Skipping a beat

What are you up to this weekend? I’m spending three days at the National Skipping Championships at Homebush.

The excitement kicks off on Saturday morning when my ex and I will help run the T-shirt stall. It sells a variety of clothing items with various skipping themed transfers applied to them using a very big, very hot, metal press.

I volunteered for my ex to be taught to use the press at the State Skipping Championships. He said his burns have almost healed for Nationals.

My ex is also a skipping judge. I think he does presentation. I may have also volunteered him to train to become one a few years back. I can’t remember.

So it will be family bonding time par excellence. Well, more like separated parent bonding time, as the youngest will want nothing to do with either of us and the eldest will want nothing to do with the National Skipping Championships.

The youngest will spend the entire three days of competition alternately stressing and training and is best not approached.

The excitement will conclude on Monday night with a club dinner. I have volunteered myself for that one.

The results of the Nationals will determine which skippers head to the World Skipping Championships in Ottawa, Canada, next year.

The youngest has faced quite a few obstacles in 2019, including recurring illness, adenoid removal and a new team member to train up, so it will be a joyful surprise if she scores a spot on the national team.

But I think it’s a wonderful thing to compete at a national level, though my heart will be in my mouth for the whole time because I find spectating quite emotional whether my child is out there on the floor or not.

My heart alternately soars and breaks for the kids who’ve put so many hundreds of hours into training for a minute on the floor that can easily go wrong when the ropes are spinning so fast and furiously.

If I don’t get a chance to blog on Monday morning I’ll post an update on Tuesday with some action shots.

Here’s one from their last training session last night: