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Jumping Rope as a Competitive Sport
By Sheilamarie Nellis
A friend who substitute teaches at the local school has started a jump rope team. I wasn’t quite sure what she meant when she first told me about how the team was preparing to compete in regional tournaments. How could jump rope have a tournament? I grew up jumping rope. My sisters, neighborhood friends, and I learned the alphabet that way. We learned the months of the year and such important information as whether we would marry a tinker, tailor, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, or Indian chief. We took these predictions quite seriously. Jumping rope was one of the few physical activities available to a girl growing up in the city in the 50s and 60s. Jumping rope along with the occasional dodge ball or kickball game was played in the middle of the street with someone always on the lookout for cars. If someone could come up with some chalk, we might play hopscotch on the sidewalk or throw a ball against the side of someone’s garage wall where there were no windows in the way. But jump rope was definitely the most popular game we played. We had an endless supply of jump rope songs and chants, and someone inevitably would learn a new one while visiting friends or cousins in another city and teach it to the rest of us when she returned. But a competitive sport? I got the part about how jumping rope is a good cardiovascular workout -- that was talked about in the 70s when people started getting into the fitness craze. But how does one compete in jump rope? See who can do pepper the longest? While researching for a Squidoo lens I wrote on jump rope songs, I discovered that indeed jump rope has gone through a big transformation since I was a girl. Double dutch -- jumping with two ropes swinging alternately -- pushed jump rope to a new level. More recently, new moves have been added to double dutch as jumpers hop over the whirling ropes, performing feats reminiscent of break dancing and gymnastics. Jump rope teams have been formed throughout North America and in parts of Europe, too. In Japan jump rope has become very popular and its popularity is spreading to other Asian countries, as well. There have even been suggestions that jump rope may become one of the next Olympic sports. Somehow, I doubt the Olympic teams will be chanting “Banana, banana, banana split!” while training for their sport. What do you think?
Sheilamarie grew up jumping rope. She can still recite jump rope chants ad nauseum.
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 |  | Dirk Bansch liked this intel. Mar 1, 2011 |  | | nick loved this intel. Mar 2, 2011 |
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Back in my boxing days, I was so hopeless at jumping rope that my coach told me to just go running instead, even when it was raining. I have high respect for anyone who can skip about on a swinging clothesline.
 | | nick Mar 2, 2011 14:14 |  appreciated |
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