And so an era ends

The youngest hung up her ropes over the long weekend, after 10 years as a competitive skipper. She has retired from the sport at the ripe young age of 17.

It was poignant that her last competitive category was also her first: freestyle pairs.

And she performed the routine with her original partner, Sally, who has become one of her closest friends over the years.

They hadn’t been able to rehearse the routine due to the youngest’s injuries, so I was a bit terrified about how it would pan out on the competition floor. But their muscle memories are strong and while it was far from the best routine on the day, it wasn’t the worst.

I was bursting with pride as I watched them and felt pretty emotional and shakey when it ended and they hugged each other.

Sorry the pictures are so blurry, they’re screenshots. I would normally take stills, but I didn’t want to put too much emphasis on it all by getting close and snapping away, as it was more a swan song than a medal attempt.

Our last ever National Jump Rope Championships were held over four days on the outskirts of Penrith.

It is a very long way from our house to Penrith. On the Saturday we left home at 6.30am and got back home at 7.30pm.

During the 13 hours in between I goggled at the above sign, thinking it was a rather blase way to announce they were offering an opportunity to casually use firearms, then realised they were referring to shooting hoops; I fluffed and folded 120 custom-printed skipping T-shirts and hoodies; I watched the youngest compete in double unders and do 80 jumps without a mistake; I gasped in surprise when one of the skipping dads came back from a walk and announced he’d been chased by a growling emu (and had the photos to prove it); and had a panic attack when the youngest’s PayPal account was hacked (as her bank account is attached to mine).

It was quite the day.

And that was just Saturday.

On Sunday a Channel 9 team turned up to film the weather at the comp! That’s Jeremy from Northbridge Knockouts being interviewed in the photo above!

He’s in his mid 20s and still breaking records. I watched him achieve 100 in 30 second speed on Sunday, a first for our skipping club. The stadium erupted in joyful cheers and a special cake was presented to him afterwards.

The youngest headed to the sports centre early with her teammate on Sunday so I could get her some Voltaren from the chemist when it opened. I was a bit scared about finding my way there on my own, so the youngest texted directions on how to connect my phone to the car’s navigation system.

Thank heavens she did because my normal method of getting places is to look up the directions and stare at them for a few minutes, hoping they will sink in, then pull up on the side of the road repeatedly when I get lost along the way to check the map again.

Dead set true story.

The trip to Penrith was mainly on freeways, which are not ideal for pulling up on.

But I was glad to make the journey as it was wonderful to catch up with the skipping support crews, who’ve become friends along the way. Some of the team are off to the World Jump Rope Championships in Colorado next month.

I’m a teensy bit jealous. We got to go to Worlds in Shanghai (team pictured above, Team Teal below), but our Worlds in Ottawa were kiboshed by COVID.

COVID also threw the competition schedule out of kilter. Worlds were meant to be held in Colorado last year, but everything got pushed back by a year. The youngest may have considered competing if she was still in year 11, but HSC year wasn’t a possibility.

Also, her body isn’t coping with the injuries skipping has caused. She admitted over the weekend that she’s never been in as much pain as her life as she was in Canberra recently for the State Jump Rope Championships. That’s not good for someone who is only 17.

But, all in all, skipping has been more of a positive than a negative in her life. She started the sport when she wasn’t coping too well with life and it gave her structure and a sense of achievement that helped her recover.

It also fostered her love of physical exercise and sport, which has continued to blossom over the years and led her to AFL as her next goal, which she’s determined to pursue more vigorously when her injuries finally heal.

It has always been such a buzz to watch her compete in skipping competitions and it was a huge spin out when she was named the Australian 13 Years Age Champion. Sooooo proud!

I loved seeing the kids do their double dutch routines over the years as their skills improved. Above is a pic from a few years ago, before the youngest retired from competing in team events to focus on the HSC.

And this was their old freestyle routine …