On a Friday night, the 15 youths who make up Albuquerque Air Jump Rope chose beaded jump ropes for their speed warm-up. The ropes sounded a click-click-click on the gym floor as they jumped patterns with names such as a �front cross,� �mad dog� and �full turn.� �They can average six jumps a second� on a timed one-minute jump, says Doug Andrews, who coaches Albuquerque Air with his wife, Stephanie. In fact, the kids� jumps are so fast, counters count only the right foot as it touches the floor. This isn�t your basic schoolyard jump rope. For those who have taken aerobics classes, imagine jump-roping the grapevine move, instead of hopping or walking it. That�s what Albuquerque Air does. The group of 9- to 16-yearolds compete nationally and regionally in jump-roping competitions. The team is in its third year, and trains from mid-August through the end of June. Youths try out to be on the team, and must be able to perform requisite tricks and meet specified speed levels. The team practices, conditions and takes gymnastics a total of three times per week. To say these kids are in shape is an understatement. Stephanie Andrews says that �if they jump for six minutes, it�s equal to running a mile. �They�re all in great shape.� The team has competed regionally and nationally, and was ranked ninth-fastest in the country last year. And, Andrews boasts, some youths on his team are among the fastest jumpers in the United States. �It really keeps the kids off the couch,� Doug Andrews says. And, he adds, the team incorporates dance and gymnastics. �They have to use both sides of the brain,� he says. During a Friday evening training, the team wore turquoise T-shirts emblazoned with �Get Your Rump to Club Jump.� Nine of the jumpers have been with the team for two years, while six new jumpers joined the team this year. The jump ropes� clicking on the floor is so synchronized, it almost sounds as though they�re making music. When they switch out jump ropes to use the wiry training rope, the intensity really picks up. �Remember, this is what makes you stronger,� Andrews tells the team, as he instructs them to sweat through sets of push-ups, lunges, planks and more. �I�m a pusher,� Andrews says as the team performs a routine involving a backhandspring into a double dutch. �I just keep pushing and pushing. I find they like structure.� For the Andrews� daughter, Sidney, her love of jump roping began in fourth grade when her physical education teacher held a jump rope club. Now, the Sandia High School freshman is Albuquerque Air�s choreographer. Each summer she and her parents debate which music the team will use in its performances, including its first of the season at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The theme last season was based on the television show �Glee.� �Sidney choreographed the whole routine,� Doug Andrews says. Mica Jarocki, 13, an eighth-grader at Albuquerque Academy, says she�s been jump roping since third grade, and on a team since fourth grade. �I�m very fidgety,� she says. �It works well with me.� The more she practices, the better she gets at the tricks, she adds. Brennan Frew, 15, is a sophomore at Sandia High School, and took up jump roping in seventh grade. After he earned a black belt in tae kwon do, he wanted to try something new. His cousin, Sidney Andrews, encouraged him to try jump roping. �And I love it. It�s my favorite sport,� Frew says. �It�s great exercise. It�s a good thing to do at the end of the day, to get things off my mind. It helps me feel ready for the next day.� Stephanie Andrews recognizes how hard the team works. �It takes a special kind of kid to do this,� she says. �But it also is a place where they can be themselves.� Grab a rope! Jump with Albuquerque Air Jump Rope on Fridays from 6-7 p.m. at the North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center at Wyoming and Carmel NE. Youths can learn some tricks, and it�s open to any level of jump roper. Organizers recommend wearing tennis shoes, shorts and a T-shirt. Bring your own jump rope, or purchase one there for $5.
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