There is a bounce in the step of 14 Arnolds Creek Primary School pupils after they came home victorious from the recent national skipping championships.
The team is still buzzing from its win at the Xtreme Skipping championships on the Gold Coast in September, taking home medals in speed skipping, pairs and individual freestyle events and a silver in the pairs speed section. They outskipped more than 2000 competitors.
Four children have since qualified to compete in multiple events at national level.
Coach Karen Calleja said the team had won the state championship numerous times over the team’s 25-year history but this was its first national win.
“Last year was the first year that Victoria was invited to compete at national level and we were blown away by the skill level of competitors,” Ms Calleja said.
“We took this knowledge and developed plans and targets this year which paid off and resulted in a medal.
“I’m proud that this is our first national placing and the very first team medal for the whole of Victoria.”
The team trained together for two hours a week with extra daily training on their own, Ms Calleja said.
Skippers were judged on how many single, double under and triple under skips they can do in a time limit for the speed event and were judged on technical difficulty, synchronicity and creativity for the freestyle event.
