Blog Posts - BOUNCING BULLDOGS

examination of the true meaning of community outreach

9/19/2017

Jordyn W.

The phrase community outreach can be interpreted in several different ways depending on the person. The words “community” and “outreach” separately hold a large and primarily important meaning, yet combining the two concepts creates a powerful thing. Over the past 31 years the Bouncing Bulldogs program has existed, community outreach is something that the program strives to do through the sport of jump rope. Though, what does community outreach mean? First through analyzing what “community” and “outreach” mean, it will strengthen my understanding of this year’s theme.

Community is a word that refers to the environment, atmosphere and people you as a person surround yourself with. The community you are raised in can in some ways shape who you are and your identity. Both your community and identity can positively and negatively impact you, yet it is all really about how you choose to react or respond to it. Secondly, the word outreach refers to how you can help other people not only in your community, but around the world. Through outreach, people are able to connect with people from totally different backgrounds than they are used to seeing and give a helping hand to people in need. The amazing aspect about outreach is that it can be done in so many different ways, from teaching little kids how to jump rope for the first time to helping victims affected by the recent hurricanes. Outreach is an amazing opportunity that not only the members of the Bouncing Bulldogs program experience, but many people across the United States and world as well.

Now constructing the theme of community outreach holds one strong existential meaning. Community outreach means to me giving back and helping other people no matter where they are from. I believe the Bulldog program sees the world as one large community, and any chance that we as a team can spread the sport of jump rope as well as help others, we do so. Community outreach is the essence of the Bulldog program, and that’s one aspect which has led the program to be so large and continue to grow. As this season begins, the program must, as it always has, remember the importance of community outreach and how it really helps to make the world a better place.

What does community outreach mean to you?

9/12/2017

Ragan C.

Before this year, I had always just considered outreach as giving back to the community around us and worldwide, but I had never thought to look up the literal definition of the word, outreach. Community outreach can mean something different to every individual, but the most basic definition is that it is an activity of providing services to any population who might not have access to those services otherwise. It also says that a key component of outreach is that the groups who are providing are not stationary, but mobile. This actually makes a lot of sense to me and is something I learned about in my Servant Leadership class last year in school. In fact, we learned something called the Upside Down Principle of our culture versus what our world should look like. The three ones that stood out to me and relates to this community outreach are:

To become a leader, you must become a servant
You have to lose your life to find it (you must learn to sacrifice)
You must give generously to receive.

These principles actually come straight from the Bible but are so relatable to our current world and its problems. Many affluent people in our country frequently donate money or resources to different causes and never meet or see the people who they are affecting. In my opinion, this is not necessarily community outreach or servant leadership. Outreach is when you meet the people where they are and connect with them face-to-face to give them something that you have so graciously been given yourself. This is something that the Bulldogs actually do quite well and is probably going to learn how to do even better this year. There are so many people in our community, right in our backyards that we can give back to. My hope is that we can all learn how to communicate better with these people and instead of feeling like we are doing charity for them, we are becoming friends with these people. Sharing our jump rope skills with people is an excellent outlet to connect with people, but most importantly is the relationships and hopefully friendships we are going to build through the process.

TEAM SUCCESS Takes on many meanings

8/2/2017

Brooke B. & Anna R.

Over nine hours of riding, two charter buses, 106 Bulldogs, over 100 families and friends and one common goal: team success at the 2017 World Jump Rope Championship at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

The five-day competition included 17 different speed and freestyle events. The first two days highlighted all junior competitors ages 14 and younger as well as speed events for all age divisions. Competitors ages 15 and older were then put to the test for their freestyle events on day 3 and 4. The final day - the Grand World Championship - showcased the fastest jumpers and best freestyle routines in the world.

Throughout each long competition day, most jumpers become tired and fatigued, and misses begin to occur more and more often. However, the Bulldogs got stronger and stronger as the days became longer and the events became more challenging, which truly speaks volumes to our strength as a team and training philosophy. The Bulldogs won the highest percentage of possible awards in the events that involved the most number of people. Notably, the team took home gold in both junior and senior team show for the seventh straight year.

Team success in the vision of the Bulldog program can take on multiple deeper meanings, including success in building relationships with people from all over the world, and strengthening bonds between teammates. With 30 countries represented at the event, the Bulldogs were exposed to a variety of jumping styles. The Bulldogs have developed their own unique style of jumping over the past 30 years and focus on performing clean, polished routines at competition to represent the sport in the best possible way.

