: DAN MATTHAMS. C310114DA2-7

Traffic delays whilemanhole is repairedA FAULTY manhole cover andframe will be replaced in Bul-we l l .

Minor delays should be ex-pected from Monday until Wed-nesday while the work is car-ried out by Severn Trent Wa-t e r.

Works will be in progressfrom 8.30am until 4.30pm inSnape Wood Road and duringthat time two-way traffic sig-nals will be in use.

£1m country parkset to take shapeTHE first stages of work on a£1 million country park are setto begin next week.

The long-awaited GedlingCountry Park is in place of theformer colliery by Arnold Laneand Spring Lane.

The 300-acre site closed as apit in 1991 and planning per-mission to make it a countrypark was granted in April.

Contractor North MidlandConstruction will start with re-medial work to make the sites a f e.

Phase two is likely to beginin May and includes a car parkand a new play area.

Gedling Borough Councilsays the park is expected to beopen to the public by autumn.

Council leader John Clarkesaid: “I’m pleased that, aftermore than 20 years, we’re fi-nally in a position to transformthe last of the colliery sites inNotts into a country park thatall residents can use and en-j oy.

‘‘We ’re delighted that thefirst phase has begun.”

Student held afteruniversity protestA STUDENT from Nottinghamwas among 14 people arrestedfor allegedly breaking into auniversity and using smokebombs during a protest.

Nine men, aged between 18and 24, and five women, agedbetween 21 and 23, have beenarrested for alleged aggravatedtrespass, assault and criminaldama g e.

The protest against rising tu-ition fees and low staff wageswas at the Edgbaston campusof Birmingham University.

Police were called after re-ports of protesters hurlingsmoke bombs in corridors,breaking down doors and as-saulting staff at around 5pm onWe d n e s d ay.

Superintendent LeeKendrick, of Birmingham po-lice, said: “This may well havebeen billed as a peacefulprotest but it escalated into aserious public order incident –a criminal investigation hasbeen launched and anyonefound to have acted unlawfullywill be punished.”

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Woman tricked overcut-up bank cardA BRAZEN conman pretendedto work for an anti-fraud firmto steal hundreds of poundsfrom a woman’s bank account.

Police say the elderly victim,from Carlton, was targetedwith a phone call at home onMonday from someone sayingthey were from a companycalled Card Fraud.

The caller claimed someonehad tried to use her bank cardto purchase a computer. Thevictim was told to cut the cardup and that a courier wouldcome to her house to collect it.

She then cut the card up andput it in an envelope.

Police community supportofficer Nicola Bates said: “Fif-teen minutes later, a taxi pulledup outside the address, the vic-tim opened her window and letthe envelope go with the driverof the vehicle. On Tuesday, thevictim contacted her bank toinform them of this incidentand on checking the victim’saccount, the bank advised that£470 had been taken out of theiraccount.”

PCSO Bates asked people tobe wary of cold callers and tonever give bank details overthe phone or hand bank cardsover to anyone.

Go online atwww.nottinghampost.com

to watch our video

Visit: From left are Sandi Wiemers, Lauren Knott andNicky O’Neill Gibson. PICTURE: C310114DA2-1

Five things you didn’t know about baton twirling1 Baton-twirling originated inAmerica, where the twirlersused to be part of marchingbands.2 The World Baton TwirlingFederation was formed in 1977to develop and standardise theincreasing popularity of thesport

3 The first WorldChampionships were held inSeattle in 1980 and in eachsuccessive year, one membercountry has hosted thecompetition following a biddingprocess similar to that whichdecides who stages theOlympics.

4 Routines can last between90 seconds and four minutesbut can take months ofpractice to master.5 Competitors at this year’schampionships will be usingthe full height of the arena –with some batons being thrownup to 15 metres into the air.

Diversion in citycentre to continueA ROAD closure in the citycentre has been extended untilF riday.

Work to repair a collapsedsewer outside 9-10 Houndsgatebegan on January 27.

A diversion will remain inplace until Friday but accessfor business parking will bemaintained. Minor delays areexpected while Severn TrentWater carry out the repairs.