Welly throwing, also known as welly hoying, welly wanging and boot throwing, is a sport in which competitors are required to throw a Wellington boot as far as possible. The sport appears to have originated in the West Country of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the 1970s, and rapidly became a popular activity at village fêtes and fundraising events across Britain.

Rules

Depending on local custom, different rules are applied to the sport. In parts of

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, for example, the boot is filled with water before being thrown. Some competitions allow a run up before releasing the boot, while others require the throw to be made from a standing position—which may be enforced by making the thrower stand in an empty dustbin. In Welbury,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, the size of the boot thrown must be large enough to comfortably fit the foot of the thrower. Other competitions, such as the Upperthon Welly Wanging Championships specify the size of the boot and the manufacturer.

Associations

A number of associations have been formed to govern the sport, including the International Boot Throwing Association (based in

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), the World Welly Wanging Association ( Upperthong, UK), the World Welly Throwing Association ( Settle, UK), the World Wellington Boot Throwing Association (

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, UK) and the New Zealand Boot Throwing Association ( Taihape,

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Records

The first world record throw recognised by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

was , set by Tony Rodgers in Wiltshire, UK, in 1978, using a size 8 Dunlop "Challenger" boot. The current world records are for men, set by Teppo Luoma of Finland in 1996, and for women set by Sari Tirkkon, also of Finland and also in 1996.

Gumboot day

Gumboot Day is a celebration in Taihape, in

. It occurs the Tuesday after

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

, and has been a regular event since 1985. It is a celebration of all things to do with gumboots, and includes the gumboot throwing contest. The aim of the festival is to break the world record for the longest gumboot throw. It is a family event, which includes a number of other competitions such as the best-dressed gumboot and ‘shoot the loop’ with gumboots. Gumboots can also be tossed skyward on any day of the year in the official Gumboot throwing lane located in the 'Outback', just behind Taihape's main shopping centre. In 2019, a

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care fundraiser was held on Gumboot Day.

References

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External links