There are some sports you’ll never see on the back pages of the newspaper, but manage to attract a keen following and, as Laura Little discovers, provides a new opportunities for people to become champions.BRUCE CARTER longs for the day more people compete in his favourite sport, boomerang throwing.
The Glenroy resident has been a competitive boomerang thrower for 28 years and has been a national champion. At one stage was ranked in the top three boomerang throwers in the world.
He was also the national boomerang throwing coach for four years.
Carter says it is a serious sport, with a growing global following.
It is particularly popular in Europe. The German’s have been world champions for three years, and last year he met with the French team during a visit to France.
Carter started throwing boomerangs competitively in 1983, after a lesson at a youth leadership camp.
He finished last in the first competition he entered but persisted and in 1988 was named in the national team for the inaugural world championships.
Carter says he was hooked on boomerang throwing from his first throw because he loved the ‘‘Australian-ness’’ of it, but is proud other countries have embraced it.
He wishes more people in Australia would give the sport a try.
Less than 100 people compete nationally and he says he often has trouble convincing people it is a real sport.
‘‘Only recently my dentist said to me ‘but you aren’t Aboriginal’,’’ he says. ‘‘We need to break the stereotype.’’
Carter believes the biggest restriction to people taking up the sport is the high number of faulty boomerangs sold every year.
It is estimated about one million boomerangs are sold annually which don’t work because they have not been designed properly.
He adds that people have been mis-informed about how you should throw a boomerang, believing it should be thrown like a frisbee.
It should actually be thrown vertically.
‘‘I would like more people to try it because it is a sport you can do on your own without a team,’’ he says. ‘‘The downside is it is the only sport where you are the target.’’
Carter says competing internationally in boomerang throwing is just as demanding as competing in any other sport.
At his peak, he trained daily, in all sorts of conditions, practising a variety of throws to make sure he was competition ready.
Competitions feature several different events using different boomerang designs.
Events include the five throw where you throw and catch a boomerang five times as fast as possible, and a competition where throwers have to catch a boomerang in different ways, including with their feet.
‘‘I’m proud to say I still hold the (five throw) national record for 18.88 seconds,’’ says Carter.
For more than 20 years, TREVOR TAYLOR has dedicated his days to training and racing his beloved dogs.
But he’s not involved with greyhound racing, as so many people assume; rather, the Werribee resident is a champion dog sledder.
Taylor and his Siberian Huskies, Chinook and Tipi tour Victoria during winter, competing in up to 15 races a year.
The races usually take place along dirt tracks in country areas.
‘‘Most people assume we race in the snow with a sleigh but we don’t,’’ explains Taylor. ‘‘We only race at the snow once a year and we use a traditional sledge then. The rest of the time I use a scooter with 27-inch wheels.’’
‘‘If we relied on snow we would never race.’’
The dog lover, became involved in sledding 28 years ago almost by chance.
He took Tipi’s dad to a husky show, in the hope he would become a prized show dog, only to be told he didn’t meet the criteria for the show circuit.
Someone then suggested he was better suited to racing.
‘‘When we first found out about sledding the wife was very keen, but I wasn’t in the slightest,’’ admits Taylor. ‘‘But we still got up at 4.30am on a Saturday to drive to Heathcote to watch a race.‘‘After the race I went for a run with a German Short Haired Pointer and a borrowed scooter and helmet.
‘‘It was an unbelievable sensation. It was one of fear because the dog took off and I couldn’t slow him down. I feared for my life, but I loved it.
‘‘We went back on the Sunday and raced.’’
Taylor and Tipi have become state and national championships.
This year, Chinook started racing and has seven wins from nine races under his belt.
‘‘People say (dog sledding) is cruel but they only have to come along and see the enthusiasm the dogs have to realise it’s not,’’ says Taylor. ‘‘They are so enthusiastic they don’t want to wait for their turn to race.‘‘At the end of the day you win a sash and maybe a bag of dog food. There is no financial reward. You do it because the dogs are naturally born to do it.’’
Like any sport, dog sledding requires a lot of fitness and training.
Every day Taylor dons his racing suit and helmet, attaches Tipi and Chinook to extendable leads, grabs his scooter and heads to a nearby park for a run.
He says it is important to train the dogs daily so they will obey his commands and remain in peak condition.
However, he is wary of not pushing them too hard, especially in summer.
‘‘We can’t race when the temperature is over 15 degrees because of the dogs’ artic coats so I have to be careful,’’ Taylor says.
‘‘It is very easy to overheat the dogs and if you do, it can kill them. At the end of the day, it’s all about the welfare of the dogs.’’
Taylor hopes once more people know about dog sledding they will give it a try.
It peaked in popularity in 2000 but has seen a resurgence in competitors in the past five or six years.
‘‘The Siberian Husky Club of Victoria started promoting it and we educate people about the sport,’’ says Taylor.
‘‘Tipi and Chinook are family pets but we have a hell of a lot of fun with them.’’
JAMES PYERS has always been fascinated with ferrets.
His dad had a ferret display at the Royal Melbourne Show and every year the family would start and end their visit to the show wit with the ferrets.
So it’s no surprise that Pyers jumped at the chance to show-off his own ferrets by competing in races around the state.
The Greendale resident owns 33 ferrets which he uses for rabbit hunting in the winter months and races at shows throughout Victoria in summer.
He says the races are a great way to dispel some of the myths about the animal.
‘‘They are unusual animals and they have got a bad reputation,’’ says Pyers. ’’What we are doing is going around the country shows and educating people about what great and intelligent animals ferrets actually are.’’
While he usually competes against the same small group of people around the state, he believes the sport is slowly gaining popularity.
As events co-ordinator for the Victorian Ferret Society, Pyers has noticed an increase in people looking to book ferret races for their events, including country shows and community fetes.
‘‘There are a few racing days around Victoria each year and we do about 20 shows a year,’’ he says. ‘‘We find the kids in particular love it.’’
Pyers says one of the highlights of ferret racing is you don’t have to train them to compete- it comes naturally to them.
Races involve ferrets running from one end of a three-metre, 100mm agricultural pipe, to the other end.
The first ferret to have their entire body out of the pipe is declared the winner.
‘‘There are some people who do train (their ferrets) to win, but I always think they could race well all day and get to the finals and come last,’’ says Pyers. ‘‘They are unpredictable.’’
He admits races can take a while to complete, with ferrets known to turn back on themselves and run out of the end of the pipe they entered.
But that simply adds to the fun and excitement.
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