Throw on the Go: Axe throwing made mobile by a group of friends

“Aside from [being] friends, we’re very different people, which makes it work well,” Axe Addicts Co-Founder Sean Love said. The mobile axe throwing company out of Gainesville has been around for a year, a passion project of a group of friends with very different expertise.

Sean brings business development and marketing skills to the table as head of the business but jokes that he doesn’t have any other redeeming qualities. Sean has known Chris Goetz for decades and calls him a money wizard. Chris knows how to manage small businesses and work with the county. Dan Glicoes is the engineering mastermind behind their rigs.

Where the story starts

To understand what brings these guys together, we must return to early 2021. Around that time, Chris took his family to a local axe throwing venue. He enjoyed it and suggested the activity to the guys. He also wanted to join an axe throwing league, so they all tried it out and immediately slipped into a league–where their now-Operations Lead Tyler Roby was their coach.

Tyler wound up as a coach after a DC bar he applied to around 2018 asked if he was interested in managing their axe throwing venue. 

“I didn’t even know that was a thing at the time,” Tyler said. “I got a chance to check it out and here we are today.”

What makes Axe Addicts different

They all know that axe throwing has been on the scene for years, but it became mainstream within the last decade. 

“I was with Toby probably every day for two months. It was a complete obsession,” Sean said. 

As they became friends with Tyler, they asked him if he considered branching out on his own. They talked about how it was expensive to do things as a family, and how there weren’t local mobile axe throwing businesses to bring the sport to social venues or events. The guys realized the difficulties–in affordably providing the activity for families and hurdles with insurance–but they each had solutions to offer… so Tyler bought a trailer.

Beginnings of a business

“We started building the business and realized pretty quickly we had no idea what we were doing… [and] that if we’re responsible for our money [then] we’re going to go broke quickly,” Sean chuckled. So they brought in Chris and Dan as the economics and engineering experts, respectively.

When hunting down insurance for a mobile axe throwing company, Chris said, “We worked with some of the lead national insurers to develop new programs.” Instead of omitting insurance or paying insane premiums, they established a reasonable mobile axe throwing rate with those companies.

They navigated permits, rules and regulations, and registration. 

“We had no idea if this was going to be successful, we just wanted to do it. We figured worst case, we have a trailer we can practice throwing in on the weekends,” Sean said.

The Axe Addicts mission

“We wanted to make sure that we did two things when we started this business: make it accessible and fun. Our approach is to make sure that we’re spending the right amount of time with people to show them how to do things,” Sean explained. He wanted people to enjoy sticking their axe into the target and give kids the safety to join in. 

“One of the other motives we had in getting started was to make this addiction that we’re so passionate about available to others… Being mobile and having lower overhead gives us the advantage of bringing this to people who might not otherwise be able to enjoy it,” Chris said.

Dan pointed out “the amount of visceral fun it is to throw something with a lot of heft to it and see it stick into a target,” saying, “There’s an element of stress relief there and I know that we all can use that.” 

They launched at the Haymarket Day Parade in October 2021 and have been busy about every weekend since.

Everybody can stick it

“We haven’t had a single person come through our trailer who we haven’t been able to get to stick the board,” Sean stated–“Knock on wood,” Tyler interjected. They’ve had a myriad of people enter their trailer–kids, couples in their 70s. 

“Anybody can throw an axe as long as someone shows you how to do it the right way,” Sean said.

They’ve brought axe throwing to bridal showers and had just been to an event with teachers when I caught up with them.

“We’ve been asked if we do funerals too,” Tyler said. Chris added, “We can do team-building events for corporate activities. We do birthday [and] retirement party activities.”

They have breweries where they regularly bring the fun, like Tin Cannon and Old Bust Head.  Sean clarified that the venues have to have “good beer and good people” because they run the business in their free time outside of their full-time jobs. 

Where it goes from here

They want to grow–their reach, opportunities, and availability. They imagine expanding to Winchester, establishing a brick-and-mortar shop, increasing their charity, and building more trailers. They refer to the in-progress third trailer as “Axezilla,” if that says anything. The idea for the new trailer has been on Dan’s mind since last Halloween.

The Axe Addicts experience

Their trailers are done up with hours of fun in mind, complete with safety measures like a slant between the back wall and ceiling that prevents ricocheting axes. 

“It’s a dual target system, it has got lights… a cool LED system and even blacklights. Makes for a fun environment to put people at ease and let them enjoy the experience as much as possible,” Dan said.

When you throw with Axe Addicts, there’s always a coach on hand–to make sure you have fun, are safe, and to enjoy the experience with you.

“We’re doing this because we love it, that’s why the name is what it is,” Sean said. “This is a combination of meeting up with great friends, great timing, and a sport that’s coming into its own.”

For information, email either of these two addresses Info@axeaddicts.net and sean@axeaddicts.net, call (703) 232-9394, or visit Axe Addicts online at axeaddicts.net

This feature appears in the August 2022 issue of Haymarket-Gainesville Lifestyle Magazine. Pick up your copy here.