Woodsman

Woodsman (also, woodsmen, pl.) is a competitive, co-ed intercollegiate sport in the United States, Canada and elsewhere based on various skills traditionally part of forestry educational and technical training programs. In North America, the sport currently is organized in five regional divisions: northeastern, mid-Atlantic, southern, midwestern, and western.

Woodsmen or lumberjack competitions have their roots in competitions that took place in logging camps among loggers. As loggers were paid for piece work, the ability to perform a specific task more quickly, or with a degree of showmanship, was something to be admired. Today the tradition survives on college campuses across Canada and the United States, as well as on various competitive circuits worldwide, including ESPN's now-defunct Great Outdoor Games. The sport is most popular in areas of the world with a strong logging tradition.

The following is a partial list of colleges in Canada with active teams:

The following is a partial list of colleges in the US with active teams:

Unlike many college sports which have some degree of seasonality, members of collegiate woodsman teams compete throughout the academic year. Competitions typically take the form of a "meet", a series of events run throughout the day of competition. Meets may take place outdoors or inside a suitably large structure to safely accommodate the potentially dangerous tools used. An entry fee is charged to cover the cost of providing timber, awards, and food.

Schools compete in teams of six. A school has the option to send multiple teams, each of which pays an entry fee. Events are divided among team members at the discretion of the entering schools. There are, however, a series of team events in which every member is expected to participate fully. Men and Women's team typically utilize the same equipment, however in competition some rules are adjusted by gender. If a school chooses to send a mixed-gender, or Jack and Jill team, Men's rules apply. Each team is coordinated by a captain.

Events may be run as single, double, triple or team events at the discretion of the hosting school. The list and structure of the competition is typically published beforehand in order to allow team members to prepare for their assigned events.

Most events are scored based on the time taken by the competitor to complete. Teams are scored as a whole, and each event is generally weighted equally. A point system for scoring may be used, where the first place competitor is awarded 100 points, and runners-up receive a percentage of the winner's score based on their performance in comparison. A second system calculates a winning team's place based solely on placement, and does not take into consideration the spread between each team's performance.

...
Wikipedia