Who: Brighton horseshoe champion Jackie Jones
Jackie Jones is a zinger with a ringer. This Kentucky Fried Chicken employee and cancer survivor from Brighton is the 2006 world champion horseshoe pitcher in her division and will be pitching in the state tournament next weekend. We caught up with this woman of steel in her backyard practice field, where she tosses the shoes every night.
What got you started as a horseshoe pitcher? My stepbrother is an avid horseshoe pitcher and he was going to the world championships in Pocatello, Idaho, in 2004 and I thought, “Gee, I want to go.”
Getting into the worlds was as simple as that? Well, you have to play in four (National Horseshoe Pitchers Association of America) sanctioned tournaments to qualify, but anyone can play, no matter how old you are or how young. We have people from 6 years to 89. You can even have disabilities. We had one guy pitch in a wheelchair.
When did you start pitching? In 2004. I joined the Denver Metro Horseshoe Club, and we used to pitch in our winter pitching arena in Commerce City until the King Soopers there needed more space and they bulldozed down our building. Now we pitch at the indoor arena in Milliken, but a lot of our members can’t afford the gas to get there. We’re trying to find somewhere closer.
As a rookie, you came in fifth in the 2004 world championships. What makes you so good? After I eat supper, I go out to my backyard where my stepbrother rigged up a really nice set of pits with posts and halogen lights, and I pitch 150 shoes each night. I pitch year round, even when it’s snowing. It keeps my tummy trim.
What’s it like pitching in the world championships, where this year there were almost 1,000 competitors? In local tournaments, the men and women pitch against each other. The women pitch 30 feet and the men pitch 40 feet. It’s fun pitching against the men because you like to beat them. But in the world championships, it’s men against men and women against women. In this last tournament, I couldn’t believe it – I played 15 games and I didn’t lose a game.
Have you won fame and fortune as a world horseshoe pitching champion? (Laughs). Well, I got a check for $300. But just knowing that I won it was like the Broncos winning the Super Bowl – that’s what it felt like to me.
CHAMPS AT PLAY
The Colorado Horseshoe Pitchers Association state tournament runs 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 3-4 p.m. at Edora Park, 1420 E. Stuart St. in Fort Collins. There’s no charge to watch, and you can even make a buck as a scorer.
Tournament organizers will pay scorers $1 a game; no experience required. Expect to see a bunch of ringers from top players including 89- year-old Boulderite Bob Champion – yes, that’s his real name – who won his division in the 2006 World Horseshoe Pitching Championships.
