by Tina Hawkins, 2nd Vice President and Publicity/Promotion Director

We are looking for a new, exciting logo to modernize our image, increase our public appeal and take the association away from the "backyard" visions that horseshoe pitching normally invokes.

To NHPA members, our logo is very recognizable, but in a study by the University of Central Oklahoma marketing department, it was found that (unless you already know what it is) people cannot tell what the emblem depicts.

The Executive Council feels it may be time for a change and is launching a logo design contest open to NHPA members to find a more modern, discernable logo that will help attract attention and entice prospective new members into the association.

See rules and entry form for more information. Deadline for submissions is June 30.

Kansas Expocentre

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

This year's World Tournament in Topeka, Kansas, is expected to be the largest in years. In anticipation of this increase, we are planning to set up all 60 portable courts of the NHPA inventory. This will include seven banks of eight courts each, and four playoff courts.

The tournament itself will be held at The Expocentre, located in the center of town, a couple of blocks from the State Capitol. The building has two arenas that will be used for pitching - the Landon Arena and the Exhibition Hall. The Landon Arena will hold 24 courts and will host our Championships. It has 360-degree, stadium seating, so bring your binoculars, as there will be no spectators on the floor.

Just a short stroll over to the Exhibition Hall and you see will the other 32 tournament courts and ...

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by Chris Callihan Sr., Raffle Committee Chair

Now that football season is over, we begin another season that is near and dear to our hearts: horseshoe-pitching season! And with the kickoff of this season, I'm pleased to announce the World Tournament Experience Raffle (WTER) of 2015. Ticket sales have begun!

Just one ticket is all it takes, but increase your odds and buy more! You could win a ticket package that includes your 2016 World Tournament entry in Montgomery, Alabama, hotel stay and other associated prizes. Four runner-up prizes of tournament entries will also be awarded. Tickets are just $5 each or five for $20.

Ticket sellers around the nation are in place. Tickets will also be available at the NHPF booth at this year's World Tournament and by U.S. Mail. (See below for further details.)

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

 

As President Stu Sipma recapped in his article above, the NHPA Council's winter meeting was held in Topeka, Kansas, the first weekend in February. From that, I'm providing here an update of our Rules Committee progress with the Proposed Rules Changes (PRCs) that were submitted on or before the December 31 deadline. I say "progress" only because our Rules Committee was unable to process all of the PRCs that were submitted, as many of these PRCs (12 or so) weren't received until just before the deadline.

 

The PRCs that had been processed and voted on were presented to our NHPA Council, for their consideration and approval. Most, but not all, were approved by the Council and will be advanced for voting by the World Tournament Convention delegates in July. The remaining PRCs will be processed by the Rules Committee, and also by our Council, during March and April ... 

 

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

One of the more interesting and challenging facets of being an NHPA vice president is writing an article for each edition of Newsline. Sometimes writer's block prevents me from focusing on one topic, so this month I am beginning the theme "random thoughts from Bill Marvin." I hope it doesn't bore you and isn't too disjointed.

Court Re-sanctioning
As stated in the NHPA's official Playing Rules, Guidelines and Specifications (RGS), all courts must be re-sanctioned in 2015.  The process is done under the direction of regional directors. Court sanctions fall into two categories, conditional and full ...

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Horseshoe is a game of numbers. Three points, six points, one point, 30 feet, 40 feet, ringer percentages, shoes pitched, and on and on.

What about tallying some of those numbers?

• A total of 287 sanctioned leagues reported results in 2014
• Those leagues pitched a total of 6,780,986 horseshoes
• Of those total shoes, 1,667,520 were ringers
• That's an all-league, nationwide average of 24.59 percent

Check out further breakdowns for all divisions and the Top Ten League Award list on the NHPA website. Congratulations to all the winners and to the league secretaries for all their number-crunching throughout the year!

Junior Denise Daly

by Aleena Lepak, Junior Promotion Director
    
Fierce, fabulous, and talented are only a few words to describe 17-year-old Denise Daly. Living in Winchester, Illinois, Denise is enjoying her high school senior year to the fullest with a smile on her face every day. She participates in color guard, runs hurdles and the 4 X 100 in track. She enjoys painting, hanging out with her friends, and loves reading about different languages and time periods. With so many things in her life, Denise still makes time for her passion of horseshoes.
    
Over the winter, Denise practices every other weekend at indoor courts in Jerseyville, then at her grandma's house or at her league courts in the summer. Right now she practices about once a week, but will start going out every day once the weather warms up.

Denise practices with her grandma and some of her friends who find the sport intriguing. She is even in the process of helping with a junior tournament to get her friends interested ...

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by Casey Sluys, President, National Horseshoe Pitchers Foundation

In addition to supporting the NHPA Hall of Fame, the National Horseshoe Pitchers Foundation (NHPF) supports promotion and publicity of horseshoe pitching, not only in the United States, but overseas as well, an example of which is South Africa. 

The NHPF assisted in shipping horseshoes to their country in 2011-2012. Then, in 2011, the first South African pitchers participated in our World Tournament in Monroe, Louisiana. They proved to be very good at pitching, winning two class championships, one second place and an 11th place.

In 2013, we welcomed both South African and Namibian pitchers, making it a true "World" tournament and an international event.

The next year, 2014, during the Junior Jukskei Championships in South Africa, they held a small horseshoe pitching tournament for the juniors with the same horseshoes that we had sent them. It gives one a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment knowing that ...

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by Bob Dunn, NHPA Historian

Another great pitcher from the 1940s and 1950s was Don Titcomb (California). He battled both Ted Allen and Fernando Isais, but could not bring home a title until 1960. That decade brought a new era and a host of great pitchers. In fact, during the 1960s, there were seven different champions; only Harold Reno (Ohio), Elmer Hohl (Ontario) and Dan Kuchcinski (Pennsylvania) were able to repeat as the Men's World Champion. That was a tremendous change in the sport, as two pitchers had previously dominated the sport; there were just three different champions in the past three decades; and Guy Zimmerman had just the one championship at that.

The other champions from the 1960s were Paul Focht (Ohio), John Monasmith (Washington) and Curt Day (Indiana). Of these three, only Day would go on to win another title, doing so in 1971 and again in 1974. Picking the best pitcher of the 1960s is next to impossible, but by bringing the 1970s into view, ...

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by Randy L. Johnson

Do you remember the first time you tossed a horseshoe? How about the first time you made a rock-solid, locked-on ringer? Oh what a sweet sound and a great feeling!

I would wager to say that it was not at a tournament, or in a league or anything to do with an organized event. It was probably in the backyard with family, or maybe at a campground or park. You can remember when strict adherence to the rules was not needed. C'mon now, you all remember that shoe that bounced off a hill and went on the stake and we bragged that we meant that to happen, then laughed so hard. We loved pitching and were hooked; yet it may have taken years to join a club.  

Horseshoe pitching is a social sport. Have we gotten too focused on winning? Or maybe on our NATSTATS? And maybe that next tournament. With the membership numbers falling, I propose we need to get back to our roots, when we threw shoes mainly for the pure enjoyment of the sport ...

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