by Stu Sipma, NHPA President

I want to take a moment and wish everyone a happy summer. Horseshoe season has officially started throughout the country and I want to thank everyone for their efforts in recruiting new members. Based on our preliminary numbers, it appears our numbers are about the same (maybe a little down) from last year. Congratulations to all the charters in their efforts to go out and seek new members.

The 4th Annual Hall of Fame Invitational was hosted by the Quail Ridge Horseshoe Club (QRHC) this past May at the Hall of Fame building located at Wentzville, MO. Our new "rookie" officer Jerry Smith was the tournament director and in talking to Jerry, it sounds like it was a very successful tournament. I want to apologize to the participants and the QRHC for not being able to attend. The NHPA would like to thank all the sponsors who supported this event, and we look forward to another successful tournament next year.

The 2015 World Horseshoe Tournament will be held July 13-25 at Topeka, Kansas. The host site, the Kansas Expocentre, is located right in downtown Topeka ...

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by Dan Sanders, 1st Vice President and Bylaws/Rules/Grievance Director

Only a couple of weeks remain before this year's World Tournament and hopefully each of you has read through the Proposed Rules Changes that will be voted on by the charter delegates. It is important that all members let their charter officers and/or delegates know about their thoughts and opinions for each of these proposed changes before the voting takes place on Sunday, July 19.

Delegate chairpersons are reminded that they should meet with their charter delegates before the Convention to discuss the proposals and how their tentative votes will be cast. The amount of time allotted for the presentation, discussion, and voting will necessarily be limited to no more than about 10 minutes for each of the 12 proposed changes. Even with these time limitations, it will take approximately two hours just for the completion of this single agenda item. So please come prepared to vote, with limited discussion on the floor, so that all items on the convention agenda can be completed in a timely manner.

by Dan Sanders, 1st Vice President and Bylaws/Rules/Grievance Director

World Tournament Judging Clinics will once again be offered during the World Tournament this year. This clinic is unique in that it includes a classroom session where 20 selected True/False - Yes/No questions have been selected and are used as a basis of discussion. These questions/answers deal primarily with situations that are more likely to occur during the course of tournament play. A slide presentation has been developed and several tabletop pit models will be available for demonstrating the use of measuring tools, including the bridge tool -- have you ever heard of that one? All participants will have an opportunity to use each of the measuring tools that are featured.

One of last year's participants commented: "Every pitcher should be required to attend this clinic, whether they plan to become a judge or not! If all pitchers were familiar with these questions/answers, there would be a lot fewer problems out there on the courts."

So, if you have the opportunity, please plan to attend one of these clinics! Look for posted announcements about the times/locations of these free clinics!

by Jerry LaBrosse, 4th Vice President and Charter Communications Director

With our focus on the World Tournament coming up this month, we don't want to forget the NHPA members who are not making their way to Topeka. Even from afar, you can be involved, almost feeling like you're there, and support our sport too.

Since David Letterman has retired, how about we bring back a Top 10 list? Check out the visual list here.

by Bill Marvin, 5th Vice President and Regional Director and Court Sanctioning Director

The horseshoe world is looking to the beginning of the 2015 World Tournament. By now the schedule has been set, reservations made, and travel plans are in their final stages. Understandably, this is the most anticipated event of the year. Before the pitching begins, I felt it might be a good time to review the "pitching etiquette" as outlined in the Official Playing Rules, Requirements, Guidelines and Specifications, or better known as the RGS book. Rule 12 covers "Appropriate NHPA Member Conduct."
 
Most of these rules are common sense: be courteous; turn off your cell phone; and no alcohol, tobacco products, or illegal controlled substance allowed for pitchers, scorekeepers or judges. Heckling or other inappropriate gestures meant to distract opponents are not only against the rules, but ...
 
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by Jerry Smith, 3rd Vice President and Sanction League Director, Junior Scholarships

Last year when I was approved to fill the remaining term of David Sidles as 3rd Vice President, I, of course, wondered what the job entailed. I have since come to learn that the job is quite a bit more complicated than one would think. So, what does the Sanction League Director do anyway?

You might think that the World Tournament (WT) is the big item on the plates of all NHPA officers, and I think it is fair to say that statement is mostly correct. I am looking forward to the WT and feel that it is my (our) job to make the WT the showcase of NHPA yearly activities. But, as it turns out, the WT may be a time for me to slow down. This year I have had to learn the processes of league play and the many ins and outs of how this is accomplished.

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Matt Shanahan and Mitchell Miles

Connecticut horseshoe pitchers Mitchell Miles and Mathew Shanahan report that they successfully played the game of horseshoes for 24 hours and 30 seconds consecutively, fulfilling the requirements for consideration in the Guinness World Record Book. After submitting all evidence, the pair awaits confirmation.

Over the course of their May 23 feat, Mitch and Matt completed a total of 110 games with Matt winning 60 of them. Matt totaled 842 points and Mitch had 703, over the course of all the 10-inning games. Mitch threw 110 ringers and Matt was close behind with 105. "Needless to say, the pits were hard to reach the last couple of hours," said Mitch.

The pair figures with all their pitching, they threw approximately two tons of metal over eight miles.

by Casey Sluys, President, National Horseshoe Pitchers Foundation

The National Horseshoe Pitchers Foundation (NHPF) Board of Directors has added two new members to its board. They are Ron Deckard of Florida and James Scully of Connecticut. Geographic location was indeed considered when asking these two gentlemen to serve on our board. With the added members we hope to broaden the awareness of the NHPF, thereby increasing participation in our brick purchase program and our fundraising effort to assist in supporting the NHPF Hall of Fame in Wentzville, Missouri.

The NHPF held our annual meeting during the Hall of Fame Invitational tournament with all board members present. A few items that were discussed include:

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by Bob Dunn, NHPA Historian

Before we get into the article, I need to make a correction for last issue's article. When talking about our first Women's World Champion, I inadvertently stated that Marjorie Voorhees was from Asbury, New York. That is not correct. Marjorie was from Asbury, New Jersey. Thanks to Anne MacIntyre, for pointing that out to me, and for adding that Marjorie Voorhees is a member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

And now back to our story!

The 1970s brought more new stars. Ruth Hangen, a veteran of four world tournaments, with two third-place finishes and one runner-up finish, opened the decade with four straight world championships. That was an unheard of record. Previously, seven times a woman pitcher had consecutive titles but the record stood at just two in a row. Hangen had won four consecutive titles and pitched 79.6 percent ringers in the 1973 event. Was she about to step up to the top of all time?

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