Jungle Jumpers

* Current
* 2019

The **Jungle Jumpers** are a slightly translucent green team introduced in Marble League 2017 and are represented by Hop, Leap, Jump, and Skip. The Jungle Jumpers tied for eighth in the Marble League 2017 Qualifiers, but ended in fifteenth place overall at the end of the season. The team did not qualify for Marble League 2018, but did qualify for Marble League 2019.
In Marbula One Season 2 The Jungle Jumpers had one of the worst seasons in Marble Sports history where they had 5 DNQ 7 races in a row without a point and 9 points in 12 races a average of 0.75 points per race.

## Team Members

### Athletes

Jump, Hop, Leap and Skip were the original members of the team and are the current members of Jungle Jumpers. Bounce was introduced to the team in 2019. Jump became team captain in 2019.

## History

### Pre-Marble League

The Jungle Jumpers come from Lewara, a village hidden beyond a dense rainforest, bordered by the Lewara River with a lush basin. The four original members, Hop, Skip, Jump and Leap grew up exploring the rainforest and admiring all of its beauty and diverse fauna and flora. The four enjoyed climbing tress and jumping to the ground using a wingsuit, as well as BASE jumping. Their skills were praised by village locals and, when Atlas Marbura presented a featurette on the village, they made sure to include their talents. The segment trended on MarBook and, days later, the four were contacted by agents from the Surculo, who were looking for teams to compete in an exhibition race in Numerun, thinking the four would be suitable.

The four accepted the invitation, adopted the name "Jungle Jumpers", and took a flight to Numerun, leaving their village for the first time in their lives. Once they arrived in the city, the four attended a dinner with the other competitors to raise money for the Colina Umerun, the site of the race. They then went and explored the city late into the night and nearly overslept the next morning. They only made it to the race after fans got them to wake up by singing the MarBeats song "Roll and Shout" outside their hotel.

The race allowed four members per team, and points were awarded on the order competitors crossed the finish line. To everyone's surprise, the Jungle Jumpers won the race, even though this was their first time competing in professional marble sports. Hop claimed that this was due to the team's BASE jumping skills of speed, timing and precision. To celebrate their victory, the team were allowed by city officials to go BASE jumping in the modern city center. They then returned to Lewara, promising to their fans they would be back.

The next year, the Jungle Jumpers entered the Surculo as an official team, retiring from BASE jumping. They were joined by the Jawbreakers, who had also participated in the exhibition race. The Jungle Jumpers continued to do well and rose through the ranks to the elite league. In 2015, the Jawbreakers, who saw them as their rivals, won the tournament. The Jungle Jumpers, who finished fourth, were invited to take part in Marble League 2016 after the third-placed Quicksilvers declined their invitation, but declined so they could have one more shot at winning the Surculo.

The Jungle Jumpers had a rough start to the 2016 Surculo due to a power outage resetting their alarm clocks, causing them to miss out on the first event. However, they came back and won the championship, beating the Quicksilvers. Their strength in the second half of the competition was unprecedented in the Surculo's history, as they won multiple medals in a row.

### 2017

Both the Jungle Jumpers and the Quicksilvers were invited to take part in Marble League 2017, and they both accepted. The Jungle Jumpers struggled in the first two events of the Marble League 2017 Qualifiers, but managed to win the third event, Block Pushing, taking the team from 14th up to fifth overall. Despite finishing 11th in the final event, the Funnel Spin, the team still managed to qualify for Marble League 2017 in ninth.

Unfortunately, the Jungle Jumpers did not perform very well in Marble League 2017. In the first nine events, the best result the team could achieve was tenth in Event 5, the Hurdles, and Event 8, the High Jump. As of Event 9, Steeplechase, the team were in last place overall and could no longer finish the tournament within the top three, let alone win it. The Quicksilvers, who were sitting just ahead of them in the standings, were also doing poorly.

Then came Event 10, Archery, and the Jungle Jumpers were the last to go. To everyone's surprise, the team won the event and their first medal. Their training in precision and accuracy helped them stay on the center of the targets. Jump scored a bullseye, while their teammates did really well too, scoring 9.5 points each. Hop then surprised everyone further by winning a bronze medal in the next event, the Underwater Race.

Fans were starting to hope the Jungle Jumpers would continue their streak and finish the games well. Unfortunately, after their recent success, the team went out for dinner to celebrate, overslept and missed the transportation to Doornse Gat for the final event, the Sand Rally. As a result, the team finished Marble League 2017 in 15th overall, just ahead of the Quicksilvers. The team were disappointed, realizing they had failed to show off what had made them the champions of the Surculo in the first place.

