My Yoyoing Timeline

Yoyo has had a massive impact on my life, and I often struggle to recount my expirience with this hobby, so I created this timeline so you too can walk through my journey in yoyo!

The Timeline

440 BCE - First documented existence of yoyos

2008 CE - I enter the mortal plane

Young childhood - I encountered yoyos plenty of times as a kid, but my first concrete memory of them was buying a cheap $15 metal yoyo at around 10 years old and being simultaneously amazed by how fancy it felt and being completely unable to throw it. It soon ended up in a box and was forgotten

March, 2024 - A few days before the FIRST Colorado Robotics Competition, I got the urge to give my yoyo another go. I finally learned how to do all of the basic tricks like forward throws, rock the baby and walk the dog. Unfortunately, I would later lose this yoyo at the robotics competition and I have not found it since.

April, 2024 - By this point I was itching to yoyo again so I started shopping on yoyoexpert for my next yoyo. I specifically remember choosing between a yoyofactory uppercut and the yoyofriends shortcut, based almost entirely on price and appearance. I eventually chose the shortcut based on others reviews and it was a great decision, as it is still one of my favorite yoyos to this day

Summer, 2024 - Now armed with a proper monometal unresponsive yoyo, I began learning unresponsive tricks like trapeze and double or nothing, and as I gathered muscle memory, I began using yoyo as an escape and break from the stresses of school and the rest of life.

Fall, 2024 - By this point, I could yoyo to an ability that impressed most people, though I still considered myself a beginner.

Winter, 2024 - I asked for and received a plastic 000 for christmas, the second yoyo in my collection. It had rather good reviews, though at the time I was a bit disappointed it did not spin as long as my shortcut. I also spotted the Magic Yoyo Y04 at a great price in a beautiful color. It was a bit wider than my shortcut, but I still preferred my shortcut over it.

Spring, 2025 - Spring was big for me getting other people into yoyo, I would end up giving away my 000 to a friend from robotics so they could learn on it. I would also introduce another robotics friend to yoyo, this time with responsive yoyos, the yoyo factory loop 720s. I was getting into guilty gear at the time and wanted to try Bridget's style of yoyo.

Summer, 2025 - Wanting to try all of the styles of yoyo, I bought a yotricks spire offstring yoyo and later a magic yoyo t1 yoyo for 4a play. The spire was my favorite of the two and learning the basics of 4a was frustrating, but rewarding as once mastered, the tricks were very fun to learn, utilizing flashy throws and catches all around the body.

Fall, 2025 - By this point, I had gotten significantly better at both 4a and 1a styles of yoyoing and thoroughly impressed any non-yoyer I met. I also introduced my former girlfriend to yoyo and gifted her my y04. Later on I saw that there was a Colorado state yoyo contest in Aurora and attended. I was familiar with the yoyo contest format, but seeing and meeting people in person was amazing, and led me to find out about the mile high yoyo club.

December 2025/January 2026 - I showed up to my first yoyo club meeting, which just happened to be the christmas yoyo exchange. I entered my Spire yoyo and ended up getting an LK glass yoyo, which is now one of my most treasured possessions. I also meet the club organizers, Todd Rollenhagen and Dave Addams who I would get to know quite well. I would not receive any other yoyos for christmas, but I did buy a pair of Topyo ColoSUS yoyos to tackle the one style I hadn’t before: 3a

February/March 2026 - I made significant progress in 3a, in part because of two other lovely transfem 3a players, Amily Harn and the legendary Aliyah Tan. I was going to yoyo club very regularly and, seeing that the Rocky Mountain Regional yoyo contest would be happening in May, began to prepare my routine. I also began to attempt to make my own yoyos, using my onshape CAD skills, my 3d printer and copper wire, I would make many prototypes, most being pretty bad. I also received two Topyo Cheapskate bimetal yoyos for $5 from a compassionate 3a player, which further elevated my 3a ability.

May 2026 - By this point,the contest was fast approaching, and I felt a little underprepared, and with high school graduation the same week as the contest, I had a lot on my mind. Still, I persisted and registered for 1a Finals and 3a in X Division. The whole regional was incredibly fun, competing under my chosen name and backed by supportive friends helped ease my nerves a bit, although my first routine, 1a prelims, I messed up some tricks and repeated a few on accident and ended up placing last. However, it was not too bad to watch, and I am still proud of it as my first performance. With this experience, my 3a routine was far smoother, with my yoyos only stopping twice, giving me one of the lowest negatives of the competitors in X division and placing me second in 3a out of 3 competitors. I also designed an incredible amount of yoyos around this time, around 20 different designs, most utilizing my newly developed heat insert system that resulted in some of the best yoyos I’ve ever made.

Present - I am still developing my 3a technique, and I am still developing yoyos, and I still teach anyone willing to listen the basics of yoyo. I can begin to see my work pay off with some of the people I have taught making big improvements under their own volition, finding the same joy and escape in yoyo that I do.