54th Annual National Baton Twirling Championship at Notre Dame

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- ABC57's Kyle Ennis was at the campus of Notre Dame, where you might notice some hustle and bustle around this week for the 54th Annual National Baton Twirling Championship.

You may know Notre Dame brings a lot of business during the school year, but this event brought in $1.3 million of economic impact to the region last year according to Visit South Bend.

The championship brings 72 teams from all 50 states and this week is the moment these teams have been waiting for.

Local South Bend team, "Spotlight Performers,” is off and twirling in the national championship after these girls spent months preparing and competing.

"Spotlight Performers" Director Amy Kring stated, “As we’ve come from February, if they start to feel down, I’m like just go back and watch the video from February and you’re going to feel really good about how you feel about your routines in July.”

While most teams have competed here year after year, the “Spotlight Performers" are only in year two.

The team is new, starting in 2021, but Kring focuses efforts on getting all involved.

Kring said, “We know that competition team can’t be afforded by everyone, so we do the fundraisers so kids that are really interested are able to participate.”

While football brings in 100,000 people per season, the over 1,500 competitors like the "Spotlight Performers" are helping local businesses during the quieter summer months, typically when business is a toss-up.

O'Rourke's Public House General Manager Amber Goddard said, “We always look forward to the twirlers coming to town because we know it gives us a great boost for the whole week. They came into town yesterday and plan to be here till Sunday and so we’ve staffed up every day preparing for them.”

With businesses staffed and those like the "Spotlight Performers" competing through Friday, the girls are looking to dazzle the judges and make friends along the way.