Dear IATF Community,

We want to take a minute to address some of the concerns and dialogue around the results of Round 1 and share more context around our position and what happened.

Last week, the IATF team made the difficult decision to not accept the Round 1 scores of 7 competitors. Through our diligence in certifying the Round 1 scores of the over 600 throwers who competed, we discovered that these scores were thrown outside of the official dates set for Round 1 competition.

The rules around when you can throw your Round 1 scores are clear and have been consistent since its inception in 2018. What made the decision difficult was knowing how much hard work every thrower dedicates in order to qualify for Round 1 of the Wilson Cup every year. We do not relish removing competitors from competition.

Here are some key considerations we want the community to understand:

1. The hosts and throwers are responsible for throwing during the set times.

1. The dates for Round 1 were publicly announced in June 2025. The member organizations hosting heats decide when over the 3 allotted days they would like to host.
   
   

2. The hosts should not have offered times outside of the official Round 1 dates and the throwers should not have accepted them.
   
   

3. The IATF website clearly states that Round 1 cannot be thrown outside of the official dates.
   
   

4. Round 1 is held on specific dates and the requirement of showing up to throw at a specific time, under pressure, with other throwers, is part of the format of the event. Regardless of whether you agree with the format of Round 1, the elements of performance under pressure are features of this event and of competition in sport.

2. In order to support a healthy sport and community, fairness is a must.

1. We strongly believe that it is our responsibility as the governing body of this sport to uphold the rules and standards as well as operate with integrity and fairness. Fairness requires that we enforce the rules consistently and predictably. Integrity requires that we do this regardless of popularity or status and without special exceptions.
   
   

2. So many people have contributed so much to this community to make it great. In order to respect that, we must treat everyone consistently and support those who compete fairly within the parameters. 
   
   

3. Leadership within a sport and a community means competing within the rules, taking accountability when you make mistakes and respecting your fellow athletes that competed within the rules.
   
   

4. The competitors who recorded scores outside of the Round 1 dates did not compete in Round 1. Thursday was not Round 1. Feelings of frustration and disappointment around not qualifying are understandable and valid.
   
   

5. 600+ throwers arranged their schedules to compete during the proper Round 1 times. To allow throws made outside of the tournament times, would undermine all those competitors who followed the rules set out for Round 1.
   
   

3. The IATF did our due diligence to train and support the member organizations before and throughout Round 1.

1. All hosts were given specific instructions and training for how and when to run Round 1 over multiple member meetings and calls. We provided support throughout the weekend and reviewed scores as they were submitted via AxeScores.
   
   

2. At no point did any organization reach out to the IATF to ask for support or guidance for potentially running heats outside of the pre determined dates.
   
   

3. The throwers who did contact us to ask about throwing outside of the official Round 1 dates were told that was not possible.
   
   

4. The scores of the heats in question were recorded on paper on Thursday, and entered into AxeScores over the weekend.
   
   

5. The heats at Celtic Axes were immediately flagged as unusual when they were entered on Friday, March 20th. Our team reached out to the organization several times over the weekend to get clarity on how and when those heats were run.
   
   

6. The heat at BATL Grounds was discovered in the process of certifying the heats with BATL.

It is our responsibility as the governing body of the sport of axe throwing to uphold the standards of integrity and fairness, and we will continue to do this by enforcing the rules as they are written at that time. Rule changes cannot be reactionary, and take a great deal of planning, consideration, and evaluation before being implemented as we have demonstrated in our implementation of the Premier rules and touch-Clutch changes.

Our goal is to continue to grow axe throwing as a global sport that is taken seriously on the international stage. We thank you for your continued support in this endeavor.

Thank you for your participation so far in the first round of the 2026 Wilson Cup. We are overwhelmed every year in the lead-up to IATC by your enthusiasm and appetite for this event. The feature tournaments are nearly all close to selling out and we are locking down the Wilson Cup 256 in record time. IATC is a massive undertaking to organize and produce and we are grateful to have such a passionate community to work for.

Thank you for taking the time to read this statement. We can’t wait to see many of you next month in Toronto. For those of you who aren’t able to attend in person, we celebrate 10 years of axe throwing with you wherever you are.

- The IATF Team