“When I was a kid we had a skipping club in every school,” remembers Cynthia Morton.
Now she and husband Bruce have five children. The older ones started skipping on the deck and really love it, she said. But they didn’t have the proper form, knew no tricks and really didn’t know how to skip.
That’s when she began searching for skipping clubs in the area and was astonished the closest are in Edmonton or Calgary.
“I looked at what it would take to start a skipping club here in town,” Morton said. “Besides insurance and finding a venue it wasn’t hard.”
Now she’s promoting the first session of Sylvan Lake Skippers, which will be held in the upper mezzanine at the multiplex beginning July 3rd and run every Wednesday for eight weeks from 6-7 p.m.
“It’s a cheap enough venue to keep prices down for the kids,” she said. The price is just $30 (then an optional shirt is available for an additional $20). For those who can’t afford the price contact Monique at the aquatic centre about the possibility of help through the Jumpstart program.
The first session will be for youngsters 8-14 years old. Then in the fall she plans to offer a kids club for ages 4 and up. “I think we’ll have an adults club as well, there’s lots of interest from adults.”
Morton will be the coach and is looking at bringing in a club from up north to demonstrate their skills.
“We’ll teach the kids basics, different tricks, double dutch and more. The advantage of skipping is you can’t get better exercise,” she said.
“We’ll go through levels one to six and as kids progress and learn more things they’ll be awarded pins.”
The training levels are from the CANSkip program (www.canskip.com), Canada’s national rope skipping skill development program. It’s a 12 level program.
“It’s a very easy program. I can see a lot of kids working through three or four levels in eight weeks.”
Morton said the Sylvan Lake program is also registered through Alberta Rope Skipping Association and Rope Skipping Canada.
One of her goals is to get more boys involved. “A lot of boys are hesitant because they think it’s a girls thing. But when you look up online lots of boxers, hockey and baseball players train with skipping.”
She added her husband trained for the military and skipping was one of the biggest training aspects.
To register online by June 14, go to www.SkippingThroughSylvan.com or call Cynthia Morton at 403-864-7508.
She also encourages people to ‘like’ the group’s Facebook page to keep track of information about them. “I’m hoping this is a long term thing with a few sessions each year.”