Rome, Italy – The US Boomerang Team, featuring Dan Johnson from Eau Claire, WI recently competed in the World Boomerang Championships in Rome, Italy.  The group, which competed from May 28-June 7, 2010 won first place in the team competition, and claimed the Boomerang World Cup for the first time in the history of the US Boomerang Association, formed in 1980.

From the crudely built non-returning hunting wooden stick to the fast-paced, carbon fiber returning boomerangs of today, boomerang throwing has come a long way. Modern day boomerang throwing as a new age American sport was born after Ben Ruhe began to lead boomerang throwing workshops in conjunction with the work he was doing with the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of Natural History in 1969.  The sport is practiced worldwide, with team and individual world championships held every two years.

The World Championships (referred to also as the World Cup) competition is the ultimate tournament that brings together teams from across the world to compete in team and individual competitions.  Recent World Championships have been held in Japan, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany.

The World Champion US Boomerang Team will be in Eau Claire August 5-8, 2010 as the Eau Claire Area Sports Commission hosts the US Boomerang Association National Tournament & Expo at the Eau Claire Soccer Park.

Individual competition consists of the following events:

Accuracy, Trick Catch, Fast Catch, Endurance, Maximum Time Aloft (MTA), Australian Round, and Long Distance.

Team competition consists of the following events (4 players per team):

Team Relay, Team Endurance Relay, Team Supercatch, Team Accuracy, Team Trick Catch, Team MTA, and Team Australian Round.

For more information contact Don Monroe at 520.975.7371.