"I'm going to do lots and lots of green triangle suicides, because they are worth a lot of points."

The best tactic: high risk moves that rack up a lot of points. Talking to defending state champion John Huber about yo-yoing sounds more like an extreme sport than child's play.

"The yo-yo community is a subculture not all that dissimilar from skateboarding or other extreme sports," said UW senior Nathan Crissey, director of The Official National Yo-yo League Washington State Championship. "Most of the people involved know each other. There is a lot of use of Internet community Web boards."

Crissey and a group of his friends organized the first contest, which was held in February 2005. The event, held again Saturday at Seattle Center, was the first such competition in King County since 2001.

"It's one of the best venues for state contests anywhere in the country, I think," Crissey said. "It's a real stage; it's well lit; it's indoors, which helps especially in February in Seattle."

While the crowd was comprised largely of family members and friends of competitors, the spectacle also attracted the attention of passers-by.

"It's an event that appeals to a very large segment of the public because nearly everyone had thrown a yo-yo at least once in their life," Crissey said.

Crissey has been yo-yoing for nine years and has competed at various levels such as nationals, worlds and regionals. Lately he has been focusing more on running the Seattle event and judging competitions rather than competing in them.

There is no official certification for becoming a judge, although a certification procedure is in the works, Crissey said.

Saturday's competition was divided into a sport division and championship division. The sport division routine is known as a trick ladder, in which the contestant attempts to perform 25 tricks. On the second mistake the contestant is dismissed. The score is based on the number of tricks performed.

Within the championship division contestants can choose between "1A" free style and open division freestyle, a three-minute and 15-second performance set to music.

UW mechanical engineering major Kevin Kelly's choice of "I've got the World on a String" for his musical accompaniment was quite fitting.

This was only his third contest, but he has been yo-yoing for 10 years and owns 140 yo-yos.

"Most of them are cheap little ones just for fun," he said. "I have all sorts."

Contestants are allowed to pick up a new yo-yo during the performance; however, doing so will result in a three points deduction.

"If you mess up on one and you get a knot, you only have three minutes, so you have to go quick," he said. "They have the Rock Paper Scissor World Championships on ESPN, and that's considered a sport I guess, but they don't have competitive yo-yoing, which is far more entertaining and takes skill," Huber said.

Although Kelly did not feel too confident about his performance, he was still enthusiastic about the sport.

"I love it," Kelly said. "Yo-yo is my life."

Reach reporter Sonia McBride at news@thedaily.washington.edu.