Tom pretty much took me under his wing right away. He taught me
everything he could about yo-yoing. Together we started a weekly yo-yo
club in Lincoln, NE. At first we met up at a local park with anyone who
was interested in learning how to yo-yo. Later we teamed up with
Hobbytown USA and moved into an empty suite they owned. It was pretty
awesome for a while. We sent yo-yo players to Hobbytown to buy yo-yoes
and accessories and then we taught them how to use them. Tom had a
program set up much like a martial art with different levels, which he
called string colors(same as belt colors). Each level had 10 tricks for
players to learn and practice. Three of us were selected to initially be
the instructors and we could sign off trick cards. The idea was that if
you completed a string color then you were able to sign off trick cards
from lower colors. This way the club members could teach each other and
interact rather than just listen to us do everything. We let the club
vote on the name for it and they decided on YoRama. I absolutely hated
the name but I didn't really care.
Once the club had
around 10 members we set up the very first Lincoln City Yo-yo Contest,
sponsored by Hobbytown USA. We had a Beginner division and an Advanced
division. Each division was like a modern day Sport Ladder. Tom and I
were the only two competing in the advanced division. We completed the
same number of tricks and it came down to a loop off. Loop-the-loop was
by far my favorite trick to practice but I was still nervous because Tom
was my teacher. I didn't think there was any chance. We began looping
at the same time and we both settled into our comfortable looping
positions and put it in auto pilot. I have no idea how many loops we
ended up doing but when I saw Tom fumble one I was so scared I threw
five to ten more just to make sure when I went to catch it I didn't
fumble too. I was floored. I won my first contest. Sure, it wasn't a big
contest, nor did it involve freestyles. At the time I didn't even know
if freestyle contests existed. Either way it felt great, like all of my
practicing paid off.
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