With the help of Sailor Circus students and Coach Mark Reina, Scott Osgood is redefining the way juggling clubs are made. Osgood, who graduated from Sailor Circus Academy in 1980, says this project began in late 2024, when he learned that his favorite juggling club brand, Dubé Juggling, had announced plans to close down. “It made me reminisce about when I started juggling at Sailor Circus and we had these really horribly made and heavy juggling clubs, until we were introduced to Brian Dubé’s clubs. They really revolutionized our juggling act,” says Osgood. 

Seeing Dubé Juggling close inspired Osgood to design the next new and improved club. In contrast to traditional clubs composed of a wooden dowel core and a plastic body and held together with a series of screws, Osgood came up with the idea to 3D print clubs himself, with the aim of meeting each juggler’s needs. Rather than assembling a variety of different pieces, Osgood prints just two pieces, which he then glues together, creating longer-lasting, more flexible and customizable clubs. “Different jugglers have different styles. Scott is able to change how the club comes together and customize it to a certain weight and where the center of the weight is along the length of the club. He can make clubs bigger, smaller, heavier, lighter, spin faster, spin slower,” says Reina. “He can completely customize it, not just the colors, but the weights and the dimensions as well.”  After coming up with this idea, Osgood brought the 3D-printed clubs to Reina and the students at the Sailor Circus Academy and asked for feedback. Through this collaboration, Osgood has learned what works best and made numerous adjustments. The first time a set of clubs broke, Osgood was actually excited—the students had uncovered a weak spot where he could make improvements to the durability of the club. “It really has been amazing,” says Osgood. “The kids’ feedback is very forthcoming. They're really honest about it, and they're really happy to do it. It's inspiring for me.” Osgood, whose main business venture involves designing acrobatic equipment for circuses around the world, says he doesn’t intend to sell his clubs—the collaboration with Sailor Circus is simply a passion project for him, as well as a way to give back to the community that started his career.  “It's an iconic program in Sarasota. For me, personally, it changed the trajectory of my life. Being in that program in many ways, not just in the business that I'm in, but just from a confidence standpoint and maturity standpoint, really changed my life. Coming back and thinking that maybe I could have a small impact with some of the kids there in much the same way is an honor,” says Osgood.