By:  Guerda Pierre

When one thinks of jump rope, they instantly identify the activity with younger children playing at recess, but shun at the thought of it being considered an actual sport. However, if they took a closer look, they would realize that it is indeed a sport; the jump roping coaches of Morristown, NJ know it, and most importantly the kids believe it.  So much so, that they may possibly become the first Olympic jump-ropers.

The Lightning Bolts jump rope team from the Red Oaks School in Morristown, NJ recently joined forces with the Amateur Athletic Union, the award-winning Kangaroo Kids from Maryland, and the Snap Dragons (who are former Lightning Bolts) to host a day of workshops for jumpers and their instructors during the Jump Start II event.  The main purpose of the event, which was held at the Frelinghuysen Middle School in Morris Township, was to provide coaches and coaches-to-be with the necessary elements on how to effectively coach a jump rope team and to boost overall interest and awareness of the sport.

Nevertheless, though both the Lightening Bolts and the Snap Dragons are jump roping teams, they have different purposes; the Lightening Bolts are primarily a demonstration team, whereas the seven-member Snap Dragons are a competition team.

There are also the infamous Kangaroo Kids, who are a precision-jumping team, who compete to music in choreographed programs.  This year, they took first place in the Double Dutch at the world competition in South Africa, and will also compete in the upcoming Junior Olympics jumping competition in Norfolk, VA this August.

Various categories that jumpers tend to compete in are single and double ropes, and long and short ropes. Thus, making the rope turners just as significant as the jumpers. Jump roping is a universal sport, as it is commonly used among all types of athletes, ranging from football players to figure skaters, and it is known to develop one’s laterality, agility, and endurance.

Click here for more news about the Morristown Jump Ropers.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 at 9:09 am and is filed under Jump Rope. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.