Excitement is building for the 2020 World Jump Rope Championship, with the International Jump Rope Union (IJRU) holding a planning meeting on October 25 and 26 in Ottawa.
Oceania Vice President Luke Winstanley travelled to Canada for the meeting and went on a site visit to the venue for the 2020 World Championship, Junior World Championship and International Open Tournament, the TD Place Arena.
The site visit was followed by a tournament planning meeting, with the board discussing tournament structure, marketing and communications.
Each of the IJRU Continental Vice Presidents provided a report that included membership numbers, a tournament planning update and organisational structure.
Luke Winstanley also led a series of strategic planning sessions that allowed participants to brainstorm ways to achieve strategic goals.
Shaun Hamilton, IJRU President said: “The Board of Directors engaged in a great discussion about the current state of our sport and the evolution and changes we will need to undergo to move our sport forward. “We made some decisions that we believe will assist in this evolution such as nationality assignment, gender policy clarifications, filling of vacant positions and other matters that bring greater clarity to our member countries and athletes. We also began developing our strategic plan, which will bring greater focus to our sport and board of directors. Overall the meetings were productive and positive as we continue to grow and develop our sport together.”
It was also announced that there are three new member countries of the IRJU: Argentina - Asociación Argentina de Salto con Soga; Botswana - Botswana Rope Skipping Federation; and Chinese Taipei - Taiwan Kinetic Art.
The African Jump Rope Federation also presented their constitution and through a unanimous vote, was recognised as the official IJRU continental organization in Africa.
IJRU noted: “This is a huge step forward for Africa and we would like to congratulate them for their hard work in establishing an official continental organisation.”