BCBUSINESS.CA JUNE 2019 BCBUSINESS 55
ˆ SHARP PRACTICE
June 13 is International Axe
Throwing Day. Wielding the chop-
ping tool goes way back, but flinging
one at a wooden target seems to have
got off the ground in 2006 with the
Backyard Axe Throwing League
in Toronto. The sport arrived in B.C.
10 years later when Bad Axe Throw-
ing, launched in Burlington, Ontario, in
2014, opened a Surrey location–now
one of 30 in the U.S. and Canada.
ˆ BIG LEAGUE
Bad Axe founder Mario Zelaya
started the World Axe Throwing
League (WATL)
a couple of years
ago to standardize rules, a points
tracking system, safety protocols and
throwing techniques. The organiza-
tion has more than 100 participating
locations and holds an annual World
Axe Throwing Championship. It
also offers an insurance program for
axe-tossing facilities.
WATL member
Axe & Grind, whose owner, Danny
Hamilton, describes the sport as "like
darts, but with an axe," has operated
in Victoria since 2018.
ˆ SWING SET
Whistler's Forged Axe Throw-
ing, founded by Thompson Rivers
University pals James Anderson and
Brett Easton in 2017, belongs to the
National Axe Throwing Federa-
tion
(NATF), established the previous
year to create a standard rule system
and promote safety and sportsman-
ship. The organization has some 6,000
members, mainly in Canada and the
U.S., and its annual National Axe
Throwing Championship awards
more than $25,000 in prize money and
charitable donations.
HATCHET
JOBS
Axe-throwing gains an
edge with three local outfits
by Felicity Stone
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