Halftime shows at basketball games are a high school staple. In Clatsop County, there’s a variety of local entertainment on display. The Astoria High School Pizazz Dance Team is a darling at the Brickhouse — but in Seaside, the Tsunami Skippers jump roping club is the highlight.
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Stacey Dundas, owner of Dundess Bar and Grill Seaside, started Tsunami Skippers 20 years ago as a way to connect with her kids. They had always gravitated towards jump roping, she said. Dundas decided to start a club in Seaside to give other aspiring jump ropers a chance to experience community with other jump ropers and to enhance their skills.
The club started off as a small local one, but has since grown to about 20 to 25 jump roping athletes. There is no specific age requirement, so spectators at Seaside basketball games often will see high schoolers jumping with elementary school-age kids. In addition to entertaining at Seaside basketball games, the Skippers have performed nationwide, including at the Harlem Globetrotters — and at Six Flags in California over spring break this year. In the past, the team has also performed at Portland Trail Blazers basketball games.
Competition-wise, the group has taken part in the Oregon Coast Classic. This tournament is hosted by the Skippers and Seaside High School, however 2026 was the first time since 2019 that the Skippers got to jump in their home gym. For Dundas and her two senior jumpers Ella Clyde and Theia McCarthy it was a great moment.
“This was the first time it’s been in Seaside since 2019,” Dundas said. “In 2020 we had to cancel due to COVID and then 2021 we did a small event over at the convention center and then 2022 to 2025, it was in Astoria — so this was our first year back in Seaside.”
Twenty years ago, the Oregon Coast Classic was just a three team event — this year, the tournament had 157 competitors from four different states. In addition to Oregon, teams from Montana, Idaho and Washington made the trip to the coast on April 24, 25 to take part in it.
“The event went great,” Dundas said. “(People from out of town) loved the view. … And it’s actually the biggest jump roping competition on the West Coast.”
McCarthy and Clyde agreed that having the tournament is Seaside was a great experience.
“It was pretty cool having it here rather than Astoria,” McCarthy said. She said events like the Coast Classic are good for the local community. “It’s really important for our town because it increases tourism.”
Clyde agreed that Seaside was a good draw for participants. “It’s just a lot more convenient to have it back in Seaside because that’s where most of the teams have known it. The tournament being at Astoria for so long was kind of out of the ordinary. Even when we had it in Astoria, most of the teams would always stay in Seaside hotels,” Clyde said.
A jump out senior project
Last year, Dundas’s youngest daughter Malory created her senior project around jump roping. This year, so did McCarthy and Clyde. They designed all of the club’s jumping routines this year — and for their efforts, each received a $1,000 scholarship.
“We took on more of role in coaching and putting group routines together,” McCarthy said.
“We taught the younger jumpers new tricks like donkey kicks and double dutch,” Clyde said. “On our competition (routine) we made sure (jumpers) were in the right spots.”
As members of the team for more than 10 years each, McCarthy and Clyde have a lot of fond memories jumping rope. McCarthy said her favorite experience from this past year was the trip to Six Flags, while Clyde said the Harlem Globetrotters show was her favorite.
““I was really proud of a lot of our jump ropers because our routine was mostly flawless,” said Clyde.
Jumping rope, making friends
But jump roping means more than just a fun physical activity for them. McCarthy and Clyde said jumping rop was a bonding experience for them. McCarthy said she saw Clyde jump roping one day and was immediately intrigued.
“Ella is the reason I joined (the jump roping club),” McCarthy said. “I saw her perform at our elementary school and I said ‘I want to do that.’ She took the whole year to teach me all the jumps so I would make the team the next year. That’s how we became friends.”
Dundas and her jumpers love the club and hope to bring more into it by hoping to continue spreading the word about Skippers.
“I love this sport,” Dundas said. “The opportunities you get through jump rope are unique to any other sport that’s out there. … It’s the best sport to be involved in because it will take you places that no other sport can take you.”
The next local event for the Skippers will be the Seaside July 4th parade.