President’s Message

by Stu Sipma, NHPA President

I want to take a moment and wish everyone a happy summer. Horseshoe season has started throughout the country and I want to thank everyone for their efforts in recruiting new members.  Based on our preliminary numbers, it appears are numbers are down a little from last year. Dave Sidles reported our 2016 membership count was at 9334 adults and 662 juniors.

The 6th Annual HOF Invitational was hosted by the QRHC this past May at the Hall of Fame building located at Wentzville, MO. In talking to the QRHC, it sounds like it was a very successful tournament. I want to apologize to the participants and the QRHC for not being able to attend. The NHPA would like to thank all the sponsors who sponsored this event and look forward to another successful tournament next year. 

Charter Presidents who are appointing their delegates for the 2017 delegate meeting at St. George, UT - Please take some time to go through their packets and educate them on what they need to be doing to support their Charter. 

This year we have the positions of Sec/Treas, 2nd VP, and 4th VP.  For the position of Sec/Treas Dave Sidles (Incumbent) is running unopposed. For the other VP positions we have Tina Hawkins (Incumbent) and Laura (Laurie) Lampkin running for 2nd VP. For the position of 4th VP, we have Ron Smith and Rob Hagman. The NHPA Council wishes all the candidates the best of luck.

The 2017 World Horseshoe Tournament will be held July 17 – July 29, 2017 at the Dixie Center in St. George, UT. Dave Sidles (W.T. Director) has reported a total of 1041 pitchers this number is up from when it was last hosted in St. George in 2013 where we had 1032 pitchers. The NPHA is very pleased with the number and look forward to working with Kevin Lewis and his team on hosting another successful tournament. The city of St George provides a wide variety of attractions and things to do, so make sure you check out their website.  For everyone who makes the trip, I know you will not be disappointed and will enjoy the scenery, especially the Zion Mountains. 

I look forward to visiting with everyone, especially all the new members and 1st time W.T. attendees. The NHPA Council was really excited to see the large number of juniors and cadets who will be pitching this year. I want to recognize Seth Ohms for all his work in promoting the juniors in the Utah area. I am really looking forward to watching the Junior and Cadet Divisions.

For the members who will not be attending the W.T. feel free to contact me anytime to on how we can make this a better sport for everyone to enjoy.