Timber Team is 'high intensity,' 'fast-paced'

Corey Christians, a 7th-semester psychology major, transferred from Paul Smith's College in the Adirondack Mountains of New York to UConn in the spring of 2007.

Christians had competed in lumberjack sport as a student at Paul Smith's College; when he arrived at UConn, he noticed there was something missing: a timber team.

So Christians began asking around to see if there was any interest in lumberjack sport in Storrs.

"I think there was a lot of surprise interest going on, like, 'Oh, I didn't know that was a sport,'" said Christians.

After receiving positive feedback, he applied to start a new club sport and by the end of the semester, the UConn Timber Team was born.

Now, in the fall of 2009, the team is 20 members strong. They participate in competitions throughout the region, including an individual competition this past weekend at the Harwinton Fair in Harwinton, Conn.

"We compete in traditional lumberjacking events and we have competitions at both the state fairs for individual competition and we compete against other colleges as a UConn team," said Pierre Giroux, a 3rd-semester business major and Timber Team captain.

Giroux said that most of the colleges UConn competes against are northeastern schools, like the University of New Hampshire.

"It definitely takes a lot out of you … [competitions are] fast-paced," said Giroux. "It's high intensity, for a short amount of time … you could definitely say it's exhausting."

To prepare for competitions, the Timber Team practices twice per week at an outdoor field near the back of Horsebarn Hill.

"We'll practice chopping with axes, cutting with saw, and we'll also throw axes ... almost like throwing darts," said Giroux.

The wood that the Timber Team practices with is provided by logging companies that thin forests. To prevent the overcrowding of forests, they cut down trees that are robbing other trees of nutrients.

After the Timber Team finishes practicing on the wood, they give the smaller chips to the school to use for mulching. Larger pieces of wood are given away to charities to be used as firewood.

Christians said he's pleased with how far the team has progressed in such a short time.

"Now that we've sped up so well logistically, we owe it to ourselves to get better," said Christians. "I'm in the process right now of hiring a team coach."

Christians said the team is planning to hire a female coach. He said that there are many female lumberjack sport competitors.

"Our team is co-ed," said Christians. "Unfortunately, we're low on lady competitors."

Right now, the UConn Timber Team has two female members; however, they're looking to add more members, both male and female.

"As for new members, you don't need any experience," said Giroux, who explained that the team's experience level falls across a broad spectrum.

"We've got guys who join the team that have never picked up an axe and we've got guys who have been doing this their whole life."

Anyone interested in learning more about the team can visit the student activities page for more information.