Rope skipping is more than a schoolyard activity for children. It's also a sport that has its own sanctioning bodies at the provincial, national and international levels.
From May 20-23, Rope Skipping Canada will be holding its national championship at the Ralph Klein Centre, bringing in 317 athletes from across the country. Admission is free.
Jana Hamilton is a director on the Rope Skipping Alberta board. She says athletes will be trying to qualify for Team Canada at the event. This year, there are international competitions such as World Jump Rope Championship in Orlando and the International Rope Skipping Federation's Rope Skipping Championship in Sweden.
Athletes can compete individually or as a team in four events.
In one, jumpers run in place with the rope for 30 seconds, trying to take the most steps.
The second is jumping for endurance for two to three minutes.
In the third, they do as many double-unders -- where the rope passes under them twice in one jump -- as possible. Older competitors do triple-unders.
The last is a freestyle routine, which is like a choreographed dance in front of a panel of judges. They mark them based on the difficulty of their routine.
Hamilton said competitors range in age from under 10 years old to over 30.
Olds was picked for the facilities it could provide.
"Our former president had been there for a different event; just thought the facility had everything that we needed. It had dorms. A lot of the athletes coming from across the country prefer dorms because it is a four- to five-day event, just to keep the cost down," she said.
In Alberta, there are rope skipping teams in Calgary, Heartland, Bonnyville, Camrose, Grimshaw, Redwater, Leduc, Bruderheim, Fort Saskatchewan and Bon Accord.
