Jump for the Soca Warriors

Participants in this year’s annual Jump Rope for Heart Festival will be jumping for the Soca Warriors.

The Festival is on Wednesday at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Sport and Physical Education Centre in St Augustine from 9 am to 12.30 pm.

Jump rope is a physical activity that is being reintroduced to primary schools by the Trinidad & Tobago Alliance for Sport & Physical Education (TTASPE).

“One in every three adults has high blood pressure, one in five has diabetes, 75 per cent of adults will have heart disease and half of our over 40 population is usually overweight. These are the figures that local medical practitioners use when describing the health situation in Trinidad and Tobago,” explained Andre Collins, TTASPE vice president.

“These figures are startling! And this is why TTASPE has incorporated the Jump Rope for Heart Programme into our activities,” he continued.

According to Collins, “The American Heart Association estimates that at least 23 percent of all heart disease could be prevented through healthy lifestyles. Good nutrition, physical activity, staying tobacco free, and maintaining a healthy blood pressure and weight are all part of a healthy lifestyle. Rope skipping has been identified as the ideal fitness activity to fight obesity, heart disease, type II diabetes and osteoporosis.”

Jump Rope for Heart is designed to encourage children – specifically in primary and special schools to engage in healthy lifestyle activities and to make nutritious meal choices. Collins commented, “The programme combines the simple, low-cost, indoor or outdoor physical activity of jumping rope, with an integrated curriculum approach that has the potential to include health education in all other subject areas.”

Next week’s festival celebrates the creative successes of schools that have joined the jump rope for heart programme. Participating students from primary schools and special schools will showcase their creativity while jumping rope with activities featuring double dutch, single rope and long rope jumps.

With the endorsement of the Ministry of Education, all interested schools are invited to attend and are reminded to wear red in recognition of the Soca Warriors’ historic achievement. Contact TTASPE at 657-1283 for further details and to arrange attendance.