Sebastian Brock of Alexandria, third best in the world with a yo yo.

By John Arundel
Managing Editor
 
Yo-Yos have changed a lot over the past 36 years.
 
They have transformed from 10-cent pieces of wood on a string to high tech models made of exotic metals and complex synthetic string. A high end competition grade yo-yo can cost upwards of $400, but quality standard yo-yos are still available for under $10.
 
In Alexandria, there is no one more adept at the yo yo than Sebastian Brock, who placed third last month among the best in the world when he vied for the Title of World Yo-Yo Champion. Last month, Brock went to Orlando to test his skills against about 200 yo-yo players from 22 countries to vie for the coveted title of World Yo-Yo Champion.
 
"It was an awesome, awesome day," said Brock, of Alexandria. "I had a great time and this was exactly how I envisioned this contest to be from day one. I couldn’t have done it without my friends and sponsors."
 
The annual contest that started 76 years ago has been bringing the best of the best from every corner of the globe since the first World Yo-Yo Contest was won by Harvey Low in London England in 1932.

Paul Han, 2007 International Yo-Yo Open 1A Champion

The contest is fed by a network of other contests. In the United States, winners from state contests get seeded into regional contests that get seeded into to the U.S. National yo-yo contest that then gets seeded into the World Yo-Yo Contest. This system works similarly in 28 different countries around the world.

The world yo-yo contest has seven Divisions divided by different yo-yo styles.
 
These include Single A (one yo-yo traditional), Double A (two yo-yos looping) Triple A (Two yo-yos sleeping tricks) Off-String
(Where the string is tied to your finger but not to the yo-yo) Counter-Weight  (Where the string is tied to the yo-yo but not to your finger), Artistic Performance and Combined (The decathlon of yo-yoing).

This contest is supported by the worlds best yo-yo manufacturers including Duncan, YoYoFactory and Yo-Yo Jam, each of which sponsors players to the contest.