Local woman earns spot in World Axe Throwing Championship and is hoping for some help

IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls woman has qualified to participate in a championship for a competitive sport in another state, and she’s asking the community for help to get her there.

Linda Dojaque, 23, has been given the opportunity to compete in the World Axe and Knife Throwing Championship that will take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from April 16 to April 19.

“I never thought I would be able to qualify for something like this. I have always been very supportive of other people who have qualified, like my friends, but I realistically never thought that would be me one day,” she said. “I am beyond excited.”

She began saving money for the event as soon as she learned about it. However, something unexpected happened in her family.

“My grandma actually passed away. I had to use those savings to go down to Mexico for her funeral and other expenses,” Dojaque said.

Dojaque currently works two jobs and is doing what she can to quickly save the money that she needs to in order to be able to go. She created a GoFundMe for a little support in her journey to help pay for the cost of travel, lodging, registration, and meals so she can focus on competing.

“Of course, I am still trying to save as much as I can, so I am still trying to put in the work and the hours to be able to save,” she said. “I appreciate any type of help that I could get and know that I am doing everything on my end to be able to help myself.”

Dojaque began axe-throwing about four and a half years ago. She and her friend would practice a lot at what used to be On Target Axe Throwing in Idaho Falls. It has since closed down. But it got her started and interested.

“Then he invited me to join a league. I started traveling, going to Utah and Minneapolis and all these other places for tournaments, which was really fun,” she said. “You get to learn a lot about different axes, different ways and styles to throw, that’s really interesting.”

According to the World Axe Throwing League, each game consists of 10 throws. After five throws, competitors switch targets. Throws must be taken within 10 seconds of each other. Any throw taken more than 10 seconds after an opponent’s throw counts as a fault, the website said. Click here to learn more about how the game is played.

“The sport in general is just really, really fun. It’s really entertaining,” Dojaque said.

In September, Dojaque went to Billings, Montana, to compete at the U.S. Open presented by the World Axe & Knife Throwing Leagues. She competed against both men and women. It’s a unisex sport. She put a lot of effort and dedication into it.

“This was my first year actually being able to compete in the U.S. Open, which was really exciting for me,” she said.

After participating, she found out that she earned a spot to compete in the World Axe and Knife Throwing Championship.

“I ended up being in the Top 8 for that competition. It qualified me to go to the amateur championship,” she said. “I just started crying.”

Click here if you are interested in helping her GoFundMe to make it to the World Championship. As of Friday morning, $245 has been raised out of an $800 goal.

“Any donation — big or small — means more than I can say,” she wrote on her GoFundMe.

Dojaque said she is grateful for the people who have supported her, especially her family.

“This is something that I really, really want to do and I hope to be able to do it,” she added.