Blink and you’ll miss them. Bermuda’s Bermy Bouncers are high on confidence after some stunning jump-rope performances at the Colorado Classic last week.

With Summer Redmond, Lola Reape, T’Mia Williams, Anae Brangman, D’Angelo Williams and Phoenix Williams all producing victories in either individual or team events, and a host of fine placed efforts from other members of the squad, head coach Sionna Barton was thrilled.

“Our team did such a phenomenal job and we had a great time,” she said.

“We have a team motto of ‘work hard, play hard’ and the kids worked their butts off leading up to the competition, so when we were in Colorado we had a blast, allowing them a week of fun in the snow and all the fun things they wanted to do.

“The team is made up of girls and boys that range in age from three to 14. They come from public schools and private schools, from pre-schools all the way up to CedarBridge.”

Redmond was the standout performer in Colorado, winning the under-11 girls speed, endurance and freestyle divisions and Barton is thrilled to see the young athlete blossom from a shy girl to exuberant performer.

“Summer joined our team at five years old and she’s one of my longest-reigning jumpers on the team,” Barton said.

“She joined before Covid and to watch her get the opportunity to compete and see the confidence she has grown into is phenomenal. She is not that child, she is quite timid but she has gained so much from the sport and the competition.

“T’Mia Williams and D’Angelo Williams are brother/sister co-captains and T’Mia led by example. She put out a phenomenal speed score and not only did she do phenomenally well in this competition, she is now ranked third in the US in her category for single rope freestyle,. It’s mind-boggling when you scroll down and see how many girls are ranked in the category. Not only did she do well but Mariah Matthews finished in the top ten and Lola Reape is in the top 20.”

The sport is one of the fastest growing in the world and the International Jump Rope Union is lobbying for a spot in the Olympic Games and Barton is keen to point out the athletic ability needed to compete at the highest level makes it worthy of consideration.

“The sport is trying to make its way into the Olympics and there are two major sections, power or speed-based jumping and freestyle, which is more creative with tricks and set to music with routines.

“When our kids compete in single-rope speed sprints, It is going to look like they are running and every time the rope is touching down, they switch the foot stepping down.

“On our national team a baseline score is 65 in 30 seconds and that is counting only your right foot. They are too fast for us to count each foot and the number of jumps so, when judged, you will only count the right foot. A score of 72 means they really did 144 jumps in that 30 seconds. Most of our older team jump over 70s and Summer Redmond jumps 71 and she is 11 years old.”

While the Bermy Bouncers make jumping look effortless, that is far from the case with Barton pushing her youngsters hard in order to achieve excellence, but she also creates a team who pulls together.

“We have to work with the generation we are working with,” Barton said.

“We can’t choose the kids we work with and this generation is different from those who have come before them. Motivating them is different. With our programme and our sport we are hyper-focused in trying to keep the fun in it to keep the kids sustained in the sport.

“We want to highlight how much fun the hard work can be as that’s something this generation is not well known for.

“I am American-Bermudian and I was raised that once you hit a certain age you find one or two extracurriculars. You spend your youth going through them and trying everything out, but by a certain age you pick one or two and that teaches you commitment and dedication.

“My philosophy is if they are busy with school, family and an extracurricular or two that they don’t have time to get into trouble, they don’t have time to look for mischief but they are being utilised in a positive way,

“On our team every family is responsible for a team-bonding session. It’s not that big of a commitment on the family, it’s once a year, but these kids train hard and the way I need them to co-exist in the sport is that they don’t need to just jump together, they need to like one another. I need to foster an environment.

“I can only push them as much as they want to push themselves but if they want to reach my standards, I need them to want to be around one another and create a harmonious environment where these kids can be pushed and not crumble but will stand by one another and lean on one another when times get hard.

“As awesome as I can be, I am their coach and I am here to push them further than they think they can be pushed and that is not always a pleasant process.”

So if your child wants to join the Bermy Bouncers, they must be prepared to work hard but the positives outweigh the negatives, especially as the group prepares to entertain the island and showcase their talent.

“The kids do a fusion of jump-rope physicality along with acrobatics and flipping and tumbling, and it creates this dynamic sport that can highlight the athleticism of Bermuda youth,” Barton said.

“What drives us is showcasing our sport, showing what jump rope is and can be and opening up Bermudians minds to the athletic nature of what this sport really is and our spring showcase provides the opportunity for us to show the community what can be done in a fun way.”

* To get your child into jumping, join a a school-based Jump 2B Fit program or they can sign up for the JAG Athletic Jump Rope Programme. Signups can be found at bermudayouth.com or e-mail bdajrf@gmail.com