HALDIMAND—For Selkirk athlete Evelynn Hoover and her Caledonia-based coach and fellow athlete Kaitlyn Simpson, jumping rope is serious business. The pair just returned from Colorado Springs, where they competed as part of Team Canada in the 2023 World Jump Rope Championships, hosted by the International Jump Rope Union (IJRU).
Both athletes competed in a number of events between July 16-23, 2023, including individually and as part of a team.
Evelynn’s mom Sue describes her daughter as an “active, social, and determined girl,” noting that her love of jump rope began at a summer camp she attended when just six years old. The camp offered a recreational jump rope program, hooking her early.
“From that point on, I started getting more involved and practicing it every Monday and Thursday. Sooner than later, I was on the competitive team,” said Evelynn on her evolution with the sport.
Her favourite part of jump rope is the euphoria that comes from nailing a new trick: “I remember having to learn a trick where your left arm goes in front of you, and your right arm goes behind. At my age, this trick was very challenging. I had trouble learning it and thought about giving up many times. I eventually got the hang of it and was satisfied. The challenges though that come with building skill level aren’t hard, depending on what it is. What can be challenging though is the frustration of having to do it repeatedly, over working yourself and getting injured.”
Taking on the role of coach and mentor to the junior members of the team, Caledonia’s Kaitlyn Simpson is a 17-year veteran of the sport.
“In Grade 9, my school had a Jump Rope for Heart team, which got me interested in the sport. I did not start jumping until a good friend of mine, who was on a competitive team, said I should join, which I did at 13,” recalled Simpson on her early days in the sport.
Since then, she has had some amazing opportunities and credits jump rope with helping her meet some of her closest friends, including her fiancé. She added, “I’ve travelled the world, found one of my biggest passions, have a creative outlet, and have created disciplines and behaviours that have advanced my career.”
Unlike other competitive sports that often come with sponsorship deals and financial rewards at elite levels, Evelynn says that when it comes to jump rope, it’s really all about the passion for the sport.
“My training depends on the season, and what my goals are for the upcoming competitions. When I am training for Worlds, I am jumping a minimum of two times a week, with additional cross training (running, weights, yoga),” she explained. “If it’s the off season, or more performance based, I work on learning and creating new skills, and other fun things to keep my body moving.”
Events are broken down into two categories: speed and freestyle. Simpson explained, “Both categories can be competed individually or with a team, and there are both single rope and double dutch events. Speed is a timed event, where the goal is to have the most amount of jumps completed within the timeframe. There are relays, double unders, sprint, and endurance events.”
She continued, “Freestyle is a choreographed routine to a song of the jumper’s choice. There are required elements, difficulty, and presentation judges looking for specifics. Deductions occur if you are over/under time, go out of bounds, make a mistake, have bad form, etc.”
For her first time at the competition, Evelynn focused mainly on speed-based events, which she described as “alternating feet as fast as you can without tripping for either 30 seconds, 3 minutes, or 2 minutes depending on your age.”
She also competed in Pairs Double Unders with a teammate, where instead of counting the right foot, competitors must land with both feet on the ground to score points, with more points awarded based on trick complexity and how many times you can perform a certain trick.
Simpson competed in three events (Three-Minute Speed, Individual Freestyle, and Team Show), while also helping to chaperone and coach seven younger athletes (including Evelynn) from Hamilton-based club Jumpsations.
She also served as a presentation judge during the competition for certain events.
While Simpson said that she competed this year more to set a good example for her students, clearly the desire to compete hasn’t waned over the years; Simpson walked away with a gold medal in Individual Freestyle: “I wanted to lead by example, and show them where hard work and passion can get you.… The level of nerves, the feeling on the floor, and the excitement on the podium has not dwindled throughout the years.”
She continued, “This is my first Worlds where I arrived as a coach first and athlete second.… It is a whole different world of emotions and nerves when it’s not you on the floor, but you care just as much as they do, and you only ever want the best for them.”
Sue expressed appreciation for Simpson’s commitment to the teammates and praised the junior athletes for handling the pressures of an international competition so well. She added, “It’s always very stressful before they start their routine; all the parents just want them to be happy with their routines and events they all have worked so hard on.”
Evelyn called the experience “amazing,” saying she “met so many new people and saw many tricks I haven’t seen before. Everybody was so kind, and I even got a few photos with people who live completely across the world! You learn new tricks with people and get better from visual learning. You can even trade shirts with people as memories from the event! I had an amazing time and would go back.”
She added, “I don’t think it’s about how you do; I think it’s about the experience you get. The experience of knowing that you made it this far. It’s like finally stopping at the destination you’ve been driving to so long for.”
Simpson welcomed all newcomers who might be interested to give the sport a try, concluding, “Adult classes, recreation programs, birthday parties, etc. are all great opportunities for people to try it out! But there is no harm in just grabbing a rope, going outside, and challenging yourself!”
Sue added her insight, listing the benefits of jumping rope: “Within 30 minutes, you burn 500 calories and have tons of fun. It takes a while to get used to it, but the fun is all that matters! Another way is by just watching videos of people jumping to the music and doing fun footwork that different people have come up with. Once you get the hang of it, try looking up new tricks to learn on a social media platform and work on them for a while until you are satisfied.”
The Press congratulates Evelynn, Kaitlyn, and everyone who competed on Team Canada.
