Kids bounding for glory on giant trampolines

Ever feel like your kids are bouncing off the walls?

A new joint in Santa Clara encourages them to do just that.

Some weekend days, the line to jump, bounce and flip on the trampolines at Sky High Sports stretches out into the parking lot, where kids in brightly colored shirts stand out in the largely industrial neighborhood.

"He doesn't want to leave," Veronica Avila said of her 2-year-old, Nathan Zaragoza.

"This is everything he's into," Avila said with a laugh. "He likes to run. He likes to jump. He likes to dive into things."

And it's not just for the young ones. Later in the evening - the place is open until midnight - the college crowd jumps and jives itself silly.

With lockers for shoes, a TV for the parents, a snack bar for sugary treats and groups of children running from place to place, everything inside Sky High Sports is reminiscent of birthday parties you might remember as a kid. But this place is different. There's no ice rink inside the low-slung building. No one roller skates here. And bowling pins are absent.

Just trampolines - three huge trampolines - draw the crowds, who pay $9 for an hour of bouncing.

The largest trampoline in the warehouse-sized room is 52 feet by 120 feet - and that doesn't include the trampolines that line its walls.

The three trampolines are made of smaller blue trampolines, brought together in a quilt-like square, bound by springy poles, a design developed by co-owners Jerry and Ron Raymond.

To prevent injuries, they covered the poles with yellow plastic padding, making a grid pattern.

Jerry Raymond called the trampolines "one of a kind," saying that he and his brother abandoned their office jobs - Jerry was in computers - to build the place from scratch over the summer.

Since Sky High opened in November, Jerry's youngest kids - 11 and 14 years old - love it when he takes them to the office. And they aren't the only ones who love the place.

"I really like it because I know I won't get hurt, unless I like landed on my head from like six feet up in the air or something," 10-year-old Gary Mittenberger said, adding quickly: "But that's not going to happen."

While Gary may feel like he's jumping pretty high or diving down pretty low, the springy trampolines don't have quite that much give.

Just in case, Jerry Raymond said, the place is insured to the max. And jumpers must fill out extensive waivers.

The other day, as the 40-year-old Raymond stood along the sidelines of the main trampoline, his teenage employees asked him to perform certain tricks.

After a little prodding, Raymond agreed.

He sprang onto the trampoline and jumped onto the blue trampoline wall, landing against his side on a springy wall. It pushed him back into the air. He landed two smaller trampoline-squares away, jumped again and ended up on an opposing wall.

"Whoa," shouted a knee-high boy watching the display.

He gave it a try himself but could barely make it from one of the smaller trampoline squares to the other in a single bound.

Nearby little girls tried new tricks, adding a trampoline bounce to their cartwheels. Some flipped in the air.

Gary, the 10-year-old, seemed unimpressed.

"I just like to dive into the foam pit," he said.