The American Jump Rope Federation (AJRF) is hosting its annual national championships here in Milwaukee at the UWM Panther Arena from June 27 through July 2.
The seven-day event will bring together 21 teams of jump roping athletes of all ages and skillsets for a competition, with over 300 participants from 16 states across the country.
“You have jumpers pulling in inspiration from gymnastics, breakdancing, dance, parkour and all kinds of different movement modalities and adding a rope to it… It’s something that is familiar… and something that is hard to explain unless you’re there to watch it,” says Mike Fry, the event’s emcee, who has 27 years of jump-roping experience.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
The competition opens on June 27 for registration and participant check-in. The event kicks off July 28 with a preliminary Age Division Championship that runs through July 1. These qualifier events will focus on different areas of strength for participants such as speed or style.
“We have our freestyle events, which are similar to skateboarding or gymnastics or figure skating where you’re doing a routine, usually set to music and it’s choreographed in many cases and you’re trying to do the most creatives kills and combinations.” Fry said.
The event concludes on July 2 with the Grand National Championship, a showdown between participants of all age and gender divisions. Qualifiers for the Grand Nationals will be those participants who finished in the top six of any division’s preliminary events.
“Jump rope is a very social sport, it’s something you can do by yourself and a lot of athletes do that, but it’s also something that is just made so much better when you have people there training with.” says Fry. As seen in years past, Fry expects the event to be a significantly unifying event for local jump rope enthusiasts to come together and appreciate the sport.
Admissions for spectators is $5 between June 27 and July 6 for preliminary events and $10 on July 28 for the Grand Nationals Championship.