For the past two years, World Jump Rope has split up the competition into the World Jump Rope Championship and the Pan American Championship. Many younger Bulldogs have competed at the Pan American Championship, held in Orlando, Florida while the older team members traveled to France and Portugal to compete internationally. Since the World Jump Rope Championship was held in Orlando this year, our team was united again and thus stronger. As many of our jumpers can attest, one of the most rewarding experiences from competing is not winning awards; it is cheering on the teammates who have been by your side during every step of the training process. Through the peer teaching model, our older jumpers are empowered to teach the younger jumpers throughout the year and help them reach their potential. This strong sense of community is a key aspect of the Bulldog Way.

We are so proud of every jumper who represented the Bouncing Bulldogs at competition, and we are beyond grateful for such gracious support from families and friends of the program. Most importantly, we are thankful for the team members who did not compete this year because the youngest jumpers are the key to our program and continue to remind us why we work hard and give back.

BBCC Grand opening: It's finally here!

3/31/2017

Brooke B. & Anna R.

It’s finally here! The moment we’ve all been waiting for: the grand opening of the Bouncing Bulldogs Community Center, the world’s very first jump rope gym built from scratch!

The environmentally friendly space is designed to be a safe and welcoming place for children of all ages. Exciting features of the new gym include a state-of-the-art gym floor and a legacy room filled with historic pictures, news clippings, and awards from the past 30 years in honor of our alumni jumpers who built the foundation of the program. We cannot wait to see how the program grows in its new permanent home!

On Saturday, April 8, 2017, we will officially open the BBCC to celebrate the culmination of six years of hard work and dedication that have led to this moment. Join us for refreshments on April 8 at 10:00 a.m. for the grand opening ceremony, and take a tour of our new space between 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Parking will not be available at the BBCC so we ask that you park in Rams Plaza Shopping Center. We will provide a shuttle service to and from the BBCC to Rams Plaza every 15 minutes. The day will be full of reflection and surprises so we encourage everyone in the community to join in celebrating a historic milestone that truly represents the entire Chapel Hill and Durham area.

The Bouncing Bulldogs are very humbled and grateful for the immense support of so many people in the community and beyond throughout this entire journey. We would like to thank Coach and Mrs. Fredrick for their unwavering dedication to the program over the past 30 years. Their leadership and service have inspired the Bouncing Bulldogs program to grow into a community whose passion for jump rope and emphasis on life skills are highly respected around the world.

The BBCC will truly be a material representation of everything the Bouncing Bulldogs stand for. The gym and community center represents the teamwork and hard work of many, unity within diversity, a unique character that defines the Bulldog program, and the outreach that the program values. We hope to see you on April 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to pay tribute to the community of families and friends who have made our dream a reality.

Upcoming 5k Run/walk

4/14/2015

ISABEL O.

As Spring Fever sets in, the Bouncing Bulldogs continue to work toward their goals. With competition growing closer and our huge 5k fundraising event right around the corner, the Bulldog gym is buzzing. On April 25th, the Bouncing Bulldogs will host their first annual 5k Event to Challenge Obesity at Herndon Road Park in Durham. The event will include a 5k race, an awards ceremony to celebrate those who have participated in the 6 Week Program to Challenge Obesity, and an opportunity for the Bouncing Bulldogs to connect with the community. One of the goals of this event is to raise money for the brand new Bouncing Bulldogs Community Center: the first permanent home for the Bouncing Bulldogs. Bulldog team members, their families, and their friends have supported the program through the process of fundraising for the gym and planning the events, and now it is time to see all of their hard work pay off! Everyone is welcome to participate in this event, as the Bulldogs are hoping it will be the final push to obtain all the funds we need to get the gym built. Registration will be open until the 15th of April, please sign up if you haven’t already, and we will see you there!

roped in for life

4/7/2015

ERICA Z. - ALUMNI JUMPER

The Bouncing Bulldogs program has positively shaped me in more ways than I can possibly count. As a six year old, I donned my first blue and white Bulldog uniform. I was a loud, excessively energetic, and to be totally honest, pretty “big headed” (as Coach would say) child who had a natural knack for jump rope. Being a Bulldog opened my eyes to the joys of teamwork, the endless value of giving to others, and importantly for me in particular, the necessity for humility and grace. Coach Fredrick showed me that I could hit the highest speed score or do the most amazing skill in the world, but that without the love and support of the team behind me, such success would not be possible, and could only bring me a certain degree of satisfaction. In my travels with the program, whether it be to an inner city school in the middle-of-nowhere Tennessee, or to the shambles of shanty towns in Capetown, South Africa, each child I taught, person I met, and culture I discovered gave me a unique lasting understanding of the world around me, especially for an upper-middle class white girl from an upper-middle class town. The program’s reach has extended into all parts of my life. I was fortunate enough to travel with the team to esteemed colleges like Oxford University in England, Columbia University in New York City, and most significantly the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Such experiences gave me a model for what I could have if I worked hard enough in school.

