CUDWORTH — Cudworth Recreation Board hosted its 11th annual bunnock tournament on Aug. 8 at Cairns Memorial Park.
The 22 C day, without a breath of wind, made for a pleasant day for participants and fans alike. Thirty teams were divided into six pools of five teams. A round-robin was played in each pool, and at the end of the round-robin, 16 teams were seeded into a championship bracket (A side), and 14 teams were seeded into a consolation bracket (B side).
Once teams were seeded in their brackets, they played a true double-knockout style tournament. At the end of the tournament, a local team, going by the name Small But Girthy, was again the A side champion; they have now won back-to-back years, and another local team, Old Boners, topped the B side.
The competition was tight all day; there was much excitement around the Bunnock pits as teams composed of all ages, shapes, sizes and athletic abilities battled in the game of Bunnock. At the end of the day, everyone had fun. The event also featured a canteen, beer gardens, junior and senior sharpshooter competitions, a best-dressed competition, a Bunnock set raffle, 50/50 and great background music.
In 2015, when the tournament first started in Cudworth, Macklin was about the only other place where the game was played. In 1993, when the town of Macklin held its first-ever Bunnock World Championship, few people had heard of the game. However, after a couple of years, as interest grew, local radio and television stations began to give the tournament some hype and notoriety by focusing on the name and the fact that historically the game was played using the ankle bones of horses. Over the years, as people have learned of the game, other tournaments have sprung up across the prairies.
Bunnock can be played with even numbers of two to eight players, but tournament play usually involves teams of four. The objective of the game is simple: knock down the opponent’s bunnock pieces before they knock down yours. It was developed in the 19th century in the frozen Siberian landscape to pass the time during the long cold winters. From there, it was passed from generation to generation and introduced to Canada by Russian and German immigrants in the early 1900s.
Joseph Gartner is credited with the game’s revival in the 1960s. Gartner, who worked at a horse meat processing plant, was granted permission to salvage some ankle bones to create a Bunnock set for his father. Seeing the set, others around Macklin reached out to Gartner to make sets for them. Ultimately, Gartner created a rule book which standardized the rules and game setup that are still used today. Modern-day bunnocks are made of acrylic, which has the advantage over original materials in that it never dries out and becomes brittle, the colour is consistent all the way through, and they are all the same weight.
The Cudworth Rec board would like to thank everyone who came out and supported the event. “In today's tech-dominated world, it is always great to get outside and come together as a community and have a little fun. Congratulations to all of the champions, and we hope to see a great crowd next year.”
