Axe Thrower Interview: Poptart

I’ve admired Poptart for a long while, now, but hadn’t worked up the courage to ask her for an interview until this year. Outside of having the best fits in the game, Poptart also, clearly, does axe throwing her way — maintaining a two-handed style (and making it work exceptionally well) in a sea of one-handed-throw players. During this axe thrower interview, we talked about success, beginnings, and sweeping.

What brought you into axe throwing when you started?

Unfortunately, my husband.

He threw in Toronto and then when he moved to Detroit, we started dating. And once Detroit Axe opened up, we both joined leagues and it’s been the same since. I never stopped throwing.

What does success look like to you in this sport?

Oh, that’s a hard one.

It’s been actually been sort of hard lately. I’ve been trying to enjoy the sport a little bit more. Before it was very much like, oh, I want to win. Particularly making it to IATC. But I’ve been finding the amount of pressure I’ve been putting on myself has been making it not enjoyable.

So at this point I am trying to find the correct balance between still enjoying axe throwing and still doing well. And that is what I’m trying to balance at the moment. I think success would be enjoying it and winning at the same time.

I think I’ve had a couple where I got frustrated even though I’ve won money and I feel like that’s sort of … I would like to do well and not even win and so feel good about it.

That’s hard to find.

Yeah. I feel like you either have to be very extreme on one side or the other in order for it to not balance, but to find comfort in how you’re doing.

That’s the dream.

What axes are you throwing currently?

Currently, I am throwing a sleeper (dear reader – this is what I heard on the recording. I realize only now that I have no idea what it means) on an 81 handle and then I’m throwing a Craftsman that has been really profiled down by one of our old throwers who’s now retired and he’s handled that one.

And what about your big axe?

My big axe is an Agdor that my husband has taken an angle grinder to, to make it about three inches. And then I throw a dinner plate from WATL. It’s not actually called a dinner plate, but I don’t remember what it’s called…

Is it the Colossus?

Yeah – that’s the one.

What does your local venue do differently or uniquely compared to other venues you’ve been to? If anything.

Can I give a tongue-in-cheek answer?

Of course.

I do not recommend other venues do this, but they make us sweep up after axe throwing.

(Dear reader, prepare for the most convincing proof of my 40+ year-old-Jewish-man status with this honest response):

What? Everybody sweeps up?

Well, at least in Ferndale. So originally when we started the leagues, the first location, Ferndale, they didn’t really know if they wanted leagues or they wanted people in there.

So it was a big “come in here, clean up after yourselves, make it look like no one was here.”

But now we’re pretty big and it used to be like there wasn’t really an axe master watching us, but now there’s like, okay, there’s someone there and it still does it. They say like, “Yeah, take a broom and clean up after you’re done.”

I’m not the biggest fan of it because we’re already changing boards and doing water and all these other different things. And the other locations didn’t make you do it, but it’s still something they do at Ferndale.

What do you think is going to keep you in this sport and what do you think could drive you away?

What is currently keeping me in this sport?

I think what keeps me in this sport is actively enjoying axe throwing and enjoying the competition of it. I think that’s sort of what keeps me here.

I’ve personally found it a little … It’s interesting trying to grow the community and just different mindsets that come in when you’re trying to grow, because some people don’t even want to compete if they don’t think they can win. So I don’t know. As long as I think I’m still enjoying axe throwing, I think I will still compete.

What might drive me away … I don’t know.

Bad rule changes, I think, honestly, because I think about the time for half a second I almost got into WATL, but they made all those rule changes, particularly the 15 foot line, and I just ended up being like, “No,” and leaving. So I feel like as long as they’re making rule changes that are balanced, I think as long as they don’t make major rule changes, I will probably still be here.

And what I mean by that is when they initially did the touch Clutch rule, I thought it was really nice that they reached out and they polled the community and they did some test plays and they made some changes. And I think as long as they do it that way, I’ll still be around.

What’s your biggest achievement so far in this sport, do you think?

I’m not sure. I would say the only … I’ve won first place once, and I was doubled with Storm at the UK. I think other than that, I’ve gotten either second or third a lot, honestly.

Yeah. I don’t know. I can’t even … I would say for how long I stuck with two-handed, I know Maya probably has now the two-handed axe crown, but I feel like for a long time, I was known as the two-handed thrower.

Yeah, that’s how were introduced to me years ago.

And I am happy that I stuck with it, because I think for a long time, even when I was throwing two-handed, a lot of people would say, “Oh, don’t.” If you actually want to get good, stop doing that. And I’m happy that I’ve been able to show that you can throw well and sell through two-handed.

What’s something that you would tell your just starting out self, now?

Get rid of that Husqvarna.

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

Yeah, I guess I’ll shout out most of Detroit Axe that are here. I think we had a pretty big community that came out today. Shout out to Stormy who is constantly upholding Detroit, and with my husband who comes to tournaments with me, even though he’s not throwing, just to be there and watch.