McAlester — The Boys and Girls Club of McAlester has sought to spread their mission of “enabling all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens” for over 50 years in our community.

During that five-decade period, the Boys and Girls Club of McAlester has provided a safe place to learn and grow both mentally and physically. Aside from the usual athletics, games and arts and crafts, the club also provides character-developing opportunities.

Now, with a successful merger into McAlester’s school system, the club is now able to offer the children attending Parker Intermediate, Will Rogers Elementary and Emerson Elementary the opportunity to stick around for after school programs until 6 p.m.

As always, the location at Chadick Park will be available to the McAlester youngsters from the 7th grade up. A full list of the programs and events that the club offers is available online at www.bgcmok.com and at any Boys and Girls Club location.

“The kids come to us to get active, to move around. You just have to find a fun way to do that by letting them have fun,” said Scott Robinson, a fitness trainer with a penchant for jumping rope.

“He’s a jump rope expert,” Lynn Edwards, Chief Proffesional Officer for the Boys and Girls Club of McAlester said.

“It was a lot of fun and very creative. Jump rope has much more to offer than I expected,” Josh Barnes, a team leader for the club said Wednesday after a seminar instructed by Robinson.

Robinson was called in to get the club’s new competitive jump rope program off and running.

Competitive rope-jumping will be just one of many new additions to the already diverse lineup of activities and opportunities at the club for this school year.

Edwards continued about how competitive jump rope came to McAlester. “The three main concerns we have here at the club are character development, education and fitness.

“If you Google jump roping, you’ll discover a whole new world of fitness. Backed financially by Mike McGowan, we were able to bring it up to [Boys and Girls Club board member and McAlester Public Schools Superintendent] Tom Condict and he gave me the cell number to Scott [Robinson] and we got it rolling,” he said.

That brings the story to Wednesday when Robinson made his way to the Chaddick location to help instruct some of McAlester’s finest instructors, its coaches.

Many of the elementary and middle school physical education teachers, as well as varsity coaches, were on hand to learn from the tricks, trades, games and stunts that Robinson has up his sleeves.

“He said he had over 150 games and in two days, he’d be able to show us about 40 to 50. He’s a super nice guy and his instruction is going to help competitive jump roping in McAlester carry into the future,” Edwards added.

“I have young men in some of my jump rope classes that don’t come back because their fathers think it’s for sissies. What they must not be aware of is that boxers, mma guys, and many premier athletes jump rope everyday,” Robinson said.

That claim was supported by one of Thunderfoot Gym’s most experienced mixed martial artists.

“Great workout. For cardio, it does a lot,” said local cagefighter Fernando “Oatmeal” Torres. “I use a jump rope every day to make sure I stay in shape and to stay quick on my feet. I put in thirty minutes with a rope and it’s like running miles man.”

The rope-jumping seminar was hosted by Robinson and his two daughters Jaime Robinson, 16, and Kylee Robinson, 19. Attendants included McAlester’s varsity cheer coach, Ashlee Shumway, and junior high cheer coach, Tamara Roberts.

“I think it’s a natural extension of cheerleading and tumbling. Jump roping teaches coordination, strength, balance, skill and endurance for any sport, whether it’s a boy or a girl,” Shumway said.

She was emphatic about using the new format to choreograph routines for her squad. “We are going to try to do some jump rope performances during basketball halftimes,” she added.

She also mentioned the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart, a fundraiser meant to generate and promote awareness about heart disease. For more information on the AHA or the Jump Rope for Heart program, go online to www.heart.org.

While explaining the pros and, well, more pros about jumping rope, Robinson went over the importance of the rope turners and the importance of the roles they play.

He also spoke to the coaches and club staff about encouragement saying, “You don’t have to be a standout athlete to teach a sport and jumping rope is no different.

“People ask me if I can do all the jumps and I can’t. I can do a lot of them, but not all.

“It’s just more successful for everyone if the kids are having fun and moving. I told the kids I have competing for me that when people are watching a jump rope competition or performance, they notice the lack of movement. I tell them not to worry about their mistakes, because nobody notices unless you stop moving.”

With the increase in locations and programs offered by the Boys and Girls Club in association with the McAlester school system and its fine administrators, hopefully they can keep the community kids moving in the right direction.

Contact Jayson Knight at jknight@mcalesternews.com