27 June 2019

Attracting over 500 students each year, Jump Jam Extravangza is a highlight on the South Canterbury school calendar.

Held at the Timaru Theatre Royal, Sport Canterbury’s Jump Jam Extravaganza showcases student enthusiasm and achievement in the Jump Jam schools aerobic programme. It provides children with a quality physical activity experience that is made possible by parent and teacher volunteers.

Jump Jam is a pre-choreographed primary school aerobics programme that encourages children to get active through dance. The Jump Jam Extravaganza – a direct spinoff from this, is a competition for primary school students in South Canterbury and has come about due to the popularity of the sport. Children are asked to form teams of up to 14 through their school, choose their favourite routine and share the spotlight on stage with their friends and classmates. The result is a highly charged and entertaining event for children, from Year 1 up to Year 8.

Enabling through collaboration is the key theme that underpins the success of this event, as the Event Coordinator role is shared between two parties. Sport Canterbury’s South Canterbury Administration and Programme Coordinator, Lee-Anne Lang works in partnership with Lee King, who is contracted separately by Sport Canterbury to bring this event to Timaru.

The competition day will allow for all children to present their learned routines on stage with the heats being held at the beginning of the day. Finals will be held in the evening, with the teams selected from the morning participating again for a shot at the age Jump Jam Extravaganza 2019 title for their age group.

Lee- Anne believes that this year’s event will be “a jam-packed day of Jump-Jam-fun that is not to be missed.”

2019 will also mark the beginning of a new competition in South Canterbury that allows more people to get involved with this exciting aerobic sport – Jump Jam Xtreme, a challenge aimed at South Canterbury secondary school students.

Held at Mountainview High School Auditorium on Thursday June 20^, this event provides the opportunity for secondary school students to get active and enjoy the exhilaration of Jump Jam aerobics in a fun environment. Many of these young people will have experienced the Jump Jam Extravaganza as primary school students, so it offers a chance for them to reconnect with the sport.

The hope is that this event will gather interest from many South Canterbury secondary schools, which will allow for its return in 2020. Lee-Anne comments: “Xtreme 2019 is just the start. We are aiming to establish a fun and dynamic event with strong competition and increasing interest from students.” There is an open-minded approach to evolving the rules and categories as the competition dictates, to build it into a challenging and popular event on the South Canterbury calendar.

Registrations for both events close on the 30^th of May 2019.

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