Pageants arenƵt normally seen as a team event, but local participants are working to change peopleƵs perception of what a traditional pageant girl is.
ƵI tell people this analogy: When you play poker or blackjack, youƵre not playing against other people, youƵre playing against the dealer,Ƶ Melody Kloss, a local pageant queen and coach, said.
From touching up other girlsƵ makeup to fluffing dresses backstage, this new generation of pageant girls are working to build each other up and be an example of true sportsmanship.
On the weekend of June 20 in Katy, 13 girls from the Crossroads region competed in the Young American Miss International pageant, and nine of them brought home crowns.
ƵYouƵre competing against who we were yesterday, not each other,Ƶ said Tabree Houston, who was recently crowned Young Miss International.
Crossroads girls who won titles at Young American Miss International:
Haylin Graves Ƶ Young Teen Miss International (Seadrift)
Brooklyn Raina Ƶ Young Jr Teen Miss International (London)
Paige Baldwin Ƶ Young American Teen Miss International (El Campo)
Tara Carter Ƶ Young American Miss International (Victoria)
Tabree Houston Ƶ Young Miss International (Victoria)
Vivienne Hille Ƶ Young Pre-Teen Miss International (London)
Patricia Silver Ƶ Young American Miss International Queen of Queens (Yorktown)
Kadence Johnson Ƶ Young Jr Miss International (Edna)
Kaera Grimshaw Ƶ Young American Miss International Directors Choice (Victoria)
ƵThis is a bigger pageant and some of these girls havenƵt had the chance to compete in big international pageant systems like this before,Ƶ Kloss said. ƵWeƵre so proud to have so many girls from our area put themselves out there and compete.Ƶ
The girls competed in formal wear, fashion, interview as long as some optional competitions.
ƵI always enjoy seeing the transfer of knowledge between generations of women at pageants,Ƶ Houston said. ƵAt this pageant there were girls as young as five and women in their 40s and 60s. The pageant world is just a beautiful form of sisterhood.Ƶ
While pageantry is not a team event on stage, behind the scenes and offstage, pageant girls are rooting for each other, ensuring that they all put their best foot forward during the competition and in life.
ƵItƵs amazing to see what girls of all ages from all over the world are doing to serve their communities,Ƶ Kloss said. ƵA competitive mindset can be good but at the end of the day these are the girls that are showing up for people.Ƶ
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