“Jump roping is a relatively new sport that is still developing everyday.” says freshman, David Gordon. “But it’s not very complicated to get started.  All you need is a rope.”

David Gordon and Michael Laper, devote 2-4 hours to competitive jump roping everyday.

Gordon was first inspired to try out  jump roping when the local team, The Kangaroo Kids, performed at his elementary school 9 years ago.  He then tried out for the Greenbelt S.I.T.Y. Stars and has been competing with them ever since.

Like Gordon, Laper competitively jumps rope as well with the Kangaroo Kids.  As a long time member of this team, he spends some days at practice creating a routine and practicing his favorite tricks but other days he coaches kids 6-years-old and up.

Laper says that, “coaching kids is something that I really enjoy because expanding the sport is important to me and I like to see them developing their skills.”

Although coaching beginners and preparing routines are important aspects of the sport, the most important part are the competitions where the members of the teams get to showcase what they’ve been working on.

“My favorite part about the competitions is that we get to go to so many great places to compete.” says Laper.

Their jump roping has brought them to places like Houston, New Orleans, Virginia Beach and even the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade to perform.

“The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade was one of my favorite performances so far.  We got to show off all of our best tricks in front of millions of people who were watching and be apart of something very special.” Gordon recollects.

Laper agrees with Gordon, “Just being able to show a lot of people all the tricks you can do is really fun.  We work so hard everyday to perfect it but it pays off when people congratulate your performance.”

Although he hasn’t placed in a while, that doesn’t matter to Laper.  “I just love the friends I’ve made and the places I’ve gone through this sport and I want to continue doing this for the rest of my life.”