Kendama in the News : The Craze Hits Orange County

Sweets Kendamas Focus Team member Alex Hirota does a lot for Kendama in his local community and he's getting the recognition he deserves in the local news. Alex has very quickly made himself known within the Kendama community. We took notice of him pretty early on due to his savviness with social media and got him involved with the live-streaming of our Minnesota Kendama Open that we put on every fall at the Mall of America. Needless to say, Alex has impressed us every step of the way and he is now a sponsored player and helps out with Social Media. [caption id="attachment_69045" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Alex Hirota gets a little help from some friends to show off some Kendama in the Huntington Beach of Sunday. CREDIT: MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER The hottest sport sweeping OC is kendama, an ancient Japanese stick and ball game.[/caption] "One minute, he was just a kid at Mater Dei High School in 2014. The next minute, kendama happened... ...Two years later, Hirota is a student at Santa Ana College, taking business classes to help him when he – someday in the not too distant future – enters the world of kendama full time. Hirota is not only a professional kendama player, he’s a kendama event organizer and a kendama salesman. He works at the little Duncan kiosk in Downtown Disney, where he sells yo-yos and kendamas."

“He has all the tools to win the World Cup, or to influence people around the world to get into kendama,” Jorgenson said. “We need more people to know we exist. Alex is very personable when he’s interacting with fans.” -Sweets Kendamas President Matt Jorgenson

Be sure to check out the full article from the Orange County Register