THE ECHO

By Lauren Klein // Reporter

How did you get into the sport?

When I was in fourth grade, the team went around and did shows at all the schools. And when I was in fourth grade, I was watching, and saw the performance, and I just thought that was the coolest thing ever, and I need to be a part of that.

So how long have you been jumping for?

I was just thinking about this the other night. I think I just completed my sixth year. I’ll be heading into my seventh year.

What does a member of the Gold Team do?

So, there are two different teams, the black team and gold team. If you are in your first year, or just not quite as advanced in the skills, you are typically going to be on the black team, which is the lower team. But if you meet the requirements, you can be on the gold team, which gets to go to a higher competition and participate in more events. And then above that would be Junior Coaches, which are high schoolers, who help lead the gold team.

What does a Junior Coach do?

So, we have eight Junior coaches, and we probably have a total of over 20-ish other kids who are either just starting or they’re still in their early years and haven’t figured out where they want to go with the sport yet. So we, as junior coaches, kind of just help guide them, teach them new tricks, routines, help out at bigger events.

What inspired you to want to become a Junior Coach?

Well, my dad, he’s a coach, and I think seeing him coach has given me a lot of respect for how much work it takes. So I think I wanted to give back to the sport and try to give back and help the team. Helping the little ones, may not be my favorite part of it, but it is definitely super important, and I think it helps take the load off of our two coaches.

What is your favorite part of the sport?

It’s definitely competing. Competing is so fun. It’s not so fun when you are walking out onto the floor when you are nervous, but you know it’s going to be over and  you are gonna either be so happy, or maybe not, but it’s so fun to walk out onto the floor and just put everything out there.

You just recently over the summer went to Japan and represented Avon at the International Jump Rope Union’s World Championship. What made you want to go to Japan?

Well, I found out about it probably a year prior to when they hosted trials. And I mean, obviously I wanted to go to Japan and see the culture. I’ve never been out of the country, so to just have that experience is really cool. But also, it was going to be the biggest competition our sport has ever held, and I really wanted to be a part of that. So, I trained and worked really hard to get myself into a position where I was able to qualify in several events and it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever been a part of.

That’s amazing. So, did you say that this was your first time out of the country? How was it experiencing a culture so different than in America?

I mean I’ve walked into Canada but I’ve never like been out of the country. And I mean being in a different culture was so weird. I’d walk into Wendy’s and be like, ‘Hey can I have a burger?’ and they’d start talking to me in Japanese. There were so many experiences where it was almost funny because you can’t really communicate with anyone. Everything was so different, but not like in a bad way, just they drive on the other side of the road, and they had 7/11’s every block but just to experience it was so  cool just to see the difference.

So, to get to Japan, you had to qualify for trial for the team, right? How were the trials?

So yes, we had speed in the morning and my speed in the morning was one of the best days I ever had, I hit a PR in double-unders and then I went out and I met my PR in speed which qualified me in two events, and then I went out and hit another PR in three-minute speed. So, in the morning I was killing it.  But afternoon came, and I think I got in my head a little bit about my freestyle routines because it’s a little scarier to go out and do but I had such a good morning, and I knew I already made it on the National Team. My freestyle events ended up not going too well. So, freestyle wasn’t good, but my speed was so good, and I qualified for that, so I was happy.

So how was your performance in Japan overall?

It’s really hard to fly across the country and expect yourself to hit the best numbers you’ve ever hit. I don’t think that I went out there and embarrassed myself, but I didn’t go out there and do my best in every event. I did go out there and I set a PR and then in speed I was having really bad jumper’s block before I went out there and so to go out there and still have two clean runs and hit 90 in speed which has been a huge goal was still really cool, and the more and more I’ve thought about it the happier I’ve been with it. With my three-minute speed I was not happy with because I missed a lot and if I didn’t miss, I was going to set a PR, so I was upset about that one. But overall, I’m not mad about my performance.

What is one lesson competing in Japan has taught you?

No matter where you’re mentally or in the sport, it doesn’t determine what you actually can put out on the floor. Because I was really struggling to get myself into a good place, so to be able to go out there and still have clean runs was like, really cool. So, I think I learned to never count myself out until I actually competed. And then I think just having an open mind going out on to the floor.