Australian National Yo-Yo Championships 2006 - St Stephens Hall, Newtown - 28/05/06

Ethan Switch - Monday, May 29, 2006 - Print Version

St. Stephens is dead quiet. Decrepit etchings on the headstones of the graveyard around the car hole don't speak much at all. With the temperature freezing the lobes off ears, nothing changes with the morning session of the church keeping it on the hush.

Around the steeple, a crew from the Sydney Film School shoot parts for their documentary. An interview with the dead in the back drop and later on with vines crawling about.

St. Stephens Hall is just off Church Street and away from the busy of King Street. Cold and empty save for the yo-yo players milling about around the door. Turn out is sparse and sketchy. Players making the mass with a few stringers as spectators. One man has an entire posse of no less than five on the wings.

For a 10:00 start, the whiteboard changes up with an 11:00 for the 1A division to kick things off. There's a lot of slack in time. The Australian National Yo-Yo Championships know not any real sense of impending urgency or tightness to schedule.

Lone judge Dimi from Duncan Crew Malaysia shows off the ponies in the trick list in the 1A division with ease and a little offside commentary and befuddlement. The other two judges are MIA: one is babysitting.

Competitors are hesitant and unwilling to storm the rickety stage. Nothing about the apparent poor quality in the woodwork though.

Compulsories starts with Mark. His style gives off a rather silent look about him. Brad takes up the stage next and is more laid back than anyone around. Skip follows a guy in shorts and his white shirt makes seeing the string a difficulty. Jason goofs off in his shot and pleases his posse. Closing out the first event of the day, Imran and Emmett. With only two attempts before the next trick on the list, judging is to the point and matter of fact.

Back on, Dimi reels off a showcase of tricks to take up the next few minutes. Fast, furious and no signs of effort, just a smooth transition between the kicks.

Obese spans of time fall between the competitors displaying their skills on stage. Coaxing continues on and on with the BBQ on the whiteboard moving from 13:30 to 14:00. Cutting up of the onions not bringing on the fat and guss of the sausages fast enough. Time bends and snaps its fingers like the string for an eli hop. Slow moving on the front.

Self service at the barbeque. Any one who stays a little too long around the grill with the tongs ends up serving for others. Onions, snags, white bread and toilet paper all over the table top. It's enough tomato sauce to call it a meal on its own without throwing up.

A tricky scale of ever increasing difficulty fronts the few brave enough to hit the sports ladder. No passing for tactics, once the attempts fail, they're off the stage. Double-on trapeze (Lindy Loop) catching most, three rotations on the Mach 5 proving to be the upper limit.

Throwing in an exhibition of his own, the diablo juggler takes the next few. All across the floor and testing the camera crew around the hall. Prone as it is to disengage with the string, nobody gets hit with a flying bell.

Single A finalists hit the stage in quick succession, a great flow with one competitor right after the other between setting up soundtracks. With only one official judge at the table, the other spot goes to a shadow, learning the ropes of what it takes to click on the clickers for points and style.

String tricks with change up of yo-yos with personality. Mick makes fine comic use of the Eiffel Tower and Motorbike in his act. Jason regales with a bit of a dance step in his set. Mark barrels his gaze and the general intensity of it all is a little on the burn. Composition and segues knead on a term, the roughness comes away mild.

Y Division is a total freestyle jamboree. Five out of the six in the last segment of the day opt for string tricks. Kenneth takes on a rapid fire looping and choreographs his piece to something operatic and flowery in tune. Rolf Harris is on the soundtrack singing Stairway to Heaven as Hefty breaks off the string and almost takes the stereo out with the flying yo-yos missing the landing on a few shots. Jason's use of the Kaiser Chiefs' Modern Way seems so apt. And pretty much everyone sings along to the Red Hot Chili Peppers track.

Filming cuts for the judges outside of the area, results later in a few weeks from the tapes. Nobody outside the sports ladder division knows the names of the winners and it's all a rub down. Michelle, Brad and Mark take the third, second and winning posts respectively for the sports ladder. The documentary crew loiter about to grab the last vestiges of the day before wrapping up.

a motley crew