The USQA 2008 National Quoit Tour

Danville Iron Heritage Festival Tournament

 A tribute to the union of

Danville Iron and USQA Quoits: 

A gold-painted USQA Quoit "rings" a cross-section slice of railroad track T-rail.

The Danville Iron Heritage Festival is a celebration by Danville citizens, honoring their town's contributions to America with its many historical Iron Foundries and its mass production of Iron products for a young, expanding Nation.  The  Iron Heritage Festival celebrates the rich history and traditions of this community during the third weekend of July each year. 

The first Iron foundry was established in Danville In 1829, manufacturing wagon boxes, plowshares, andirons sadiron and griddles. In 1839 Iron Ore mining began in the local area and in 1840 the first Anthracite furnace to efficiently produce iron was opened.  On Oct 8, 1845, the first T-rail in America was rolled out at the Montour Iron Works, the largest iron manufacturing plant in the United States.  T-rail is still used today in the construction and repair of American railroad lines; a one-inch thick cross-section of a T-rail is illustrated in the photo at left. The Danville Area was instrumental in forging the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in the United States; America's railroads moved people, natural resources, and finished goods, all due to Danville's manufacture of T-rail.

Danville's annual Iron Heritage Festival celebrates the history and the people of this 19th century era. The celebration has become one of the largest historic festivals in Central PA, with activities encompassing all of the Danville area.  There are many events to entertain the entire family, including this newly added Quoit Tournament organized by the United States Quoiting Association.  Reserve a spot for you and your best pitching partner from home using the Sign-up Form linked on this page below, or request a partner using the "Looking for a Partner " link if you don't have a regular partner to pitch with.  Try your hand at pitching competitively with some of the iron that helped make Danville famous!

The Danville Iron Heritage Festival Tournament returns as one of three USQA tournaments for the 2008 season.  It is the second public event scheduled on our 3-tournament National Tour, and is held in July of each year during the Danville Iron Heritage Festival.  The tournament itself is located on the grounds of the Danville Middle School. 

A map with Directions to the tournament can be found below in the General USQA Tournament section.

The General Public is encouraged to participate in this event.

Bring the Family and enjoy a full day of exciting pitching competition!

For information on other events at the Danville Iron heritage Festival, click on this link:

www.ironheritagefestival.net

To view a local newspaper article from 2005 about the Festival, which mentions 

the USQA quoit tournament, click on either of these links:

Sunbury Daily Item News Article

The News Item Web site Article

Tournament Date

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Rain Date

  None

Location

Heritage Festival Quoit Grounds

Danville Middle School

Danville, Pennsylvania

Entry Fee

$60 per 2-person team

_________________________________________________

Check-in  Between  6:45 - 7:15 AM   

Pool Play Begins   8:00 AM Sharp

$10.00 Late Fee for Any Team Arriving After 7:15am

_________________________________________________

Danville Middle School

The view behind the school, with the running track at left.  

 just beyond far end of school.  The Quoit Grounds are in center of photo just beyond the track, and just to left of the fence for the tennis courts seen at the far end of the School 

Possible Total Awards Value

with 60 Teams Participating

$3,000

In cash and trophy prizes

Guaranteed 10 Games in Pool Play

16 Top-Finishing Playoff Teams Win Cash Prizes

Similar to value ratios denoted by example chart at left. 

Tournament Reservations

Advance Reservations are required to participate in this event.  To register your team for this tournament, click on the link below, print a hard copy of the Sign-up Form, fill out the required information for BOTH players on your team, and include payment by personal check to the address listed on the form.   The Sign-up Form should be mailed as early as possible to help us better plan for each event.

DANVILLE IRON HERITAGE TOURNAMENT  Team Sign-up Form

Looking For a Partner for this Tournament?

 Team Sign-up Forms sent through the mail must be received no later than the Wednesday before the tournament date. 

Any Team Sign-up Forms received after the Wednesday deadline will incur a $10.00 Late Fee.

Any participating teams arriving after 7:15 am on Tournament day will incur an ADDITIONAL $10.00 Late Fee.

PLEASE BE PUNCTUAL!!

 If you do not mail us a Sign-up Form, you must register as a Walk-on and pay the entrance fee PLUS the $10.00 Late Fee on the morning of the Event.  Walk-ons are accepted on a First-Come, First-Serve basis while open slots are still available.

Remember, you are NOT guaranteed a slot if you wait until Tournament Day to sign-up!

