teacher told her that she had real potential to be
something great, so she entered a twirling contest.
“I won a trophy, and was totally hooked after
that. It just kind of blossomed from there”, she
said.
Zalud continued to take lessons from her
until she graduated.
After she graduated, “I was kind of stuck
without a coach”, she said. “But luckily there is a
studio in Omaha called Sues Stepper-ettes
where I started working with a new coach.”
Sues Stepper-ettes was formed in 1973 and
is the largest baton twirling and pom pom
studio in the Midwest. The company is home
to multiple national championship teams.
“I started training there when I was 12
and I have been taking private lessons there pretty
much through college”, Zalud said.
Every single weekend Zalud and her family would make the
trip to Omaha so she could have her lessons.
“In the summer months I would normally stay with my aunt
who lives in Omaha for a few weeks so I could be closer to my
coach”, she said.
Zalud was so dedicated to the sport that in the summer months
she would travel across the country to participate in camps and
competitions in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Georgia and Texas.
“Summers for me growing up revolved around baton because
that is when nationals is. You get ready the whole summer and
then come the end of July you are ready to compete”, Zalud said.
Zalud went on to twirling in college at USD where she is
majoring in medical biology with an emphasis in interdisciplinary
sciences.
“Once I found out I could twirl at USD and I found out I got the
Presidential Alumni Scholarship it was kind of a set deal”, she said.
“I loved it ever since.”
Besides the USD scholarship, Zalud has also received many
other scholarships including the Miss America Top Academic
Scholarship, South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship, the Evelyn
Maul Jones Scholarship and the Healthcare Education Scholarship just to name a few.
At USD she also is a member of Colleges Against Cancer,
Dakotathon/Dance Marathon, Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority and is a
clarinetist in the Coyote Pep band.
With all the extracurricular activities, it is hard to believe this
young college student also owns her own business. Zalud is the
owner and instructor of the Dakota
Diamonds Twirling Group where she
provides baton instruction to young girls
residing in local communities including
Vermillion, Elk Point and Dakota Valley.
Currently, 16 students from ages 4 to 10
participate in the group.
“I do love encouraging twirling in the
younger generation”, she said.
Zalud said that twirling used to be huge in
South Dakota but the sport has sort of died on
the vine.
“In the midwest I think that there are fewer
twirlers”, she said. “Its largely in the east-coast and
west-coast.”
Zalud loves to teach to area youth because the
sport has made her who she is today.
“For me it did so much. I think that it truly
made me outgoing, I also got to network with others and have
more confidence and self-concept. I love to see my students grow.”
One of her favorite quotes that she tells her students is “Don’t
let anyone dull your sparkle.”
“That is something that I truly hope for them”, she said. “They
are all so beautiful and have so much potential. Each have so much
to offer, and they each have different strengths and capabilities. It is
up to them to discover it and cultivate it. That is my dream for
them.”
Zalud said that she hopes that no one ever crushes her students’
dreams. She said that when she was in middle school none of her
peers really understood her dream of twirling.
“They couldn’t understand the time I put into and the mastery
that it really takes. It is an incredibly difficult sport”, she said. “It
takes a lot of practice to cultivate those kinds of abilities. I don’t
think that any of them could really relate to what I was doing.
Many people said it wasn’t even a sport. It was really discouraging.
But I had my friends, my family, my coach and most importantly, I
had my dreams. So what they said didn’t matter.” Zalud hopes that
she can inspire students to continue twirling in the area.
I By Jordynne Hart
hervoiceonline.com
HERVOICE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 O 11