Students jumping for joy

SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS 2/21/04

By SCOTT STEEPLETON ASSISTANT METRO EDITOR

MIKE ELIASON / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS - When 'Jumping for Joy' is in the house, the audience can't keep its eyes off the team's high-flying jump rope skills. Ankur Bahl, left, and Michelle Fongson practice day after day to perfect synchronized jump rope routines.

Combine the footwork of "Riverdance," the floor work of a gymnast and the hand-eye coordination of a cowboy and you've got today's version of jump rope.

It's a high-energy sport with as much razzle-dazzle as a well-executed football play that leaves athlete and audience breathless.

Vieja Valley School is home to its own jump rope club -- the Joyous Jumpers -- but if a 20-year-old City College student has her way, the sport will begin showing up on campuses across the South Coast.

"It's an awesome sport," said Caroline DeLoreto, who took up jumping rope at age 10 and started the Vieja Valley club several months ago.

Before picking up their ropes for Friday's lunchtime jumping, the club and other youngsters at the school were treated to a demonstration by the award-winning Jumping for Joy team from Santa Clara. For nearly an hour, six athletes ranging in age from 13 to 22 wowed the children with single- and multirope tricks.

"It's really good for you physically," said Jessica Starr, 15, whose nearly eight years of jumping rope keep her legs and arms toned. Whether doing a routine on her own or joining the others for two-, three- or even five-rope routines, Jessica, who practices more than six hours a week on top of other athletic endeavors, is the sort of athlete that kids just starting out look up to.

"When we do assemblies like this, the kids come up and say it's awesome," she said. "I hope to do it forever."

Cindy Joy, the team's head coach and a record holder in many divisions for the over-30 athletes, said the origin of the sport is not easy to trace, but it seems the people who skip rope today are following in the footsteps of a sort of reverse limbo: A vine was placed on the ground and lifted higher and higher until it could be jumped no more.

Jessica and her teammates seemingly jumped to the sky during their demonstration. But their routines also incorporate flashy footwork, tumbles, splits, the cancan dance and push-ups -- and all the while the rope is moving.

They bounce the handles off the ground without missing a beat, trade them back and forth between jumping in to do a trick and in the most exciting routine, if the oohs and aahs of lower-graders are any indication, the team did a six-rope routine -- one rope for each member -- in unison.

The Joyous Jumpers were impressed.

"I really liked them," said Ramin Parvin, 9. "The only two sports I like are basketball and jump rope."

The adults also like jump rope.

"From the poorest to the richest, there are no boundaries," said Lynn Seigel-Boettner, who teaches second and third grade.

She said the Jumping for Joy team is an inspiration, but credited Ms. DeLoreto as the real hero for introducing jump rope to a new generation. Ms. DeLoreto credits an earlier team from Jumping for Joy for roping her into the sport.

"For me it's great to see the kids getting pumped about it. It helps them in everything they do," she said. "And it's just a dollar a rope."

FAST FACTS

Jumping rope

If you want to learn more about jump rope, log onto the United States Amateur Jump Rope Federation's Web site, www.usajrf.org.