 _____________________________   Food And Drink Availability  ________________________________

Hot Food Vendors will be selling food and beverages at the Iron Heritage Festival

Hot and cold food Items and non-alcoholic beverages will be privately sold by Heritage Festival vendors near this event. 

More info on attending vendors will be provided when it becomes available.

Important Beverage Policy for this Event

Because this Event will be held on School Property and will include Youth Involvement,

Alcoholic Beverages can not be permitted on site.

  _________________________________   Local Accommodations   _________________________________ 

Many Hotels in the area will be booked for the Iron Heritage Festival, so be sure to make your reservations early!

The Columbia-Montour Visitor's Bureau has a great web site that lists Hotels, Bed and Breakfasts, and Campgrounds in the local area that may be available for your overnight stay while attending the Iron Heritage Festival Quoit Tournament.  

Click on any of the links below to go to the corresponding web page on the Visitor's Bereau website:

Bed and Breakfasts

Campgrounds

For further information on area events, attractions, 

overnight accommodations, and dining while at the 

Danville Iron Heritage Festival Tournament, 

Please click on the logo at left

The Danville Iron Heritage Festival Quoit Grounds are located just off of Interstate 80, on the grounds of the Danville Middle School, not far from the Heritage Festival celebrations in Danville, PA.  It includes a large, level field area on which up to 30 pairs of quoit pits will be constructed.  The total number of pits constructed for the tournament will be determined by the number of registered teams participating.  A minimum field of 60 teams would require 20 sets of pits.

DIRECTIONS TO THE IHF QUOIT GROUNDS

From the Danville exit of Interstate 80, travel south on State Route 54 three miles

to the traffic light at US Route 11. 

Turn Right at the light and head south on 11.

You will immediately cross a small bridge;

The entrance to the Middle School is 

the first driveway on the left.

Cross over the railroad tracks and turn immediately right, driving in front of the school building.  Turn left onto the road that passes between the gym and the tennis courts, and follow to the Quoit ground area.  

You may park in any available spaces or along the edge of the road in the grass.

The Quoit grounds themselves are located in the grass field behind the tennis courts, at 

the west end of the school building and

 the running track. 

You may park in any of the other areas around the school building,  shown marked with ORANGE lines in the aerial photo at right.  

Plenty of parking should be available 

early in the morning.

Image provided by Mapquest.com

Satellite Image provided by Terraserver.com

The Tournament

Guaranteed 8 Games of Pool Play.  Every team will pitch 8 round-robin games against opposing teams within their Division, and will complete all assigned games in Pool Play even if the team loses all eight matches.  Seed positions for the playoffs are then determined for qualifying teams, and are calculated from the number of wins and the differential point total from all their games.  The seeded teams within each division will go on to compete in the playoffs. 

Best-of-Three Elimination During all Playoff Rounds!  All tournaments in the USQA National Quoit Tour will use a Best-of-Three-Game format for all  rounds of the playoffs.  By implementing an 8 AM tournament start and an 8-game Pool Play, the playoffs should be able to complete by early evening.  Electric Lighting will be available for any games that  run past dusk.

Site of the 2005 Danville IHF Quoit Tournament. 

Tennis Courts are just off right edge of photo.

Most Events in the USQA National Quoit Tour require the construction of at minimum 20-30 pairs of quoit pits (40-60 pits).  Because of the large number of pits involved, and because the Quoit pits will be setup on public school grounds on property not owned by the USQA, it is currently not feasible to construct and maintain regulation pits built with wood boxes filled with clay.  The pits at the Iron Heritage Festival tournament will instead be installed directly on the ground with the sod being removed to expose bare areas of topsoil for game play.   Additional topsoil material will be available for pit maintenance between tournament rounds.

Be aware that pitching in dirt is quite different than pitching in soft, well-maintained clay, so participants are hereby notified that they shall come to this event properly prepared to pitch on dirt pits in their existing condition.   ALL participants shall be considered at the same disadvantage.

Middle School playing field used for the IHF Quoit Tournament.

Typical natural soil Quoit Pit installed at USQA tournaments

The quoits used in this tournament are cast steel, with a weight of four pounds each.  Custom casting molds were used to make these quoits. Our custom design includes the raised letters "USQA" on the top surface in addition to the raised "A" and "B" lettering.  Each "A" quoit is painted gold, and each "B" quoit is painted black. 

Set of Official 4-Pound USQA Quoits used at the tournament.