Wow, I had some catching up to do on this thread. I think overall this thread was good because males are the majority, so naturally when people communicate on YYE they figure it’s one of the guys. I always understood that and never took any offense, but some girls are more comfortable getting involved when they see other females involved too. So, for that reason, I agree the thread is very cool. Mgiroux77 said that he went to yo-yo at A2Z store here in MA last Saturday, and there were six females there yo-yoing, so things are looking up.
Yes, Tessa rocks, she is the female player who Andre Boulay brought onto YoyoJam team. Andre is a great supporter of women in yo-yoing. Always ahead of his time, I’m a huge fan of his, and Yoyojam. He picked her not just because she is a female, but because she is great and was an asset to the team.
Now something about girl yo-yoers in Czech Republic.
Here you can see some girls competing almost on all contests, but there is problem that not much of them stick with this hobby.
For example Adriana Pailova, was attending yo-yo lectures, than competed and get great 10th place from 35 competitors. She was there with another 3 girl yo-yoers, but I never saw her or her friends on contest since then.
Many girls get into yo-yoing thanks to yo-yo lectures, there is about 4 or 5 in Prague, run by stars like Vashek, Bubak or Kavka.
Two examples:
I saw Nikola as spectator on most contests, she isn’t competing in big contests yet.
There is new trio of young girls from Prague, really not sure about their names yet, that simply ruled last two begginer tricklists. I think there is some hope in them.
In this topic somebody already mention our most known girls, Aneta Hanzalova and Josefina Nesporova.
Josefina is clearly best Czech girl yo-yoer right now, not competing too much lately(but she competed at 44Clash Russia few weeks back ), but really helpfull with organization of contests and great girl overall. Not exactly sure how is it with her being on team Turning Point, have to ask Kentaro this weekend.
Aneta is little more problematic. She competed just once at girl division on EYYC, but for last 6 months, I didnt saw her on any contest. She was big fan of C3, always sharing all their post over her facebook, later she get sponsored by them. But since getting on team, she made just one or two medicore videos, didnt visit any contest and now she isnt active in community at all.
PS: I met Ann Connolly few days after EYYC in pub, really great personality, funny and typically girly cute
Thank you so much for your very informative post. It was like reading a magazine article reporting on the participation and then drop-out rate of female players in the Czech-Republic. It was an enlightening read. It so interesting to learn about yo-yoing around the world. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Yes, that was a very informative post about the female yo-yoers in that area. It sounds similar to what Andre shared about his observations of attendance of females at contests over the years. It seems they make efforts, get really good in some instances, and then life pulls them in another direction or they lose interest.
I agree about Ms. Connolly, it was a pleasure meeting her a few weeks ago. By the way, not sure if anyone posted her Mass States performance on here (September), but it was particularly enjoyable. I think she is probably in the top 3 for yo-yoers overall with stage presence, showmanship and such. She is naturally very poised, which stands out. Very comfortable on stage, a complete pro. Pay attention to her yo-yoing and her eye contact with the audience at the same time. Here it is…see for yourself:
I want to choose my words carefully here as not to infer something I don’t mean to communicate.
Ann has really developed the last couple of years from that kinda giddy teenage girl with yo-yos to a lovely young lady who serves as a keystone for female participation in the sport. One of the things that stands out to me is that Ann is so engaged with her audience. As Totalartist referred to, she maintains eye contact throughout her set pulling the spectator right up on to the stage with her. There very well may be throwers out there with superior technical skills, but Ann Connolly is an entertainer.
I believe at this moment in time she remains very focal in the increasing participation of young women in the sport.
(and yes, I know I referred to throwing as a sport twice. My lexicon seems to be devoid of any term which serves me better.)
now being someone who’s life largely revolves around sports… well… “sport” i should say… i have to disagree. The definition of “sport” is “competitive physical activity”. Though i love yo-yoing dearly i cant consider it a “physical activity”. I suppose you could if you look deep enough, but it still wouldn’t be a sport unless you’re competing, in which most people in the community aren’t.
Sorry to be THAT GUY… but as i said participating in a sport is large portion of my life, and to me it would be like someone calling knitting a sport.
This debate will go on and on into infinitude and certainly will not be settled here. There is another jousting thread available for this confab elsewhere. Let’s not hijack Abby’s thread with this discourse.