A local RCMP officer鈥檚 involvement in the realm of competitive jump rope took him to the world championships recently, where he helped organize and MC one of the biggest events in the sport鈥檚 history.

Cpl. Craig van Herk lives in Abbotsford but is a longtime RCMP officer at the 91原创 detachment, where he is the current media liaison officer, works with the youth unit, and helps train for the bike squad.

But this year, he spent part of his summer in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he was a floor manager and announcer for events at the World Jump Rope Championships.

There were 1,200 athletes, 300 judges, and numerous competitions over nine days.

The main categories are single rope and double dutch, and within each of those, there are contests based on raw speed, or freestyle competitions that include acrobatic manoeuvres, music, and dance-style moves. There are both group and individual events.

鈥淭he fitness level, the coordination level, the thinking on your feet level are extremely high in competitive jump rope,鈥� van Herk ravelled.

鈥淭he goal really from grassroots, all the way up, is to do the best that you can do on the day,鈥� said van Herk. 鈥淭he level of sportsmanship in competitive jump rope is off the charts.鈥�

Van Herk got into the sport via his daughter, who joined Abbotsford Skipping Sensations when she was in Grade 3. She鈥檚 now 24 and coaches in the sport.

As a parent, van Herk got to know the Skipping Sensations founder, Deirdre DeGagne, and naturally wound up taking part as a volunteer in local, then national events.

鈥淚 also like to be busy, and look forward to opportunities to be a problem solver,鈥� said van Herk.

He fell into doing tournament setup, and eventually started working on ways to improve flow and consistency at competitions.

Van Herk also discovered an unexpected skill as a 鈥渞ope doctor,鈥� creating and repairing the competition-level ropes.

For the past several years, he鈥檚 been on Rope Skipping Canada鈥檚 national tournament committee, helping run sanctioned competitions.

From there, it was just a hop, skip, and a jump to working with the International Jump Rope Union, which reached out to him at the Canadian Nationals two years ago and asked if he鈥檇 be willing to help at the big international event in Colorado Springs.

This would be the biggest event in international jump roping history. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, several international groups merged to form the IJRU, but this was the first in-person world meet since that merger.

Along with DeGagne and Kerry Baird of the Skipping Sensations, van Herk was part of the local crew that went down and joined up with a large group of organizers from all over the world to put on the event.

He admitted it was intimidating at first to move from Canadian events with 300 to 350 athletes to the world championships, with four times as many participants.

Adding to the pressure was the members of the International Olympic Committee were watching this year鈥檚 event.

鈥淭he ultimate goal would be to become an Olympic sport,鈥� he said.

Van Herk said the competition was great. He spent it being very busy, running around and solving problems, introducing events, and meeting fellow volunteers from Sweden, Japan, the U.S., Denmark, and many other countries. He made a number of new friends, including a fellow floor manager, also named Craig, from Australia.

鈥淗e just had a cooler accent than I did,鈥� van Herk chuckled.

One of the most memorable events of the tournament was getting to announce a memorial event for a young Canadian jump rope athlete who died of a sudden stroke at the age of 18, just before the event.

Does van Herk jump rope himself?

鈥淚t depends on how you define jump rope,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ot like these athletes do it.鈥�

Regardless, he鈥檚 planning to stay involved in the sport, and is already considering attending the next world competition, this time in Japan.

鈥淲e would love to be a part of the Kawaswaki event in 2025,鈥� he said.