TIMES AND DEMOCRAT (Orangeburg, S Carolina ) 22 April 04 Top frog: Family wrangles leapers (Richard Walker)
Springfield: It's been a family tradition for 25 years.
It began with a top-place finish - the first of nearly 20 trophies that reflect extensive training and a culling of the fittest. Today, it could be called a dynasty.
"We have developed a rigid workout schedule for all competitors that includes endurance training and, of course, leg presses," North resident Justin Hodson said, smiling.
Hodson is, of course, speaking of the brutish, muscular, chiseled, glistening green bodies of the rana catesbeiana, or American bullfrogs, whose flight skills are being honed to an edge for the upcoming 38th annual Springfield Governor's Frog Jump and International Egg Striking Contest.
Justin is part of the Hodson clan, which includes brother Clay Hodson, sister-in-law Bobbie Hodson, nephew Chance Hodson, son Justin Hodson Jr. and patriarch Danny Hodson of Orangeburg.
"We won that first one we competed in," Danny Hodson said. Clay Hodson "won it that first year [1978]. We were going to try to win it again since no one else had won it twice in a row."
Before the event, Clay Hodson had decided on a catchy name for his contender: Edisto Eddie. But for a nervous 9-year-old in his first competition, it didn't quite come out right.
"I got up to the podium and froze," Clay Hodson said. "So, it came out as 'Tim.'"
Thus a not-so-tiny Tim recorded a 12.3-inch leap in what became a winning tradition that has seen a family member on the winner's podium 18 times hoisting high another trophy signifying at least a top-two finish for the Hodsons.
All of the family members agree there is no way to simply look at a frog and know he'll be a winner.
Clay Hodson says candidates must have hamstrings that can launch the competitor into the stratosphere.
Potential candidates may try to impress by leaping to extraordinary lengths when the Hodson talent scouts are searching the North Edisto River. But only the candidates that regularly leap vigorously enough to play havoc with air traffic controllers are likely to be selected as a Hodson Hopper.
Competition-quality frogs are kept on a high-protein diet before any jumping event, consisting of the highest-quality crickets of a "native variety."
There is also a thorough psychological training program used to weed out the weak of heart.
"A frying pan is kept close at hand during tryouts and training to remind the frogs of the alternative to being the best jumper they can be," Justin Hodson joked. "This is highly motivating."
Dealing with the unpredictable can have its downside. Tragedy struck the Hodson training camp one year when two of the hind-legged hoppers had passed the endurance course, excelled above others and were then housed together in the quarters for the top athletes.
"One was a great, big, old frog, and the other was a little, small one," Danny Hodson said. "And the big one had swallowed the little one, so of course [the big one] couldn't jump. And obviously, the little one couldn't jump."
And the key to winning, the Hodsons say, is all in the stance.
"It's important to drop the frog [onto the launch pad from] about six inches," Clay Hodson said. "He then forms his legs in a natural jumping position."
Top frog: Family wrangles leapers