In late 2017, the Jungle Jumpers recruited Bounce as their reserve member. Bounce hails from the city of Greshen, known for its studies in ecology and for having the freshest air in the world. The team trained for months. In the mornings, they would exercise in the rainforest to work on their speed and endurance. In the evenings, they would go out.

### 2018

The Jungle Jumpers were seeded in Group B for the Marble League 2018 Qualifiers. Despite Hop coming third in the Snow Race, the team finished seventh in the group, failing to qualify for Marble League 2018. They watched the main competition from the stands alongside fellow Surculo teams, including the Rojo Rollers and the Chocolatiers. The team realized something needed to change. Jump contacted some sports professionals in Numerun in an attempt to help the team overhaul their training.

Tarzan joined the Jungle Jumpers as their coach at the end of Marble League 2018. The team started preparing for the Marble League 2018 Consolation Race, the first of three offseason events. In said event, Hop managed to impress by finishing in third. Not to be outdone by their teammate, Skip won the 100 Meter Water Race by two tenths of a second after swapping back and forth with Sublime of the Limers for the final quarter of the race. The team made it into the semifinals of the Amazing Maze Marble Race and missed out on the finals by just two points.

### 2019

Even after their recent performances, the Jungle Jumpers knew they had a lot to prove going into Marble League 2019. They decided to quit partying at the end of 2018 and continued to train. The team started the Marble League 2019 Qualifiers with a ninth place finish for Skip in the Funnel Race. This was followed up by a third place finish in Block Pushing. Unlike the previous year, the team continued to finish in the top half of the standings and qualified in fifth overall.

Unfortunately, the team had a poor start to Marble League 2019, with Skip coming in 15th in the first event, the Underwater Race. In the next event, the Funnel Race, Leap managed to make it into the final, only to come last and thus finish the event in eighth overall. The team got a last place finish in Balancing, dropping the team to 14th. They later made up for it by winning their first medal in two years, a bronze, in the next event, Gravitrax Slalom, boosting them into 11th overall.

Despite showing signs of improvement, the Jungle Jumpers remained inconsistent with their results in the next three events, ranging from a sixth place finish in the Relay Run to a fourteenth place finish in Block Pushing, the latter of which was surprising given their performance back in the Qualifiers. In the next event, the Summer Biathlon, Hop made it into the final and ended up beating Bonbon of the Chocolatiers by one of the closest photo finishes ever at three-thousandths-a-second. This gold medal brought the team to ninth overall at the midway point.

The Jungle Jumpers continued to struggle with their consistency issues during the second half of the season. Over the next five events, the team ranged from a fifteenth place finish in Rafting to a fifth place finish in the Dirt Race and the Elimination Race, showing that their speed and endurance training was starting to pay off. Unfortunately, the team were no longer able to win Marble League 2019 as they rose back to ninth. But they were not done yet.

The next event was Surfing. Skip was chosen to represent the Jungle Jumpers due to their expertise in skipping across the Lewara River. In the second round, Skip managed to get far ahead of Wospy of the Midnight Wisps, resulting in a score of 53.48. This earned the team their second gold medal of the season, taking them into sixth place overall. This marked the first time the team had made it into the top half of the standings.

Unfortunately, the Jungle Jumpers seemingly started to falter in the next two events, with the team eliminated in the quarterfinals of Event 15, Collision, and Jump finishing 12th in Event 16, the Sand Rally. Even then, the team were able to retain their top half position in the standings. They concluded Marble League 2019 in seventh overall. Team coach Tarzan was very proud of the team's most recent achievement, and how they had improved from their 2017 debut. They noted that their second gold medal of the season had made them happier than any night out had.

### 2020

#### Marble League 2020

Fans of the Jungle Jumpers were optimistic about the team's chances to qualify for Marble League 2020, and were gathering in Lewara's town square to watch the event. The team started out with a 15th place finish in Balancing. Unfortunately, during the second event, Funnel Endurance, disaster struck when Leap, due to a track malfunction, fell off of the course. As a result, they failed to finish the race, but the team did receive two consolation points although they would have preferred a repeat of the event. An eight place finish in Block Pushing took them into 18th overall, leaving a small probability of qualification. Skip tried their hardest in the final event, the 5 Meter Sprint, finishing in fourth. The Jumpers and fans jumped for joy, convinced they had done enough to qualify. Unfortunately, the Jungle Jumpers finished the qualifiers in a four-way tie with Team Momo, Team Primary, and the Bumblebees. Due to the team having no medals, they were placed at the bottom of the tie. Thus, the team did not qualify for Marble League 2020, although they would likely have qualified had the incident in the Funnel Endurance event not happened.

