Jackson jump ropers prepare for national competition

On Monday and Thursday afternoons at Cape Bible Chapel you can find 10 children ranging in ages from 9 to 14, two women and a pile of jump ropes. They are the jumpers and two coaches of a program called "Alpha Omega Jumpers."

The fledgling team is heading to Walt Disney World this summer to compete in a national competition that will be broadcast on ESPN. The team won numerous honors at a regional competition April 12 in Montgomery, Texas, that qualified them for nationals.

The team started when two mothers wanted to get their children as fit as possible. Darla Beller and Tabatha Johnson had three children total, and through word-of-mouth at Eagle Ridge, where Beller is a teacher, the group grew. They said jumping rope was the obvious choice to them because it uses both sides of the brain. As teachers they knew that the use of both sides of the brain helps children do better in classes like arts and science.

Abby Ritter is a 13-year-old jumper who has been active in the sport for about a year. She found out about the Alpha Omega jumpers when she saw Beller working with children at a local health club.

She decided it sounded like fun, went to the tryouts and made the team. She was the only one out of the group who placed in a freestyle category at the Texas competition.

Tyler Beller is Darla Beller's 13-year-old son and one of the two boys on the team. He said he doesn't mind that his mother is the coach, even though he said she pushes him harder than the others.

The younger Beller has his own motivation. Not only does he practice an hour a day, he jumped on a broken foot at the regional competition — after doctor approval. The break was in a spot that wouldn't be aggravated by jumping, just painful.

The competition "only happens once a year," he said. "So I did it."

Although tryouts are required to make the team, a class is offered over the summer to help children learn to jump rope. The course lasts about six weeks, and the coaches teach the basic techniques of the sport.

For more information, call Darla Beller at 573-382-8277.