Yoyo’s are back

Remember that Coke yoyo, which you used to play with in the 90’s and how excited you were when you could finally ace the “walking the dog” trick. At this year’s Namibia Tourism Expo, Corli du Toit is going to blow your mind by showing what the modern yoyo is capable of. The 2012 European Woman’s Yoyo Champion and a semi-finalist of the talent show “SA’s Got Talent” in 2016, Corli will definitely be worth seeing.

Corli took up yoyo-ing 10 years ago while living in London. A friend showed her some of the basic moves and took her along to a yoyo contest - she’s been hooked ever since. She started participating in competitions after a couple of months’ practice and it took her only a year to win her first national competition in the beginners’ category. Merely a year later she was participating in the pro category of the same competition and finished in second place in Great Britain. Since then she has competed all over Europe and travelled to over 8 different countries while pursuing her sport. Furthermore, Carli is sponsored by C3yoyodesign, a yoyo manufacturing company from Hong Kong.

Yoyos have changed quite substantially from what they used to be. Up until 2004 all yoyos were of the responsive type, meaning that it would return to your hand with the slightest tug of the string. Modern yoyos however are fitted with ball bearings, which allow the yoyo to “sleep” (i.e. easily spin at the bottom of the string) in order to do string tricks. With this ability there are almost endless possibilities for new and crazier tricks.

Catch Corli in action in the My Zone Boabab Hall during the Expo, where she will be performing. After each performance she will do a small yoyo workshop for those interested in learning more about this pastime.

Otherwise visit her online yoyo shop’s website (www.yoyos4africa.co.za) for yoyo tips and great tutorial videos for tricks.