Quoits Game to Raise Money for Schools:

Bordentown NJ Register-News

September 2, 2004

Bordentown Regional School District Education Foundation will Sponsor a

Quoits Tournament to Raise Funds for Local Students.

By: William Wichert, Staff Writer

The Register-News

September 2, 2004

The time has come for all residents to get into the game and help raise some money for their local schools. The game? Well, quoits of course.

On Sunday, Sept. 12, the Bordentown Regional School District Education Foundation is sponsoring its first-ever quoits tournament and barbecue buffet at Bassani's restaurant in Fieldsboro, located at 19 Fourth St.

The event is the latest effort made by the foundation since its inception in early 2002 to raise needed funds for local students. Every year, the foundation presents scholarships and grants to individual students and schools for an average amount of $1,000 each, helping students attend college and giving schools the ability to improve their facilities, said Steve Metterle, an Education Foundation trustee and the organizer of the quoits tournament. While the foundation sponsored a St. Paddy's Day 5K and 2-Mile Fun Walk through Bordentown City and an Octoberfest celebration last year, a game of quoits was chosen as the latest fund-raising incarnation to give different groups a chance to participate, Mr. Metterle said.

"Quoits, historically, it's very regional. It's always been a backyard, picnic game," said Mr. Metterle, who plans on playing quoits with his own family during a Labor Day party. "It's an opportunity for area residents to take a traditional area pastime and put it toward a good cause for their schools."

For those residents not familiar with the pastime, quoits is the mother of the more well-known game of horseshoe pitching, according to the Web site of The United States Quoiting Association (www.quoits.info).  A former event in the early Olympic games and a popular recreational activity among soldiers in the ancient Roman Empire, playing quoits involves pitching heavy metal rings at a short metal stake driven into the ground, the Web site said.
 

Mr. Metterle said the Sept. 12 quoits tournament at Bassani's will be limited to 64 teams of two players each, allowing six games to take place at once. The winning team is the first one to reach 21 points, which are based on how close each participant pitches the metal ring to the stake, he said.
 

A "ringer," or a ring that is perfectly pitched to surround the metal stake, is worth two points, and all other pitches go for one point, he said. After a team loses one game, it is automatically eliminated from the tournament, he said.
 

The top three quoits teams will receive about $400 in prizes, with $250 awarded to first place, $100 to second place and $50 to third place, he said. In addition to the tournament and the buffet, there will be a Chinese auction and a 50/50 raffle, he said.
 

While Mr. Metterle said the event will most likely attract long-standing quoits players, he said newcomers are welcome to sign up as well. Even if people do not arrive with their own teammates, teams can be formed before the tournament begins, he said.
 

For people who register before the event, the fee is $25 per player. Those who register on the day of the tournament must pay $30 per player. All additional spectators must contribute $10 each to cover the cost of the buffet.
 

To register beforehand, residents can call Mr. Metterle at (609) 635-6868 or register at Bassani's. On the day of the event, registration will begin at 11 a.m. and the games will kick off at noon.