Double-Dutch is back in Connecticut and organizers of the 46th Annual Invitational American Double-Dutch League World Championship hope that means more young people will embrace the sport.
At the championship competition being held at the Star Hill Family Athletic Center in Tolland, jumpers from all over the world have been invited to attend.
“Double-dutch is a really great sport for all kinds of people to do ’cause your gender doesn’t matter, if you’re young or old it doesn’t really matter,” said Julien Ishgahara, 13, of the Japanese Children’s Society of New Jersey. “It’s just a great way to come and communicate with other people and connect, because the double-dutch community is a very small community, but that’s why a lot of people know each other so it’s a really great way to connect with other people all around the world.”
The international competition tests teams in three different categories: speed, compulsory and freestyle.
Competitors are first tested on their speed. This portion of the event consists of the jumper’s steps being counted for two minutes. The jumper with the most steps receives the most points.
The compulsory requires a bit more balance and agility. Jumpers must first, hop on their right foot four times to the right, then on their left foot four times to the left. Immediately following jumpers must cross their right foot over their left foot two times and then cross their left foot over their right foot two times, finishing with 12 high steps. The athletes are scored on both the speed in which they complete the exercises, and how well they execute each move.
The judges then tally up the points for the speed and compulsory sections, combine them, and the five teams with the highest score move on to the next and final round.
Freestyle is the last portion of the competition. Each routine will include moves that are worth a specific set of points. Contestants are judged on the precision of each move. These typically include stunts such as cartwheels and aerials, as well as step dancing both inside and outside of the ropes.
Carrie Trimmier-McCrorey, who serves as the State Representative for the Connecticut American Double-Dutch League, was instrumental in bringing the competition back to the state. The goal is to have the sport re-introduced in public schools across the state.
“I started jumping double-dutch in 1978, long ago, and I noticed that kids didn’t do it anymore,” Trimmier-Mccrorey said. “I’ve been teaching double-dutch for the past eight or nine years, going out in the community, going into the schools. I’m contracted into the schools, every chance that I get I teach double-dutch to the kids.”
Trimmier-McCrorey was able to resurrect the sport through support from the Juvenile and Adult Diabetes Health Awareness and Family Ministries. The organization was created to raise awareness for the disease, as well as support the sport of double-dutch.
Toni Veal, coach of the Brownsville Jazzy Jumpers from Brooklyn, explained how a sport like this is particularly important for her community. Veal traveled to Connecticut with 13 children.
“It saves them from the streets,” Veal said. “It’s so easy to get into the streets in Brownsville, it’s like one of the only things that’s available to them.”
“It’s the ideal team sport because you really need each other, if one person is missing it throws everything off.” Veal said. “It makes them feel wanted, it gives them a voice and they can be themselves.”
Veal said one stigma plaguing the sport is the idea that it is only for school girls. She said it is difficult to find young men that identify as straight males to join her team due to the threat to their sexuality, “It’s a real real battle with ‘I’m gay if I jump,’ ” she said.
Trudy Rochester attended the event, supporting her two children after one year of being involved with the sport. Rochester said that she is grateful to have the program as an outlet for her children, who both jump with the JADA foundation.
“I wish more parents that did double-dutch back in the day would give back, like help train and encourage more kids to come,” Rochester said. “I wish they would have more sponsors because it’s a nonprofit and these coaches don’t get paid. They volunteer their services three days a week, two hours a day just for the kids in Hartford. So, I wish they could get more funding.”
Tyra McClung can be reached at tmcclung@courant.com.
