I’m a newbie here and to yoyoing. I’m 45, and have a 10 year old son. We’ve both been yoyoing for about 3 months.
I live 2.5 hours away from Chico and was told we had to go. So we got a motel room and went to the Holiday Inn on Friday night. It was great! My son hung out with the other yoyoers. They were all so friendly. The parents were great too. We bought a brand new Yoyo Jam Fever for $15.00. The only yoyoer I knew there was Ann Connolly. My son was thrilled to meet her (we knew here from her DV888 video). After I returned to our motel I went on the Yoyo Jam and Yoyo Factory website and found out many of the sponsored players were there.
On Saturday we went to the competition. I thought 8 hours of yoyoing would get boring, but it didn’t. I watched everyone. It was amazing. My son spent most of the time yoyoing with other kids. We bought about $250.00 worth of yoyos (including a SPYY) for less than $100. We had such a great time and met so many great people.
We met André Boulay, and my son was a little nervous meeting the “guy from the videos.” My son got a few signed cards and Ann signed his Northstar that we got for $20.00.
As for the competition… wow!! They all made it seem so easy. The top 3 1A’s were so great. To my untrained eye any one of them could have won. It was clear that some of them were “very good” and a few of them were “great.” But several of the competitors, like Daniel Mizell (who finished almost last in 3 finals) and who didn’t win were so fun to watch. I really wanted him to win. And a kid named Ian Johnson was great. I was sitting next to his mother and she was so proud.
All in all, it was a great day. We are a few hours away from the Bay Area championships and the California State Championships and can’t wait to go. It was a great time.
My schedule didn’t allow me to go to Chico, I was doing lighting design for a big event next week, so priorities.
I’m going to contact them for next year and see if they are interested in bumping up their sound services to something more high end and donating my time and services for the event.
I agree, I love that my son and I can do something like this together. He’s only 7 but was told that was a great age to get him started.
Chris, that is exactly what I did for World’s and this year (I Can’t say too much) But there is a good chance I might throw more than just a few sticks of truss at world’s this year…more like a full scale production…but I’m still in talks and nothing is confirmed yet, but I hope you do see about being apart of it. I absolutely love it. I’m also thinking of putting together a team for an AP performance but that is all that you will hear me say for now lol.
Thanks for the story about Nationals I tried to watch some of it through the computer before my DJ gig but didn’t get a whole lot. Waiting for YYF to post more of the sets on Youtube.
I’m so glad you had a great time!!! I really wanted to go, but I couldn’t make it this year (did get to go to Iowa States though, very low key and very fun!). Watching the pros (or anyone really good) is pretty incredible. Yo-yoing is really cool because anyone of any age can enjoy it.
I just started throwing this year. My boy is trying to get into it, but having him make an effort on anything is, well, impossible, and I’m slammed with work(self employed) and can’t spend the time to motivate, but I’ve always been the self motivated type. He’s been using a Yomega Brain for around 5 months now except for the month he lost it(it was found again). My eldest daughter wanted in on this later on, and she got a Brain, then a One, and she’s apparently lost interest in it, which I wish I would have noticed before I got her a LOOP so she could do some of the basic loop tricks like forward pass and around the world. I think she lost interest when she learned she’s not going to get her own DM2 or even a Speeder 2(or anything better) until she can actually do something.
Chico is a 2 hour drive from where I live. If they are into it next year, maybe go to nationals. In the meantime, CA state finals are only 15 minutes away, and I’m trying to provide sound for that as well.
My son is really into yoyos and is constantly throwing. I am self-employed in a small town, and after school he comes to my office and we take a yoyo break. He’s currently having a blast with his Popstar.
The SPYY booth was behind the Recreational Revolution booth. I don’t think there was a banner, and they set up after 10 am.
While working with a popstar? I suck as it is mind you, but I suck even worse on the pop star! I have the world’s 2010 edition so I don’t use it much as it is more of a collector’s item, but when I do toy with it over carpet, the thing kicks my butt trying to keep it spinning and straight. But if you can rock tricks on that, when you get to bigger yoyo’s you’ll be doing great!
This is what I recommend, and you’re probably on it already:
Different yoyos in different shapes and sizes, from the larger to the smaller. Yes, the smaller ones are harder to throw. Get an Aoda Little and try that for a bit. Really humbles ya! Or the Mighty Flea, which being so dang small, it takes a LOT of work to throw that one properly AND hard enough. I’m having problems with both aspects
I think almost ALL of us should have a seriously undersized yoyo in the collection as well as a reaonably sized “oversized”. I don’t mean “Big Yo” sized, but something like the DM2 or Code 1.
Variety is the key. By not getting too comfortable on any one particular yoyo, it forces you to clean up everything.
However, if you’re going for competition, I think it’s wise to “standardize” yourself and your competition throws. At that level, consistency is key.
The popstar drives me crazy, but my son loves it. My SPYY is a beauty, but I’ve fallen in love with the YoyoJam Fever. It’s my first YoyoJam plastic/metal yoyo, and I really enjoy it.
For those who got a chance to go to Nationals, how many were able to try a lot of new throws? I’m just trying to get an idea of what the environment at these contests. I’m sure those competing won’t let you touch their competition throws, but I’m sure they carry a few others just for warm-up or sharing around.
but that is all that you will hear me say for now lol.
