Jazzy Jumpers in action. Photo: Phoebe Bruhn.
Skipping – something you learn in PE class at school for some reason or other and then never use again, right?
Wrong.
It turns out it’s a proper sport, to the point one local grassroots skipping club is preparing to head to Japan for the 2025 ‘World Jump Rope Championships’.
‘Jazzy Jumpers’ was founded 15 years ago by two sisters, Lisa Buchanan and Nicole Brown, effectively in the gymnasium at the Amaroo Primary School in Gungahlin.
Now a teacher at Harrison school, Lisa is still head coach today to more than 70 kids (and adults) from across Canberra.
“My sisters all were involved with Jump Rope for Heart at school, and they started doing competitions, so I’ve always been around it,” she says.
“When I started teaching, I thought I’d give it a go and try to teach some kids.”
The popularity snowballed to the point that other kids in the school wanted to join in her skipping lessons, followed by other kids from other schools as they took part in the Heart Foundation’s ‘Jump Rope for Heart’ school program.
“So that’s when we turned it into a club,” she says.
“It’s just a different sport. It’s something that anyone can do – like pick up a rope and do it – and to a lot of kids, it looks like a lot of fun, but once you get into it, it’s also a challenge. You’ve got to keep persisting and working at it.
“There’s no restriction on when kids can start either – if they hop on a rope and listen to instructions, that’s okay. So our youngest is six, and we offer classes all the way up to adults.”
Jazzy Jumpers members have taken part in several national and international championships over the years. Photo: Phoebe Bruhn.
The art is far from simply jumping off the ground and trying not to trip yourself over as you pass a rope beneath your legs.
“There are choreographed routines that have all sorts of tricks – that’s the freestyle side of it – and then there is also the speed side, which is how many steps you can do in 30 seconds, or three minutes,” Lisa explains.
Over the years, the club has raised money through the likes of Bunnings sausage sizzles and raffles to send their jumpers to NSW and Australian National Rope Skipping Championships, as well as the US Junior Olympics.
This July, 26 of their skippers have qualified to compete in Kowasaki, Japan, as part of ‘Team Australia’ at the World Jump Rope Championships.
Among them is Phoebe Bruhn, who started at the club when she was five.
“Some people from our church were involved in it, and it was just super fun,” she says.
She was previously among the group who attended the last world championships in Colorado, USA, and is a coach herself at schools across the ACT for Jump Rope for Heart.
“I think people are starting to get an idea of it as a sport more,” she says.
“When I tell people, they’re usually super excited and ask heaps and heaps of questions about it … Skipping is a lot more than it used to be.
“My favourite jump at the moment is when we have team freestyle, so four people are doing the same routine to the music at the same time. There’s a lot to think about.”
Phoebe Bruhn joined Jazzy Jumpers at five years old. Photo: Phoebe Bruhn.
Pheobe is studying primary teaching at university and hopes it will go hand in hand with skipping for a career.
“I’m trying to get to the Olympics in 2032 – that’s the plan – but I’m not really thinking that far ahead at the moment,” she says.
“I’d just really like to do well in this upcoming international competition. My team and I have high hopes.”
Visit Jazzy Jumpers for more information.
Original Article published by James Coleman on Region Canberra.
