He believes there are certain tensions induced by child training and subsequent learning that people deal with through involvement in games and other expressive models. Although the ethnographic data on juggling practices are too sparse to demonstrate the accuracy of Roberts's hypothesis in this area, the available evidence appears to fall in line with his other observations. There was, for a time, an annual International Festival of Jugglers in which the contestants vied for the Rastelli Trophy, but juggling as a competitive sport still has a long way to go before it reaches the Olympics. For most jugglers the competition is mainly with their own past performances. And one should keep in mind that group juggling is an extremely cooperative activity.
Jugglers usually learn the details of their art form other jugglers.
There are notable exceptions, but most great jugglers have modeled themselves after some other great juggler under whom they studied at least informally. Thus advanced juggling techniques found in different societies are most likely the result of diffusion rather than independent invention. While association with other jugglers will not turn someone into a juggler, the teaching of the skills and the social support given a novice are probably important factors in accounting for both how and why many people learn to juggle. The continuing juggling traditions around the world and the large number of people who practice juggling provide a wide base from which excellence can spring. In addition, modern technology now allows the production of highly uniform and carefully balanced juggling equipment, which most great jugglers of the past did not have.