WINDSOR - On March 25 and 26 The Georgian Jumpers Competitive Jump Rope team spent the weekend in Windsor for the Ontario Provincial competition. Approximately 125 athletes from eight teams were at the event from all over Ontario. This competition is where all of the athletes’ training pays off, as it is a qualifying event for the Canadian National Championships.
Each town’s team is made up of smaller teams of either four or five athletes. These smaller teams are put together based on the age of the athletes and they compete together in all of their team events. The Georgian Jumpers has three smaller teams; Skillz and Demand both compete in the age 12 to 14 mixed age category, and the senior team, Starstruck competes in the 15 to 17 age category. Each of these teams went into the competition well prepared and had some great results. They had some fantastic speed scores and did well in all of their freestyle routines. All of the teams qualified for Nationals and Starstruck set a provincial record in its single rope speed relay, which was very exciting.
The most intense day of competition was definitely Sunday. This was Master’s Day, which is when each athlete competes individually in three speed events and one freestyle event. It is much harder to qualify for Nationals in their individual events because only the top eight from each age category move on. We had many of our jumpers beat their personal best speed scores, which is incredibly hard to do especially under the intensity of a large competition. When they compete in their speed events there can be up to 10 other athlete’s in each heat, each jumping in an eight-foot square ‘box”. This is where the jumpers intense training pays off, but only if they can stay focused on what they are doing and not pay attention to anything else going on during the heat. All of the jumpers did very well with six of them qualifying for Nationals. In the 10-11 age group there were 35 athletes and we had one girl qualify. In the 12-15 female age group there were 53 athletes and we had two Georgian Jumpers move on. We also had two jumpers from the 12-14 male age group and one from the 15-17 category qualify.
So with Nationals only six weeks away the athletes are now busy perfecting their freestyle routines and continuing their conditioning for their speed events.
On Tuesday April 3the team was in Huntsville performing at three elementary schools. “These performances are about more than just putting on a show,” said head coach Shawnna McGill. “They are actually a big part of their training. It helps them fine tune their freestyle routines in front of an audience and also encourages them to do better especially in front of students who may not have ever seen competitive skipping”.
Nationals will be very exciting. For the first time this year the competition has been changed from a two day to a three-day event. Previously, each day started at 8:30 a.m. and didn’t finish until about 6 p.m. This new format with shorter days should help improve the athletes’ results because they won’t be as exhausted and will have a bit more “down” time. Starstruck is especially excited for this competition. The team is attempting to qualify for the FISAC World Championships that will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida the first week in August. Only the top four teams move on, and they will have some stiff competition. It will be the first time a Georgian Jumper team has even attempted to qualify for this World competition. The entire team will also be going to another World Competition and Camp in Washington, D.C. the first week of July.
The competitive team has also decided to run some more recreational classes in June as well as another day camp on April 16th.
For more information about the Georgian Jumpers please contact Susan Hrycyna at 705-378-4224.
(Submitted article.)