UNC club shows students the ropes of jump roping

When Jaycee Reilly went to see a False Profits comedy show, she didn’t know what to expect of the opening act. She had never heard of the Carolina Jump Rope Club.

“I thought it was a part of the (comedy) act,” Reilly said.

But soon club members were doing all sorts of tricks over the rope: high kicks, flips and handstands. Reilly realized the jump rope club is the real deal.

The club’s Facebook video also shows members showing off their skills around campus. The video shows them doing tricks with the ropes, both individually and as a group. Co-founder Graham Booth said jump rope is for everyone or any skill level.

Booth, a first-year psychology major, said jump rope is a sport anyone can enjoy.

“A huge emphasis for us is that anyone can do it,” he said. “And we are absolutely willing to, like, you know, teach and work with anyone of any skill level.”

He said he would recommend jump rope to students who want to find an outlet for their creativity.

“It’s a fun way to be creative,” he said.

“A lot of people, like myself, are not a very artistic person, as like, just as a normal person, but, like, in jump rope I feel like I can express myself a lot and be creative, like come up with things I never thought I could do.”

Booth and sophomore Noah Mancuso founded the club in February to provide an outlet for experienced jump ropers and introduce the sport to more students.

Mancuso, who has been jump roping since middle school, was inspired to start the Carolina Jump Rope Club after visiting a national jump roping competition.

“It would be awesome to have it recognized as an actual sport on campus,” Mancuso said.

He said jump rope requires just as much dedication and teamwork as other popular college sports. Mancuso and Booth would love to one day see jump roping recognized as a part of the Olympics.

Club member Sarah Chen, a first-year student at the medical school, is happy just to have a jump-roping outlet on campus.

“This is going to sound really silly, but I missed being good at something,” Chen said. “So, like, jump rope for me was always that avenue to kind of like be myself and to like work really hard for something and to like show people like, ‘This is what I have worked for, this is what I have done, and this is really cool and I want you to be involved in it too.’”

The club is currently doing small shows around campus, but plans to hold open gyms in the future to teach people how to jump rope. Booth said outreach and college jump roping competitions are other possible goals for the club.

Chen, Booth and Mancuso said they believe everyone could benefit from jump roping, and they encourage people of all skill levels to get involved.

“Jump roping is really cool and like, people think of it as, like, jumping up and down, like, on the playground, but there’s so much more to it,” Chen said.

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