Despite not qualifying, the Jumpers returned to Lewara and were given a hero's welcome, with the village chief giving a speech about how the team were the best in the League, and throwing multiple parties for the team. During this time, the Jumpers gained a manager, Joy, a wealthy marble from the city of Koroc.

The Jungle Jumpers returned to Polaria for the Marble League Showdown 2020. They started out the Showdown well, earning a gold medal in the Relay Run after qualifying for the final as the wildcard entry, and a silver in the Halfpipe. The team faltered during the Black Hole Funnel, placing last, but recovered and earned a bronze medal in the Sand Mogul Race. After earning the most medals out of all teams in the Showdown, they placed second overall, just behind the Kobalts, and secured a spot in the Marble League 2021 Qualifiers.

During the post-tournament press conference, the team kept to themselves and the new manager dominated the interview. Joy announced to the world that their company would be starting a three-year investment in Lewara, building the Lewara Sports Parc, starting with the Raceforest Circuit before expanding to multiple facilities in preparation of hosting the Marble League.

#### Marbula One Season 2

The marbles returned to Lewara and change was afoot. The narrow road leading to the village was replaced with a six-lane highway, with rainforest being cleared for construction. The JMRC approved their hosting bid for a Marbula One Grand Prix, qualifying them for Marbula One Season 2. They chose Hop "Sky High" and Skip "Super Skipper" to represent them, revealing this to the world in a reveal trailer seen by millions. The chief of Lewara praised the team, saying how all the construction had brought jobs to the town and was leading to rapid growth. The team flew to Herbotamia in Joy's private jet ready for the start of the season.

Unfortunately, their Marbula One campaign started off poorly, with Hop coming second-to-last in qualifying for the Minty Mania Grand Prix, thus failing to qualify for the race. Skip did qualify for the O'raceway Grand Prix however, and clinched one point for the team. This, would be the Jungle Jumpers' only point heading towards the Winter Break with Hop failing to qualify again at the Honeydome Grand Prix, Skip failing to qualify at the Arctic Circuit Grand Prix, and the team earning no points in the rest of the races. Because of their horrible first half, the team was not invited to participate in Marble League Winter Special. At their press conference, the team was asked what their plans for the break were. Before Skip could answer, Joy grabbed the microphone and said they would be attending the opening of the Lewara Aquaparc, with one of Marblearth’s tallest surfing ramps.

### 2021

#### Marbula One Season 2

On February 7 they were announced as the hosts for Raceforest. The track was still not ready with days left before the Grand Prix. In all of the commotion of the preparations, a forest fire began, a first in the history of Lewara. It took a week for all of the smoke to clear once the fire was finally extinguished. Fans arrived down the large highway. To finance the circuit, most of the seats were sold to visitors, leaving only a small section for the home fans.

Sadly, Skip failed to qualify again at their home track. During the race, a third of the Jumpers' stands remained empty. Joy paid for some fans to attend the Momotorway Grand Prix. Hop managed to qualify in eighth and at one point was leading the race! Unfortunately, after two laps they lost the lead and fell back to 14th, again earning no points.

Hop organized a group meeting with the rest of the team in Van Gotterdam ahead of the Palette Park Grand Prix, acknowledging that they couldn't go on like this. They started to question whether expanding Lewara into a host city was a good idea and realized this may be the source of their discontent. The team vented to Joy and Joy go to tell their story. Joy had come into the team to help them achieve their dream of being one of the top Marble League teams, but now they were complaining about too much change. Joy had grown up in a small village in the mountains. One day trucks arrived and a mine was started next to the village, giving the villagers jobs. Joy made their fortune at the mine, starting at the bottom before working their way up to manager of the mine. But they realized that twenty years later that their home had been destroyed by the mine, the trees and lakes being replaced by a hole in the ground, which hurt Joy deeply. From then on they tried their best to keep building with a low carbon footprint, but if the team wanted facilities like the other bug teams, then Lewara would have to change. Joy was there to help the business, it was the members of the team who had to decide what they wanted.

The Jungle Jumpers remained on just one point until the Misty Mountain Grand Prix where Hop finally scored points for the first time by finishing in seventh, taking the team's points total to nine. Unfortunately, they went back to scoreless results in the final two races including another DNQ for Skip at the Savage Speedway Grand Prix. They Jungle Jumpers finished in last place.

