Axe Thrower Interview: Lemons

Lemons, an owner of RIOT Axe, once grounded me in a big way when I was kinda spiraling at an axe thowing tourney. I kinda used this interview as an excuse to tell her that (after like, a year), because it’s important to tell people when they’ve done something wonderful and unexpected. But I guess that kinda works, here, because those are two superlatives I’d use when describing both Lemons and this axe thrower interview: wonderful and unexpected.

What makes Countess Cup so special?

Lemons: Oh man. It’s inherently supportive. There was a long time where I felt the misconception with tournaments like this was how this (tournament was) a place where we could compete on even ground. The misconception with that is how were worried about … It was about skill level, but the “even ground” is about removing the mental strain of combating all of the bullshit that comes along with how society works in general. So having tournaments like this in place is just like, it’s a relief. It’s like a breath of fresh air.

Countess was the first. I’ve been to every Countess. This was the first women’s tourney I ever came to in the States. And it was my first introduction to US throwers. They were, for the most part, the ones who came up to Canada every once in a while. And yeah, it was just immediately accepting.

I came on my own. I was really scared but everybody here looks out for one another. You can be cheering for your friend and their opponent at the same time, which happens way more organically in this atmosphere than it does in other ones.

Speaker 1:

Well, and why do you think … I just realized I’m very short and I’m trying to stretch my legs all the way out [dear reader: we were on a couch, pictured below]. Why do you think that supports organic?

I think that the understanding of … I think community comes easier to women and marginalized genders because it has to be there for safety. There’s no forcing care and community. Yeah, it just comes naturally. It’s how we were socialized and in some ways that’s frustrating, but in other ways it does make it easier when we come together.

So I asked you what’s special about the Countess Cup. What do you think is special about you?

Ooh, oh no. Oh God, I hate that. I mean, I do run my own community with my business partners in Canada and it’s one of the only areas that I feel really competent and confident in. I own a venue, and I feel confident and capable when it comes to bringing people together. Yeah.

Who do you look up to in this sport?

Man. So many people. I mean, I obviously look up to skill, people who throw well, people who work really hard. I’ve been looking up to people who are willing to dive into an environment where they won’t necessarily win or people who are going to try something for the first time. The big fish leaving the small pond. I really admire that. It’s hard to do and I didn’t appreciate how big of a mental barrier is for people until more recently.

So watching people who are willing to step outside of comfort to try something like this and recognizing that you don’t get better until you do it. I really admire that because it’s not easy to shift your mental game in that way.

Well, and I think that’s interesting too, what you said. There are obviously people in this sport who are very focused on throwing very, very well and that’s the whole point for them. But I also think there’s not a small number of people who are just throwing for the vibe and to be with community and to, I don’t know, be involved in a weird thing. And I think that I don’t know which one’s the better way to experience the sport.

I think they’re both great and I think just by nature of the fact that they’re winning credit is given more readily to skill — I think it’s well deserved, especially given the amount of effort it takes.

I know the hours people put into practicing, but I also watch because I own a venue and I see people practicing privately and then I see them throwing in their leagues. It’s really come to light lately the number of people who, when they come in to work on throwing, they’re equally working on something deeply personal. They’re working on getting comfortable maybe with the social element of it as well. They’re [going to a venue] to practice because the social element is overwhelming and they need to figure out how to get into their muscle memories. I’ve watched people really overcome personal things or embrace personal things so that they can be part of this community or any community.

I don’t know what it was, but when you said that they’re working on something deep in themselves, they made me so emotional.

Me too. I was thinking about a specific thrower…

We have a thrower. I’m just going to shout her out. We have a thrower at Riot Axe who recently came in second in a marathon tournament. Her league name is Knotty Dotty and she’s been throwing for years and she’s excellent. She had an injury this year. She was like on her way up in skill, she was getting comfortable and confident and then she had an ankle injury and it dialed back and she had frustrating months.

And I think if I was her, I might have quit. And then in the marathon week, I watched something flip in playoffs with her mental game where she locked in, in a way. I’ve never seen her lock in before. And it’s a way that I’ve seen top tier throwers lock in every time they throw. And I was watching her and I was like, “This is what happens when you put yourself out of your comfort zone so regularly that you can finally breathe and go, I can do this.”

Yeah, it made me really emotional just like watching. I don’t think many people get to see that in real time because they’re not watching people through their practice and their leagues.

It’s cool.

The biggest part of axe throwing is not the axe throwing. It’s everything else around it. I feel like I’d be okay if I could give up the action of axe throwing and still be part of the community and get involved and go to parties and still get the inside jokes. That’s what I’m here for. I could care les about the score. That’s not the point. But if you experience all those other things and you get involved, the score just kind of follows that. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Yeah, totally. You just have to get … It’s a cool real time expression of confidence and comfort growing.

Beautiful. God, what a good answer.

What would you like to see change in axe throwing?

There’s definitely a tendency towards reactivity when given new information sometimes. I think that a lot of complaints and criticisms are valid and I think a lot are pure reaction and because of the internet, I would like to see it step away from the internet a little bit. I know it’s how we communicate, and the forums can be valuable resources, but they can also be a really quick way to lose track of the fact that everybody, you’re talking to a person or about a person.

Like the Reddit effect. People forget that there’s people behind the screen.

Yeah. And I strongly agree and strongly disagree with a lot of things that a lot of people say, but they’re still a person and I think we don’t evaluate … I don’t think we always evaluate whether our reaction would be the same if they were in front of us.

What would you hate to see change in axe throwing?

I think I would hate if it got more sterile. I think I would hate it if it lost the … I don’t like when it doesn’t have a small business vibe. I want it to be a little bit messy and I want there to be nuance … I kind of like when rules aren’t laid out in super strict terms so that there is some room for nuance and then if there’s an issue, obviously you have to make it more like tighten it up. But yeah, I would just wait for it to get sterilized. I like that everybody has unique throws. I like that everybody has a different throw and a different axe.

Anybody you want to shout out or anything you want to add?

I’m going to shout out my business partners because I love them a lot. Ryan Hayward, these are all Riot Axe people, obviously. Ryan Hayward, Desiree Ossandon, and Bryce Hill.

I think that we’ve known each other for a really long time. It’s kind of wild that we all came together organically. Ryan and I met each other 13 years ago working at a bar and I think we’ve … I’m really proud of what we’ve created and I’m really … It’s nice to have camaraderie because I know a lot of business owners kind of do it solo or with one other person. And it’s been really invaluable in keeping me in the sport.

Big thanks to Lemons for the great interview and for the wonderful perspective on the sport.