The World Conkers Championship finds itself threatened
The old school sport of conkers is a very strange and fun pastime that takes place in the UK. The World Championship of Conkers is an annual event that takes place where the young and the old gather near the village of Ashton
to hit the product of a tree against each other. There is not too much skill involved in the game but it is a lot of fun for all those who take part in it. New research has emerged that shows that the sport may be in trouble because the supply of conkers is
in serious decline. Will the sport be able to survive or will it become a forgotten relic that once graced pubs in the UK?
Conkers has been around for a very long time - it probably emerged as a pastime that kids played in school playgrounds and then slowly became a pub sport. From there on in, in 1965 in a small village named Ashton, a few friends
were stuck because of bad weather and could not go fishing. They decided to play a game of conkers and the winner was given a small prize that they donated to charity to help a blind relative. From then on it turned into an annual event and the winnings were
donated to a charity for the blind. Over the years more competitors started to take part in the event and soon people from different countries started to take part in the Championships. As the popularity of the event started to grow, a junior level championship
was added and celebrities started to attend. This pushed up sponsorships for the whole event and it grew even bigger.
The most interesting part of this tournament is that all the winnings of the event go to charities for the blind. To date the World Conkers Championship has managed to raise over £350,000 to help the visually impaired. Conkers
is a very simple game: the seed of a horse chestnut tree is dried and a hole is drilled through the middle and a string is strung through it. Then one conker is hung while another is used to hit it and if the first conker breaks then the person who hit it
wins the round. The game continues until one person remains whose conker has not broken. Points are awarded for each unbroken conker and this is how tournaments are held. The World Conkers Championships are held in the same way and every year the person with
the strongest conker is crowned the winner.
During the World Championships, the organisers supply the conkers predrilled and already strung to ensure fair play. Sometimes people use tricks to harden their conkers to make them much stronger than the rest of the competition.
It seems as if even in a pastime such as conkers, cheating rears its ugly head. But overall the sport is very clean and it has not been plagued by any serious scandals or controversies in the past. It could be because the entire purpose of the event is to
generate money for charity and so people feel that they should uphold the reputation of the Championships.
The sport of conkers is facing a serious problem at the moment. It seems the supply of conkers is in severe decline and organisers cannot find enough conkers at the moment. The 2010 World Championships were supposed to take
place on the 10th of October but the organisers are having a tough time finding 1000 high quality conkers for the 450 competitors that are to take part. They are coming in from all over the world to compete in the event but it is yet
to be seen if the competition will take place or not. It seems the nuts are in short supply because the horse chestnut tree has produced a poor crop this year due to an invasive moth species that has infected the trees.
It is still to be seen if this year’s event will be held or not. There has been an urgent appeal made to people to donate any high quality conkers they have to the event this year. It will be a shame if the conkers championship
does not take place. The world needs these types of sports and pastimes to keep traditions and culture alive. Hopefully we will continue to see the World Conkers Championships being played for many years to come.
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