21st Annual Gateway Classic Boomerang Tournament will take place at Konarcik Park, in Waterloo, Illinois
Saturday 23: Warm up, followed by BBQ and bevies at Chicago Bob’s house in Waterloo
Sunday 24: The USBA tournament goes all day, followed by awards back at Chicago Bob’s House
Monday 25: This is Memorial Day, and is open to whatever folks want to do. (Throw at Arch)

For more information please email: Chicago Bob Leifeld

Or call Bob at +1 (618) 420-3273

Hermosa Beach, CA March 6, 2009 – USBA.ORG announced today that the US National Beach Boomerang Championships will be held on March 7-8 in Hermosa Beach, CA. The event starts off Saturday morning with the Accuracy event, where 2 competitors throw boomerangs simultaneously to hit a bulls eye target. The next event is MTA, which involves keeping a boomerang in the air for the Maximum Time Aloft. Times of more than 1 minute are common with the world record being over 14 minutes long. Some of the most exciting events to watch are in the afternoon, including Fast Catch, where 2 competitors throw side by side to complete 5 bulls eye throws and catches as fast as possible. The current world record holder for Fast Catch, Adam Ruhf of Northern California, has completed 5 throws and catches in under 15 seconds and will be favored in that event.

Adam Ruhf

Aussie Round will be the last event of the day, and is the event closest to traditional boomerang throwing. Two competitors throw boomerangs simultaneously about 50-60 meters and catch them as close to the starting point as possible. The closest to the bulls eye is only part of the challenge. Distance thrown and the catch are also factored into the scoring.

Each thrower is matched with a second thrower in a double elimination format. 5 events are scheduled: Accuracy, MTA (Maximum Time Aloft), Aussie Round, Fast Catch and Trick Catch. Each event is scheduled to last about one hour and a new US National Beach Boomerang Champion will be crowned in each event, with an overall winner as well. The US National Beach Boomerang Championships is an official USBA sanctioned event. Many throwers use it to prepare for the World Boomerang Championships, scheduled next year in Rome, Italy.

The sponsor for this year's event is Boomerangs.com – worldwide leader in real sport boomerang production and distribution

The US National Beach Boomerang Championships are a featured boomerang competition of the United States Boomerang Association (USBA). The USBA is a non-profit organization promoting the art, sport and science of boomerangs in the United States since 1980. The USBA acts as the sanctioning body for boomerang competitions all over the United States, and selects and supports the United States Boomerang team in team competition at world championships held every two years. American teams have won multiple world championships over the past two decades. The USBA also publishes the quarterly newsletter Many Happy Returns.

For more information, please contact:

Event Coordinators:

Morri Mohr (310) 493-7100 Day of Event                                              Dana Larrabee (760) 295-6456 Press Coordination