Competing through COVID-19: axe throwing finds its niche

OAKLAND, Calif. - No baseball. No basketball. No hockey, soccer, or even tennis. So what do we have?

The Quarantine Axe Throwing League – the QATL.

Yes, you read right. It’s an extension of the surprisingly popular World Axe throwing league. And it’s kind of exploding.

“Frankly we expected to have maybe 30, 40 people,” says league founder and CEO Mario Zelaya. “We ended up having over 300 people.

Not only is it bigger than anything we’ve ever done before, but people are actually doing it in the comfort of their own home.”

Well, outside their home to be exact.

All it takes is space, about $40 worth of wood to build a target, a smart phone, and anyone
can compete.

“We have our technology which handles all the scoring, the management, the league management, paring people up against each other,” says Zelaya.

Scott Line is a thrower from Orange County.

“I have this like cheesy helmet that I wear," said Line. 

Line started competing about 18 months ago.

“Now I’m out here all day every day throwing the little axes and the big axes too," said Line. 

His backyard – transformed into an axe-throwing cathedral.

“I have welcome mats. This one here is for standard. That’s the foul line, you’re not supposed to cross over it’s all honor system based. That’s about 12 feet. And if you step back more this is for my big axe. That’s my fault line for the big axe which is 15 feet," said Line. 

The QATL season lasts 8 weeks, at the end of which there will be a champion. But for most throwers, it’s about the contact more than the crown.

“It’s funny, even though we’re all in isolation I’ve made more friends in the past month than I probably have in my entire life, just through axe throwing,” says Line. “It’s been really cool.”

“They’re able to connect with each other on social channels so you get that level of competitiveness, but also the social, “hey how’s it going we’ve never met before,” adds Zelaya. “You’ll see videos of people drinking beers and cheering and going against each other, so it’s quite fun.”