The 2026 National Yo-Yo Contest saw competitors across a variety of skill levels and ages in June in Las Vegas.
While competitors of all ages took the stage throughout the contest, local 11-year-old Geo Gan distinguished himself by placing in the top 10 of the 1A Open Pro Finals category against 72 adult professionals.
For Gan, the accomplishment was the latest milestone in his yo-yoing journey that began about two years ago. The 1A Open Pro Finals is the most highly competitive tier, which is the single-hand string trick division.
“They were doing some beginner tricks and I thought it was pretty cool and a few months later my mom bought me a yo-yo,” he said, recalling the moment he got his hands on a yo-yo for the first time. “I just started practicing, watching YouTube videos, and practicing with other yo-yo players.”
Gan can nail a new trick down in about half an hour, he said, and he practices an average of two hours a day. But on family outings, his yo-yo is constantly in his hand, and he performs tricks out in public and has on occasion gathered a crowd.
As his skills improved, so did Gan’s confidence. What began as a hobby soon helped him come out of his shell, connect with other players and discover a community where he felt he belonged.
Gan has accumulated over 16,000 followers on his Instagram account, where he posts countless videos of him on stage or at home performing advanced tricks such as the DNA, which is catching a spinning yo-yo on an index finger to balance and spin horizontally.
During the 2026 National Yo-Yo Contest, which was held June 26-28, Gan went through three rounds of competition to earn his spot in the top 10. The first round had over 70 contestants, and each round became smaller.
“When I was in the preliminary round I didn’t think I was going to make it, because I wasn’t competing in any other contest so I didn’t know my skill level,” Gan said. “I was really surprised.”
What Gan enjoys the most about yo-yoing is the community he’s built. He’s attended meetups where other people interested in yo-yoing gather to socialize and share new tricks with one another. The meetups are held in the Orange County area about once a month, and people from all over Southern California attend.
Gan, who is traditionally homeschooled, has always had a strong inclination for hands-on fidgety activities, said his father Quan Gan, which has made yo-yoing the perfect outlet.
“A lot of it is an internal drive. He just does it for fun but then once his friend started showing him the yo-yoing and he’d seen the competitive route and just how high performance it was, I think he saw those are possibilities for him,” Quan said.
Quan also noted that it’s helped Geo find an outlet that isn’t screen-driven, a challenge among many young children nowadays.
“It counterbalances the screen culture, so a lot of parents support it and the activity isn’t expensive,” Quan said.
Throughout Geo’s yo-yoing journey, he’s met people he looks up that are prominent in the yo-yo world, as well as learning to connect with people of different backgrounds.
The 11-year-old has accomplished a lot over the course of just two years and has no plans of slowing down.
His next goal is to compete in the 2026 World Yo-Yo Contest, set to take place in Japan from Aug. 13 to 16. Geo and his family will travel overseas for the event, where he will perform a freestyle routine against some of the world’s top players.