I’m currently approaching my graduation from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. I am so proud to say that after four of the hardest academic years of my life, my most prized possessions all come from my jump rope team. Coach Fredrick and the Bouncing Bulldogs instilled in me a love of diversity, a strong voice, and most importantly an undying passion to use my fortunes to give back to those who have not been so lucky. Regardless of my physical proximity to the Bulldog gym, the program has, is, and always will be with me through everything and anything life throws my way.

get fit events

2/6/2015

KENZIE R.

As some of you may have already heard, the Bouncing Bulldogs are hosting their first ever event to Challenge Obesity followed by the Jump Forward 5K Run/Walk. The Bouncing Bulldogs program has promoted challenging obesity for many years and now we want to bring the community together in 2015 to help you keep those New Year’s resolutions of staying healthy and fit.

Bouncing Bulldog team members have designed an exciting six week program that will be both motivational and fun. This program is open to the community and all you have to do is click on the link under the Get Fit Event tab to register. Once registered, you will be given a diary where you can record your daily activities. Make sure that you exercise at least 30 minutes each day in order to receive points. Making an extra effort by exercising for a longer period of time each day and increasing the intensity of your workout will help you to maximize these points. At the end of this six week period, all points will be totaled and prizes will be given out in many different age and group categories. The Bulldogs are making it very easy to get in shape and we hope you’ll join us! Register today. Diary entries begin March 2nd.

In celebration of the end of the six week Challenge Obesity program, please join the Bouncing Bulldogs for the very first Jump Forward 5K Run/Walk. This exciting event will take place at Herndon Park in Durham, NC (this is part of the southern Tobacco Trail) on April 25, 2015. Registration is open online under the Get Fit Event tab and all are welcome. Prizes for runners as well as winners of the Challenge Obesity program will be given out after the race. It will be a fun-filled family event to promote health and fitness.

All proceeds from these two events will help build the new Bouncing Bulldogs Community Center. Tell everyone you know to register today!

Bouncing bulldogs reach out to american indian youth

12/19/2014

Whitney W.

On a December weekend, a group of Bouncing Bulldogs members traveled to the state of Oklahoma to teach a jump rope workshop for American Indian youth. The youth attending the workshop represented more than 100 Indian tribes from all over the United States. The youth were representative of the following tribes:

Absentee- Shawnee | Acoma | Ak Chin | Alabama- Coushatta | Alaska Natives | Apache of OK

Arapahoe | Assiniboine and Sioux | Blackfeet | Burns Paiute | Caddo | Cherokee

Cheyenne Arapaho | Cheyenne River Sioux | Chickasaw | Chippewa -Cree | Choctaw

Citizen Potawatomi | Coeur D’ Alene | Colorado River | Colville | Comanche

Coushatta of Louisiana | Crow | Delaware | Eastern Shawnee | Eastern Shoshone

Fort Belknap| Fort McDowell | Fort Mojave | Fort Sill Apache | Gila River | Goshute

Hav Asupai | Ho-Chunk | Hoh | Hopi | Hualapai | Iowa of Oklahoma | Jemez | Jicarilla Apache

Kialegee | Kickapoo of Kansas | Kickapoo of Oklahoma | Kiowa | Klamath | Lac Du Flambeau

Laguna | Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara (MDA) | Menominee | Mecalero Apache | Miami

Minnesota Chippewa | Moapa Paiute | Mohawk of NY | Muscogee (Creek) | Navajo | Nez Perce

Nisqually | Nooksack | Northern Cheyenne | Oglala Sioux | Omaha | Oneida of NY

Oneida of Wisconsin| Osage | Otoe-Missouria | Ottawa | Passamaquoddy | Pawnee

Ponca of Nebraska | Ponca of OK | Prairie Band Potawatomi | Put Allup | Pyramid Lake Paiute

Red Lake Chippewa | Rosebud Sioux | Sac & Fox of Ka and NB | Sac & Fox of OK

Saginaw Chippewa | Salish and Kootenai | San Carlos Apache | San Felipe | San Ildefonso

San Juab Southern Paiute | Santa Clara | Santa Ysabel | Santo Domingo | Seminole of Florida

Seminole of Oklahoma | Seneca | Shoshone | Shoshone-Bannock | Sisseton-Wahpeton

Skull Valley Goshute | Sokaogon Chippewa | Southern Ute | Spirit Lake | St.Croix Chippewa

