Announcing the 36th Annual Gateway Classic Boomerang Tournament
Hosted by yours truly, Chicago Bob! This year’s installment of the popular Gateway Classic takes place on Sunday, May 26th at Konarcik Park in Waterloo, Illinois. Waterloo is just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. Throwers should plan to arrive at the field by 8:00 am, and we should be starting the warmup for the first event around 9:00 am. The order of events will be: Trick Catch/Doubling, Accuracy, Australian Round, MTA, Fast Catch, and Endurance. I have not yet set the cost for the competition, but it does include plenty of trophies and a meal on Sunday evening when we do awards at my house after the competition. Typically we have another meal and beverages at my house on Saturday, but this year I have to go to a wedding, so throwers are on their own for Saturday.
The Gateway Classic is a very laid-back affair, making it a great competition for rookie throwers to try their hand at competing. New throwers will get plenty of loaner boomerangs and advice and always feel welcome. At the same time, all the top talent is here, so be ready for a show!
Waterloo has a Super 8 motel and the Sunset Inn, and nearby Columbia, Illinois has a Hampton Inn. These do book up for the Memorial Day weekend, so reserve early.
Please email me if you have questions at robert dot leifeld at gmail dot com. Hope to see you all here next Month!
2024 World Boomerang Cup
Fellow throwers,
This is a letter of information following the official announcement in May of dates and location for next year’s WBC. The dates and location have not changed; July 6-16, 2024 in Westminster, Colorado USA (a suburb of Denver, Colorado).
The website is now open. Please visit www.wbc2024.net and register
COSTS AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE: We have worked really hard to keep the cost low yet provide the basics for an excellent tournament. We have faced challenges, such as a high annual inflation rate (in the US) with especially high increases for food service. All throwers should understand these challenges. To help keep costs low, housing will be similar to the WBC in Albuquerque, with 4 teammates to a room sharing two queen sized beds (160cm wide) Options to purchase fewer to a room will be available. Per person cost will be $1,385 USD. As in all previous WBCs, there is an initial monetary deposit with registration. All throwers must pay the initial registration deposit of $300 USD by December 28, 2023 (received in our account by that date) as we must, by contract, pay our first deposit to the hotel by January 2nd, 2024. We will have a registration page on the website and the primary mode of payment will be PayPal. The second payment ($500) will be due March 1st, 2024, and the final payment ($585) will be due April 1st, 2024. The price is approximate based on 100 participants. There will be no refund after March 1st, 2024.
VOLUNTEERS: We have a keen need for several volunteers, especially with food service. We will also need a few drivers for excursion day. We will attempt to offer reduced costs to those that volunteer.
THE LOCATION: The tournament will take place at Westminster City Park July 6-16, 2024. Westminster is a suburb of Denver. The field is a gorgeous, flat and round grassy field with a surface like a soccer pitch that is approximately 280 meters across! Field altitude is 5,384 feet (1641 meters) so throwing will be similar to Albuquerque in 2018. For example, a 20m boomerang at sea level will fly approximately 22m in Denver. Housing will be in the Hyatt Place Westminster Hotel. We will have shuttles for primary transport to the field (about 6 minutes) but there is also a beautiful walking/bike path through a native greenbelt (with several prairie dog communities!). The walk is about 25 minutes.
Thanks in advance to everyone for registering promptly and for giving us the opportunity to hold an event full of the camaraderie of competition and the joy of seeing good friends once again!
Your tournament hosts,
David, Daniel and Richard
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