Just steps away from Highway 1, as tens of thousands of cars travel daily, the constant sounds of jump rope echo inside a nearby warehouse facility.
The work never stops inside the Abbotsford Skipping Sensations home on Forrest Terrace just off of Riverside Road, but the intensity has increased with the news that the Jump Rope BC Provincial Tournament returns to Abbotsford this weekend.
Yale Secondary hosts the event from Friday (April 14) to Sunday (April 16) and the very best in the province are set to compete in a variety of events, including single and group freestyle, double-dutch, and various speed and power events.
But the spotlight isn’t a new thing for many Abbotsford jump rope athletes – if you ask them Abbotsford is the centre of the province for skipping and arguably the hottest spot for the sport in Canada. The origin of that desire and skill for the sport locally began with Abbotsford Sports Hall of Famer Deirdre DeGagne.
She entered the ASHOF in 2013 as a community builder for her significant contributions to jump rope in Abbotsford. DeGagne began with the Abbotsford Skipping Sensations in 1990 and helped bring several provincial and national championship events to local soil. Club members went on to win numerous titles at the national level and compete on the world stage.
The local demand for jump rope also saw the Abbotsford Rope Works club begin in 2015 and they have also been a success story with more and more people participating in the sport.
DeGagne retired from coaching in 2018, but her spirit lives on in the talent she trained – who have now continued competing in the sport and have begun coaching journeys of their own.
Current coaches Brittany van Herk, Arden Mills, Faith Stewart, Kaeli Wiens, Reagan Symonds and Clea Brummitt are now manning the ship at the Abbotsford Skipping Sensations. All six are former BC all-stars and have achieved success at the provincial, national and international levels.
They were drawn to the sport through a DeGagne summer camp and are now inspiring and teaching kids who were the same age when they first started. They said it was an easy decision to take over from DeGagne.
“I think when she asked us none of us even hesitated,” said van Herk. “We love the team and we loved what she did and just wanted to continue that.”
Wiens said the movement into coaching has been rewarding.
“It’s such a young sport so for me the fun part is seeing how everyday it’s changing and growing,” she said. “Like everyday you go on Instagram or Facebook and see a video of a new trick. So it’s constantly challenging what we can do and how we can do our job as coaches.”
They explained that the club offers both recreational and competitive teams and shared a few traits that aspiring skippers need.
“Coordination, and just having the ability to jump to a beat,” said Mills. “Rhythm also helps. It’s not exactly like dance, but having that sort of background can help.”
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Stewart said hosting an event like provincials is a big showcase for the sport and how skilled some of these athletes truly are.
“It gives our community a chance to kind of see the more competitive aspect,” she said. “When we do our shows in the community it’s more of the easy stuff, just more performing. But something like provincials, all the families can come watch and it makes the word spread that much more.”
The coaches shared that routines are often created back in September and then honed and perfected until the big competitions. The recreational team trains once a week, while the pre-competitive and competitive teams teams train at least twice a week. Athletes can join the team at the age of five.
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The team has trained out of Forrest Terrace since 2020 and previously practised at local school gyms. The new facility has provided a better opportunity to train and develop talent.
The provincials event is free for all involved and features athletes of all ages hitting the floor through from Friday evening, all day Saturday and all day Sunday.
Athletes who qualify at the event will move on to the Rope Skipping Canada National Competition which takes place in Halifax, N.S. on May 19 to 22. Some of the athletes are also training and preparing to go to Colorado in July for the International Jump Rope Competition, where they will compete against athletes from across the globe.
For more information, visit skippingsensations.blogspot.com or abbotsfordropeworks.com.
