Lawrence Double Dutch Coaches Training

Wednesday was by far one of the best days I’ve had at Sport in Society. Wednesday afternoon Caitlin, Ben, Kristen and I headed to Lawrence, MA for a double dutch coaches training. After getting a bit lost (on the impressive campus of Lawrence High School!) we arrived at one of the Lawrence elementary school gyms filled with eager phys. ed. and health teachers from the Lawrence area. These excited and dedicated individuals are hoping to emulate the progress that has been made in the Boston schools to start up double dutch teams and programs in gym classes. After getting a talk about the basics of double dutch (including its history, which began with the colonial Dutch in New York) students from the Mildred K-8 school in Mattapan gave a demonstration. The demonstration was great and even more amazing once we found out that the girls on the team had only been doing double dutch since November!

When the demonstration was over all the training participants got the opportunity to learn to do double dutch (both jumping and turning the ropes). Needless to say the SIS group was eager to join in (I for one had been looking forward to this ever since Caitlin told me about the training). We were not afraid to look silly (and we did!), so we jumped right in line. While we defiantly got tangled in the ropes and tripped a few times, I think I can say that we all enjoyed the experience and were impressed by the difficulty and skill that the sport requires. By the end we all were able to get in and out of the ropes and turn the ropes successfully at least once, which I consider a big accomplishment for our first try at double dutch!

The day was a lot of fun, but it was also an educational experience. I was extremely impressed by the demeanor, poise, and maturity of the students from the Mildred school. The girls (6th – 8th graders) did a great job helping all the adults learn to do double dutch. They were not afraid to correct us or patiently explain what we were doing wrong and how to fix it. The girls also shared with us how much they loved the sport and why. Many of them pointed out that they did not think double dutch was a serious sport until they saw a competition and that they worked very hard to get good at the sport. Through listening to the girls speak and seeing the way they acted I was convinced that double dutch would be a great program to start up at the Wang. I think double dutch will give the girls at the Wang an exciting new opportunity to be part of a team and compete in a serious sports environment while gaining self discipline, confidence and having fun! I can’t wait to start work on implementing a double dutch group at the Wang, and possibly even starting up a YMCA double dutch league!