American Double Dutch League brings national talent to Sumter

The American Double Dutch League hosted its 51st Invitational World Double Dutch Competition this June, bringing teams from across the country back to league headquarters in Sumter.

Originating in the 1930s in New York, double Dutch gained structure and competitive recognition with the help of NYPD officer David A. Walker. Sumterite Rose Ford, inspired by the double Dutch scene in Harlem, spearheaded its spread to Sumter by establishing it locally at the Sumter County Parks and Recreation Department.

In 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, directors of the American Double Dutch League were looking to move the sports headquarters from New York, and Rose seized the opportunity to bring it home. With headquarters now in Sumter, the national league also sported new faces in its leadership roles, including Rose's daughter, Loria Ford, as league president and Rosalind Boone as judge, her granddaughters, Tameisha Lloyd, newly appointed league state representative, and Taneisha Goodman, scorekeeper and manager of documents, and her great-grandsons Se'Veon Boone, My'lik Llyod, Keondre and Caleb Benjamin as counters and timekeepers.

Despite the decline of the sport's popularity, for 51 years, the Ford family has hosted teams from across the nation - New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut and Massachusetts, just to name a few; teams from Japan, China and surrounding countries once traveled to Sumter to show off their talents but have been absent from the last few competitions.

But despite the overall notion that the sport has lost its luster, there are teams, right here in South Carolina, that beg to differ.

"This is my ministry. My purpose is to get out and train the kids because they're our future. That's our next generation, so they have a lot of potential," said Lacie Doolittle, founder and head coach of Epoch Girls Squad from Wagener, about double Dutch.

Doolittle established the team in summer 2022. As a 501C-3 nonprofit, Girls Squad offers young girls ages 6-16 the opportunity to jump free of charge; fundraisers and sponsorships are how the team supports itself at competitions and regular operations. As a child, she jumped for years, taught by her elementary school teacher, the late Joy Holman. After being "blessed with a little girl," Doolittle decided to start the team to fill the lives of young girls, including her daughter, with the joy the sport brought her.

Doolittle takes pride that her Christian team regularly attends church, is able to recite Bible verses and the majority have been baptized.

Competing in the Invitational World Double Dutch Competition for the first time in 2023, the team placed first in every category, inspiring a new category called the Triple Crown. Back then, Doolittle only had four jumpers on her squad. This year, she returned with 19.

Though the group only placed first in the fifth-grade singles division with 284 jumps and a team score of 508.75, the fourth-highest score on June 8, they earned their speed badges, which are given to jumpers who surpass the number of jumps from competing teams within their grade level. A trip to Sumter is always a highlight of their year, as they get to show off their year of hard work.

At the recent competition, hosted at Sumter County Civic Center on June 6-8, Doolittle and her squad mixed and mingled with teams, sharing tips on how to improve and laughter at each other's blunders. When the time came to crown a winner, tears were shed - as to be expected after all their hard work - but hugs were also shared as they congratulated the success of their competitors.

The proof was in the jumping on how much of an impact double Dutch has on teams. And by the faces of the Ford family, the laughter, hugs and applause they shared with jumpers and coaches, it's apparent the impact the sport still has on them as well.

The league also invited various Sumter-based food vendors to share their Southern hospitality and dishes that national teams may not know of. Empty hands were hard to spot as they were filled with goodies from boiled peanuts to decadent desserts to savory barbecue dishes and cultural cuisine. Though an official total of sales for these vendors was not available, given the hundreds of locals and visitors who shuffled throughout the venue during the three-day competition, one could assume it was hefty.

The Ford family wants to continue its spread of double Dutch throughout the state and across the country, hoping to one day see diversity and inclusivity flood the local venue like it once did.