Double Dutch group grows to become a sisterhood
BY TIA CAROL JONES
Pamela Robinson was 45-years old when she was looking for a happy place. She needed a break from adulting and wanted an outlet. She was at a barbecue, brought out the Double Dutch rope and had an amazing time. It took her mind off everything she had going on.
Pamela went to her good friend Catrina Dyer-Taylor and told her that she wanted to start jumping rope. Catrina was supportive of her friend’s endeavor.
Pamela posted on her Facebook page asking if there were any other women 40-plus who wanted to jump rope, and the 40+ Double Dutch Club was born.
There were 8 to 10 women who came out the first time. After that, Pamela started at Facebook Group and invited other women to come out and jump. It started with women from Pamela’s church, Trinity United Church of Christ, friends, neighbors and people she and Catrina grew up with.
In 2019, Pamela and the 40+ Double Dutch Club was featured on “Windy City Live.” The show shared the story on its Facebook page. The group, which was at 50 women locally grew to more than 1,000 women nationally who wanted to know how to start a group where they live. Now, five years later, the group has 20,000 women across the world.
Pamela was absolutely shocked when the group grew so quickly after the story aired on “Windy City Live.” Pamela said it blew up after the story was shared on social media.
“I just think that a lot of women over 40 are looking for an opportunity to do something for themselves. We spend so much time taking care of our husbands, our kids, our grandkids, our parents now, our jobs, our careers, making sure the bills are paid and everybody gets to where they’re supposed to go, that we don’t set aside time to just have fun,” she said.
Pamela thinks the story really resonated with other women because there isn’t always a lot of opportunities for women
to take time for themselves. The group is a positive way to fellowship with other women, form relationships and do something healthy, and they’re having fun. It’s giving the women an opportunity to go outside and play with their friends.
The group is much more than just jumping double dutch, it’s about forming relationship. It has become a sisterhood
where women are coming together with positive energy and building friendships, something that is sometimes hard to do as you become older.
“Some of these women I’ve met through 40-plus Double Dutch Club are my closest friends now. We talk every single day, we’re meeting up. In the Chicagoland area, we have a meetup somewhere every day of the week. We’re meeting up and we’re jumping rope and we’re holding each other accountable,” she said.
There is a group that meets in Glendale Heights on Sundays. On Mondays a group meets in Calumet City, Tuesdays there are groups that meets in Hyde Park and in Schaumburg. Wednesday’s group meets in Evergreen Park and Thursday’s group in Country Club Hills. On Friday a group meets in Matteson. Saturday there is a South Side group, a Joliet, Oak Park and a Bolingbrook group.
People who want to start a group should contact Pamela or Catrina, they participate in a zoom orientation. There are more
than 100 sub-clubs and more than 20,000 women. There are sub-clubs across the country, as well as in Canada and Israel.
There are talks with women in Ghana, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
It is a sisterhood that transcends Double Dutch. The women are praying with and praying for each other. When Pamela goes to other cities, she has sisters there. They have built a bond.
“God has a plan for all of us. And God can turn your pain into purpose. He can use anybody or anything. He decided to use something as simple as a plastic clothesline to connect women
from all over the world and it’s helping us in so many ways. It’s helping us to improve not only our physical health, but our mental and our spiritual health,” said Pamela Robinson.
