There are always those sports that generate the weird looks. People may have been used to hearing about baseball and basketball and football, but freshman Sarah Sharman was a competitive jump roper from the fourth grade through her senior year in high school.
“It is such a unique sport, and not many people have heard of it since it is so small. The most common response that I hear when I tell people about jump rope is ‘oh you mean like double-dutch?’ Many people who have never heard of it think that it is just a playground activity for little kids at recess, but it is much more than that! If you type in ‘nationals jump rope’ to YouTube, you will see how different it is. It is really something that you have to see to understand,” Sharman said.
Sharman’s older sister introduced her to competitive jump roping when Sharman was in fourth grade. Sharman became a part of the Bainbridge Island Rope Skippers just like her sister before her, attending camps and classes before finally trying out.
“Competition days start early in the morning with speed events, and end later in the afternoon with freestyle,” Sharman said.
In speed events, judges score the competitors on jumping speed, counting only the right foot and then doubling the score at the end to account for the left foot. In freestyle, the competitors choreograph their own moves for a 45 seconds to a minute and 15 seconds routine.
“Freestyle is much more fun than speed because it allows you to be creative. There are four elements involved in single rope freestyle events: multiple unders, where the rope goes under your feet more than once in one jump, footwork, power, gymnastics and rope manipulations, where you release the handle and catch it,” Sharman said.
Although Sharman did not compete this year, competitive jump roping is still a part of her life. She will continue to support her teammates when she returns home from college.
“I do not see myself competing in the future, but whenever I go back home for breaks, I always go to practice to help out. During the summer, there are camps that I will continue to teach at. It has been such an important part of my life and has brought such amazing opportunities to travel and meet people,” Sharman said.