GALVESTON — Wednesday’s pouring rain, a blessing to area residents, didn’t put too much of a damper on the quick-footed competitors and other tourists inside the Galveston Convention Center for one of the biggest jump roping competition in the country.

If anyone had a right to scoff at the Galveston beach scene, it was Allen Fritts, an 18-year-old competitor from Hawaii. He still remembers the time his team, the Hawaiian Island Skippers, made its first trip to Galveston three years ago.

“Everyone said, ‘Eww, the water looks dirty,’” Fritts said.

Galveston will host the nation’s largest jump rope competition  this week as more than 900 competitors gather at the  Galveston Island Convention Center for the U.S. National Jump Rope Championship June 22-26.

The event will kick off Wednesday with participants coming from as far as Alaska and Hawaii to compete in speed and freestyle jump rope events. On Sunday, the U.S. All-Star Jump Rope Team will perform with a special appearance by members of the Saltare Dance Crew that was featured as a top team on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew.

The five-day event is open to the public. Day passes can be purchased at the door for $8 while full tournament passes can be purchased for $35....

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Galveston, TX (PRWEB) June 25, 2009

USA Jump Rope (USAJR) will hold the 14th annual U.S. National Jump Rope Championship June 25-28 in Galveston, Texas and has chosen Sport Court’s Responseâ„¢ surface for the competition.

USA Jump Rope, based in Huntsville, Texas, will hold this year’s competition at the Galveston Island Convention Center. Sport Court will provide 15,000 square feet of bright red and blue Response flooring for the championships.

Jump rope is alive and well and so are the thousands of competitors nationally that participate in this fast and athletically-demanding sport.

“USAJR has held its state, regional and national competitions on many different surfaces over the years,” said John Fletcher, Operations Manager of the organization. “Sport Court was far-and-away the preferred surface,” Fletcher said.

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