Hey Everyone,

 

          Spring is almost here and people are ready and looking for an inexpensive way to get outside and get some exercise so now is the time to recruit some new members.  I know that the Fridley Club has been told they need to relocate so the Forest Lake Club would like to welcome any Fridley Club member to come join us until a new location has been found.  We have Monday Singles and Thursday Doubles league. We still have the Tuesday Juniors program which is now up to 26 kids.  Forest Lake will be having their Spring Meeting on Thursday, April 20th at the Forest Lake VFW at 6:30pm.

We are starting a new come back as an association to bring Minnesota back to our No 1 status.  The board cannot do this by themselves and we need everyone's help in this endeavor. You may have noticed a lot of changes in our executive board recently.  We have some members who have stepped up and are excited to join the board to help strengthen our charter. Together we can do this and have fun at the same time. Thank you to all the board members and directors for their hard work towards our goals.

I wish all clubs a fun and successful pitching season!

See you on the courts

Rick

 

Hello everyone, I hope you all have had a great winter so far and I hope you are all as eager as I am to get this Season started...It will be here before we all know it, in just a few short weeks we will be having our annual league meetings to get everyone back into the swing of things for the upcoming summer horseshoe season. As your State Statistician it will be my job to post and make sure that all tournaments get reported to NATSTATS in a timely fashion, that will also include your Club only tournaments that happen during your season each year, Tournament Directors and League Directors, don't forget to send me the results from your tournament, Jerry LaBrosse is doing a fantastic job making sure everyone that is wanting to run a tournament this year that they get all the necessary information to him so that he can then get the correct information to Rob Hagman our State Webmaster so that everyone that will be getting there calendar ready for the upcoming horseshoe season knows when and where all of the tournaments are going to be played this year.

ARE YOU READY FOR WORLD THIS YEAR? I AM!!!! 2013 in St. George, UTAH was AMAZING just ask anyone that went then, I would be willing to bet that everyone that went then will be going again this year, and then some. JUNIOR PITCHERS, don't forget, if you are planning on going to world this year to SIGN UP NOW, you will be able to enter for FREE! WHO doesn't like FREE, AND don't forget if you went last time in 2013 and you know someone that is planning on going this year, there is still time to get $100 for signing someone up that didn't go last year, those DETAILS and EVERYTHING else you could need or want information wise about the world tournament can be found at www.worldhorseshoes.com and you can also find helpful information at www.Minnesotahorseshoes.com and www.horseshoepitching.com .

Keep an eye out for upcoming tournaments this winter at Becker, Isanti and Upsala, I am running the Upsala Spring Tournament, that is always a fast one to fill up with snow birds coming back to MN and it's also a great tournament to kick off the Season!

        If you are  interested in playing in TEAM WORLD that is held in Beloit, Wisconsin, go to

www.teamworldhorseshoe.com , or contact me for more information, We have 2 teams confirmed for the 2017 Competition that Minnesota will be bringing to represent, Team #1 will be captained by our current 30-Foot Men's State Champion, Sig Armitage, his fellow Teammates are, Ray Volkers, Sara Otto and Mark Smith. Team #2 will have our other current State Champions as Co-Captains, and they are Alan and Janet Larson, with Bill Danielson and Myself, Josh Olson. I am sure we will have some more interest for Team World this year, more details to come with that in the near future.

That's all for now, I will be posting some cool action camera shots and some videos soon on to the website, I recently purchased a GoPro Camera and have been playing around with it so look for that on the website as well.

SEE YOU ON THE COURT!
Josh

            The Greenfield Horseshoe Club recently wrapped up their winter leagues, and capped off another very successful season.

The Monday Night League fall session was dominated by Mike Demars. Dave Borscheid won the winter session in a down to the wire shoot out with Lowell Johnson. Ron Fadden was the year end tournament champion. Most of these players are members of the Rockford Horseshoe Club and play each other in the summer months as well.

 

            The Thursday Night Straightaway League saw the unstoppable Ray Volkers take down both the fall and winter sessions.  There were many blistering games thrown between Ray, Sara Otto, and Mark Smith, all throwing in the mid 60% range.

Rockford Horseshoe Club News

 

To my fellow horseshoe pitchers.

