Think darts are girly? Try axe throwing

[oneh2obabe]

Katie Daubs
Staff Reporter

It’s the Cinderella story of the Backyard Axe Throwing League. Ryan Acayan, an accountant who was rubbish until last season, is in the quarter-final round. His opponent is Arm, a veteran prone to angry outbursts when his axe doesn’t connect with the wooden target.

Acayan is up three games in the best of seven series, throwing steady bull's-eyes.

But his marksmanship is slipping. Arm, who has a tattoo of an axe on his forearm, wins three matches in a row.

“Ryan down by two, third axe,” the scorekeeper says in a way that is destined to become colloquial once ESPN gets hold of this gem.

Acayan’s concentration is gone. The accountant is knocked out of contention.

“I was up 3-0,” he says in disbelief.

“S--t happens,” says his friend Jedd Sybingco, who has missed the season finale of Glee to support his friend.

It’s playoff season in the Backyard Axe Throwing League , which means tense silence and episodes of backslapping jubilation, mixed with Triscuits and beer.

Axe throwing is darts on steroids. In a match, each player gets five throws at their individual wooden target. The hatchets, each painted to reflect the thrower, do one rotation before landing on the target. Point are awarded depending on where it lands, a perfect game is 25. If there is a tie, Wilson yells “Big axe!” and the crowd parts for safety purposes. Big axe round is a tiebreaker that involves your backyard axe, more difficult to throw than the smaller hatchet.

Every so often, an axe’s position on the target is contested. That’s when players yell for the “device” and Jari Salovaara emerges from the crowd to measure with a machinist’s tool.

The league was founded in 2006 at a cottage when a couple of bored guys started throwing a hatchet into a tree because it was too cold to swim. Matt Wilson, who still bartends on nights he’s not managing league play, brought the sport to his College St. abode. From its early days puzzling the neighbours, it has grown into a business run out of a loft space west of Lansdowne, complete with a burgeoning waiting list, complicated statistics, and corporate team-building capability.

It’s legit, and so much better than employee yoga day.

In its growth from a group of friends throwing axes to a bona fide corporate entity, there were obstacles.

Getting insurance, for one. “So I run this axe throwing league. . . ”

“I made hundreds of phone calls,” Wilson says. “One company wanted tens of thousands of dollars and eight EMS workers on site at all times. They didn’t understand what we do here.”

Any person who picks up an axe signs a waiver. There are designated axe throwing areas. There has never been an accident, Wilson says.

At first glance, the crowd is what you might expect — burly men with beards and tattoos. But there is one man in a business suit. The sport also attracts women, electricians and self-described tech nerds.

For Acayan, Tuesday night axe throwing league is more exciting than the weekend. He joined up after glimpsing the action one night after visiting friends who lived next door to Wilson.

Soon after, he showed up with a case of beer and said, “What’s going on?” even though he knew. He improved slowly until he found his throw, much like a golfer in search of his swing.

Every week, he comes to the league from his accounting job at Don Mills. Sometimes there’s not enough time to change out of his dress slacks. For that reason, and because he demanded a rethrow on a technicality a few seasons back, the other members give him a hard time.

“But we love him,” Wilson says.

In the early College St. days, the axe throwing league operated outdoors and was visited by police called in by neighbours fearing for their safety. Wilson put up a barrier around the area and went door to door inviting skeptics to come by. This January, the league moved into a cavernous loft space so it can operate year round. The neighbours are trapeze artists.

Salovaara misses the old backyard, where rain was an added thrill. Diamond, another veteran, misses the wings that a College St. bar would serve over the fence.

Wilson can’t believe it has grown this much.

And not only that, on Tuesday night, Wilson is one game away from becoming champion — a position that has eluded him since the beginning.

But Arm is focused. He throws 38 bull's-eyes in a row, taking the championship.

“He was keeping angry the whole time,” Wilson says.

Maybe that’s the secret.

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/artic ... owing?bn=1

[Lady tehMa]

I wish we had something like that here. I got my old tomahawk and bowie knife from my blackpowder days from my folks last fall (was in storage). I have nowhere to throw. *sighs*

[prairieflower]

I think that looks like fun.

Reminds me of the logging shows where the men & women threw the double-headed axes in competition. We grew up around that and it was a blast!

[Lady tehMa]

I think that looks like fun.

Reminds me of the logging shows where the men & women threw the double-headed axes in competition. We grew up around that and it was a blast!

Yup, I grew up around that too (logging towns FTW). I've seen the logging shows in Vavenby, Slocan and Kaslo. I prefer my little tomahawk, can't imagine pitching a full sized double bit axe! The Kaslo one I saw just last year, they had a women's division in the axe throw, they got quite some impressive distance.

[oneh2obabe]

Hopefully their aim is better than Ed Ames.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Its so happening...Sexsmith Rd..north side ..accross from Sexsmith Storage.
I forget the name but there is a sign by the road... I wanted to check thier website ..driving that way soon will look again.

[Even Steven]

There's a similar place in Kelowna too, on Sexmith Dr. I believe.

[prairieflower]

Too weird to see this tonight. We were at Orchard Park Mall this evening and they have a booth set up on the Sears side long hallway. Didn't have time to check it out.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

There's a similar place in Kelowna too, on Sexmith Dr. I believe.

Try reading the post above yours....


They are called Axe Monkeys, will be open in a week.. They have a website..

[JayByrd]

I know a fellow who's going to work as an instructor there.

He's the kind of guy you'd imagine giving axe-throwing lessons.

[w84u2]

I doubt that the game will ever make it into the pubs anytime soon though. Darts are much easier to carry around in your car too.

[LTD]

oh I don't know about that drunk folks in a pub throwing axes what could possibly go wrong