Val’s Word Bringing Women Together Playing Double Dutch
Every week women gather together and join in to play a childhood game that many have played when they were children; Double Dutch.
Basically, Double Dutch is a rope skipping exercise played when two ropes are turned in eggbeater fashion. While the ropes are turned, a third person jumps within.
The Dutch settlers brought the game to the Hudson River trading town of New Amsterdam (now New York City). When the English arrived and saw the children playing their game, they called it Double Dutch. The game has since grown over the years, particularly in urban areas. It became a favorite pastime to sing rhymes while turning and jumping. During World War II, the game was often played on the sidewalks of New York. By the late 1950s the radio music boom dominated urban America and the lack of recreational areas in close proximity to apartment buildings had made the game nearly extinct.
Val’s Word! 30 Something Double Dutch Group was formed in June 2008 for women the age of 30 and over by Valerie Carey.
“The primary mission was for women to get back to a childhood pastime while benefiting from the cardiovascular exercise it provides”, said Valerie
The group primarily meets up in Brooklyn on Wednesdays near Prospect Park. To be sure of the meeting time and place, you can go to Val’s Word Facebook page.
