Katy Highflyers Jump Rope Team Members to Perform in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Katy, TX (November 22, 2013) – When the 87th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade steps off on November 28 in New York City, over 200 jump rope athletes from across the country will participate in the pageantry of the Parade. Featured in the Parade are Katy jumpers Patrick Anaemejeh and Kalisia Brisco from the Highflyers Jump Rope Team of Katy, Texas.
Organized by the Heartbeats Jump Rope Team in Cleveland, Ohio, the group will appear under the acronym J.U.M.P. (Jumpers United for Macy’s Parade). Jump Rope is a competition sport that has been featured on television in ESPN Sports, Fox Sports, many sports venues and most recently with the Chicago Boys performing jump rope on “America’s Got Talent.”
These championship athletes will showcase their talent alongside giant character balloons, celebrities, floats, marching bands, performance groups, and clowns. This will be the second time in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as 140 jumpers, ages 12-24, from teams across the country appeared in the 2009 Parade.
Jumpers will arrive in the Big Apple on November 26 with much anticipation and excitement for the Parade. It will be the first time all 200 jumpers are together, not to sightsee or shop, but to practice. Jumpers will be performing many tricks and skills in unison as they jump their way along the parade route to the delight of New Yorkers who line the streets 20 deep and fill windows and balconies along the streets overhead.
Starting from Central Park, the athletes will be jumping the entire 2.5 mile course that winds through New York City in front of a spectator crowd that is usually over 3.5 million people. To jump the entire distance, the athletes have to be in top condition. Months of practice will culminate with the cadenced steps that will be seen across the country live from New York City. What an adrenalin rush!
After arriving in at the fabled Herald Square, the group will be featured in a live one-minute segment broadcast on NBC national television with an estimated 50 million viewers. This choreographed TV routine, built around a group of 72 athletes performing a complex inter-connected matrix of jumpers, will include Patrick Anaemejeh & Kalisia Brisco.
Athletes were invited from jump rope teams across the country to join the ensemble, each paying their own way to New York City. Included in the group will be many athletes who have earned recognition as national and international champions. Local athletes have been practicing for months under the direction of Coaches David & Tammy Cazares.
What began in 1924 as a holiday parade has become an iconic event that is now recognized as America’s Parade. Along with other performance groups, J.U.M.P. is ready to share its talent and bring joy to all those watching on the streets of New York or tuning in live with loved ones at home. In all, over 4,000 volunteers from Macy’s stores across the country help to coordinate the more than 10,000 participants.
Broadcast nationally by NBC and NBC KPRC 12 locally, this is the official kick-off to the holiday season. Be sure to tune in at 9:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day morning and watch the J.U.M.P. athletes from all across the nation in the Macy’s Parade.
