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Yo Yo Champ is in it for fun but hopes for World Champion Title
Eighth grader KEVIN EULALIA, a student at Hazelwood North Middle School, shows off some of his yo-yo tricks. Eulalia won in the 1A Division at the 2008 Missouri YoYo State Championships.
Do you want to try for Double or Nothing? How about seeing a UFO or a Dizzy Baby? It is likely Kevin Eulalia has performed these yo-yo tricks and many more.
Eulalia, an eighth grader at Hazelwood North Middle School, won the 1A Division at the 2008 Missouri YoYo State Championships, which netted him a $250 prize. Before his most recent award, he was already a two-time state yo-yo champion.
Dexterity, speed and balance are all necessary components for successful yo-yo tricks. He’s been practicing and performing with the yo-yo for three years now. Eulalia practices solo for more than an hour each day, easily tears through three strings per day and he practices with his team, Team MoYo, on the main stage at the City Museum for four hours every Saturday.
He described a trick called the Eli Hop, of which there are several versions. Many call for it to be performed one-handed.
“I flip the yo-yo in the air and I catch the string,” he said, making it sound simple.
Eulalia said his favorite tricks are ones that he creates himself. “They are hard to learn, you have to watch, step-by-step, what you’re doing.”
With so many tricks already in existence, coming up with one that’s truly ground-breaking is not easy, Eulalia said.
Eulalia already has an ultimate yo-yo goal in sight.
“I want to be the World 1A Champion,” he said.
Eulalia is featured in St. Louis Magazine’s April 2008 edition. At the Missouri YoYo State Championships, he competed in three divisions. Besides, his first place win, he won second place in the Missouri open division and fourth place in the open division overall.
He described a typical freestyle session at a competition.
“You pick a song and then you have two or three minutes to perform yo-yo tricks to the song,” he said.
“I perform with yo-yos for the fun of it. I could stand out and do it all day.”
(Courtesy of Hazelwood School District)
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