               It has been a fairly short Winter so far and of course it makes us think about doing things outside, whether it is working in the yard, going for walks, playing some horseshoes, softball, tennis, bocce ball or any other activity played out doors. Even though Winter is probably not completely over it is not too early to think about the friends we have met though pitching shoes, as well as the fun and fellowship we have had when pitching in the leagues at our various localities. It is true pitching and other activities can be frustrating when we do not perform as well as we think we should or could. If we prepare now by doing stretching exercises, walking or losing a few pounds which we added during the Winter time, these things could give us a better chance of pitching a little better with less aches and pains. If you are like me, we do not like to lose but if we pitch near our ringer percentage then it can be a little less frustrating.

                If you look at the great new web site which Rob Hagman and others have established online, you can see there are still a few tournaments in Upsala, Becker, and Isanti which have openings to enter them, before the outdoor league season is in full swing.

               Remember to tell others about the low cost of horseshoe leagues  and fun we have during the outdoor season competing with pitchers from ages FIVE to NINETY FIVE, while watching them improve and gain confidence in their pitching abilities. Encourage them to pitch in leagues and  tournaments by stressing that there are classes for everyone which range from 1% to 75%. Good luck everyone.

 

 

            This year the world tournament is going to be held in St George, UT. It is shaping up to be another fantastic event. It was held in St George in 2013, so we've seen the area and the arena. They've got world class clay this time, so the pitching conditions will be world class, and the area is a sightseers dream come true. The national parks and red rock scenery will blow you away.

I am hearing about a lot of MN people planning to do this trip. If you have never attended a world tournament, you're missing the best horseshoe experience of your life. This is the year to do it.  I have been to many world tournaments, and I strongly advise you to attend a world tournament. You just may get hooked for life. The friends you make from all across the country are amazing. Just do it!

I need to remind you that to qualify for entering the world, you need four sanctioned events on your natstats record between May 15th of 2016 and May 15th of 2017. Leagues or tournaments count as events. The winter tournaments offered here in MN are a great way to get your events in. Isanti, Becker, and Upsala all are hosting winter events, check the schedule and enter these events early, as they could fill up quickly because of their small size.

 

Revenue

Adult dues              18,945.00

Transfer from savings   1200.00

Scoreboard sales   600.00

Junior donations   586.00

State tournament entries, Friends of horseshoes

Banquet sales, raffle,  and prize fund     9211.00

 

              Total Revenue    30,542.00

 

Expenses

Digest        740.00

Adult and Jr dues to NHPA         11,016.00

Officers Salary         3080.00

Team world entry fee         150.00

Hall of fame trailer         39.00

Office supplies and stamps   236.00

Court storage      200.00

NHPF donation      325.00

Transfer to savings     1200.00

Door prizes   260.00

Jr trophies and party   223.00

State tournament expenses         9593.00

              Total expenses   27062.00

 

 

 

   by Jerry LaBrosse      

            Everybody showed up to play winter horseshoes and visit with friends. It was a great day for travel and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

The morning shift had some close action in D class, with Ivis Lee from SD winning his first class title as a junior boy, just moved from the cadet division. Gary Kirckof took second and Bud Schaefer took third.

Class C was dominated by Kelsey Nordick, going 6-1 @ 30.71%. Mike Littell and Bill Nelson finished 2nd and 3rd.

            Afternoon shift provided plenty of hot action. Dick Dvorak went undefeated in his first event in the Elder's division, posting a nice record of 7-0  48.21 %. Once he finds his groove he will be untouchable ! Gary Boots came in 2nd and James Syverson took third place honors.

Class A went down to the wire, but Thomas Lee from SD proved to be too tough. He polished off Henry Greenwaldt in the last game with a blistering 75% game. Thomas posted a 6-1  @  61.43%  winning record. Mel Larson placed second and Henry Greenwaldt held on to third.

I want to thank our wonderful Hall of Fame hosts Mel and Joyce Larson shown here accepting their Hall of Fame recognition.

The 50-50 drawing was won by Joe Mueller, and we thank everyone who participated. We raised a total of $278, and this was donated to the NHPF Foundation on behalf of the MGSHPA. The NHPF promotes and builds the sport of horseshoepitching by supplying support to new and existing clubs, including financial grants.

 

I want to personally thank Josh Olson who setup and got the first shift running for me, and all the assistance he gave me to produce this event. I also want to thank you who kept score. When everybody chips in a little, it makes it fun and easy for everyone. 

2017 WT Entry Form