The World Crokinole Championship turns 25 this year, and if you have never heard a disc ricochet off a centre peg into a twenty-point hole, you are missing one of tabletop gaming's most electrifying sounds. The tournament returns to Tavistock, Ontario on 6 June 2026, with $6,000 in cash and prizes on the line.
Tavistock was chosen as the championship's permanent home for good reason. Nearby Sebastopol is where Eckhardt Wettlaufer crafted the earliest known crokinole board in 1876, tying the tournament to the game's deep Canadian roots in Perth County. Since the first championship in 1999, the event has grown from a local curiosity into a global gathering. Last year saw 152 boards in simultaneous action during singles play, with contestants travelling from Japan, the UK, the Netherlands, 16 US states, and 7 Canadian provinces. First Nations communities have also been well represented at the table.
The tournament runs competitive, recreational, and cue divisions across multiple age groups, welcoming children as young as six alongside seasoned veterans. Registration consistently sells out weeks in advance, so procrastinators take note. Late fees kick in after 1 May.
Crokinole's recent popularity boom owes a lot to YouTube creators and the broader dexterity game renaissance. It sits among the highest-rated dexterity games on BoardGameGeek, and watching top-level play is genuinely thrilling. A disc-flicking game that blends shuffleboard and curling on a wooden board sounds simple, but competitive crokinole demands precision, strategy, and nerves.
The entire championship is volunteer-run, which speaks to the passion this community carries. If the trip to Ontario is not in the cards, consider organising a local crokinole tournament of your own. You can coordinate dexterity game events on Backseat Gamer to rally players in your area. Twenty-five years of competitive flicking is worth celebrating, wherever you are.
Sources: World Crokinole Championship | BoardGameGeek: Crokinole