While the Hop and Skip were wrapping up Marbula One, the rest of the team were wrestling with Joy's question. Joy agreed to pause construction while the team sort out advice. They heard from fans and fellow competitors. They even visited the Rojo Rollers in Numerun, and were joined by Choc and Bonbon of the Chocolatiers. The marbles spent the day rolling through the city, asking questions of each other. They rolled up Colina Umerun on a smoggy day, and couldn't see anything. Surrounded by the noise of traffic, they realized they were not ready to host the Marble League. Hop and Skip also admitted that Marbula One was not where they needed to be and they needed some time at home in the rainforest. The highway remained but the original plans to expand were scaled back. The Raceforest was turned into a free public track and all facilities except the Lewara Aquaparc and a funnel tower were scrapped. They decided that hosting and growing a brand were not worth giving up the village they loved. Their training now involved retreating into the rainforest.

Jump was sent to participate in the Marble League 2021 Practice Race. Following in the steps of the Jumpers' poor season, they were 27th early on before making a climb into the mid-pack, finishing 12th.

The Jungle Jumpers decided to throw a reunion party for their friends and supporters involving group skydiving, swimming in the Lewara River and a traditional feast. In attendance were other Surculo teams such as the Rojo Rollers, Chocolatiers and Jawbreakers as well as the Green Ducks.

#### Marble League 2021

The Jungle Jumpers were seeded into Group A for the Marble League 2021 Qualifiers. Unfortunately, the team performed poorly in three of the four events, finishing in the bottom half. Their one stronger performance was a first place finish in the second event, Funnel Endurance, which was redemption for Leap after their infamous injury in the previous year's Funnel Endurance. Despite this one good event, the Jungle Jumpers once again just failed to qualify for Marble League 2021, missing the cut off by two points.

The Jungle Jumpers returned for Marble League Showdown 2021. Unlike the previous year, the Jumpers had a poor first half of the tournament, finishing in the bottom half for all events, including a last place finish in the 5 Meter Relay, except for the Funnel Endurance where Leap once again medaled, earning a bronze. This left the team in ninth overall at the half way mark. The second half was not much better with two top half finishes in the Triathlon and Diving before returning to the bottom half for the final two events. The Jungle Jumpers finished the Showdown in eighth overall, far off from where they had been the previous year.

### 2022

#### Marble League 2022

Due to their abysmal performance in Season 2, the Jungle Jumpers were not not invited to compete in Marbula One Season 3. Unwavered, they began preparations for the upcoming Marble League Qualifiers. The team were sorted into Group B after facing off the Turtle Sliders in the Draw. In the qualifiers, the Jumpers' got off to a poor start as Bounce and Jump placed last in the first event, Climbing. Things didn't improve much as Leap only managed 10th in the 5 Meter Hurdles before the team got another dead last in Balancing. These three results alone ensured the Jungle Jumpers wouldn't qualify before the final event even occured. Skip finised in 9th for the Triathlon to cap off their worst qualification to date; staying in last place the entire qualifiers to end up last in their group.

The Jungle Jumpers returned for the 2022 Marble League Showdown and were ready to redeem themselves in front of their fans. They started off 13th decently, placing 6th in the opening event, Swing Wave. In the 5 Meter Sprint, Hop couldn't keep up the momentum and only finished 11th, dropping the team down to 10th. A slight recovery came from Skip placing 7th in the Water Race, before they had a dead last appearance in the the 5 Meter Relay. They disastrously dropped down five positions and ended the first half of the showdown 13th provisionally in the overall standings, one of the relegation spots.

The back half of the tournament had the Jungle Jumpers start with a 14th in Block Pushing. In the Funnels, Leap once again performed strong coming away with 5th place, quickly followed by another 5th in Climbing by Bounce and Jump, imroving from the qualifiers. Despite their consistency in those two events, the team were still in the bottom four and things were looking bleak heading into the final event, the Sand Rally. The captain, Jump was chosen for the race. Fortunately, they managed to perform well, just missing the podium but crosssing the finish line in a respectable fourth and just beating Rojo Cuatro of the Rojo Rollers. This placement made the Jungle Jumpers rise a spot and miss relegation by only 3 points.

As the team were heading into the break, they participated in the Xmas Marble Race, a friendly race amongst all 32 active Marble League teams. The Jungle Jumpers sent in Skip who unfortunately DNF'ed in their heat becoming one of two teams along with Team Momo to not finish. They finished 32nd though as Momomomo stopped further down the track.

