Saskatoon looks to break world snowball fight record

SASKATOON – Get ready to throw some snowballs this weekend. An attempt to break the world record for a snowball fight will be taking place in Saskatoon and organizers are hoping over 6,000 people will show up at Victoria Park Sunday afternoon to break the record currently held by Seattle.

“We’ve got to beat this world record,” said Nathan Thoen.

Thoen is a member of Yukigassen Team Canada, a 10-man team from Saskatoon and Prince Albert who will be representing Canada at the 28th annual Showa Shinzan International Yukigassen world championship in Japan next month.

The team qualified by winning the 2011 Canadian Yukigassen championship, but couldn’t attend the world championship that year due to finances.

“Being crowned the first Team Canada in Yukigassen history was a moment I’ll never forget,” Thoen said.

The team is getting the chance to go this year after they were given a grace period.

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“Not being able to go to Japan that year was tough, but only further stoked my desire to make this dream a reality.”

Yukigassen means “snow battle” in Japanese. The sport was conceived in 1988 and is played on a snowy court. Teams battle with 90 snowballs per period in an attempt to eliminate the opposing team by capturing their flag or having more players on the field when time expires.

READ MORE: After the snow storm came the snowball fight

As for the world record attempt, Thoen did some investigating and found that Seattle set the Guinness world record in 2013 with 5,834 people.

“Seattle does not deserve this world record, they don’t even have snow down there,” stated Thoen.

PotashCorp Wintershines and Tourism Saskatoon have teamed up with Team Canada in an attempt to break the record.

A large snow fort is being built in the middle of Victoria Park and Team Canada members will be preparing snowballs using a snowball press.

Anyone looking to take part is being asked to register online. The battle is expected to start at 3 p.m. CT.

The group is also filming their journey for an upcoming documentary series, Yukigassen: Road to Glory. A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to help with filming costs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Kot8MnVO8

David Giles contributed to this story