Horseshoe player is a ringing success
August 17, 2006
In a sport dominated by players several times his age, Nathan Scott's steady improvement could someday make the Layton 10-year-old . . . A shoe-in
Taking a cue from players who know their way around a horseshoe pit, 10-year-old Nathan Scott has shown a keen eye, natural feel and propensity for learning from his senior competitors. Nathan pitches a 'shoe.
(Al Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune )
LAYTON - In a sport dominated by "senior" athletes, Nathan Scott truly is "the New Kid," causing a stir on the horseshoe-pitching scene.
At 10 years old, Nathan is already a national horseshoe-pitching champion. That might not mean much to his friends at Heritage Elementary School in Layton, but the accomplishment gives the youngster a unique presence at Utah tournaments.
During local competitions, most of Nathan's opponents are at least three, and sometimes eight, times his age.
"Some of them are really, really funny," he said. "They tell me jokes throughout the game and they always have something that helps me do better."
Blaine Scott said pitching against those older athletes elevated his son's game.
"It has been a real confidence builder for Nathan.
The history of horseshoe pitching
Origins: Many believe that horseshoe pitching was created when camp followers of the Grecian armies took discarded horseshoes, set up a stake and began throwing horseshoes at it. It is pretty well established that horseshoe pitching had its origin in the game of quoits, a modification of the old Grecian game of discus throwing.
U.S. roots:The National Horseshoe Pitching Association grew out of the throwing of mule shoes in the Union camps during the Civil War.
Rules: The first written rules were set in 1869 in England, with stakes 19 yards apart.
Competition: The inaugural world horseshoe-pitching championship was held at Bronson, Kan., in 1910. The stake was set 2 inches high on level ground and the stakes were 38 feet apart. The height of the stake was raised to 6 inches in 1911.
Stakes raised:The Grand League of the American Horseshoe Pitchers Association was founded in 1914 in Kansas City, Kan. The association voted to raise the stake to 8 inches. By the 1915 tournament, the association also ruled that no shoes were to be used weighing less than 2 pounds, 2 ounces.
Today's rules:The distance between stakes was changed to 40 feet - today's rule - in 1919. The stakes were raised to 10 inches in 1920. In 1950 the stake height was mandated to be between 14 and 15 inches high, where the rule stands today. Source: http://www.horseshoepitching.com
He is out there interacting with older gentlemen and ladies, and it is good for him as a horseshoe pitcher and a young man," Blaine Scott said.
Nathan took that confidence to the World Horseshoe Tournament in Gillette, Wyo., in July and emerged as the Junior Division D champion, beating opponents - boys and girls - from Minnesota, Washington, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Nathan posted a 13-1 record against his peers and threw a ringer a solid 29.29 percent of the time during the tournament.
He was not the only Utahn to come back a champion. Veteran horseshoe pitcher Gary Wood of Salem took first in Men's Division C1. There were 19 Utahns in Gillette among more than 900 competitors from 46 states, five Canadian provinces and Norway.
Although he was placed with competitors his own age at the world championship, Nathan is grouped with throwers who have similar ringer percentages when playing in local tournaments.
One of his frequent opponents is 81-year-old Jack Raymond of Sandy.
"Nathan is really receptive for advice that those he knows can pitch give to him. He is very, very dedicated," said Raymond. "It's a lot of fun to have Nathan involved. It gives us something to look forward to. . . . We have one junior, and he is a champion."
Raymond knows a serious horseshoe pitcher when he sees one. Raymond, his six children and one of their spouses competed at the world championship in Wyoming.
Nathan appears to be a sure thing when the Northern Utah Horseshoe Pitching Association announces the recipient of its Most Improved trophy at the banquet in early October. He has gone from throwing ringers 14 percent of the time to almost 30 percent in tournaments. To horseshoe throwers, that is an astronomical improvement.
Still, Nathan knows he has a long way to go to reach the top level - the world-champion thrower in Gillette had a 90.96 percentage. Nathan is determined to get there.
"I like to see how I do against other people," he said. "But I really just want to have fun, and I really do have fun."
Nathan started throwing horseshoes seriously two years ago while watching his father at a tournament.
"I watched my dad all the time. I wasn't too good at first, but I kept trying," Nathan said. "I just wanted to see if I could get [the horseshoe] around the peg."
Nathan throws some of his best games against his father during backyard practice sessions.
"I used to win all the time," Blaine Scott said. "Now, Nathan beats me almost every time. It is a great way for us to spend time together."
Nathan said he naturally picked up the "double flip" throwing style his father uses, but he has his own secret to horseshoe pitching.
"I throw the first shoe to see where it lands to see what to do the second time. I do that every time," he said.
Not a bad approach when a good percentage of his first throws end up on the peg.
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Contact Brett Prettyman at brettp@sltrib.com or 801-257-8902. Send comments to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
WORLD CHAMPIONS — Layton’s Nathan Scott, center, recently took first place in his division in the World Championship Horseshoe Tournament. At left is third-place winner Alan Duffy of Iowa and at right is second-place winner Logan Steinmetzer of Washington.
Scott a ‘shoe-in’ as national champ
Davis County Clipper 27.JUL.06
Layton — At the age of 9, Layton resident Nathan Scott picked up horseshoe pitching because his dad did it and it looked like fun. Little did he know that at the age of 10 he would be a champion in his division of the 2006 World Horseshoe Pitching Tournament. Nathan won the Junior Class D Division for kids ages 10-18 in Gillette, Wyo., on July 13 after pitching in a round robin contest. He won 13 out of 14 games and pitched an average of 29.9 percent ringers throughout the contest. Since the tournament, his percentages have gone even higher. The week after his win, Nathan pitched 31 percent overall in a South Jordan tournament. In regular tournaments like the one in South Jordan, contestants are categorized by their percentages rather than their age, so Nathan ended up pitching against his father.
“He pitched 40 percent against me,” said Blaine. “He beat me pretty good. In the past three to four weeks, Nathan has begun pitching so much better than he did before. He throws a flip shoe (end over end) and it does two or three flips before it hits. With every shoe, he does the same thing every time. He releases it the same way. He throws it the same way.”
Nathan’s father, Blaine Scott, current president of the Northern Utah Horseshoe Pitching Association (NUHPA), introduced Nathan to horseshoes at an early age. The family regularly went to tournaments to watch him compete.
“We sat in the car and watched him from the time Nathan was little,” said Nathan’s mom Tara. “We even watched in the rain.”
Nathan’s dad got his start in horseshoes at the age of 11 in Malad, Idaho, when a 70-year-old neighbor taught him the ins and outs of pitching. He has been involved in the sport ever since.
When Blaine began pitching horseshoes in the family’s backyard horseshoe pit, Nathan went out to pitch with him.
“I started playing horseshoes with my dad,” said Nathan. “I thought it was fun. so I started going to tournaments.”
Nathan practices three or four times a week for about an hour each time. He usually practices with his dad but sometimes his two sisters join them. They go to tournaments every Friday and Saturday night throughout the summer.
Nathan’s two sisters also compete and his mother is the secretary treasurer of the NUHPA, which has 60 members who compete at locations between American Fork and Washington Terrace.
This year 904 people from 46 states, five Canadian provinces and Norway entered the World Championship Tournament. They ranged in age from seven years to 89 years in age.
For more information on the tournament, see www.horseshoepitching.com.
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