A young SoCal boy is staking his claim as one of the best yo-yoers in America.
Geo Gan only picked up a yo-yo in April 2024 during a family trip to Niagara Falls, according to a statement from his father Quan, who handles media inquiries for his son.
The 10-year-old Santa Clarita native who, according to his father, has had a “fascination with things that spin” since the age of two, quickly found the yo-yo to be his go-to.
“Geo’s fascination with things that spin started at age two, when he dismantled discarded electronics to harvest their tiny motors,” Quan Gan said in the media release. “A lightsaber phase at six and sword practice until eight refined his hand‑eye coordination, but yo‑yoing — discovered by chance — became the perfect outlet: equal parts engineering puzzle and performance art.”
Geo eventually started practicing for hours a day and befriended yo-yo influencers from across the world while finding local yo-yoers at a monthly meetup in Artesia. There, Geo was able to learn tricks of the trade from veterans who also shared string theories.
With the help of two other yo-yo experts — 2024 U.S. Pro Champion Justin Dauer and 2025 U.S. Pro bronze medalist Hunter Feuerstein — Geo was able to learn more tricks and further improve his skills ahead of this year’s National Yo-Yo Contest, which was held in Las Vegas over the weekend.
That training paid off, as Geo notched perfect marks for his 20/20 Tech Execution and got a final score of 85.3 at the National competition for the Sport 1A in the 10-12-year-old age bracket. According to the National Yo-Yo League, the 1A division competition involves “one long-spinning yoyo, with the string attached to the yoyo and the hand.”
It was his third straight victory on the sport-division circuit, per the media release, and it was a big one, as the child who placed second got a score of 73. The full list of winners for all categories can be found here.
What’s even more remarkable about the young SoCal boy’s achievements is his desire to spread yo-yoing to others in his community; Geo has started a lunchtime Yo-Yo Club at school, and dozens of his classmates have joined it.
“Yo-yoing channels my energy into focus and creativity,” Geo said. “Anyone can start with one yo-yo and a little curiosity.”
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