### 2023

After not being invited to Marbula One Season 4, the Jungle Jumpers instead were given the opportunity to participate in 'Starbula One', a small offseason tournamet hosted by the Indigo Stars. All 12 teams who weren't apart of the latest Marbula One season were allowed to compete and was a mixture of different race-themed events.

The first event was the Starbula One Circuit GP. Skip managed to make it into Q2 and qualify within the top-half, but fell down to last during the race. Leap finished 5th in the Street Race before they ended 11th in the 5-star relay and fell back to last. In Event 4, they earned their first medal of the tournament, a silver, courtesy of Hop in the Asteroid Field which vaulted them up 3 spots to 9th. Jump then placed 7th in the Elimination Race to make the team gain another spot before the end of the mini tournament, finishing in 8th overall.

Shortly after this, the Jungle Jumpers were invited to another off-season tournament, G-FORCE Endurance which was a single-elimination bracket event. The team pulled an upset victory against Mellow Yellow in the Heats when Leap held on against both Yellow and Yeller to send the Jumpers' into the semis. Unfortunately, they couldn't hold on, losing in both the Semifinals and 3rd place match, resulting in a sour fourth by the end.

#### Marble League 2023

With all this extra practice, the Jungle Jumpers set their eyes on qualifying for the Marble League, They were seeded into Group A after the results of the Draw.

### Qualifiers

The Jungle Jumpers qualified for Marble League 2017.

### Qualifiers

The Jungle Jumpers failed to qualify for Marble League 2018. They competed in Group B.

## Other 2018 Competitions

The Jungle Jumpers took part in three other competitions in 2018: the Marble League 2018 Consolation Race, the 100 Meter Water Race and the Amazing Maze Marble Race.

### Qualifiers

The Jungle Jumpers failed to qualify for Marble League 2020.

\*2 extra consolation points due to track defect

## Marble League Showdown 2020

*Main article: Marble League Showdown 2020*
The Jungle Jumpers placed 2nd overall, securing a spot in the Marble League 2021 Qualifiers. They earned the most medals out of all teams, and were able to maintain first for most of the competition, but they were eventually overtaken by the Kobalts in the final event.

## Marbula One Season 2

*Main article: Marbula One Season 2*
The Jungle Jumpers participated in Marbula One Season 2. Their team consisted of Hop and Skip. The season was notorious for being one of the worst seasons to have ever happened across all competitions, as the team failed to score more than one point until the 10th Grand Prix of the season. The team finished at dead last with 9 points, with Skip finishing dead last in the individual championship with 1 point.

## 2020/21 Offseason

### Qualifiers

The Jungle Jumpers competed in Group A. They failed to qualify for Marble League 2021.

## Marble League Showdown 2021

*Main article: Marble League Showdown 2021*

### Qualifiers

The Jungle Jumpers competed in Group B. They failed to qualify for Marble League 2022.

## Marble League Showdown 2022

*Main article: Marble League Showdown 2022*
The Jungle Jumpers qualified for the Marble League 2023 Qualifiers.

### Qualifiers

The Jungle Jumpers competed in Group A. They failed to qualify for Marble League 2023.

## Marble League Showdown 2023

*Main article: Marble League Showdown 2023*
The Jungle Jumpers qualified for the Marble League 2024 Qualifiers.

## Trivia

* Out of all the teams who made their debut prior to 2020, the Jungle Jumpers are the only one that has yet to qualify for a Marble League in the 2020s.
* The Jungle Jumpers are also one of only five teams along with Team Primary, Chocolatiers, Balls of Chaos, and Rojo Rollers to have participated in every single qualifier to date.
	+ By extension, they are the only one of these teams to have started in 2017.

## Gallery

Team Profile 2020Team Profile 2021Team Profile 2021Marble League Showdown 2021 Team ProfileMarbula One (S2) PosterThe Raceforest, the home stadium of the Jungle Jumpers.Jump, the captain of the Jungle Jumpers.Tarzan, the coach of the Jungle Jumpers.
## External Links

* Jungle Jumpers on the JMR Website
* Jungle Jumpers RetRollSpective

## References

1. ↑ LittleMighty\_ (25th February 2019). Captains voting results!. Reddit.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Stynth, Fouc, Orbitball (7th December 2021). RetRollSpective – Jungle Jumpers. Project Marblearth.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fouc, PippinPlover, Stynth (21st July 2023). Star Love. Project Marblearth.