Airdrie couple builds axe-throwing venue in garage to get to world championships

When you first arrive at Nick and Kendra Kolomyja's house in Airdrie, you notice one thing – there's an axe hanging from just outside the front door.

"You definitely know that we're the axe throwers," Nick said with a laugh.

Nick and Kendra have been throwing axes for seven years.

They've both qualified for the world championships and were determined to get back this year in Wisconsin.

But there was one problem.

They didn't have a sanctioned venue and you need that in order to earn enough points to qualify for the worlds.

Rather than give up, the Kolomyjas got creative.

They turned their garage into their own axe-throwing facility, and Kendra says it was worth it.

"Well, our garage has looked like this for a while," she said.

"As soon as we started leagues, we set up practice targets in here. We only had one for a while and then we started fighting over who had more practice time.

"So then we had to add a second one and then the cars got moved out into the driveway. So we haven't had those for a while."

Building Live Edge Axe Throwing in their garage was one thing, making sure it was up to standards was another.

Nick says they worked with the World Axe Throwing League to get the garage up to standards to earn enough points to qualify for the world championships.

"We had to really revamp things," he said.

"Make sure the lines were right, make sure the targets were all correct and everything. Like a full meal deal, take pictures, the whole nine yards so they could inspect it and then they said yes, as long as (we) have certified judges."

Nick and Kendra became certified judges and so did a couple more of their axe-throwing friends.

Once they got the go-ahead from the league, the Kolomyjas got to work on earning enough points to qualify for the worlds.

Kendra says the cool thing about this story is not only did they qualify, so did others who were throwing out of their garage.

"Ten. The full roster qualified. Everybody is in at least one event, (and) many of them for multiple events," she said.

Nick says that is a huge accomplishment.

"Really, it's unheard of. Like even big venues, they may have a highlights of like three or four guys in their venue and we're talking a group of anywhere from 50 to 100 throwers," he said.

"We've got 10 throwers and 10 are going to worlds."

The Kolomyjas are very proud of what they've created in their garage and what their team has accomplished.

Nick says they've been getting a lot of attention from their axe-throwing peers.

As much as they love it, Kendra says sooner or later they'll have to move on from it.

She says they have a goal in mind.

"The big picture is we would really love to open a venue in Calgary that is geared towards competitive axe throwing as well as recreation, because it's something everybody can do," she said.

The Kolomyjas and the rest of Team Live Edge will compete at the worlds in Wisconsin from Dec. 1 to 5.