Teen trio to hop over pond for championship jumping game

Lisha Van Nieuwenhove

What is commonly known as a children’s schoolyard game has turned into an international competitive sport for three Uxbridge youth.

Abby Hopkins, Julie Skipton and Bayna Jumpatharam are travelling to the United Kingdom next week to take part in the First World Championship Hopscotch Games. The championship games will take place in Hopperton, North Yorkshire, a small community in the Harrogate district of England, a stone’s throw from the city of York.

“I am super excited to be representing Canada at these games,” says Jumpatharam. “Canada is really having a hard time right now, and we can really make a difference by winning this competition!”

Teammate Skipton shares Jumpatharam’s enthusiasm.

“I totally can’t wait to get out there and start throwing my lucky,” exclaims Skipton. “I really hope they let me use it, but even if they don’t, I’ll keep it with me. We’re gonna rock this!”

The “lucky” Skipton is referring to is the marker each competitor, or “hopper,” uses to mark the appropriate square on the hopscotch board. During high-level competition such as this, hopscotch players must use competition grade hopscotch markers that weigh 4.1 grams and do not bounce or roll when thrown.

The girls say they’re also excited to share their luckies with other hopscotch athletes from around the world. In the style of Taylor Swift fans and their friendship bracelets, hopscotch athletes design custom markers that they swap and share with others.

“Mine are all pink, ‘cuz it’s my favourite colour, but they’ve got bright green on them ‘cuz it’s a colour that really jumps out at you, right?” says Skipton.

Hopkins, the team lead, says she has been working towards this event since last April.

“The three of us were hanging out in downtown Uxbridge one day, and I started just jumping around, like I was doing hopscotch. Jooles (Julie) and Bayna joined me, and the next thing I know, we’ve got this hopscotch game going on, like when we were kids!”

The girls, who are all students at Uxbridge Secondary School, soon discovered the hopscotch court outside Blue Heron Books on Brock St., and began practicing their sport in earnest. Hopkins did a little online research and learned that there was a professional all-ages hopscotch club in Brooklin, so they joined, and quickly jumped through the squares and hoops necessary to reach the top of their game.

The trio has practiced three to four times a week to reach this point. Sara Leap is the girls’ coach, and has watched the girls grow in the sport. She even encouraged the girls to wear weighted boots when they practice in order to strengthen their legs.

“It’s all about endurance,” says Leap. “The stronger your legs are, the longer you can stand on one leg and hop about. It’s really integral to the sport.”

Something else that might give the Canadian hopscotch team an edge to jump from – they are all left-footers, which is a rarity in the competitive hopscotch world.

Hopscotch courts at the world championships will consist of 10, rather than the traditional eight boxes. Each box is designed for a single foot, and the only way to get from the start to the end is to hop, with no skipping, no stopping, and no double-jumping. “I’m the worst for double-jumping,” laughs Skipton, “it’s something I really have to work on!”

“Playing hopscotch is really not as easy as it sounds,” says Leap, who has been playing hopscotch since before she could walk. “There’s a lot of stamina that has to go into it. Good players can go for hours and hours just hopping around – they don’t fall, they don’t hit a line, nothing. It’s really amazing to see, just riveting to watch. And these girls, they have it. They have what it takes to be the champions of the hopscotch world.”

According to sportsfeelgoodstories.com, the Guinness World Record for the fastest game of hopscotch is held by Ashrita Furman, who finished a game in just 1 minute and 8 seconds. But for these championships, it’s not about speed, it’s about accuracy.

“Oh, we’re going for longevity here,” says Hopkins. “We can hop while everyone else drops.”

The team heads to England this weekend, and the First World Championship Hopscotch Games will begin on Tuesday, April 1. Which coincides with April Fool’s Day.

If you read to here and believed this, the Cosmos April Fool’s story got you again.