Waldbreitbach is known nationwide as a Christmas village, but there have never been any flying Christmas trees here - until the 1st Christmas tree throwing event, with which VfL Waldbreitbach and FC Waldbreitbach creatively heralded the end of the Christmas season. The fun factor was at the heart of the three-way competition, but the determination of the winners was still taken seriously. The more than 40 participants were able to measure their own performance against the reigning world champion.
"VfL Waldbreitbach copied the idea of Christmas tree throwing from FC Wacker Weidenthal in the Palatinate, which has been organizing a "Knutfest" for 20 years and has also hosted several 'world championships' in Christmas tree throwing," admits Josef Hoß, Managing Director of VfL Waldbreitbach and initiator of the competition. At the Wied, however, the focus was much more on socializing. Hoß and the chairman of VfL Waldbreitbach therefore thanked all the hard-working helpers, without whom such an event would not have been possible, and Ulli Buhr as chairman of the WFC was also happy to join in.
The participants had to throw a spruce about 1.50 meters tall like a javelin, hurl it like a hammer and manoeuvre it over the bar on the pole vault. Children only did the long throw with a smaller tree. Christoph Klein (FC Waldbreitbach) took first place in the overall standings. World champion Margret Klein-Raber (Die Hammermädels) was only about 60 cm behind him in the overall standings. Nico Bathon (VfL Waldbreitbach) won the boys' race (U12) and Thea Hautkappe won the girls' race; Len Stiehler was the winner of the young men's race (U18) and Celina Medinger won the young women's race (both VfL Waldbreitbach).
The organizers are satisfied with the premiere, so the date for the next season has already been set: Saturday, 27 January 2024. All information, results and photos can be found at www.baumwerfen.de.
