Before I created Jump Rope Jam, the American competitive jump rope community was splintered. Despite a collective goal to make competitive jump rope an Olympic sport, there was no clear path forward. The sport was also not mainstream, making it difficult for jump rope athletes to financially sustain themselves through the sport and monetize on their success. Because of this, many otherwise talented and award-winning athletes left jump rope behind after high school.
My work establishing the first podcast focused on competitive jump rope, Jump Rope Jam, and the first significant social media presence unified the American jump rope community - the American Jump Rope Federation (AMJRF) formed as a direct result of my work.
I also introduced the sport to audiences on social media, opening the world to new spectators, helping the sport get recognition, and enabling a platform for monetization. Many of the athletes I featured now have significant social media followings and sponsorships. Since the podcast ended, at least two competitive jump rope podcasts have emerged.
My work lit the fuse to make competitive jump rope an Olympic sport. The International Jump Rope Union (IJRU) - which formed after the formation of the AMJRF - has now met the Gates requirements. The Olympic Channel has recently partnered with the IJRU to broadcast tournaments. At this point, getting jump rope into the 2028 Olympics is simply a matter of paperwork.
When I created the iPhone game, “Jump Fuzzy Jump" (the first jump rope iPhone game),” I never dreamed the trial venture would pull me into the world of competitive jump rope. And that’s because I’d never heard of competitive jump rope. The sport is not very mainstream, but learning about the athleticism and unique culture of this sport was eye-opening.
After making a few initial connections with professional jump rope athletes, I identified a potential opportunity for future success in the sport of jump rope tapping into the strong community. I partnered with jump rope athlete, and, SME Eilea Given. With Eilea’s help I started Jump Rope Jam, a sports brand designed to grow, develop and raise public awareness of the sport of jump rope. Jump Rope Jam is comprised of a website, a YouTube channel with interviews and guest speakers, a blog, Instagram feed (@JumpRopeJam,) Facebook page and more.
"Um, that was amazing! I read carefully because I'm a bit of a stickler for training form, but every time I thought of a suggestion - you had it on the next page!" - Eilea Given competitive Jump Rope Athlete
Jump Rope Jam's jump rope PD for P.E. Teachers program is designed to teach physical education teachers the fundamentals of jump rope so that P.E. teachers can successfully teach jump rope to students of all ages.
The sport of jump rope is a perfect avenue to improve your physical fitness and cardiovascular health. Jump rope also helps to establish balance, footwork, stamina, motor skills, and more that can serve students in many other sports.
We strive to create a fun and positive atmosphere so that each class is rewarding and enjoyable for the students.
“I was very happy to collaborate with Cory Gerard from Jump Rope Jam to create Trick Histories. The idea is to focus on the history of different jump rope tricks. The first episode features a trick that I was a part of creating; the Subway. Cory deserves most of the credit here. It was his concept, art, and editing that brought this to life. I simply provided the links to the videos and recorded the narration. I think it turned out great.” -Chris Holmes
On Jumper Spotlight we highlight someone who is, or has been, important to our sport and community. The people we highlight can be athletes, judges, announcers, coaches, or just someone who’s passion for the sport has impacted you, your team, our community, or our sport in an important way.
Chris Holmes, famous from JumpRopeVideos.com was our guest for this episode of Jumper Spotlight. In this episode Chris shares his love of the 90’s, Eilea discusses her experience at the very first University Jump Rope Summit at Ohio State - and Chris announces the formation of the new United States based organization American Jump Rope Federation (AMJRF)!
After updating her phone’s iOS, my wife was excited to share with me the new Emojis that she now had access to. There were Emojis for dancing, fencing, surfing, weight lifting, gymnastics, water polo, handball, and even juggling.
But, there were no jump rope Emojis!
Combining my passion for the sport with my artistic skills, I took my wife’s advice: with no jump rope Emojis, I created a few designs to address this gap.
My friendships with local musicians came in handy when I tried to solve a problem I saw jumpers having on Youtube: jump rope athletes’ videos of their routines were being taken down because they were using copyrighted music. After collaborating with several musicians, I created a resource list of music with permissions for the Jump Rope Jamwebsite – this was for members of Jump Rope Jam only.
Do you post videos of yourself or your team jumping to music on YouTube, only to have the videos taken down due to copyright? Members of jump rope jam won’t need to worry about that problem anymore. Sign up for a free account and you will have access to a list of ever-growing copyright-free music that you can use in your routine and videos!
“I tried to upload a video of my daughter jumping earlier and FB deleted it because there was music playing in the background.
So thank you to Jump Rope Jam for providing “copyright safe” music that jumpers can use for their videos.
Meg selected a song called “Nosferatu,” and it’s by Signal for Pilot.”
-Kate Dolan
I design beautiful learning experiences that solve business problems while helping learners to feel valued and empowered.
