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By Rachel Kytonen
rachel.kytonen@ecm-inc.com
Ages 7 up to 80 try their luck at horseshoes during Isanti Horseshoe Club league play.
The Isanti Horseshoe Club kicked off its second season this May. When the club formed last year it had 18 members, and has now grown to 32.
Pictured: Shawn Warnemunde, president of the Isanti Horseshoe Club, takes a practice pitch prior to the June 23 meet. (Photo by Rachel Kytonen)
Isanti Horseshoe Club President Shawn Warnemunde said the club is sanctioned, and belongs to the state association, the Minnesota Gopher State Horseshoe Pitchers Association.
The club pitches every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Junction Bowl in Isanti, and goes for a couple of hours.
“We have a wide variety of members—our youngest member is 7 and our oldest is 80,” Warnemunde said. “We have men, women, young, old, inexperienced and experienced.”
Warnemunde said anyone is welcome to show up on Tuesday nights to pitch, but must be a sanctioned member.
If someone wants to join that isn’t sanctioned, the club will guide them in the process to become a sanctioned member.
“The group we have is very friendly, and family-orientated,” Warnemunde said. “Everyone is willing to teach new members the rules, and teach them how to keep score.”
The Isanti club has around five or six ‘junior’ members who play for free.
“That is really exciting to me because the junior members are really the future of the sport and we have got to keep them interested in it,” Warnemunde said.
Warnemunde is excited about the club hosting its first sanctioned tournament on Saturday, Aug. 29 at Junction Bowl.
He said the tournament is open to any sanctioned member and limited to the first 36 paid entries.
The tournament will start around 9 a.m. and will bring in 36 pitchers and their families to the Isanti community.
Fees for the Aug. 29 tournament are $21 for adults and $6 for juniors, with $1 of each entry fee going towards the Make a Wish foundation.
Family tradition
Warnemunde has been pitching horseshoes for over 20 years.
“My pitching all revolves around my grandpa, who is an 80-year-old member of this group,” Warnemunde said. “He took me to one of my first meetings and I was recognized as a ‘junior’ at the time. I have been following in the family footsteps ever since.”
Warnemunde, who has been pitching horseshoes since he was 14, enjoys the competitiveness of the sport.
“For me, I like the competitive nature, but you also make a lot of nice friendships,” Warnemunde said. “And there are great health aspects to this such as walking, bending and stretching. You make a lot of good friendships along the way and maintain those friendships throughout the years.”
Another advantage of pitching horseshoes is it’s a relatively inexpensive sport.
Warnemunde said after you pay your membership dues and buy a set of horseshoes, there isn’t a lot of costs involved after that.
Club dues are $15 per year and state/national combined dues are $30.
“Since we play for 16 weeks, it really averages out to around $3 a week,” Warnemunde noted.
Open invitation
Warnemunde said anyone is welcome to join.
“It’s your typical backyard game, with a little more competitive nature,” Warnemunde said. “We really just go out there and have some fun and people are more than welcome to stop by and try it out.”
Depending on the level of involvement, many team members of the Isanti Horseshoe Club participate in tournaments around the state and in the Twin Cities.
Like with any sport, practicing is vital if you’re looking to improve your game.
“We have members from last year to list year who have improved by 25 points,” Warnemunde noted.
For more information on the Isanti Horseshoe Club visit www.isantihorseshoeclub.com or contact Warnemunde at smwarnemunde@msn.com
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