A nine-year-old Moncton baton twirler is on her way to nationals.
Janie Ouellette has been with Moncton’s Club Baton Atlantik group for about four years, learning the proper techniques that go into the sport.
“I just tried it and I loved it,” she told Global News.
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Ouellette has had to work harder than her fellow teammates in order to get a chance to compete at Canada’s national baton twirling competition next month because of a condition known as 3M syndrome, which causes dwarfism.
But even with her short stature, it hasn’t kept her from challenging herself every day.
Teammate Brianna Middleton said Ouellette is just another person on the team and helps her train.
“I encourage her and say you should go do your routine three times and then come show me and it just pushes her to work harder,” Middleton said.
WATCH: A nine-year-old Moncton baton twirler is on her way to nationals, but getting there has taken a lot more effort than most of her teammates.
Though she lives with 3M syndrome, Ouellette has shown determination not to let the condition keep her from her goals, head coach Brenda Arsenault LeBlanc said.
“She wants to be like everybody and compete like everybody,” said Arsenault LeBlanc, who is also director of Club Baton Atlantik.
Twirling, however, is only one thing that Ouellette has taken on.
In addition to learning the baton, her and her brother, who also has 3M syndrome, wrote a book in an effort to explain more about their condition. They did a presentation at their school as well, to explain “why they are different,” Arsenault LeBlanc said.
Ouellette said the book was a tool to help people toss away preconceptions.
The book was first released in French in October 2015 and after winning a grant through the National Bank of Canada, they recently released an English version.
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“Before we wrote the book there were a lot of people that were saying, ‘you are small’ and stuff that I didn’t like,” she said.
Since the book’s release, Ouellette said her classmates have gained a better understanding of what those like her and her brother can do.
The national competition is set to begin in early July in Saint John, N.B. and though she said she’s a little bit scared, Ouellette said she’s ready to compete like a champion.