Note: I am not an expert on the history of
the sport of jump rope, but here is what I know about how it unfolded in
the United States, at least.
The first jump rope tournament
that I am aware of began in 1960 in the little northern Wisconsin
town of Bloomer
(about 3,000 people). A physical education teacher by the name of
Wally Morman (sp?) began the event to give his students an extra
incentive to exercise in the long Wisconsin winter. I
did a demonstration there once in 1981and the speed that these athletes
attain with a short hemp rope is incredible. The tournament is
still run at the end of every January and attracts competitors from
Wisconsin and Minnesota who try to jump as many times as possible in 10
seconds (over 60 times!).
The
American Double Dutch League (ADDL) was founded in 1973 by two
police detective, David Walker and Ulysses Williams. They've been
holding Double Dutch tournaments ever since and draw from teams formed
in schools, YMCA's, 4-H clubs, Girls Scouts, and city park and
recreation departments. Their champions were featured many times
on the Johnny Carson show and next to boxers, probably gave jump rope
more visibility in the U.S. than any other organization. ADDL is
still going strong and draws most of their teams from the Eastern U.S.
In 1976, Richard Cendali, a physical
education teacher from Boulder, Colorado, formed the "Skip-Its" jump
rope demonstration team. Only two years later, Jean Barkow,
another P.E. teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had the inspiration to get
kids excited about an excellent aerobic exercise and help raise money
for the American Heart Association by jumping rope and raising pledges.
"Jump Rope for Heart" went on to involve many millions of children
raising 10's of millions of dollars in subsequent years. The
combination of Richard's pioneering work and the Jump Rope for Heart
annual event led
to the formation of many other demonstration jump rope teams around the
country, and around the world. Of course, it wouldn't be long
before there would be tournaments where the demonstration teams could
compete against one another. .
Richard Cendali (standing
in back to the far left) and the
first "Skip-Its" team, ca 1976
The first "International Rope Skipping
Organization" tournament was held in Colorado in 1982. That organization would
eventually merge with an offshoot, "The World Rope Skipping Federation,"
to become the U.S. Amateur Jump Rope
Federation (USAJRF). Other similar organizations are also
present in Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, and Asia. The
first true very broad international organization, the
International Rope Skipping Federation (FISAC-IRSF) formed in
the late 1990's and holds international championships every even year.
(FISAC stands for the French initials of the organization.)
Another jump rope organization called "Nawatobi"
in Japan, and referred to as "Acro-Roping" in Canada, also holds
competitions where athletes jump on spring boards and cross the arms in
different ways while the rope turns several times around. I'm not
familiar enough with their history, however, to make more comments.
Some young past champs from the
Hot Dogs USA team!
