by MONIQUE REA
[email protected]

Senior Jack Jones began advanced hula hooping two years ago and has recently begun performing publicly.

Within the past years, Jones has dedicated his time to improving his skills.

“It took a lot of practice, but I’ve gotten a lot better,” Jones said. “Hooping is challenging, but it’s really fun and it’s a good workout.”

The difference between ‘hooping’ and childhood hula hooping is that the hoops Jones uses are larger. The size and weight of the hoop varies depending on a hooper’s experience and height. Hooping as well requires more skill since it is more advanced.

Jones believes hooping is a hobby that anyone is able to do with practice.

“Hooping is something fun that anyone is capable of learning,” Jones said.

Jones finds that hooping is a way to express himself.

“It’s one of my main outlets,” Jones said. “My emotion depends on how I hoop.”

Jones believes the best part of hooping is that it catches people’s eye.

“I like that it draws attention,” Jones said. “People think it’s cool and they see it as some godly talent.”

Senior Joy Valdez is proud of Jones’ accomplishments.

“I noticed that hooping was a way for Jack to get away,” Valdez said. “It’s a part of his character and it’s a great way for him to release his emotions.”

Jones’s first public hooping performance was at San Francisco’s Gay Pride Parade last year. He hopes to go to back to this year’s parade to show off the skills he has gained since he performed there last.

“I hooped at Gay Pride in SF last year,” Jones said. “This year I’m going again. I’m super excited. I’ve gotten a lot better.”

His second public performance was at Roseville High School’s spring sports rally two weeks ago.

Jones’ friends knew about his hooping activity but were shocked to see Jones performance in the rally. Although they were shocked, they had full faith in him.

“I was surprised when I heard he was performing but I had no doubts for him,” Valdez said. “His LED hoop was also a nice contribution to the rally.”

Senior Micah Saludares had only seen a few videos of Jones’s hobby before his rally performance and was in awe of the skills Jones presented.

“What’s so cool about Jack hooping is that I didn’t know how good he was at it,” Saludares said. “I knew he did it for fun and I’ve seen a couple videos, but when I saw him in front of everyone at the rally I was amazed.”

Spring sports rally emcee senior Sydney Freeman thinks Jones’ performance added diversity to the rally.

“It was really cool to see the talents of students at Roseville, Jack brought a different kind of performance to the rally,” Freeman said. “I’m happy he got picked to perform because that’s his passion.”

Jones enjoyed the rally experience and was honored by the positive feedback he received from students and friends.

“I was a little nervous before the performance, but I had a lot of fun and it was really exciting,” Jones said. “Overall I enjoyed the experience because the rally was validating and everyone was cheering me on.”