Wherever you live in Canada, you’ve probably heard about a growing number of places where you can go and throw axes. Over the last few years, these leagues have transformed themselves from private clubs to open venues where you can book parties with large groups, or even just walk in on your own or with a friend. You’ve probably read about it in the newspaper or seen it on TV, or even one of many celebrity interviews done on the pitch at certain Toronto axe throwing venues.
There’s no shortage of celebrities who have decided to try their hand at axe throwing, either; the Toronto and Calgary locations of the Backyard Axe Throwing League (BATL) have seen plenty of notable personalities dropping by. Their Calgary location has been host to the entire Calgary Stampeders CFL team, who took the day off to try a different kind of competitive sport, while in Toronto any number of touring musicians and actors on set have stopped by to blow off some steam.
From Vin Diesel and Orange Is the New Black star Ruby Rose to Eddie Huang, the New York City-based king of bao and host of Viceland’s Huang’s World, BATL is turning into a must-see Toronto destination. You can even watch this video of metal Vikings Amon Amarth competing, and the video also does a pretty good job of explaining the crucial role of scoring the 7-point clutch on your final throw.
However, you don’t have to be interested in rubbing elbows with celebrity axe throwers to have a great time with your friends, coworkers, or family, whether the occasion is a birthday, bachelor or bachelorette party, or a team-building event for the office. It’s a great way to spend an evening together and learn a new skill in a fun, competitive environment.
If you’re thinking about booking an axe throwing venue for a party, graduation, or corporate team building event, it can help if you know the rules of the games:
- Players face off against each other in one-on-one rounds, each with 5 throws to score as many points as they can.
- The target has three concentric rings, but it’s a rectangle with some space worth zero points: the bullseye is worth 5, the next ring 3, and the outer ring only 1.
- On their fifth and final throw, they get a chance to go for the clutch – one of two green dots in the top corners of the target that are each worth 7 points. Throwers must declare that they are going to go for the clutch and landing anywhere else on the target nets zero points, but according to the rules of the NATF, the player in the lead must go first on their final throw.
If you’ve got the itch to go axe throwing this weekend, but you don’t have enough people together to book a pitch, you can also take advantage of walk-in hours now offered by many axe throwing venues. Try it out and see if you’ve got what it takes to land those bullseyes, and if the sport turns out to be your true calling, you may want to sign up for the league.
