Should I kick off the blog post with the youngest’s medal tally at the NSW/ACT Skipping Championships, then tell you the general event blather after that?
Yeah!!
So, the youngest walked away with two Silver medals on Saturday: one for Double Under Relay (two people taking turns to see how many times they can jump up in the air in 30 seconds and get the rope to swing under their feet twice before they hit the ground again) and one for Freestyle Pairs (an acrobatic routine by two skippers who get a point for each trick they both perform correctly, at the same time, among other criteria).
On Sunday, the youngest stepped things up a notch – despite having a damaged tendon in her wrist – and won three Gold, two Silver and a Bronze. To be honest I’ve lost track of what they were for, but there was a Gold for 4-person Freestyle that was very exciting because it has never been a strength of her team. When we went to Shanghai for the last World Skipping Championships they completely botched it and the youngest’s rope broke just before the end, which meant they had to get a new rope and do it all over again … just as badly.
Back then you qualified for Worlds as a team and took part in every event, even the ones you sucked at. The rules have changed now and you need to qualify for each event.
At States this time around their 4 Person Freestyle was on fire. I reckon the pic above looks like they’re levitating.
Their Double Dutch routines were so exciting as well. I always love watching all the kids at the competition do their routines, no matter their club, as their athleticism is amazing.
And now the blather …
They are looooooong days during the NSW/ACT Skipping Championships. I dropped the youngest to a team mum’s house at 6.30am on Saturday morning to get her hair braided, then raced home to ice 24 cupcakes for the fundraising snack stall, before swinging past the bakery for a pretzel for the youngest and a coffee for me and heading to the venue.
I posted a pic of the cupcakes on Facebook and asked people to guess what the decorations were meant to represent. Answers were split between skipping ropes and stethoscopes. They were a bit of a rush job and, as you might be able to tell from this shot, I wasn’t very neat with the icing. But, hey, 24 cupcakes for fundraising ain’t too bad.
I was also rostered on the T-shirt stall for most of Saturday, but I mainly just kept the hair braiding mum company as she hot-pressed T-shirts with a variety of transfers for eager young skippers. Ostensibly I was the fluffer and folder, which involved giving the newly pressed transfers on the T-shirts a gentle pull in each direction so that they cooled properly, then arranging them on a table for collection.
My ex spent most of the two days as a judge and I sat cross legged beside him at the end of the judging table during the youngest’s first day of events, trying to take shots of the skippers. But I was too far away, so they’re all a bit fuzzy.
I was pretty happy with how high it looks like the youngest is jumping in the one above, blurry as it is.
On Saturday, the first raft of medal announcements were still being made at 6.30pm, 12 hours after our day began. We were so knackered afterwards that the youngest couldn’t even face dinner, we just made our weary way home, had a shower and went to bed.
Sunday was less crazy. It still kicked off with hair braiding at 6.30am, but most people had bought their T-shirts and official events concluded in the early afternoon. But the medal ceremony still went forever. We finally left the venue around 4pm and I headed to DD’s. He was at a Mother’s Day lunch and wasn’t due home until about an hour after my arrival, so I had a long, hot shower. As I stood under the spray it felt sooooooo good, I wanted to stay there forever.
Instead, we went to our local for dinner with one of our Service NSW vouchers.
Next month, the kids are heading to Nationals on the Gold Coast. It’s my ex’s turn to travel – plus he’s in high demand as a judge – so he’s booked flights and accommodation and I get to jangle my nerves at home rather than at the venue.
He was on the Gold Coast with the youngest the first time she qualified for the World Skipping Championships. I was sitting at a fellow skipping mum’s kitchen bench when we got the call. We were so shocked and beside ourselves with excitement.
This year the World Skipping Championships will be virtual. The youngest needs to film all her routines and submit them for judging. We’ll get Nationals out of the way and then tackle that major hurdle. Hopefully the damaged tendon in her wrist has healed by then.
It’s a funny old sport, skipping. Hardly anyone knows it even exists and few take it seriously. I got into an argument at dinner recently with someone who was very eye roll about it being called a “sport” because they regarded it as just being an exercise. I think they would change their minds if they came to watch the Championships.
Anyways, I hope your weekend gave you a jump in your step too.
Song of the day: Van Halen “Jump”
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