THUNDER BAY –Jason Dubray remembers his first arm wrestling tournament taking place more than 20 years ago at the Wayland Hotel.
Since then, with a world championship under his belt, his experience in the sport has flourished.
“It’s a sport that everybody has done once in their life, whether you’re old, young, big, small, it doesn’t really matter what you bring to the table,” he said. “It’s gratifying to know the work you put into it is usually what you get out of it.”
Next month will provide Dubray, as well as other local arm wrestlers, with a sense of déjà vu as Slamfest, a revival of a marquee tournament, will be held at the Wayland.
The city used to be a hub for the sport, hosting the national championships on multiple occasions as well as the worlds in 1998.
Promoter Paul Levesque said the goal is to make Thunder Bay a destination and to give incentive to local athletes.
“What I wanted to do was bring a money tournament to Thunder Bay, something to attract the arm wrestlers back and bring them in from all over North America,” he said.
“It’s been on a very large decline. There are only a few people who have stayed in the sport…I want to bring it back on the incline. Having this tournament here will give them some reason to train.”
The tournament will feature five different classes for men as well as one open class for women. The winner of each class will receive $400 while the runner-up gets a cheque for $100.
It will be a double elimination format with winners progressing until they suffer two defeats.
Co-promoter Chris Nicholas said organizers have high aspirations for the future of the tournament.
“Putting faces to the names will be important because we’re going to have such a high calibre of competitors coming to the city,” Nicholas said.
“Competitors will know they’re coming up to what we want to build into a world class tournament. We want this to be the premier tournament across Canada.”
If hosting a tournament can foster additional participation or interest, even better.
“I’m happy to see anybody get into this sport because it’s such a hard sport to stay in,” Dubray said. “There are a lot of aches and pains, like any other sport, but it’s all self-motivated so you have to stick with it.”
Slamfest will be held on Oct. 11 at the Wayland Hotel. Admission will be $5 at the door and matches begin at 8 p.m. A portion of the proceeds raised from the evening will be donated to Camp Quality.
