The Crawley Bobby Dazzlers were started by Vi and Bob Leake in 1982 when their daughter Jenny wanted to create her own majorette corps.

Throughout the 1980s Jenny, Vi and Bob led the troop to competitions, public displays and of course Crawley Carnivals. They were successful in competitions winning both individual and team awards. Sadly, the corps was disbanded in 1992.

Jenny’s daughter Lauren also loved to baton twirl. Lauren started twirling at a young age with other groups and in 2012 the decision was made to reform the Bobby Dazzlers in memory of Grandad Bob. The newly reformed group started in February 2013 and includes the great-granddaughter of Vi and Bob.

Over the past 7 years the group has gone strength to strength. They have won national awards for struts and solo twirl and an overall top twirler award. But the proudest moment was in 2019 when they were awarded the first ever “Twirling Family” award. The award was given in memory of the twirling association’s chairperson who recognised the family values the group aims to encourage in all their members – it was a truly special moment for all the group and something they will never forget.

Music plays a vital role in the sport of baton twirling. A wide variety of music is used for different elements of the sport, ranging from traditional marching music to modern choices chosen by the team to perform to.

Each routine that the twirlers perform, an extreme amount of thought is put into the choice of music. Consideration is given to the age and ability of the twirlers; the type of routine being performed and the theme the routine will have. The routine may well be one piece of music or can be a variety of pieces used to create a story. Each twirler is required to perform using musicality so that the twirler, routine, and the music fit well together to create the prefect performance.