Athletes Skip to Success
Hundreds of area jump rope athletes will compete this weekend at a regional tournament hosted by the Cary YMCA SuperSkippers at Apex High School. And if the term athlete and jump rope are in any way a stretch when pondering this relatively young sport, consider that many experienced jumpers on the SuperSkippers team train heavily, not only, in jump rope, but in other sports like track, soccer and volleyball.
Many of the long-time SuperSkippers have found that jump rope training leads to better overall athletic performance by improving speed, agility and endurance.
Cara Enright, 17, a seventh-year SuperSkippers, is one of several veteran SuperSkippers who has benefited from cross training, or training in various sports to work different muscle groups. Cara and her sister, Olivia, 15, also a long-time SuperSkippers, both compete on the Green Hope High School Track Team in Cary. In addition to track, Cara has participated in gymnastics (offered through jump rope) and played on soccer teams.
Jump rope training has definitely improved the girls’ athletic ability, says their mother, Kathy Enright. “When they do a lot of the drills in track, Cara is really fast at moving her legs,” says Enright. “Her feet will just be flying and the other kids will say, ?How are you doing that?’” The answer: the drill at track practice is identical to jumping rope for one-minute speed, something the Enright girls have been practicing for years.
Track practice also has helped Cara with jump rope because of strength training requirements for “Building muscle strength helped her do jump rope tricks like mule kick and push-ups.”
“I think gymnastics and jump rope is a good base for any sport,” adds Meredith Mangum, whose son, John, 15, is a veteran SuperSkippers and pole-vaults for Green Hope High School track team.
Janice Robinson’s three daughters, Laura, 18, Melissa, 16 and Jessie, 14, all have been SuperSkippers for six years or more and all have participated in either soccer or track. Kelly Konrad, 16 and Lauren Mincey, 17, also are long-time SuperSkippers who run track.
Soccer coaches used to be disappointed when her daughter, Jessie, missed practices because of jump rope, says Robinson, but now that they see how much jump rope has increased her speed, they don’t complain. Maureen Tarquini, whose 15-year-old daughter Amy also plays soccer, says jump rope has definitely improved her daughter’s speed on the soccer field as well as her strength.
And the most obvious benefit of jump rope, jumping itself, has been harnessed by seven-year team member, Amanda Kramer, 14, whose volleyball team placed 11th in national competitions. At around five feet, four inches, Kramer is definitely not the tallest player on her volleyball team, but what she lacks in height she makes up for with a phenomenal vertical leap mastered during years of jump rope training.
Come see some of these amazing athletes compete against other area jump rope teams at the family-oriented, all-day Regional USA Junior Tournament event hosted by the Cary YMCA SuperSkippers at Apex High School on Saturday, April 19. Admission is free and concessions are available.
Participating teams include Cary Impact Tri-Force the Cary YMCA Super Skippers, the Bouncing Bulldogs, IMPACT Tri-Force and the SkipSations! Winners of the regional competition will compete in the national USA Jump Rope competition tentatively scheduled for June 27-29, 2008 in Orlando, Fla. at Disney World. USA Jump Rope is a nonprofit organization committed to the exchange and sharing of jump rope knowledge and experience.