Arlo Rich wants to share his passion for juggling.
The 10-year-old was at Centennial Park recently, teaching his first class to a handful of youth. He has taught friends before and said it was annoying to watch them fail when it’s so easy to juggle.
“Some people, it’s really challenging, but juggling is fun. It’s just a skill that I wanted to learn.”
He said he taught himself to juggle watching YouTube videos. The best way to learn, he said, is with garbage bags and scarves because it’s easier and slower. This is followed by one ball thrown with the dominant hand, and gradually adding more balls. If the balls are a little heavier, they’ll drop a bit faster, he said.
Arlo said it takes “perseverance, not giving up at the end of the half-hour. I wanted to get two balls, three balls done.”
He always takes his juggling balls when he goes to town. He also juggles with clubs and knows a few juggling tricks. He can juggle while riding his RipStik, an electric skateboard.
“It’s great for hand-eye coordination and it increases your intelligence and it’s great instead of being on a screen, he learns how to juggle,” his mom Deanna Rich said. “If he gets bored and can’t be on the screens, he’s just juggling. Either that or playing the piano.”
Although he makes juggling look easy, Arlo said much of the time is spent dropping balls. Still, he doesn’t get discouraged, noting he even taught a family at Desert Hills in Ashcroft how to juggle.
His advice? “Keep practicing and don’t give up.”
