I started juggling when I was 11 years old in 1986. Within a few years I had won several juggling contests and achieved international notoriety within the juggling community. To date I have produced several best selling instructional and demonstrative videos for juggling available on thewjfstore.com. After becoming frustrated with the lack of mainstream attention the skill of juggling attracted, I decided to create the sport of juggling modeled after the Olympic gymnastics code of points scoring system and, in 2003, I founded the World Juggling Federation with the goal being to produce sport juggling competition programs for ESPN while providing incentive and motivation for jugglers to push themselves to their technical limits and raise the bar globally. That goal was accomplished in 2004 and has continued to the present. After 15 years producing sport juggling competition programs, my new goal for the organization is to take the sport of juggling to the Olympics.

This youth and school program is designed to foster the development of our future Olympic competitors. In addition to designing the WJF Representative Certification training program, the WJF school program, the WJF skill level certifications, producing The Theory and Practice of Juggling, Etudes for Juggling, Olympic Juggling, and the scoring system for all WJF competitions globally, I'm looking forward to getting back in the trenches and providing one on one training for our future Olympic athletes to maximize their potential both as competitors and as successful adults.

Born in 1987, I started juggling in my home town of Penza, Russia when I was six as part of my parents' grand master plan to keep my younger sister and I off the streets. From foreign languages to pull-ups, from math and sciences to juggling, we did it all. My dad was a strong advocate for achievement being key to social mobility and hard work being key to achievement. As my sister and I witnessed hard work bringing in rewards, it reinforced our drive to work even harder. The virtuous cycle led us to performing at various events in Russia, some including guests from abroad. With help of a kind American juggler we met at that time, we bought a video camera and started posting videos of our juggling online. As is well known now, the internet has the power to accelerate the hard work achievement flywheel dramatically. Within a couple of years, we started getting invited to headline juggling events around the world as well as teach workshops. In our early teens, we travelled all over the world and by ages 15 and 12 we landed in the United States. With a great degree of help from the juggling community, we've been able to get settled in the new country and juggle professionally. My achievements spanned from media appearances on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Nightline ABC and many others to winning multiple world juggling championships. Eventually, getting in a car accident scared me into a career in IT that I have grown to enjoy even more so than juggling professionally, but I will never forget that it's juggling that has afforded all of this to me. I still love watching it done well and dabble in it myself occasionally. Having seen how far technical juggling has been propelled by the ability to brag about how good you are on the internet, I can only begin to imagine the explosion of skill that would be set off if juggling made it into the Olympics. Let's make it happen!

Learning correctly from the very beginning is essential in maximizing the potential of our future Olympic competitors. I'm honored to have the opportunity to play a small role in guiding the first generation of Olympic jugglers down that path.

Owen Morse and Jon Wee met in 1986 at a juggling convention and instantly knew they were destined to be a team. But they decided to graduate from college first. Which they both did. Rather than pursue careers in Economics and Psychology, they lit some torches, and started throwing stuff into the air. And things clicked. Two weeks after their first performance together they won the Silver Medal at the International Jugglers’ Association Teams Competition. The next year they won the Gold. That recognition earned an invitation to appear at the renowned Comedy and Magic Club in Los Angeles, where on their first night they were approached by the “Tonight Show” talent scout and booked for their first national television appearance in September 1990. Johnny Carson enjoyed them so much they were asked back less than a year later. Their first feature film followed, The Addams Family Movie, where Jon and Owen doubled for Gomez (Raul Julia) and Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) in the climactic Mamushka dagger-passing scene. They also appeared in the award-winning comedy documentary, The Aristocrats. The Passing Zone’s first London appearance was in the Royal Variety Performance at the Dominion Theatre, performing for Prince Charles and sharing the bill with Tony Bennett and Riverdance. They expanded their US national television audience by passing clubs over the heads of the Miss America Pageant contestants during the swimsuit competition, demonstrating almost inhuman concentration skills! They were finalists on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” performing in Seasons 1 and 11, and both times losing to a young, female singer! Jon and Owen are known as much for their comedy as their juggling skills. They were featured twice on the gala stage at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and have opened for comedians Jay Leno, George Carlin, Bob Newhart, Bob Hope, and Penn & Teller. Television appearances have included “Comic Strip Live,” “CNN’s Road Warriors,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “An Evening at The Improv,” “MADtv,” Penn & Teller’s “Sin City Spectacular,” “Steve Harvey’s Big Time,” and regular returns to NBC’s “Today.” And they were commentators on ESPN for their coverage of the World Juggling Federation competitions, and the Moxie Games at SkillCon. Several years ago they were guest performers at The White House. The Passing Zone has been awarded five Guinness World Records and 18 Gold Medals from the International Juggler’s Association. They were presented with that organization’s Award of Excellence, for “excellence in the art of juggling through professional performance,” which is the most prestigious award in juggling (essentially the Juggling Hall of Fame). In addition, they have been inducted into the National Speaker’s Association’s Speaker Hall of Fame. They can often be seen doing entertainment and keynote speaking at corporate events, for which they are a natural fit. Their act is clean, so it offends no one. They appeal to all ages, and all walks of life, so whether their audience is a group of mechanical contractors, software engineers, hairdressers, or billionaire business leaders, they are always a hit. Not only do they entertain, but they customize their performances by juggling a company’s product, incorporating their slogans, and inspiring groups to perform as a team, with excellence and creativity. In addition, The Passing Zone has become popular at theaters and performing arts centers, bringing their zany and sometimes terrifying acts to communities all across the nation. Their most recent show, “The Passing Zone Saves the World!” is currently touring. Jon and Owen reside in the greater Los Angeles area, where, when they are not throwing things, they spend as much time as possible with their families, and still manage to squeeze in hang gliding, surfing, mountain biking, and motorcycling, although not all at the same time.

