Panthers pounce on national unicycle title
September 14, 2011
By Emily Baer
The walls of North Bend Elementary School’s gym are covered with a combination of physical education posters and photographs of unicyclists ages 4 to 60.
P.E. teacher by day, coach of the Panther Pride Unicycle Team by evening, Alan Tepper proudly talked about the members of his team who qualified for the international unicycling championship in Bressanone, Italy.
Tepper has been coaching the team since 1978, when he moved from New York to North Bend.
Alex Lancaster performs a trick during the North American Unicycle Convention and Championships during the Panther Pride Unicycle Team’s run to its national championship. Contributed
Twenty of the Panthers’ 100 unicyclists competed in July at the North American Unicycle Convention and Championships in Madison, Wis. Unicyclists were required to place first or second in an event to receive an invitation to Italy. Tepper estimated that a couple hundred unicyclists participated in the weeklong national championship.
The Panthers took home 51 gold medals, 43 silver medals and 48 bronze medals, and were named the all-around champions of the artistic and track events.
“It’s an honor when an official body of a sport invites you to represent your country in that sport,” Tepper said. “What a learning experience and growth experience.”
The qualifying unicyclists had to decide whether to make the trip to Italy last Thursday. The cost of attending both the Wisconsin and Italian competitions is $5,000 — an expense that not all families can meet.
“We are going to be in great need of doing many fundraisers in order to help riders achieve their dreams,” Tepper said.
In the past, the team has raised funds by hosting large clinics for a dozen schools or more in their home gym at North Bend Elementary. This year they hope to visit other schools to put on smaller, more personal clinics.
When they aren’t practicing or teaching others to unicycle, the team performs at special events or venues including Husky half-time shows, the Thanksgiving parade in Seattle, the Salmon Days parade and other local parades, Seafair, the Seattle Center and the Paramount Theater. The team used to perform at Sonics half-time shows — before the basketball team moved to Oklahoma.
Similar to sports like ice skating, horseback riding and gymnastics, unicycling competitions are divided into several categories and events.
Contestants in artistic events wear costumes akin to those of figure skaters and choreograph routines to perform in front of the judges. They may compete individually, in pairs or in small groups. In flat-land competitions, riders showcase their skills doing tricks without adding any artistic flair. During criterion events, riders are judged on their ability to meet a set of criteria. Street unicycling asks riders to perform a variety of tricks using objects found in an urban setting.
Unicyclists race around a track and enter field contests in aptly named track events. Trials competitions rate how well contestants can negotiate obstacles. Riders competing in mountain unicycling must race through rough, natural terrain. In marathon unicycling, riders race long distances.
Though men and women, boys and girls are judged separately in some speed events, others allow all contestants within the same skill level to compete against each other, regardless of gender.
Riders are designated as novice, intermediate, advanced or expert unicyclists based on their universal skill level and must compete within that level.
Tepper said that the length of time it takes to become an advanced or expert unicyclist depends on the person.
“There are some that have an uncanny cat-like balance and self-confidence, and within two years can be at the expert level,” he said. “For the rest of us, it would take a few years. It’s a commitment like any other sport. You’ve gotta have commitment, drive and parent support. And you have to stay healthy.”
Though riders often compete individually, Tepper said that unicycling is “very much a team sport with a great deal of camaraderie.” Members of his team help each other make routines and teach each other new skills.
“They’re texting each other all the time and they have events together,” he said. “A lot are good buddies and spend a lot of time together.”
Many even make friends overseas.
“A lot of these kids grow up together because they see each other often at different competitions they go to as they’re growing up,” Tepper said. “There are those nationally and internationally that keep in touch with each other.”
Despite the international nature of the sport — Tepper said unicycling is popular in Europe and Japan — unicycling is not an Olympic game nor is it a part of the X Games. Recently, officials from the latter have been exploring the idea.
“If the X Games take unicycling in and it gets that kind of exposure, it will probably get a better chance,” he said about the prospect of the Olympic Games including unicycling.
While there are many unicycling clubs in the state of Washington, Tepper’s is the only one that competes in national and international contests. The Seattle School District includes unicycling in its physical education curriculum, Tepper said. Though the Snoqualmie School District does not, North Bend Elementary supports Tepper in introducing unicycling to its students.
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