Record Attendance at Bunnock Tournament

Record Attendance at Bunnock Tournament

Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent

Bones continue to grow in popularity (at least the throwing kind)! This was proven when the 11th Annual Vegreville Canadian Bunnock Tournament experienced a record-breaking attendance of 68 teams of players at Vegreville Agricultural Grounds on August 17 and 18.

Each team had four players on it. Many players were returned participants from other years as this sport is an opportunity to enjoy down-home fun in an outdoor environment with family members and also gives people a chance to make new acquaintances and friends from all across Alberta and Canada. It returns people back to family and friends’ gatherings before all the distractions were available that we have today.

Players gave their impression of the game. Brittany Tschirren said she likes participating in bunnock because it is a familyfriendly game. It brings their family together and is like a big family reunion every year which is really nice to experience.

Christa Jones said she likes this game because it is good for all ages and all physical abilities.

You could play this game as a kid or as someone with limited mobility which is really nice because then the whole family can participate and throw the bones. This makes it really inclusive and she like that! The challenges are you have to be able to throw it to the whole court and be able to aim well but everyone has their style and their own method of throwing the bones; so you can bump or roll it, or make one accurate throw right on the spot and every way works.

A young girl, Rio Soukup from Kelowna, B.C. said she enjoys playing bunnock because it is such a close game for the scores; it is not over until it is over. It is cool how fast things can change; a team could be winning for a short while and then be losing next. The challenges are trying to knock down the red bones (guards) first before the other bones (soldiers).

Another young gal from Sherwood Park, Alyssa Carpenter said she enjoys the game because it helps her connect with family she doesn’t see too often. The challenges are after a player gets the guards and all the soldiers down and they have to try to get the one soldier down that is still standing back up.

People of all ages participated in this tournament which saw players arriving from Macklin- Saskatchewan, Vernon, British Columbia, Westlock, Camrose, Calgary, Edmonton, Drumheller, Skeleton Lake, Kelowna, British Columbia, Vegreville, Mundare, Daysland, Consort, Vermilion, Provost, Cold Lake, Sturgeon County, St. Paul, Bittern Lake, Spruce Grove, Ardrossan, Park Land County, and Sherwood Park, Dewberry, Ferintosh, Langdon, Tofield, Two Hills, Red Deer, Bashaw, Leduc County, and Lloydminster.

Bunnock is a game which has been around for centuries. Soldiers’ centuries ago used to play it with real horses’ bones that were lying around from deceased animals. Organizers indicated that the bunnock bone is a plastic caste reproduction of a horse ankle, capturing the exact detail of the original game piece. The object of the game is to throw down all the oppositions’ bones, beginning with the two guards first.