USA Jump Rope Names Sport Court® Official Playing Surface for National Championships in Galveston June 25-28

More than 1,000 participants will play on Sport Court's bright red and blue Response™ surface in the Galveston Island Convention Center

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 Response™ 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.

"Sport Court was the obvious choice for us when we finally decided to look for an official supplier. We had competed on concrete, hardwood and on Sport Court surfaces. Our kids were familiar with Sport Court and we loved its qualities," said Marian Fletcher, Executive Director of USAJR.

"Our ultimate goal is getting jump rope into the Olympics," said John Fletcher. We've laid the ground work." The Fletchers say jump rope promotes a healthy lifestyle and creates a unique athletic and competitive opportunity. They expect about 1,000 individuals to take part in the championships this year. Both genders compete, in youth and adult categories.

Judges are certified with USAJR. At the nationals there are speed events (number of times right foot hits the ground) and freestyle, including content and creative presentation. Throughout the event, jump rope teams compete in strenuous routines of handstands, back flips and front rolls while entertaining spectators. Go to http://www.usajumprope.org/ for a taste of the lively routines on USAJR's demo video.

Ages run from 8 and 9, running all the way up to late 40s and early 50s. "Our average jumpers are teenagers, with the 11-12 year-old range one of our bigger categories," said John Fletcher.

Jumping 15 minutes is equal to running about one mile, said Fletcher. "A rope jumper burns more than three times the calories of a runner," according to LifelineUSA.com, a health and fitness website.

USAJR is a non-profit organization committed to the exchange and sharing of jump rope knowledge and experience. The organization offers jump rope workshops, camps, seminars and tournaments at the state, regional and national levels.

"We're pleased they selected our high-performance Response surface," said Connor Sport Court's President and CEO, Ron Cerny. "It is the ideal surface for safety and for the resiliency required for the innovative and fast moving jump rope routines."

Connor Sport Court International has its headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Salt Lake City, with additional offices in Arlington Heights, IL, and a second manufacturing facility in Amasa, MI.

The Grand National Tournament will be broadcast in August on Fox Sports Network (FSN).

About Connor Sport Court International
More athletic events are played on Connor Sport Court surfaces than on any other sports flooring in the world. Connor sports floors have established themselves as the standard for professional and collegiate sports since the company was founded in 1872. Sport Court® is a registered trade mark of Connor Sport Court International. Since 1974, it has identified the original and authentic modular sport surface, continuously improved and patented to provide the highest levels of quality and performance.

For more Sport Court information contact:
Jeff Morton, Marketing Manager, Connor Sport Court
801-712-6411

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