Recently, we received an email recently asking if we’d ever come across any photos of Dale White, a much-beloved living legend in the sport of baton twirling and “the most decorated baton twirling coach” in the sports history. We appreciated the email and so we did some digging. We found this photo and a few others, which we will share at a later time. (They need to be restored.) In addition, we discovered the following during our research. Some of this information may be incomplete as we have pieced it together from several different sources. If we have something wrong, kindly let us know and we will be happy to correct it. Thank you!
- Dale competed in the United States Twirling Association (USTA) system. He was coached by the late Fred Miller (1932-2012) who was one of the founders of USTA and its first president. Miller was also the founder of FJM, “the world’s leader in the design and production of marching band uniforms.” Miller directed the bands for the Fairborn City Schools (Fairborn, Ohio) from 1957 to 1968. He was also the founder and director of Miller’s Blackhawks Twirling Corps (1952-1979), of which Dale was a member. The Blackhawks “established a record that is unequalled in the twirling world,” winning the National Championship every year from 1956 through 1968. (Source)
- Fred Miller’s coach was Bob Dawson, Drum Major for the University of Dayton.
- Dale won many local, state and regional baton twirling titles. Two national titles he won are the 1968 Boys Solo Champion and the 1970 2-Baton Champion. These are both listed on the USTA website.
If you have more information about the amazing twirling and coaching career of Dale White, please email us at info@vintage-baton-twirler.org.
