Yahoo Sports Why high flying horseshoes are worth $1 million in the Tri-Cities this summer
Kennewick becomes the center of the close-knit world of competitive horseshoe pitching this week.
Alan Francis, sport’s reigning GOAT and 27-time world champion, is coming to town to defend his title at the National Horseshoe Pitching Association’s world tournament, July 29-Aug. 3.
So is Charlie Tapper, who at 94, is the Boeing Co’s longest-tenured employee. Tapper, who lives near Seattle, is a sentimental favorite in horseshoe pitching circles, where he competes in the elders bracket.
Dedicated players are making their way from North Carolina and Kansas and Idaho to Kennewick. They’ve spent days establishing dozens of horseshoe courts on the floors of the Toyota Center and Arena on the Three Rivers campus.
Horseshoe pitching is a quirky but prestigious addition to a calendar of sports events that attract visitors to Tri-Cities.
This weekend’s Apollo Columbia Cup hydroplane races is just one example. The Ironman 70.3 Tri-Cities triathalon on Sept. 22 is another in a lineup that includes an endless array of soccer, softball and other tournaments.
Sports are an important part of the $600 million tourism economy, according to Visit Tri-Cities, which recruited the first-ever horseshoe pitching world tournament ever held in Washington.
Landing the deal
Credit for landing the tournament rests with Kevin Lewis, who moved to the Tri-Cities 18 months ago to take the helm of Visit Tri-Cities, the region’s tourism agency.
Lewis moved from St. George, Utah, where he oversaw sports marketing. He recruited the event to Utah in 2013 and 2019, in part by promising organizers he’d take up the sport himself.
It worked.
He did, and now he boasts a respectable 24% ringer percentage, meaning nearly one in four horseshoes he pitches rings the post 40 feet away.
By comparison, Francis, the defending champion, has a 90%+ rating. The top-ranked Washington player is in the 70% range. Tapper lands 18% of his pitches.
When the original, but unnamed, 2024 host city backed out more than a year ago, tournament organizers contacted Lewis. Would his new community be interested?
It was a winning proposition for Lewis — a chance to bring in 550+ players and as many as 1,000 guests to fill hotels, motels, restaurants and other businesses in the middle of the summer. The economic impact will approach $1 million.
He confirmed Toyota Center was available and met the venue requirements. He cut a deal with the association: The Tri-Cities would host if organizers would agree to coming back for a second year to justify the cost and effort associated with hosting.
The association agreed to his terms. The world tournament loops back to the Tri-Cities in 2027.
Lewis is tickled that it worked out. The tournament is a signature event. Horseshoe pitchers are as dedicated to their sport as triathletes are to Ironman competitions.
The event extends the area’s brand as a destination for sporting events and turns a new community of people willing to travel for what they love into ambassadors for the Tri-Cities.
Meet the players
Alan Francis, from Defiance, Ohio, is horseshoe pitching’s undisputed king.
He won his first world tournament in 1989 and has dominated the sport ever since.
In one memorable, if grainy, YouTube video taken during the 2009 tournament, Francis plays against Brian Simmons in what’s billed as the most perfect match ever recorded. The two men take turns. One robotic throw after another, horseshoes land squarely around the posts.
It concludes when Simmons misses and Francis cements the win with a final perfect clanging pitch
A small crew of established players are already in town, setting up for the tournament and evangelizing about their chosen sport to anyone in reach.
Clarence Lassiter traveled from North Carolina and Roger Vogel from Kansas are two of the competitors who came early to help out.
“It’s a beautiful sport,” Lassiter said. He’s played since childhood and said he loves horseshoe pitching because it means he can exercise alone or in a group.
“It’s a passion you can’t get away from.”
Vogel, from El Dorado Kansas, said he was introduced by his father and uncle, both champion level horseshoe players. His uncle, he said, pitched in the 1927 world tournament (St. Petersburg, Fla., six years after the association formed) and placed 12th.
He ranks horseshoe pitching with his other youthful athletic pursuits, including baseball and basketball.
Play locally
Lewis has plenty of company in the Tri-Cities, which has a lively community of horseshoe pitchers, according to Vic Magnus, a retired Department of Energy workers who organizes state and local events. He presides over a weekly meet up at 6 p.m., Mondays, at the horseshoe pits at Kennewick’s Eastgate Park.
Enthusiasts and newcomers are all welcome, he said.
Magnus said he’s been hooked on horseshoes since he was a boy. At 6, he was responsible for making sure shoes and stakes were in the family truck for casual games during family outings.
He’s long wanted to bring the world tournament to Washington and was disappointed when the organization chose Niagara rather than Spokane for its 2014 event.
“Then this guy shows up,” he said, gesturing at Lewis.
Lewis said he plays infrequently, but has his own gear and is entered in the world tournament.
A career highlight, he said, was serving as a “pacer” or space filler when a group that included Alan Francis was participating in a game to establish their ringer stats. The rules require 15 players participate but someone had stepped out.
Lewis was recruited, considering it an honor to share the court with the best of the best.
“I lost 93-0,” he joked. “What other sport has someone who’s won 27 titles?”
Competitive horseshoe pitching is not a moneyed sport with lucrative Nike sponsorships.
A search of “Nike horseshoes” on Google yields a USA Today story about a Kentucky firm that turns sneakers into shoes for actual horses. But the tournament does award cash prizes to the winners, typically enough to cover travel expenses.
Planning to attend?
Opening ceremonies with Kennewick Mayor Gretl Crawford are at 11 a.m., Monday, July 29, at Toyota Center.
Women’s and elder matches are 8-11 a.m., Aug. 1-2.
Men’s matches are noon-3 p.m., Aug. 1-2.
Local dignitaries will team up with professionals for a VIP tournament 2-3 p.m., Aug. 3.
The youth championships are 4-7 p.m., Aug. 3.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Go to horseshoepitching.com/
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