Standing Rock Sioux | Table Mountain | Taos | Te-Moak Shoshone | Tohono o’Odham

Torres--Martinez | Tulalip | United Keetoowah | Upper Sioux | UTE | Ute Mountain

Warm Springs | White Mountain Apache | Wichita | Winnebago | Yakama | Yankton Sioux

Yavapai-Apache | Zia | Zuni

The Bouncing Bulldogs members taught over 60 youth different styles of jump rope including: Single Rope, Traveler, Two People One Rope, Chinese Wheel, Double Dutch, and Long Ropes. Many lessons and life skills were exchanged between workshop participants and instructors. Many of the youth were hesitant to jump at the beginning of the workshop, but once they were given a rope, an energetic atmosphere filled the gym as many of them began to take a liking to the sport. The lesson learned was, “Never say you cannot do something until you try.” From a teaching perspective, we learned how to better adjust our teaching styles in order to successfully engage many different attitudes and personalities.

Our trip to Oklahoma was a great act of community outreach for the Bouncing Bulldogs program because we taught American Indian youth a whole new way to stay physically fit while having fun. The Bouncing Bulldogs would like to thank the individuals and groups who organized such a special event in Oklahoma, and for showing us hospitality and love. The trip was fantastic from beginning to end and will never be forgotten.

A Legendary performance on a legendary stage: success takes the work of a village

12/11/2014

Anna R.

On December 7, the Bouncing Bulldogs Jump Rope Team competed in the 23rd Annual Double Dutch Holiday Classic held at Harlem’s world-famous Apollo Theater. The team dominated all age divisions, earning a total of 48 awards: 14 gold, 24 silver, and 10 bronze. Competitors from France, Japan, and seven states within the U.S. participated in two Double Dutch Speed events followed by Fusion, a form of Double Dutch combining jump rope, dance, and acrobatics in a routine choreographed to music.

“I am so proud of my teammates. We worked hard, pushed each other and were honored to represent the team at the historic Apollo Theater. We are grateful for the support from our coach, families, teammates, and the entire community who all helped us succeed,” commented Ilana Fried, this year’s senior captain for the Bulldogs.

In the 8th grade and over division, the Bulldogs took home the top three titles in the Classic Double Dutch Singles Speed and Compulsory event as well as the Pairs Speed and Compulsory event. Judges for these events count the number of times a competitor’s left foot touches the floor as two other teammates turn the ropes in the time allotted.

A clean sweep in both speed events has never before been achieved by a team on the Apollo’s legendary stage, creating an exceptional experience for the Bouncing Bulldogs program.

Our program has a central focus of teamwork and humility, where Bulldogs are encouraged to recognize that goals are achieved through the collective effort of a team. Therefore, we are very appreciative of such amazing encouragement and support throughout the competition process from all team members and others connected to the Bouncing Bulldogs program.

Preparing for the Apollo creates such an exciting atmosphere during the fall season, and performing on stage is an experience that will never be forgotten. We hope to carry this momentum into 2015 as we continue community outreach programs, and begin to train for upcoming World Jump Rope competitions in Orlando, Florida and Paris, France!

It's all about teamwork, training and thanks

11/26/2014

Ilana F.

This time of the year, you can feel the constant energy buzzing around the Bouncing Bulldogs gym as the team continues to train for the exciting event held at the Apollo Theater. Team members have dedicated their time to training for speed and fusion so that they are prepared to compete against the best in the world at this famous competition. At practice, speed scores are beginning to increase, fusion routines are coming together with that “X-factor” and team chemistry is at an all-time high. Although only some of our jumpers will be competing at the Apollo this year, all jumpers are in the gym training hard and supporting each other. We strive to keep up this energy and excitement as we continue our training.

As the Bouncing Bulldogs are in the middle of their intense training for competition, we would like to take a moment to give thanks to a few groups for all of the hard work that they do for our program:

First of all, thank you to all of the parents who continue to support the program and dedicate their time to help out whenever needed. Next, thank you to the older jumpers (i.e. alumni) that have been through the program for coming back and helping out whenever you can. Also, thank you to all of the new families for joining the program; we sincerely hope that you have enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) your time on the team. Thank you to all team members who continually push each other to be the best they can be. Last, but definitely not least, thank you to Coach and Mrs. Fredrick for your dedication and passion for the sport of jump rope and of course, The Bouncing Bulldogs, for the past 28 years. This team would not be where it is without you! This program is truly about teamwork and we could not continue without the support of every single person and group involved so we thank everyone!

The Bulldogs wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving and we look forward to seeing everyone after the holiday!

THE JUMPERS

We come from 18 different countries and attend many of the schools in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. We are world, national, regional and sate champions in the growing sport of jump rope. We like to think of ourselves as ambassadors for health, fitness and youth development.

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