Ringers, camaraderie and family: World Horseshoe Pitching Championships come to Utah

“There’s absolutely nothing else I would rather do in my spare time than pitch horseshoes,” Steven Gibson, the reigning Utah state men’s horseshoe pitching champion, said this week as he prepared to chase a world title.

And while pitching horseshoes might seem like a fun spare-time event, things will get a little more serious this coming week.

Beginning Monday, the World Horseshoe Pitching Championships will take place in Sandy. For some competitors, the tournament is a true family affair.

Blaine Scott, who has been pitching horseshoes since he was a teenager, will be joined by 11 of his family members in the tournament. Scott’s son and 10 grandchildren, ages 7 to 19 will be competing.

“It has been a blast,” Scott said about having his family involved. “I really personally enjoy it.”

As Scott raised his four kids, all got involved in horseshoe pitching and then passed the same opportunity on to his grandchildren.

“There’s a lot of things that you can do to keep yourself busy or to have activities in your life, but if you can have that kind of a positive relationship, teach them how to get along with others, teach them how to be honest and fair and to play, you know, without cheating,” Scott said, as he prepared for the week ahead with his posterity.

When are the World Horseshoe Pitching Championships?

The tournament, held through the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association, begins July 21 with the preliminaries taking up the first few days, followed by the championship rounds on July 28-30. Competition will be held at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy.

Pitchers of all ages will compete in the different age groups at the tournament, including folks in their 80s all the way down to 7-year-olds.

Scott said there are 665 registered to compete in the tournament this year, with contestants coming from across the U.S. as well as from other countries like Canada and Germany.

Competitors will be grouped into different pairings for the preliminaries and those with the highest ringer percentage will move on to the championships.

The opening ceremony for the tournament will be Monday morning, with Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski pitching the first horseshoe.

Horseshoe pitching in Utah

Utah has two horseshoe pitching charters; the Northern Utah Horseshoe Pitching Association which Scott and Gibson are both a part of, and the Southern Utah Horseshoe Pitchers Association.

Gibson started horseshoe pitching around 15 years ago. He put a horseshoe pit in his backyard. A friend would come over about once a week and they would pitch horseshoes together.

“It was more social than anything else,” he said.

He soon became interested to see if there was any organized horseshoe pitching, and discovered the National Horseshoe Pitching Association and the Utah groups.

The Northern Utah Horseshoe Pitching Association has around 50 or 60 members while the southern Utah group is about twice that, according to Gibson. The oldest person in the northern Utah charter who regularly pitches with them is 92 years old.

Both charters regularly hold tournaments.

Utah has a strong history of horseshoe pitching and is hosting the world championships for the 16th time. Most recently, St. George hosted the championships in 2013 and 2017.

Why people love horseshoe pitching

Gibson and Scott agree that horseshoe pitching is a great family-friendly sport with a strong social aspect.

“The camaraderie with the rest of the horseshoe pitchers is better than any sport I’ve ever played, and I’ve always been a sports guy,” Gibson said.

Scott started horseshoe pitching when he was a teenager and over the years he has become more and more involved in the organized side of the sport within both his charter and at a national level.

“It’s a big family, it’s a horseshoe family,” Scott said.

Gibson said the people are the reason he enjoys the sport.

“I fell in love with horseshoe pitching, and some of it is the people that are involved with it, some of the best people I’ve ever been involved with, and it makes great friendly competition.”

Gibson added that he also enjoys it because he gets exercise and it also gives him a goal to work toward, a want to get better.

Scott shared that as he’s gotten his kids and grandchildren into the sport, it has helped them become more confident, build their self esteem and have better social skills.

He also said he likes that at tournaments there is no drinking or smoking and people aren’t supposed to swear, making it a good wholesome family-friendly environment.