A COUNTY Durham woman who runs her own axe-throwing attraction is encouraging as many people - including women - as possible to take up the unusual sport.
Kathryn Howe, who owns family-run Valhalla North Axe Throwing in Newton Aycliffe, is hoping to bring the sport more mainstream in the UK.
Claiming it is currently more popular in the US and very male-dominated there, Ms Howe said she hopes that will change when it becomes more well-known here.
And one way of doing that is by holding the very first 'women-only' axe throwing league in the country, with the first season starting next week.
Ms Howe, who started up the business on the Aycliffe Industrial Park in 2019, along with partner Carl, said 15 women aged between 16 and 50 are now practising ahead of it.
Being held in aid of a mental health charity, the women's only tournament will be live-streamed from County Durham across social media on October 3.
Players will be sponsored with all proceeds being donated to Mind, before an official 7-week International Axe Throwing Federation league commences with a winner crowned at the end of the season.
Hoping that this will then help encourage more women to take up the sport, Ms Howe added: "It’s so important to create an environment where people feel comfortable and confident to be themselves and to step out of their comfort zones and for women that is often one of the main reasons for not getting involved in teams or social settings.
"Any sport is excellent for your health both psychically and mentally, but the social aspect is on another level."
Explaining that since launching the first women's only tournament, she had got the chance to organise events across the pond in the US and Canada.
She said: "Who would have thought that at 30, when your friends list generally starts to get shorter and living in the small town of Bishop Auckland, I would now be on zoom calls with six girls in America and one in Canada and planning trips all over the world to meet the people I now call friends.
"I can also say that I now have a team of women from the North East, ready to hurl some steel, stick some bullseyes and take over the sport of Axe Throwing in the UK."
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