About the Judge Infrastructure Initiative

The Judge Infrastructure Initiative (JII) is a global IJRU program made possible through the generous multi-year sponsorship of Yuedong Sports. Launched in 2023, the JII is focused on improving judge training, evaluation, and selection to raise the standard of judging across the sport. With Yuedong’s support, IJRU is developing a more consistent, accountable, and professional judging system. The initiative equips judges with the tools, knowledge, and support they need to make fair and confident decisions at every level of competition. Below, you’ll find updates that highlight the ongoing progress and impact of the JII.

 
 

May 2025 Update

Since its inception in 2023, the Judge Infrastructure Initiative (JII) has been working to make meaningful improvements to the quality of our sport’s judging. Judging plays a crucial role in the growth and success of jump rope globally, as it impacts not only our athletes’ experiences but also our fans’ experiences. Our driving goal is to ensure that the judging system and the judges themselves are designed and equipped to determine the right winner, in every event, every time!
 
With generous financial support from our partners at Yuedong, the JII has made substantial progress toward improving our judging system, equipping judges with updated training methods, professionalizing judges, and holding them accountable to serve our athletes with excellence. These endeavors began in 2023 and 2024 when members of the JII along with some of the most exceptional minds in our sport came together for two symposia in Shanghai, China and Paris, France. Our goals were to evaluate key needs related to judging and develop strategies to address those needs. We kept several core values at the center of these symposia, holding ourselves accountable to work for the good of the athletes and the sport rather than promoting our own opinions.

Some of these core values were:

  • Prioritizing fairness

  • Encouraging and rewarding athleticism, innovation, and entertainment

  • Equipping and trusting judges to make the right decisions    

  • Crowning the right winner


We came away with several suggestions for the technical committees to consider regarding our freestyle judging system. After careful review and voting by the IJRU Technical Committee, Technical Congress, and Board of Directors, some of those suggestions have now been implemented, and our judges have been doing an amazing job learning and adapting to key changes. Although growth and change are undoubtedly difficult, we are seeing positive trends in freestyle routines. Athletes are challenging themselves to be even more creative and entertaining than before. They are producing dense, well-rounded routines that showcase all of the elements our sport offers. We believe that these trends will continue and will have a positive impact on the visibility and global popularity of jump rope.
 
We are also proud to announce that this year IJRU will be taking initial steps toward professionalizing judging in our sport. We believe this process will set the stage for an important culture shift where judging is viewed as a high honor and privilege. Our goal is for athletes at every major competition around the world to be judged by true experts so that athletes, coaches, and audience members can be confident in the results. This process has already begun with updated training, testing, and evaluation for judges.

This year, we have produced 27 new online judge training courses, updated all live training materials, and developed tests to ensure that the judges selected for the upcoming world championships are equipped and qualified.

At the 2025 championships, we will also be implementing more sophisticated evaluation of our judging than ever before, screening for bias, and assessing judges’ accuracy and consistency. This evaluation will allow us to improve future training efforts and provide useful feedback to judges and judge trainers.
 
We are looking forward to an amazing 2025 World Championship in Kawasaki and are confident that we will continue to see unprecedented growth in the sport of jump rope as the quality of judging around the world reaches new heights.

-The JII Team 

 
 

December 2023 - Shanghai, China
IJRU Judge Infrastructure Initiative Inaugural Symposium

The International Jump Rope Union (IJRU) is pleased to announce the sponsorship of Yuedong Sports in launching the IJRU Judge Infrastructure Initiative. The inaugural symposium took place 13 – 16 December 2023 in Shanghai, China. With the financial support of Yuedong, IJRU judging experts gathered to discuss and present key aspects of judge training, evaluation, and selection.  Throughout the symposium distinguished IJRU officials from across the globe delivered a series of presentations, sharing their insights on judge selection, analysis, and training. The symposium also featured work sessions geared towards identifying solutions for progress in the sport. This initiative is sponsored with a generous contribution over five years from Yuedong Sports. This will also enable IJRU to systemically ensure greater judging accuracy and a positive judging culture for the sport of Jump Rope. The initiative was led by 6-time World Champion Dr. Kaylee Woodard, PhD. Dr. Woodard is a professor of motor learning and exercise science. IJRU will continue to work diligently with jump rope judging experts, IJRU NGBs and Continental organizations around the world to ensure our judges are adequately evaluated, trained and selected to do their best for our athletes.   

Additionally, this symposium marked the first "Everybody Jump" Asia partner with Yuedong sport agreeing to be a partner.  The “Everybody Jump” initiative is aimed at facilitating universal access and opportunities to participate in jump rope at all levels. IJRU introduced the “Everybody Jump” initiative at the 2023 World Championship (WC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. At the 2023 WC, Elite Jumps (Elite SRS) supplied $10,000 USD of ropes that were distributed throughout the world to encourage more people to jump rope. Yuedong has come on board to further this initiative. Elite Jumps’ and Yuedong’ s non – exclusive partnership allows for additional partners in Asia and around the world to join IJRU in the effort to allow more people, young and old, to participate in jump rope.  “Everybody Jump” currently consists of two focus areas: access to jump rope equipment and jump rope programming.  IJRU will establish a global committee to further develop and explore these focus areas, and we welcome all who wish to join us in this effort.