Palm Beach County to join cutting edge ‘new date-night thing’

I know what you’re thinking. “Frank, when is Palm Beach County going to get its first indoor ax-throwing center?”

Soon, you Nordic culture fans. Soon.

Joey Magee and his wife, Oshry, think it’s time to bring the “good organic fun” of throwing an ax to those locals who are looking for something new to do.

“I feel society is scared away from all the technology,” Joey said.

And there’s nothing hightech about flinging a fourpound, single-bladed ax 12 feet toward a wooden target.

“It’s like a new date-night thing to do,” he said.

Magee and his wife are planning to open Game of Axes in two months in a shopping plaza near Military Trail and Flavor Pict Road, at the Boynton Beach-Delray Beach border.

“Urban ax-throwing,” as it is called, has become a trendy indoor recreational activity in the Northeast, which is just now spreading to South Florida. Broward County is about to have two ax-throwing facilities: The Axe Throwing Society in Pompano Beach and Chops + Hops in Fort Lauderdale. And Miami is getting one of its own too, Extreme Axe Throwing.

Magee said the unfamiliar concept has made it difficult to get approvals from landlords and government offices. And unlike frozen yogurt, this is a new concept that takes some explaining.

“It’s been challenging,” Magee said.

But he compared it to bowling, a place where people join leagues or come for a couple of hours of tossing around heavy objects for fun.

Newcomers are trained by “ax masters” before they start flinging their weapons at one of the 18 targets at the end of nine lanes.

“It’s not like people walk in and we hand everybody axes,” Magee said. “There are two axes on every lane. One person throws. Then the person from the other team throws. Then they walk up together to get their axes.”

Throwing an ax is a matter of technique and something both sexes can do equally well, he said.

“It’s not like throwing a baseball,” he said. “As long as you bring your elbow back and keep it parallel to the floor, and release it at the right time, the weight of that ax will provide the rotation.”

Each throw is awarded points by its proximity of the thrown ax to the center of the target.

The World Axe Throwing League held its U.S. Open this summer in Chicago. The group is trying to promote and standardize the activity across the United States and beyond.

“Our vision is to prove that indoor ax-throwing isn’t just a unique experience; it can be a competitive sport,” the league’s mission statement reads in part.

Magee said he anticipates starting ax-throwing leagues, who like bowlers, will have regular nights of competitive ax-throwing.

He also plans to sell beer and rely on food trucks for those who get hungry. And he’s hoping to make an appeal beyond young men.

“What is there out there besides bowling?” Magee asked. “You have the CrossFit market and lots of recovery centers where they want to have clean, sober fun. There are young families, momand-dad night. Even the retired folks, they may want to try it out.”

I can see it now. The Kings Point Ax-Throwing Team. Shuffleboard — with an edge.