Colorado Horseshoe Pitchers Association
Monthly Newsletter
March, 2025

President’s Pitch

By Vicki Barham

Happy St Patty’s Day

May the luck of the Irish be with you this St. Patrick's day.  

Why are horseshoes lucky?

It’s not known where the symbol of the lucky horseshoe began.  The tradition could have begun in the 900 A.D. when the Catholic Saint Dunstan tricked the Devil or as far back as 400 B.C. with the Celtic tribes warding off evil fairies with iron. Either way, it is widely known throughout many cultures that the u-shaped shoe represents good luck and the turning away of evil.  Okay so there you have it!

The CHPA State Singles Fundraiser had a great turn out. Monies raised will go directly to the CHPA State Singles tournament in August.   Thanks to all that participated.

Our CHPA Membership meeting is April 5th.  It will be held at the same location as last year.

April 5, 2025 - 10:00AM - 12:00PM

Arvada United Methodist Church

Meeting room 205

6750 Carr Street

Arvada, CO 80004

You are welcome to physically attend or sign up for virtual access.  We use google meets and are administered by Lee Stevenson.  If you are interested please email him to receive an invite.

I will post an Agenda on the CHPA Calendar of events.  

We will be discussing our State events at this meeting. Also any club issues that need to be addressed. If you would like to speak at the meeting please let me know so I can add you to the agenda.

Deadline for World tournament entries is May 19th. You may enter at any time prior to that date. Entries received with a postmark after May 19th shall be put on a waiting list and entered into the tournament only as space is available. Follow this link to register online. 2025 WT entry

Or visit the home page of the NHPA website to download or register your entry.

That’s it for now.  See you at the pits.

Vicki

Tournament Results for February

By Lee Stevenson

CHPA President Open

Feb 1, 2025

Milliken, CO – Vicki Barham directed the tournament, at Knaub Arena, with 32 pitchers. Competitors came from 17 cities, representing 9 clubs. Vicki stated,

“We had a great turnout for a full day of pitching.  We saw a 82.5% and a 72.5%, great job ladies.  There was only 1 playoff in the afternoon, Class C Anthony Nicastro against Charles Taylor with Anthony taking the win.  Thanks to everyone who helped set up, clean up and scorekeep.”

Class A:  Amy Wheeler took the class with only one loss and a high game of 72.5%. Sheila Shepard came in second. She had the high game of the tournament at 82.5% and the most consecutive ringers—12.

Class B:  Jan Knaub was undefeated in 7 games followed by John Petraitis with a record of 5 wins and 2 losses.

Class C:  Anthony Nicastro overcame a playoff with Charles Taylor to finish with 5.5 wins and 1.5 losses.

Class D:  Jamey Huff was undefeated and pitched a high game of 35%. Paul Davison followed in second place with only one loss.

Results Webpage                           

Team Colorado Tournament

Feb 8, 2025

Milliken, CO – Five teams—with 4 members on each team—competed at the Team Colorado Tournament, directed by Sheila Shepard. A vote, among the competitors, was taken and it was decided that next year the tournament can be handicapped and the entry fee will be $160 per team.

Team Results

Shep’s Crew—Sheila Shepard, Pete Pintor, Jan Knaub and Brian McGuinness—came out on top. Quatro Loco—Jose Duran, Adam Rodriguez, Joshua Vigil and Ron Rojas—followed the first place team by four points to take second.

Individual Results

Class A:  Sheila Shepard was undefeated (4-0). She pitched 9 consecutive ringers and had the high game for the tournament at 78%.

Class B:  Pete Pintor pitched his best games, 48% and 50%, during a 3-way playoff against Ken Rodenberg and Adam Rodriguez to take the victory.

Class C:  Jan Knaub won with a record of 3 wins and 1 loss. She also pitched a game with seven consecutive ringers.

Class D:  Ron Rojas pitched his best game (28%) in a playoff with James Bond to win class D.

Results Webpage                           Stats: 2025, Last 10 Yrs 

CHPA State Singles Fundraiser

Feb 22, 2025

Milliken, CO – The tournament was directed by Scott Cline, who expressed his gratitude to “all who played, kept score, ran the computer and donated.” Scott also indicated that class B was decided by over percentage and that Jose Duran won the 50/50. Participants — 26 total — represented 16 cities and 8 clubs. The tournament raised $826 for the CHPA State Singles Tournament.

