Jesse White Tumbling Team
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The Jesse White Tumbling Team is a team of acrobats that was founded in 1959 by Illinois athlete and politician Jesse White. Their acrobatic performances can frequently be seen during half-time shows for the National Basketball Association, the National Football League and Major League Baseball games.
White, who still coaches, created the team for children residing in Chicago's inner city housing projects. It serves a juvenile delinquency prevention program. Members are required to abide by White's rules, which include staying in school, maintaining a C average in academic coursework and staying away from gangs and drugs. Since the team's inception, over 10,000 children, ages 6 and up, have participated in the program.
The tumblers have appeared in the movies Heaven is a Playground, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and The Meteor Man. They have performed at the half time for every NBA team, as well as two presidential inaugural parades.
The Jesse White Tumbling Team makes over 1,500 appearances each year, in state and out of state. They've gone to states as far as Hawaii, and have even made international performances. They've gone to Canada seventeen times, Tokyo, Japan to appear on television, China for the Chinese New Year, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands.
The Team celebrated their 50th anniversary at the United Center in February 2010.
