One of the most enjoyable and memorable things about yoyoing are the yoyo contests. A yoyo contest is a convention where yoyoers come together to hang out, teach each other new yoyo tricks, trade yoyos, compete, and do pretty much anything else that has to do with yoyos. There are state competitions, regional competitions, national competitions, and even world competitions. But just because you are going to a yoyo contest doesn’t mean that you have to compete. Many people just go to yoyo contests to hang out with their friends and just have fun. Depending on what kind of contest (state, national, world) you would create a 1, 2, or 3 minute yoyoing freestyle choreographed to a song of your choice, and after practicing for many hours you compete at the contest. There are also judges that score your freestyle. Out of the many categories that you are scored on, the 3 most important ones are:”Performance, hardness of tricks, and execution of your tricks.”(Elliot). Yoyo contests are the best place for yoyoers to collaborate with each other, share thoughts, and share new tricks, “You can learn a lot from watching a video of somebody yoyoing, but you can learn infinitely more by just talking to them while yoyoing for just 5 minutes.”(Brown). Yoyo contests attract people from many parts of the world. “On average at a state or regional competition there is usually about 300 people; at a national competitions there is about 1,000 people; and at world contests there is more than 5,000 people.”(Malowney).
(Yoyo)
Yoyo contests are very costly to organize though. “Having a nice venue, good speakers, and announcers ends up costing a lot of money. That’s not all though, there are many more expenses than you would think.”(Allen). Here is a list of all the expenses to run a state competition.
(Expenses)
In order to raise enough money to run these contests, organizers charge contestants a fee to compete at the yoyo contest. Also, as shown in the first picture, contests are sponsored by different yoyo brands. Some of these brands even set up small vendors for selling yoyos and other yoyo accessories.
(Contest)
The main part of the yoyo contest is the actual competition part of it. All of the people that sign up for the yoyo contest get to show their freestyle on stage to the crowd with the main goal of winning the contest. Here is a video of Gentry Stein, one of the top american competitors, winning the World Yoyo Contest in 2014. (The actual freestyle starts at 0:37.)
I hope you guys learned a lot from this blog. Stay tuned for my next blog where I will be covering more facts about yoyoing and the yoyoing community!
Works Cited
Brown, Steve. “Clubs & Events.” YoYoNews. N.p., 08 Mar. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Elliot, Jake. “How Are Yoyo Contests Judged.” Yoyoexpert. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Malowney, Bob. “About.” 2016 World YoYo Contest. N.p., 07 Feb. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Yoyo Contest. Digital image. International Yoyo Federation. N.p., 29 Aug. 2014. Web.
Contest Vendors. Digital image. Vice Sports. N.p., n.d. Web.
Yoyovideoachive. “2014World Final 1A 01 Gentry Stein.” YouTube. YouTube, 13 Aug. 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Expenses. Digital image. YoyoSkills. N.p., n.d. Web.
Allen, Chris. “Doc’s Tips: Running a Yo-Yo Contest.” YoyoSkills. N.p., 01 Sept. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
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