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Kings Firecrackers explode on ’Net

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By Eric Schwartzberg, Staff Writer Updated 9:03 AM Friday, May 15, 2009

The popularity of the Kings Firecrackers is igniting national interest.

Lynn Kelley, who teaches physical education at South Lebanon and Columbia Elementary Schools, founded the Kings Firecrackers jump rope team 13 years ago. She said the video of their performance at an Army vs. Navy game in February was posted to the team's Web site in early April and has caught the attention of professional sports teams and nationally broadcast television shows.

The routine, which also was linked to via blip.tv, began accumulating 2,000 hits a day at first, then 700,000 at its peak a week a later, said Kelley, who coaches the team of 28 girls in grades four through eight.

“As of now it’s almost 10 million (total hits),” she said. “It’s been seen in 88 different countries besides the U.S.”

The newfound notoriety bred more of the same. News tabloid program “Inside Edition” spotlighted the video’s popularity, as did CNN, which interviewed 13-year-old team member Alyssa Young via telephone.

The seventh-grader said it felt good to represent in the on-air segment, but that the experience was “really nerve-wracking.”

Alyssa said she hopes the video is good for jump roping as a sport.

“To get more people interested ... would just be great,” she said.

The video’s popularity has been “overwhelming and a little bit scary, too,” Kelley said.

“It is unbelievable to me from the e-mails that we’re getting that people get so much enjoyment out of it,” she said. “They’re saying it’s inspiring them, that they’re starting new jump rope teams because they saw it.”

The team has even received invitations to perform from the Los Angeles Lakers, the Detroit Pistons and the Miami Dolphins. Television programs “Good Morning America” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” have expressed interest in featuring the team in an upcoming episode, Kelley said.

Kelley said the team’s 2009-10 schedule needs to be finalized before a commitment can be made to any sports team, but said she is happy for the opportunity the video has provided.

“It’s opened a lot of different venues for us to perform in.”

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