After earning his bid at Axe & Grind, Ray Siochowicz will be representing Victoria when he makes his pilgrimage to Appleton, Wis. for the World Knife Throwing Championship in April.
Siochowicz got his start throwing blades in 2019 when he went to Axe & Grind for friends' birthdays and immediately enjoyed it, so he went on to join a local league.
"Back then I was competing a lot in the Highland Games, but that's more of a summertime activity, so I was looking for something to do during the winter and thought I enjoyed the axe throwing, and I knew there was a league, so I thought I'd give it a try," he said. "Just as soon as I tried it, I caught the bug, and I've been doing it ever since."
When the league meets, a game consists of seven to 10 throws against an opponent, with the competitor throwing the highest score earning the win. Scores are then placed on a global leaderboard where players from around the world are pitted against each other.
"The axe-throwing community is so tight that 90 per cent of the people that I see when I go there I'm going to know, and I've met before at tournaments and things like that," he said. "Even though we're competing against each other, we're always rooting for each other as well."
As he moves towards his fourth world championship, Siochowicz says he is nervous as the sport is largely concentrated in the U.S. where players will get more tournament experience than Canadian throwers.
"A big part of axe throwing is mental and probably everybody at Worlds is capable of throwing high-level games. It just depends on whether you can do it in the moment," he said. "The people that are really good are the people that are very good at controlling those nerves and using them to throw well."
Siochowicz will be competing in three disciplines – big axe, hatchet, and knives – from April 3 to 6. The event will also be streamed by ESPN.
