Area athletes jump rope their way to nationals

From the playground to the bright lights of the competition stage, 126 jump ropers from across eastern Idaho competed at Regionals in Idaho Falls Saturday — all for a qualifying spot at the national competition.

The teams from Idaho Falls, Rexburg, Rigby, and St. Anthony showed that there’s more to jumping rope than meets the eye.

The athletes say the sport uses a variety of talents from creativity in choreographing freestyle routines to stamina and athleticism for those who are speed jumpers.

Today’s regional competition will determine which 6 teams will qualify for the national competition in Long Beach, California in June.

“They can jump up and have the rope go under their feet five times,” said Eric Cornell, tournament director. “So it’s not just on the playground anymore.”

One of the local teams — Proform Airborne — represented Team USA at the world competition last year.