Growing up doesn’t mean you have to give up everything you did as a child. I found that out when I came across a group called the 40+ Double Dutch Club.
It started last summer. I was at the Culture Stock Off the Wall: Urban Arts festival, in Aurora. I walked over to a group of ladies who were jumping double Dutch. They asked how old I was and invited me to jump rope with them. This club is for women over the age of 40.
The far west suburban club meets at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Aurora on most Saturdays. Jumpers come from Aurora, Naperville, Bolingbrook, Joliet and many more western suburbs.
Nicole Parker is the club’s captain for the far west suburbs. She said she learned about the club from a friend. She started jumping with the group last year in Oak Park. There wasn’t a group in her area so she along with a friend started recruiting ladies. She remembers jumping as a child.
“I remember my aunties trying to whip me into the rope because I used to dig my potatoes too much,” she said.
She went into more detail about the phrase dig potatoes.
“Dig potatoes is your hands are in front and you act like you are ready to run and jump into the rope and you’re going back for it, back for it, back for it and guess what…I didn’t move. And finally, I got in because I wasn’t afraid of the rope anymore.”
Parker also said there’s a difference from jumping now compared to when she was a child.
“Trying to jump fast and being flat footed is a son of a gun on a 50-year old shin. I didn’t realize I was that flat-footed. I’m like that’s the problem.”
Ingrid Tatham didn’t jump as a child. She said she is willing to keep trying but jumping rope isn’t the main reason she comes.
“I do believe that there are angels among us. Because when I started this journey I was personally at a low point,” she said.
Tatham said this group uplifts her.
“I now feel enriched and empowered and like I said even if I never learn to jump, this experience would still have been worth it.”
Parker said something similar. She said the 40+ Double Dutch Club is much more than just jumping rope.
“The way we fellowship after we are done. The way we talk, texting, we stay in touch. It’s not just about double Dutch. It’s about a sisterhood that we’ve actually built. It’s family.”
Teresa Freelon joined the 40+ Double Dutch club after she saw a post on Facebook in June of 2019.
“I love it. I mean I grew up jumping double Dutch literally all day. So, this is a no brainer for me. I can do this every day if I could. This is my form of exercise that I prefer,” she said.
Freelon said she used to jump when she was 10 years old. She said jumping again is much like getting back on a bike. She said she remembers some of the songs she sang as a child.
“Step in the water boom bah the water was cold…we sang that and then, what’s the other song? Two, four, six, eight, 10, 12, 14 16, 18, 22, 32, 42, 52. We sang that too,” she said.
Freelon said she also comes for the fellowship like the other women.
“It became a little bit more than just jumping double Dutch so I totally appreciate that. Because sometimes I know we just check out on ourselves so this is a great way to just check up on ourselves.”
Heidi Obregon said she jumped when she was in elementary school. She said she was sure she could still jump when she tried again.
“My mind thought I could do it. Like I remembered what I used to do when I was a kid and I’m like, I can do this I can do this. And then my body was like oh wait, hold on. I haven’t done this in over 25 or 30 years. So, it was an eye-opener.”
Landa Marie Midgley said she jumped about 40 years ago. This is her second time coming to the meet up. She said she will continue to come.
“I loved hearing the old songs like stepped in the water boom bah…chill my body boom bah, save my soul. I love that blast from the past and the accidental workout,” she said.
The group decided to cool down, doing a popular line dance to the “Wobble Song”.
Pamela Robinson founded the 40+ Double Dutch Club in 2016. She said she was going through a tough time in life and just needed something to get her mind off things.
“During that 30 minutes that we jumped, I totally forgot about everything in my life that was negative.”
Robinson then called her good friend and suggested that they start jumping at least once a week.
Robinson said she feels the group is important for women over 40.
“A lot of women our age, over 40 we spend so much time taking care of everyone else, our husbands, our children our grandchildren, our parents now,” she said.
Robinson said the group has grown ever since it was featured on Windy City Live in May of last year.
“Our group went from about 50 local Chicagoland members to a thousand members in one week.”
She said the group now has over 7,500 members nationwide.