One letter I received, which was also posted as a discussion, was from Leslie Mote, a former Tyler Junior College Apache Belle and now a Southwest Texas State University Strutter. I have reprinted (typed?) her letter as it pertains to this article.
I recently visited your site on Suite 101. While your articles were great, you need to include some very important information. Rangrettes are not the only major college drill team. I was a member of the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles, and they need to recieve some recongition also. They, along with Kilgore, are the top drill teams that girls dream about. Currently, I am a Strutter at Southwest Texas State, where Barbra Tidwell founded them 38 years ago. She remained their director for 37 yrs. These two schools also need recognition for giving drill teams the name it has today. Thank you. Leslie Mote
Leslie brings up an excellent point. There ARE a lot more drill teams than just the Kilgore College Rangerettes. I would like to state, for the record, that I have searched for information about the Apache Belles (as they are the "rival" of the Rangerettes) and other college drill teams. This information is not in abundance. However, here you can visit the Tyler Junior College web page and read a short paragraph (all the information I could find) about the Apache Belles . The Southwest Texas State University Student organization page also has a brief description of the Strutters drill team. You will need to scroll down a bit to read this information, however. For information about other college drill teams, visit the Dance/Drill Team Directors of America website and click on "College Drill Teams." There is a spreadsheet of addresses of other college drill teams. Thank you for your letter, Leslie, and thank you to everyone for visiting the site. Keep responding and e-mailing me! Have a happy holiday season! Keep kicking!
Go To Page: 1
