World Crokinole tournament in Tavistock attracts players of all ages
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After practicing for months on a world championship crokinole board, Wilf Olson and his 24-year-old son Nic made the long trek from Regina to play in the World Crokinole Championship in Tavistock on Saturday.
The pair set up a campsite near the Tavistock and District Recreation Centre, where the tournament was held all day Saturday, practicing on the grass outside in the heavy Ontario humidity.
“We practice maybe an average of an hour a day,” Wilf Olson said.
It was the first time the father son duo had ever played in the tournament, which celebrated its 15th anniversary last weekend.
“We found out about [the tournament] online, looking for ideas for crokinole boards or where you could get crokinole buttons,” Olson said.
Olson said the two decided to embark on the 2,500-kilometre jaunt for multiple reasons.
“Part of it was it's just something that we love to do- play crokinole- and getting to do it with the best in the world. Part of it was the trip, just having the chance to go for a road trip together,” he said.
Olson said he learned to play crokinole when he was little and in turn, taught the game to his son.
“Mostly we play against each other but we’ll play against anyone that will give us a game.”
John Shultz, committee chair for the World Crokinole Championship, said the game is very “generational.”
“I’m in my early 70s and I learned it a long time ago,” Shultz said.
“When I started playing crokinole many years ago, I played with my grandmother. A lot of people have really learned the game either playing with their parents or grandparents or great-grandparents. It’s been around for a long time.”
The game's exact date of origin is not known but the first board to be discovered was found just outside of Tavistock and was made in 1876.
“We thought it was very appropriate that it be done here,” Shultz said.
The crokinole championship, Shultz said, follows many of the same conventions as sports tournaments.
“They shake hands before and at the end they shake hands again and say good game. As far as sportsmanship, it’s good. When you get into the playoffs, the intensity is there. There is still the sportsmanship, but boy, they are intense,” he said.
One notable difference, Shultz said, is spectator demeanor.
“It’s pretty quiet in the arena, myself included,” Shultz said.
“You almost speak to somebody in whispers because you don’t want loud noises to interfere with the players.”
This year, the tournament, which handed out $6,000 in prizes, hosted approximately 275 players. Some of those players, like the Olsons, came from other provinces and some even came from other countries.
In past years Shultz said they’ve had players from Australia and China and one participant from Germany has been donating prize money for the past two years in memory of his wife.
“People come to just enjoy the game. [They] just enjoy playing against a higher skill-level than what they normally might play. Some of it is just the plain fun of doing it.”
The game also attracts many people from within southwestern Ontario, including 9-year-old Abijah Jong and his sister Makeda, 11.
Abijah has come from Hamilton to play in the tournament for the last four years.
“We don’t really watch much T.V. and they are home-schooled,” their father Reuben Jong said.
“[Abijah] played in the juniors last year and came second so he was really hyped to come here this year.”
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