Class A:  Sheila Shepard was undefeated with a tournament high game of 70% and 10 consecutive ringers. Jose Duran placed second and pitched 9 consecutive ringers.

Class B:  A 3-way tie (4-2) was decided by over percentage. Brian McGuinness came out on top followed by Joe Romo in second and Dale Stromberg in third.

Class C:  Christopher Negrete, from Thornton, was undefeated. In a 3-way tie for second place, Scott Duggan inched out Terry Gustin and Jamey Huff.

Class D:  Scott Jackson, from Hereford, was undefeated. Austin Nicodemus only lost one game to capture second.

Results Webpage                           Stats

Valley of the Sun

Feb. 18 - Feb. 23

Mesa, AZ – This year, eleven CHPA members competed at the VOS tournament. Dan Jenkins, of New Castle, had the highest finish - second place - and won $140. Adam Rodriguez also brought home money, $110, with his fourth place finish. This was the 13th time for James Bond at the Valley of the Sun. Three members — Matthew LaRocque, Russell Napier and Tim Perkins — experienced the tournament for the first time.

Results Webpage                           Stats

Planning Ahead

By Lee Stevenson

The 2025 World Tournament will be hosted in Salt Lake City. The entry deadline is May 19th. The entry fee is reduced for early entries, so start planning now.

Online Tournament Schedule

CHPA Homepage (includes an Agenda View of Calendar)

CHPA Calendar Page (Month View)

CHPA Online

By Lee Stevenson

A chat room, TAM Tournament, has been added for the Ted Allen Memorial tournament. Follow the link and join the space to find information, ask questions, offer suggestions, discuss things that you like or do not like about the tournament.

If tournament directors would like a chat room (aka a Google Space) for their tournament, they can do so.  I am available to assist.

CHPA Stats

By Mel Yockstick

Stats files for each tournament are linked in Tournament Results for February.

Out Of State Tournament Play

If you plan to play in tournaments that are located out of our state please let me know.

Tournaments excluded:

  1- Valley Of Sun in Arizona.

  2- Any World Tournament event.

I track every player's results for the Player Of The Year Award.  Thanks for your cooperation!

Mel Yockstick:  nhpamel@comcast.net

Mel's Horseshoe Buckles

Here’s the Pitch

You can't have a good day pitching if you don't play.

Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

Treasurer Report

By Christina Suarez

At this time, the 2024 detailed treasurer reports are being reviewed by the Financial Audit Committee.  The purpose of the audit is to ensure that income and expenses are aligned with the CHPA mission and with basic bookkeeping principles.  Per a BOD vote 2 years ago, it was decided that the financial records would be reviewed in detail, every 2 years. Thank you Lee Stevenson, Sheila Shepard,  Fred Borra, and Allen Baptist for helping me complete this important work.  An audit report will be presented to the BOD at the April 5, 2025 Directors meeting.  Once approved by the BOD, the final reports will be available to view in the Double Ringer newsletter monthly.

Thank you to all CHPA members for your support of the CHPA.  Your membership fee and additional donations enables the CHPA to host State tournament events and support local horseshoe clubs throughout the year.  

Membership Director

By Christina Suarez

Membership as of 2/28/2025 is at 106 members.  This includes 10 new members and 1 provisional member.  Keep up the good work of recruiting new members.  

We now have 44 municipalities/locations included in the CHPA membership.  Thanks goes out to Ed Grimes from Limon, CO for joining the CHPA!  From Wellington to Pagosa Springs and Calhan to Grand Junction, the CHPA is well represented in Colorado.

Another interesting data fact is that 50% of the membership is over 65 years old and 49% are between 18 - 64 years old.  It’s great to see that younger adults are joining in the game of horseshoes.  We do need to recruit more youth, 18 and younger, to join.  Talk to your children and grandchildren about learning to play.  Remember, they can join as a “Trial” member at no cost.  This is a great way for our kids to join in the fun.

The CHPA membership list is available for all Tournament Directors to view at any time in the CHPA Google Workspace.

Thanks everyone! I look forward to seeing most of you in Milliken for Winter tournaments.  See you at the pits!

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