It might be the pandemic, but the International Jugglers' Association (IJA) took itself online for the Juniors Competition and the winner is none other than 15-year-old David Cunsolo from Guelph.
Participants of the competition were required to submit a video and they were judged on skill, creativity, difficulty, execution, presentation and, of course, entertainment.
In Cunsolo’s winning act, he presented himself as a scientist who made a pseudo cloning machine that would replicate balls for him to juggle with. In his act, Cunsolo used creative spinning ball tricks and difficult techniques such as the nine-ball flash, seven-ball half shower, and five-ball mills mess.
"I was completely ecstatic,” said Cunsolo about when he learned he won the competition. “I was just so glad. I tried my best and I was happy with the act I put in regardless."
Cunsolo’s journey into the juggling began as a child. After seeing the local annual competition put together by the Jugglers Of the University of Guelph (JOUG) at the age of six, he was absolutely enthralled.
“I used to go watch them practice because I was so fascinated by it,” said Cunsolo. “I’ve kind of never looked back since."
As a child, Cunsolo was offered to join the juggling club by the participants at the event and learned from Mike Moore, a second year U of G student at the time who is now a Ph.D. student at the U of G, the director of the JOUG and a chairperson of the IJA.
“We’re still juggling and I’m still learning from him today,” said Cunsolo about his mentor who started by teaching him juggling basics as a child and continues to help him improve techniques and skills today.
“As soon as they announced it online, he actually gave me a call and he just yelled into the phone like ‘oh my gosh!’ He was so happy.”
For Cunsolo, the best part about juggling is how community-oriented the sport is and how limitless creativity used in the skill can be.
“In juggling, especially at these big festivals throughout the year, you’re in a convention centre with thousands of other jugglers and you can just approach anyone,” said Cunsolo.
“If you see someone doing something that you think looks really good, you can just ask them what it is and they will teach you.”
Cunsolo mostly juggles bean bags, clubs, spinning balls and over the years, his skills, creativity and endurance continued to develop.
“Twice a week I go practice and work on it and improve my skills and share it with the community. It’s a really great thing,” said Cunsolo.
While a juggler’s act might look seamless, Cunsolo said it requires a lot of physical and mental strength.
“It’s really technical. In a lot of different patterns, they use a lot of math and they have this whole numeric system that they use to build different patterns,” he said.
“It’s almost like a state of hyper-focus. When you start juggling more than around five balls, your arms get so tired and it’s a lot of physical strength.”
He said his skills in juggling helped him in school particularly in the subject of math and in sports where hand and eye coordination is important.
“It helps with different heights and it all correlates together. It also helps with creativity,” said Cunsolo.
Held annually, the IJA hosts thousands of jugglers from around the world where they perform on a stage and are watched by thousands of people
For a few years, Cunsolo has been attending the IJA competition with his family. But this year, for the first time, Cunsolo participated and won.
Moore said Cunsolo’s win came as no surprise to him.
He said apart from Cunsolo’s inherent talent to juggle, what makes him stand out is consistent practice and discipline.
“If you practice for that long, you’re going to get really good,” said Moore who also described Cunsolo as ‘too humble.’
David has practiced a lot, and grown in a lot of skills through his involvement in both the Guelph juggling club and also going to many many festivals and meeting lots of people who have contributed to his skill set and eventually his success,” said Moore.
"We're very proud of him of how he's grown and that he was able to share with other people," said Cunsolo's mom, Debby Cunsolo.
"The juggling community is all ages, all backgrounds, all different skill levels. They're very supportive and encouraging of each other. It's wonderful to see and wonderful to be a part of as well."