I have been a juggler for 12 years. I started juggling when I was 8 years old through my cousin teaching me the basics. Juggling was and obviously still is a fun thing that instantly hooked me and is now a massive part of my life. I have participated in WJF events since 2013 and have won the Juniors Overall Championship in 2014 and the Advanced Overall Championship in 2017. I have also performed in many places such as the Austin Jugglefest and participated in the International Jugglers Association's competitions. I also hold 8 juggling world records.

I became a WJF Representative because I want to see sport juggling grow. Juggling has been a huge thing in the circus world but there are many jugglers who aren't necessarily entertainers per-say or don't point their juggling in that direction. Juggling is a thing that can be very physically taxing if taken to the maximum level. There is so much to be appreciated in jugglers who do incredibly hard tricks. I believe sport juggling can bring more understanding to the amazing things in juggling. On a personal level, juggling has for the most part been technical and it is the way where I push my own limits and brings me fulfillment in life. I have probably dedicated tens of thousands of hours to juggling. I am not the only one. I believe so many jugglers would benefit career wise by the expansion of sport juggling and turning what often people perceive as a strange skill into a sport with amazing athletes that challenge the limits of keeping things in the air. I desire to educate jugglers to reach their goals and to perhaps coach olympic athletes one day as well as perhaps be one myself. I love teaching people juggling and seeing their progress.

Dan Bennett learned to juggle in 1970 when he was eight years old. It was in college however that he discovered his propensity for comedy. While earning his bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Dan worked as a teaching assistant in the math lab. His love for teaching soon spilled over into tutoring with comedy. Eventually Mr. Bennett was holding workshops in calculus and mixing mathematics with humor. While lecturing about ballistics he devised the object lesson now so central to his performances: catching a bowling ball with his face. There was no turning back once he discovered how fun it was to entertain with math, physics and economics. Intellectual joke telling evolved into scientific bravado which in turn utilized the visual aids of juggling, balancing and prop manipulation. A show was born. After earning a Master’s degree in mathematics from UCLA, Dan began headlining on the major cruise lines and in comedy clubs. Appearing on the tonight show with Jay Leno , Arsenio Hall and other talk shows set Mr. Bennett on a course that has never turned back. He has been featured in some 30 commercials with corporations such as: McDONALDS, COCA COLA, NABISCO, NU SKIN, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES, CIRCLE K, NOVELL, QUAKER OATS, PIER ONE IMPORTS, BIG PLANET, and BAKER’S SQUARE to name a few. Dan has four gold medals from the international juggler’s association and is in the 1990 Guinness Book of World records for numbers juggling. These skills are indispensable in his performances as a science and math variety comedian. He has been the keynote “comediantic” at several mathematics conferences. His facility with sports equipment was highlighted by the Wilson Sports Corporation where Dan entertained as a comedy product design engineer. This led to some very interesting special advertising videos with the company. His trademark counting with Roman numerals has been used in conjunction with the Merck Corporation to promote product visibility. The General Motor’s Saturn division is another beneficiary of the professor’s high energy “edutainment”. Dan is a regular at sales meetings and motivational seminars where he showcases his talent and humor to elevate teamwork and problem solving. He also appears simply as a variety comedian for any number of events. Mr. Bennett has a strong educational background in the sciences. With his hilarious explanations and world class skill he can speak and entertain effectively on numerous topics such as: MATHEMATICS, COMPUTERS, PHYSICS, ECONOMICS, SALES, BIOLOGY, ENGINEERING, CHEMISTRY, TEAM BUILDING, PROBLEM SOLVING, etc. He is the solution to your company’s presentation.

I became a WJF Representative because I love juggling, teaching and performing. I taught mathematics for several years and often incorporated it in my comedy juggling routines. My students loved seeing intricate patterns in juggling as they learned mathematics. Juggling is fantastic for exercise and for developing complex motor skills that unleash the brain’s potential.

I began juggling in 2010 when I was ten years old. Shortly afterwards in 2012, I attended my first WJF convention and won the junior overall championship. In 2013 and 2015, I then won the WJF advanced overall championship. I have been teaching juggling since 2014 when I began working with Juggling Life, a nonprofit organization which performs juggling shows and gives workshops to economically and physically disadvantaged individuals. After dealing with wrist injuries for over a year, I am recovered and excited to be juggling and performing again

I became a WJF representative to help grow the sport of juggling. Juggling has been incredibly important in my life, both for developing discipline, fitness, and perseverance, but also as a source of relaxation, happiness, and enjoyment. The benefits of juggling are vast and yet it is a very unexposed sport. I am eager to increase the number of jugglers in the world by providing workshops and performances to students in schools, which I also hope will be an important step to ultimately pushing juggling into the Olympics.