Double or nothing: MSS chief’s daughter jumps her way to state, national competitions Published July 21, 2006 By Tech. Sgt. Mark Kleber 315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs CHARLESTON AFB, S.C. -- Jazmine Wright-Chisolm didn’t know that her gymnastics training at the Charleston AFB youth center would help her in later in life. But once Jazmine started competing in double dutch tournaments, she learned this was true. Double dutch is a rope skipping exercise played when two ropes are turned in eggbeater fashion, a third person or fourth person jumps within the ropes. Chief Master Sgt. Karen Chisolm, 315th Mission Support Squadron, said her 14-year-old daughter mastered the skills for tricks in the rope, such as one-handed cartwheels and leapfrog, due to her gymnastics training. Mastering those tricks helped Jazmine’s team, which is sponsored by the Charleston Parks and Playgrounds, capture second place in the South Carolina state championship and fifth place in the world championships in Sumter, S.C., in June. Jazmine took up double dutch as a hobby when Coach Laquetta Williams, who goes to church with Chief Chisolm, asked her tryout at Mitchell Park in downtown Charleston. “She made it fun and interesting so I decided to stick with it,” Jazmine said. Jazmine, who began the sport at seven years old, says she enjoys traveling all over South Carolina and the challenge of competing. “You have to listen, work hard, don’t be mean to your teammates, know some gymnastics for tricks, and never give up.” Jazmine, a rising freshman at James Island Charter High School, practices four or five times a week for two hours, which can be grueling along with keeping up with schoolwork. Aside from hard work, double dutch has taught Jazmine many valuable lessons, said her mother. It has taught her “it’s okay to lose sometimes and in competition you don’t always win. It has taught Jazmine to be more aggressive and not to fear crowds. Chief Chisolm recalled fear getting the best of Jazmine early in her double dutch competitions. “Today she is definitely in charge of her fear of the crowds and seems to not let that bother her anymore. That experience has helped to make her an all-round person in her every day encounters.” Coach Williams agrees she’s made big strides since starting in second grade. “She caught on fast and I put her on the third grade team even though she was in second grade.” Today Jazmine’s strengths include being a good turner and that’s just as important as a jumper, according to Coach Williams. “She knows how to catch a person in the rope, she counts well and has good awareness of the next move the jumper is going to make.”