Two short weeks ago, we announced that, on January 29, 2023, 9 Regional hosts would open their venues for the IATF Regionals Tournaments - a highly anticipated day of global competition happening in your backyard. And, the excitement continues to mount as registration opens on November 1st, 2022! So mark that date in your calendar and be sure to register early!
These competitions pave the way to the International Axe Throwing Championships, and this year has been made even more exciting with the addition of an automatic entry into Round 2 of the International Axe Throwing Champion’s Wilson Cup for Regionals winners.
As promised, here are the rest of the details! But first, if you missed the dates and the 9 Regionals Hosts announcement, you can catch up on these details here.
Where and When You Can Register to Compete
Registration opens November 1st, 2022, at 2 PM ET
Registration for all Regional Tournaments, happening on January 29th, 2023, will be managed through the IATF this year in order to streamline the entire process. On November 1, 2022, from 2 pm, you can register through our website, at www.iatf.com. We will put out an updated social post with all the venues and their registration links when registration opens. Registration will also be available via accessible links on the home page or via the tournament page (clicking on “Tournaments” in the main navigation bar).
Tournament Registration Fees and Value
Registration Fees are set at $80 USD
All Regionals Tournament registration fees are set at $80 USD, and 50% of all registration fees, collected, for each tournament will go toward the CASH prize pools at that tournament. Each tournament will have a prize pool payout for the top 8 throwers. And, as indicated above, the first-place finisher in each tournament will receive an automatic spot in 2023 Round 2 of the Wilson Cup (more details below).
Pool Play Round Robin Format - Followed By Single Elimination
Back by popular demand, this year's IATF Regionals tournaments at the 9 Host locations will be following a Pool Play Round Robin format. This format, by design, gives players more matches and better value. It further strengthens the competitive opportunities by guaranteeing each thrower 3 matches, with a minimum of 50% of competitors playing in at least 4 matches.
How does Pool Play Work?
This format starts with a group stage, with all players divided into groups of 3 and 4 depending on the tournament size. Each player will throw 3 matches within the group in a 3 out of 5 round match format before any elimination takes place. Once all Group Stage matches are complete, the top 2 throwers from each group move onto a single elimination tournament bracket.
Guaranteed Wilson Cup Round 2 Entry
As detailed in the original announcement post, all ‘Regionals’ first-place winners will receive the prize money, and the coveted “skip the line” guaranteed spot in Round 2 of the 2023 International Axe Throwing Championships Wilson Cup in Toronto, Canada.
While anyone can participate and win these Regional Tournaments and the prize money and accolades they come with, the guaranteed Round 2 entry is only applicable to IATF throwers who have competed in an IATF-sanctioned league season (Standard or Premier Ruleset League) between March 12, 2022, and Jan 28, 2023. As a further reminder, as last year’s Wilson Cup winner has already received a guaranteed spot in Round 2, they cannot take advantage of this additional placement prize. If a winner doesn’t meet the requirements for this guaranteed entry per the details above, it will be given to the next eligible winner (second place, third place, and so on).
REMINDER: Any player who wins a Round 2 entry into the Wilson Cup must still also compete in Round 1 for seeding purposes.
If you’re looking to plan out the rest of your road to the International Axe Throwing Championships, make sure you bookmark the IATC Dates Announcement and review the last Regionals Announcements.
We’re looking forward to watching all the competitions during regionals, and we wish you all the best of luck!
As always, if you have any additional questions, please send them to info@iatf.com, and we will get back to you.