Comparing Worlds: HOF Chairperson Looks at the 2015 World Tournament

by Vicki Winston, Hall of Fame Committee Chairperson

Another World Tournament has come and gone, and the tournament hosts and the NHPA staff did an excellent job. Of course, I can only speak from the viewpoint of a non-pitcher. It did bring back memories of the way things used to be when I first started out in my World Tournament pitching career back in the 1950s in Murray, Utah, and how different things are now.

 

Back then, we could watch the competition on 18 clay courts from bleachers just a few feet from the perimeter fence. Of course, we were subject to all the elements Mother Nature could throw at us. Since there were only a couple of men’s classes at that time, pitchers drove long distances just to pitch 200 qualifying shoes. If they didn’t make one of those two classes, they went back home. It was a struggle to find enough female pitchers to make up a women’s class.

 

Games were 50-point cancellation games. No one ever used shoe-limit games. A scorekeeper was seated in the middle of the court recording the score on a paper scoresheet. The office was a tent set up near the courts, where Katie Gregson and her volunteers were checking scoresheets manually and recording the stats on handmade charts made out of poster board.

 

Fast forward to what occurs now at a World Tournament … there are at least 48 portable courts in a huge, air-conditioned venue. Pre-entry is required and everyone that gets their entry in on time will have an opportunity to compete. Shoe-limit games are the norm, with only Championship finals being 40-point cancellation games. Scorekeeping is computerized, and depending on the venue, much of the time, spectators need binoculars in order to keep track of what is going on, or to see the score. Large screen monitors in a couple of locations in the building continually scroll the status of the classes and players that are on the courts. The whims of Mother Nature have been completely eliminated, unless there would be such a storm that a power failure occurred. That would certainly bring a sudden stop to everything that is currently in progress.

 

As a non-pitcher, I continue to attend the World Tournament because of my sustained involvement with our sport. I also enjoy the opportunity to see the people that I’ve met during the many years of my pitching career, as well as those I’ve met since I stopped pitching. It is a family reunion, but the family has grown considerably since the 1950s.

 

Sunday is my big day during the tournament. I attend the convention as a charter delegate. Then I attend the non-denominational church service that usually begins about 2 p.m. This year there was no time for lunch and the delegates barely cleared the room before it was time for church.

 

The NHPA has a wonderful chaplain in Ken Heinritz, and he does a great job with the service. It was a treat once again to take part in a quartet that we put together a few years ago. It consists of Amy Francis, Barry Chapelle, Ken Shaver and me. We didn’t sing in 2014 because both Barry and Ken missed that tournament. Amy has named us the Heavenly Shoes. And, as Ken quipped, we don’t yet have any CDs available.

 

The events of Sunday are completed with the annual NHPA Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet. This year was one of the best that I can remember. The food was good and there was plenty of room; we could actually walk between the tables.

 

I was delighted that many people were able to see Bob Rogers from Missouri, who is the designer of the Hall of Fame Room and the displays that are in it at Wentzville. He continues to work, basically free of charge now, as the curator of the museum, because he loves the sport of horseshoe pitching so much. We owe a great deal to Bob, and I was pleased that some people came to me during the World Tournament and said they had stopped to visit the Hall of Fame on their way to Topeka. Their comments were all positive. Near the end of the program, because we save the best until the last, it was my honor and privilege to help with the induction of Harold Anthony, Lorraine Sternberg and Jim Walters into our NHPA Hall of Fame. All are very deserving of the honor.

 

The Hall of Fame Committee had a meeting on Tuesday evening, July 21. I was pleased to have so many members in attendance and it was the first meeting for our new committee members, Joan Elmore and Mark Seibold. Everything seems to be going pretty well with the committee and we didn’t have a lot of business to conduct, so the meeting was short.

 

In closing I would remind everyone that any NHPA member or sanctioned club can submit a nomination for the Hall of Fame and a printable nomination form (link to: http://www.horseshoepitching.com/hof/HOFNominationForm.pdf ) is available on the Hall of Fame link of the NHPA website.