That Other International Sports Competition

The final celebrations of an international athletic contest filled with drama, sportsmanship, and record-breaking were held right in the Hagget Dorm on the University of Washington campus last night.

Teams from as far away as Switzerland, Japan, and Australia and representing more than 10 different countries, celebrated after five days of competition in the World Boomerang Championship, organized by the International Federation of Boomerang Associations.

During the competition, the teams left their dorm rooms early every morning to return, exhausted, in the evening from a long day of throwing at the fields next to the Intramural Activities Building. Both Team and individual competitions were held.

Though the boomerang may be better know for its recreational or hunting uses, the IFBA Web site explains just how intensely athletic it can be as well. Take the Team Endurance Relay as an example:

Each thrower sprints 20 meters to the bullseye of a circle. Throw and catch a boom as many times as possible for one minute. Sprint back and tag the next teammate.
- IFBA Web site

Winners took their trophies yesterday evening, with the German team B-motions taking first place in team competition, followed by Americans Rad Revolution in second place and the Swiss Team Skandal in third.

The dorms stairs and elevators filled with a mix of languages as the revelers made their way to a ively and alcohol-infused party in the third-floor lobby of Hagget Dorm's North Tower.

The lobby itself was permeated with a feeling of success and the smell of beer as people mingled and joked.


Everyone seemed to be holding some sort of brightly colored award—the "default" awards after the real ceremony—explained Arnaut, a member of one of the French teams.


Almost no one wore their own team's shirt, and a few people seemed very intent on getting everyone's signatures on their World Championship T-shirts.


Peter Hansch, 38 (left), came with one of the three German teams and won the "1988-2008 Vacation from Boomerang Award" for coming back after 20 years away from the sport. Hansch said that he played for one year but then quit in 1988 because other things got in the way.

He's glad to be back now, he said, and he likes the the Boomerang community because, even though it is small , it is also tight-knit. Most throwers also make boomerangs, and recently, only the children of well-established throwers and returning throwers have been joining, so the sport is not really growing, explained Hansch.

The Italian team, Young and Old, were a perfect example of this trend with a 57-year age difference between the the youngest, 13-year-old Alessandro Scarpellino (pictured right, far right), and its oldest member, 70-year old Valentino De Chiara (second to left). Alessandro came with his father, Antonio Scarpellino (third from the left).


The IFBA was also well represented, with President Maurizio Saba and Treasurer Andrea Sgattoni (far left and second from right) also participated.

Several times the noisy room quieted to hear happy announcements, like one young woman's birthday, and also to watch a young man's team initiation ceremony (pictured left).


Today, the teams are scheduled to attempt to beat world records at Greenlake until 6p.m.


They will return home August 27 and 28, after a solid 10 days of boomerang, and will have to wait until the 2010 World Championships to compete again.


To find out more about competitive boomerang or to view videos and information about the 2008 World Championship, visit: http://seattle2008.ifba-online.com/smf/