Learning the ropes

Double Dutch coaches are visiting Tampa to show kids how to jump into a hugely popular and difficult pastime.

By SUSAN THURSTON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 5, 2002

[Times photos: Stefanie Boyar] Fairen Russell, 11, jumps double Dutch at the Robles Park housing project while coach Sheana Sinclair of Bronx, N.Y., turns the ropes. Coaches from the National Double Dutch League traveled to Tampa Heights last week to show children the ins and outs of the sport.

ROBLES PARK -- Valia Brown figured she'd spend most of her summer swimming.

Quentin Moore planned to clean carpet with his cousin.

Instead, the two twirled rope for a week as part of a program to teach young people how to double Dutch.

Coaches from the National Double Dutch League based in New York traveled to Tampa Heights last week to show children the ins and outs of team jump roping.

The sport is hugely popular in the Northeast, but relatively unknown in Florida and other Southern states.

All it takes are two ropes, coordination and a lot of endurance.

"This is a sport young girls have been doing for a long time," said league director Lauren Walker. "It just needs to be brought out."

Walker's father, David, founded the league in 1972 to give girls a taste of group competition. A retired New York City cop, he hopes one day to see double Dutch in the Olympics.

Lauren Walker and two coaches began local training sessions June 24 as part of a six-week tour to reach young people who lack access to summer activities. The training crew will rotate among eight public housing complexes, Boys and Girls Clubs and recreation centers in Tampa and Clearwater.

Next week, they hit Cutlass Arms Apartments on Trask Street in South Tampa. The week of July 15, they move to North Boulevard Homes on Main Street. Each stop draws a curious crowd, eager to learn the ropes.

Boys like it as much as girls do.

At Robles Park, about 30 kids -- and a few parents -- came out to test their moves and get their hearts pumping. For most, it was a first attempt.

"I always wanted to do the double Dutch," said Sharon Thompson, 21, who brought along her year-old daughter Jada Chandler.

Quentin Moore, 18, attracts a crowd as he breaks a record by jumping 103 times consecutively during a double Dutch clinic at Robles Park.

Like many, Thompson picked up the basics after a few days. She jumped and turned ropes in the midmorning heat, stretching calf muscles with every step. To make it harder, she jumped with her giggling baby in her arms.

Moore, 18, drew applause for jumping 103 times without tripping the ropes, which are twirled in opposite directions like egg beaters.

"I'm a natural," he shouted, panting and dripping with sweat. "It's all in the footing."

Top performers will go to New York in December to participate in the annual Double Dutch Holiday Classic at the Apollo Theater. Organizers hope to have 20 teams from Tampa, each with two turners and one jumper.

The Tampa Housing Authority is the summer program's main sponsor in Tampa. It paid between $4,000 and $5,000 for the coaches and is seeking donations to cover the trips.

"It helps them with coordination, balance and discipline," said James Harrell, director of public safety and youth services for the authority. "It gives them some viable alternatives to drugs and crime."

Coach Sheana Sinclair, who started jumping six years ago, said the sport teaches young people about teamwork and builds self-esteem. It also keeps them busy. Many know double Dutch only from television.

"It gives them something to do other than stay at home or maybe even get in trouble," she said.

This year marks the league's second trip to the Tampa Bay area. Last year's involved about 2,000 children at 30 sites.

About 30 kids -- and a few parents -- came out at Robles Park to test their moves at double Dutch and get their hearts pumping. For most, it was a first attempt.

In all, the league has pitched double Dutch in 30 states and several countries, including Japan, England and France. The sport is experiencing a revival not felt in years, Walker says.

Double Dutch became a popular pastime among girls after World War II in New York City. Using old clotheslines, the girls would skip rope outside their apartments within sight of their mothers.

Organizers hope the summer program ultimately makes heads spin at national competitions.

Walker has grounds to be biased. When she isn't in New York, she lives in Tampa, where she coaches tennis at Tampa Catholic. She graduated from Saint Leo University near Dade City.

Toward the end of the clinics, coaches will assemble the best jumpers and turners for intense training and evaluating.

Valia Brown hopes she's one of them. The 11-year-old arrived at Robles Park at 10 a.m. sharp every day to learn the art of skipping rope, originally brought by Dutch settlers in the 1600s.

It's fun and good exercise, she says. It's also harder than it looks. Turning the 12-foot ropes takes just as much skill as the jumping. Maybe more.

"Big circles. Let me see 'em. Get them over her head," said Sinclair, giving a team a few pointers. "Up, down. Up, down. It's not easy, I know."

But, as Moore attests, it beats cleaning carpet any day.

-- Susan Thurston can be reached at 226-3463 or thurston@sptimes.com.

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