THE ECHO

By Lauren Klein // Reporter

“1-2-3…A-V-O-N JUMP!”

The ending chant after every practice. Every Performance. Every competition.

Twenty-seven jumpers all huddled in a circle. Together as a team.

Jump roping once originated in Ancient Egypt with vines as ropes.

Now, jump rope isn’t just a recess activity; it is a performance, and a competition sport recognized in over 38 countries with a governing sports body.

The Avon Aerial Orioles were founded in 1989 by Maple Elementary school PE teacher, Linda Ireland.  The team is currently run by coaches Jessica Nicholson and Matt Koehlinger. Currently, they are one of the two competitive jump rope teams in Indiana.

Nicholson grew up on a jump rope team in Richmond, Indiana called the Thump Jumpers, which she joined when she was in second grade.

When her daughter Taylor Nicholson joined the Avon Aerial Orioles in 2007, she began helping with the AAO’s.

“I just started helping with the team and then became a coach,” Nicholson said.

Throughout her 14 years of coaching, Nicholson can’t think of one specific moment that is her favorite.

“There’s never been one specific moment that is my favorite,” Nicholson said. “I think every time an athlete gets a skill, or hits a routine, or gets a score they’ve been working on and is proud of themselves, that’s my favorite moment. That’s what keeps me coming back.”

Koehlinger has been coaching the team for five years and agrees that there’s never been one specific moment.

“I guess if I had to choose, it would be at competitions when I see the work pay off,” Koehlinger said. “Whether its Bears Blast for the first years or Nationals and Worlds for the Gold team, I love seeing hard work pay off.”

For Koehlinger, preparing for competition is all about goals.

“I’m always thinking about what the goal is. Not all jumpers have the same goals and half of them couldn’t tell you a goal,” Koehlinger said. “Once I know goals, I think about how to best guide them towards goals. Guiding them towards goals usually involves enough practice and repetition and I always like to change things up to help make it fun.”

During competition, Koehlinger just tries to make sure that jumpers are in the right place mentally and physically.

“I just try and make sure jumpers know where to be and make sure they are also in a good head space,” Koehlinger said. “Most of what we do in the sport is mental, so having confidence usually leads to success.”

For competitions this year, both Nicholson and Koehlinger agree that the team could improve consistency in general.

“Consistency with attendance, consistency with effort, consistency with actual routines and speed,” Nicholson said.

Koehlinger wants more jumpers on the team to commit so more jumpers can get better.

“I would love for more jumpers on our team to really commit to getting better,” Koehlinger said. “Whether that’s trying new things, practicing outside of practice or just focusing more on practice.

Once the team improves on commitment, Koehlinger believes that they could get more jumpers to go to The American Jump Rope Federation’s National Competition.

“Would love to get more jumpers to go to Nationals. It’s such a great experience,” Koehlinger said. “For that to happen, more jumpers have to become fully committed.”

During the 2025 National Championships, Avon had four jumpers competing throughout that week.

The four jumpers, Anna Koehlinger, Lauren Klein, Olivia Koehlinger, and Vivian Ford together earned 25 awards, including 21 age division placements. Anna set a national record for the individual speed sprint for juniors under 15 and placed with four grand nationals’ podiums with one Grand National Champion for Koehlinger’s pairs routine.

For Nicholson, the future of the team is to continue to share the sport of jump rope.

“It is most important to continue to share the sport of jump rope and to grow the number of people jumping,” Nicholson said.

The team’s biggest way of sharing the sport is with local performances like basketball halftime shows.

“What goes into the show itself is decided based on which jumpers are attending and what routines are ready to perform,” Nicholson said.

The team has 5 halftime show routines this year including Jan. 16 at the Avon girls’ game, Jan. 20 at the Plainfield boys’ game, Jan. 27 at the Avon boys’ game, Feb. 7 at the IU Indy boys’ game, and Feb. 22 at the IU Indy girls’ game.