The national rope skipping championship trials, under the auspices of the South African Gymnastics Federation, were held at the premises of Soutpansberg Primary School in Louis Trichardt, between 30 March and 4 April.

The purpose of the trials was to make a selection of at least six rope skippers, out of 36, who would then go to compete with other countries in Florida in the US during the World Rope Skipping Championships later this year.

Rope skippers from Limpopo, Western Cape, Kwazulu Natal and Free State, as well as the neighbouring Mozambique, had all descended to Louis Trichardt for the trials. The first trials were held in Cape Town for the national level qualification.

“These trials are held for us to determine the fitness, endurance, speed and style of each rope skipper in order to make a valued selection,” said Tinyiko Makhubele of the Makhado Rope Skipping Club. “We can't just pick up anybody from the street and send them to the US. We need to make sure that our rope skippers are well groomed for the championship games ahead.”

Ropeskippers from Mozambique were also training with South African rope skippers in the same camps, since there is a strong relationship amongst rope skipping clubs in all African countries involved in the rope skipping games. Other countries, like Nigeria, did not make it to the championship camp in Loius Tricahrdt because they had not managed to acquire funding.

National programme manager for South African Gymnastics Federation for rope skipping, Sandile Ntombela, indicated that they were optimistic about the championship games to be held in the US. “We strongly believe that our rope skippers will come home winners,” he said. “We can see their strength and versatile skills during training sessions and the trials.”

The names of rope skippers who qualified to go to the US had not been confirmed yet at the time of going to press.