The Canadian Snowbattlers don't want to be left out in the cold.
Canada's most recent Yukigassen national champions, from Edmonton, are worried a Saskatoon squad's choice of team name is confusing fans. Saskatoon's snowball fighting crew is planning to compete next month at the 28th annual Showa-Shinzan International Yukigassen championship under the name Team Canada.
"The choice they made is a little lacklustre," said Terry Chatwin, a member of the Snowbattlers. "Come up with something a little bit different. Something that is not so misleading."
The Snowbattlers are also heading to the event, and the squad is worried fans might think Saskatoon is Canada's lone national team.
Yukigassen
Yukigassen — Japanese for "snow battle" — is a snowball fighting competition in which two teams try to eliminate each other by hitting their opponents with snowballs or capturing their competitor's flag.
The Snowbattlers are the latest winners of the Yukigassen Canada championships. The team won the most recent tournaments in 2012 and 2013, and has represented Canada in Japan every February since 2013.
Saskatoon's team, which holds the title as first-ever Yukigassen Canada champions, won nationals in 2011 but are only able to cash in on their win — and compete at worlds — this year.
Both squads insist no feud exists between the two. The Snowbattlers were just surprised to see Saskatoon using the Team Canada name, Chatwin said.
"It was a little bit of a shock to us. It definitely sparked a little bit of emotion coming from us. We just want to clear the air — they are not the only team going.”
Nathan Thoen, captain of the Saskatoon squad, said he didn't realize the team's name would be an issue.
"That was just the name we picked up," he said. "We just thought they were the Canadian Snowbattlers."
He doesn't feel the name is misleading and stressed both teams are Canada's national squads.
"If anyone didn’t understand, we’ve been super clear that we were the first Team Canada to be crowned," he said, noting the Saskatoon crew is not referring to themselves as current national champions.
Chances doubled
Yukigassen Canada is just excited for the country to be sending two teams to Japan. The organization has not hosted a national championship in two years due to budget issues.
"Both the Edmonton team and the Saskatoon team have won the Championships in the past and both asked if they could go to Japan to compete. Both teams are representing Canada as equals just the same as the 100+ teams from Japan," Gordon Ferguson, with Yukigassen Canada, wrote in an email.
Chatwin and Thoen echoed Ferguson's statement. Japan dominates Yukigassen and both squads are excited knowing Canada's chances at knocking off a Japanese champion are doubled.
“The fact that Canada has two highly competitive teams is a bonus for Canada,” Chatwin said.
“We’re going together as a fighting force to hopefully have a shot at making a name for Canada," Thoen added. His squad is eager to learn from the experienced Snowbattlers.
Record attempt
Chatwin noted — while he’d prefer Saskatoon’s team was using a different name — he understands not much can be done at this point. Japan is just weeks away and he doesn’t want any animosity between the two Canadian teams.
As a show of good faith, his Snowbattlers squad is considering making the trip to Saskatoon this weekend to help Thoen, his teammates and the city break the Guinness World Record for largest snowball fight. Seattle currently holds the record after hosting a snowball fight with 5,834 participants.
Saskatoon's squad, which is raising money to film a web series of their Japanese journey, are hoping the record-breaking attempt to close out the Wintershines Festival will pump the city up for the team's trip. They're aiming for 6,000 people at the snowball fight.
