It started off like any other Sunday. I woke up earlier than most, put on my show uniform and rushed to meet my teammates. This weekend felt like all the others, I was performing at a jump rope demonstration show, but; had no idea where we were going, what time we would be back or who I might meet there. It started off like any other Sunday. With a simple, plastic jump rope. I have been jumping rope for 11 years and every weekend at least one show is scheduled in which my teammates and I would perform synchronized skills, maneuvers, and dances using a combination of single and Double-Dutch ropes. We’ve performed at halftime during UNC basketball games, at schools and community events; locally, nationally and internationally. But this Sunday
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A crowd of 400 jubilant people awaited us. A heavy-set man greeted us, “You are here to perform for our annual Family Day, a day for our residents who are struggling with drugs and alcohol. Participants must live in our facilities with strictly no contact with families or friends. Today is the one day of the year they will finally connect with loved ones they have been missing. This is a special day for all of us.” I didn’t relate to this until the halfway through our performance, typically inviting audience members to participate in the show. I waved a five-year-old girl into my Double-Dutch ropes. Her confidence soared as she jumped and waved to her mother in the crowd. My eyes met her mother’s and she smiled and was crying. She later thanked me profusely and I struggled to hold back my own tears. A reminder to myself, “This sport is so much more than jump rope.”
This simple, plastic rope has enabled me to teach and entertain Sri Lankan school children, Native American Indian children in Oklahoma and students from the roughest parts of Durham. Although I have performed hundreds of shows, this show touched my heart deeply. There is nothing like the satisfaction I felt as that struggling mother saw her little daughter happily jump
A crowd of 400 jubilant people awaited us. A heavy-set man greeted us, “You are here to perform for our annual Family Day, a day for our residents who are struggling with drugs and alcohol. Participants must live in our facilities with strictly no contact with families or friends. Today is the one day of the year they will finally connect with loved ones they have been missing. This is a special day for all of us.” I didn’t relate to this until the halfway through our performance, typically inviting audience members to participate in the show. I waved a five-year-old girl into my Double-Dutch ropes. Her confidence soared as she jumped and waved to her mother in the crowd. My eyes met her mother’s and she smiled and was crying. She later thanked me profusely and I struggled to hold back my own tears. A reminder to myself, “This sport is so much more than jump rope.”
This simple, plastic rope has enabled me to teach and entertain Sri Lankan school children, Native American Indian children in Oklahoma and students from the roughest parts of Durham. Although I have performed hundreds of shows, this show touched my heart deeply. There is nothing like the satisfaction I felt as that struggling mother saw her little daughter happily jump