Seventeen-year-old Byron Anderson will represent Fort Collins and Colorado on an international stage next week during the 2025 World Technical Baton Twirling Championship. He’ll join more than 2,000 athletes from 22 nations in Turin, Italy, to show off his abilities.
“It's still kind of crazy to think about sometimes, that I am going to my fifth World Championships,” said Anderson. “It's just kind of surreal.”
To reach this level, Anderson first has to place at the national competition each year. This year, he took the men’s first place grand champion title in Daytona Beach, Florida. “That was a really cool experience to compete with some of the best nationally and see all of the work that I put in last year get me to some final events, which was a goal I had set for myself,” he said.
The Fossil Ridge High School senior began twirling at the age of six. He says he was inspired to try the sport after watching his sister compete recreationally. “I just picked up the baton and started messing around and found out I really liked it,” he said.
Like many sports, the activity has brought him a lot of life lessons — along with the accolades.
“I feel like it's just taught me a lot about how important dedication is,” he said. “Just putting time towards what you really want and giving it all to just pursue your goals and follow through.”
He’s trained tirelessly to master the sport’s demanding mix of stamina, flexibility, performance and hand-eye coordination — skills he hopes to carry with him to college as a future feature twirler. “I think that would be a dream come true to pursue my passion in college and see where it takes me,” he said. Schools known for twirling — like the University of Alabama, the University of Iowa, and Arizona State University — offer scholarships for positions in competitive marching bands. Anderson is considering ASU and has more visits scheduled in the fall.
Byron Anderson poses with Coach Debbie Salem. 
Byron Anderson performs 3 baton routine at national competition.
Another thing he had to master: physics. “It takes a lot of time to figure out how fast your baton is spinning, how high you need to toss it, and where you need to place it to just do certain tricks and to make sure you can catch it,” he said.
Anderson’s mom, Heather, takes on the role of both fan and part-time coach. “Because his coach is in California, I do spend a lot of time with him practicing and correcting and making sure he remembers things, kind of fine tuning,” she said. “It's really rewarding to be able to see all the time that he puts in and hard work and effort that he does to be able to compete at this level.”
Anderson is excited to represent the state on the world stage and says he feels the love in return. “I'm really proud of the community, and I love all of the support and attention that has come towards the sport of baton twirling the last few weeks as I've been traveling,” he said.
The international competition kicks off Friday and runs through Aug. 10.
