Sophie Skalny needed to find a new place for the glittering pile of ribbons and metals that had been hanging from her bedroom mirror in her Howard County home.

It's because she simply had too many, and could barely see the mirror anymore.

The 10-year-old, who attends Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School, collected the awards as a Kangaroo Kid – the precision jump rope troupe in Howard County that is training children to make a splash in the competitive sport that is gaining popularity locally and nationally.

Before joining the organization, which has about 150 participants locally, she learned to jump rope the traditional way – from a friend at recess.

"[I had a friend] who was a big help to me," she said. "She just taught me how to jump, and some steps and stuff, so before I went into it, I knew a little more."

Skalny's dedication to learn the craft before officially joining Kangaroo Kids is a testament to the growing seriousness of the sport.

Competitors practice five days a week  – or more – and have a growing pedigree of role models to emulate.

Kangaroo Kid and Yale undergraduate Scott Simpson, from Howard County, set two world records, in triple unders and 30-second speed, in summer 2010 at the FISAC World Rope Skipping Championships in Loughborough, England.

For those unfamiliar with jump rope, triple unders are when you have to rotate the rope three times during one jump. Thirty-second speed measures how many times you jump the rope in 30 seconds.

David Gordon, 9, from Ellicott City, has dreams of breaking jump rope world records himself.

The Thunder Hill Elementary fourth-grader was at first starstruck when he saw the Kangaroo Kids perform while he was in kindergarten.

Now, his favorite part of the group is performing for an audience at shows.

"I don't do it for competition," he said. "I can do it for fun in front of other people who don't know about jump rope."

Longtime Kangaroo Kids coach Jim McCleary said the sport itself is what keeps his jumpers interested.

"It's something you don't see a lot, don't hear about," he said. "There are people who've lived in Howard County their whole lives and say 'I've never heard of Kangaroo Kids. I've never seen this before.' "

Jump rope practices and programs take place at the Meadowbrook Athletic Complex in Ellicott City. Twelve-week training sessions cost $172, and range from introductory jump rope classes to classes on how to perform.

At one practice for the Kangaroo Kids' competition team, participants did conditioning, abdominal and aerobic work, and worked on increasing how fast they could jump rope by using heavier beaded ropes, rather than the wire ropes used in competition.

The Kangaroo Kids compete each summer at the U.S. Amateur Jump Rope Federation National Championships and at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics, among other competitions.

Liz Butterfield, who grew up in Columbia, returned to the area after graduating from Ithaca College to become an assistant coach.

She's been jumping rope for more than 17 years.

She said when she started, competitions were small and took place at a tiny stage at Disney World, held from 7 a.m. to noon.

"Now, it's four full days in Texas at a huge convention center," she said.

As for competitions:  "Everyone is friendly with each other, but it is very competitive. It's not just a little sport with little kids on the playground."

Butterfield is among jumpers who gain inspiration from Lee Reisig, a jumper from Idaho who posts tricks on his Facebook page and who has performed in Cirque Du Soleil shows.

"Jump rope has totaly impacted my life – it's totally made me who I am," she said. "It gave me confidence. It taught me how to be a leader."