Source : ABC NEWS
When 16-year-old Kallie steps onto her log and lifts her axe, a crowd has already gathered.
Like her father, grandfather and great grandfather before her, woodchopping is part of her family’s legacy.
But she’s the first female in her family to take up the interest.
Kallie is part of a growing wave of women entering competitive woodchopping, eager to prove their place in the arena alongside men.
“People have laughed and said, ‘You’re wood chopping? That’s not very lady-like,'”
she said.
“But I’m trying to represent the younger girls because it’s a male-dominated sport and I think having a role model really helps.”
Spanning back four generations, Kallie’s dad and grandfather competed, and her great-grandfather worked chopping railway sleepers.
Kallie’s dad and grandfather competing in 2001. (Supplied)
Growing up in Tasmania, the birthplace of competitive woodchopping, Kallie first picked up an axe at 14.
Despite initial worries that she might “take a toe,” her dad was happy when Kallie became the first female in the family to complete.
“My dad was so excited cause I’ve always been my dad’s son in a way, and now we get to complete together,” she said.
“Competing is what made me fall in love with woodchopping. Just the atmosphere and the crowds. And I love a crowd.”
Kallie’s dad has returned to compete with her as a father-daughter duo. (Supplied)
While a few still doubt women belong in the sport, Kallie said the support she receives keeps her going.
“I’d be walking into a toilet at a show and people would say, ‘Oh, I saw you out there. Don’t give it up,'” Kallie said.
“Especially the ladies, they really want to see me out there, and that really keeps me going.“
World champion only had men to compete against
Last year, Kallie welcomed two local girls her age into the sport and recently competed against a newcomer in her 40s.
“Before them, it was just me and the world champion, Amanda Beams, competing,” Kallie said.
“On the log we’re very competitive, then we come off and give hugs and say, ‘You did so well.'”
Beams, 54, said she also first started competing as a teenager, but at that time, competing against men was her only option.
“When I first started, we’d have six or eight female competitors, now it’s 50 at a comp,”
she said.
Amanda Beams says the influx of new competitors is lifting standards and building a stronger culture in the women’s division. (Supplied)
She describes the growth as a turning point.
“I see it as, we’re a flower, we’re a bud, just starting to open.”
Kallie said the sports handicapping system, where competitors receive advantages or penalties based on previous performances, helps level out the playing field.
“That’s the beauty of the handicapping system, is that it can be anyone’s game,”
she said.
“Still, I’ve never beat Amanda.”
Kallie is determined to compete outside of Tasmania and dreams of heading overseas one day. (ABC News: Marc Eiden)
While a win over the world champion would be impressive, Kallie said the true goal was beating the log itself, not your opponent.
“It’s the most rewarding feeling to defeat the log, you’ve gone through it, you did that, no-one else,” she said.
Kallie plans to compete interstate for the first time this year, a step her great-grandfather could never have imagined.
“When I started competing, my pop said to me, ‘My dad would have never believed that a lady in our family would be doing this.’ And I went, ‘Well, you better believe it,'”
Kallie said.
Women events to come to woodchopping
The growth in female participation is driving major changes, with competitions across the country now introducing events that were once only open to men.
“Timber sports are about to introduce a new discipline for women — which is the standing block. The springboard is coming too. This whole new world is opening up,” Mrs Beams said.
And the prize money is also catching up.
“When I first started wood chopping, you were cutting for $250 at a royal show for first prize. Now, the world title at Sydney Show in the women’s underhand is $6,000.”
Amanda Beams winning the Australian Women’s Championship in the underhand chop at the 2023 Adelaide Stihl Timbersports. (Supplied)
It’s a shift Beams believes reflects the rising visibility of female competitors and the public’s appetite for the sport.
“The level of competition Australia-wide in the women’s comp is next level,”
Beams said.
“And luckily for us, the public love it. They just love watching women wood chopping and sawing.”
Amanda Beams in action during the Single Sawing competition in Austria, with her husband Dale cheering her on. (Supplied)
Today, Beams holds five world titles in the underhand chop and two Jack and Jill sawing titles with fellow world champion and husband, Dale Beams.
She’s also the captain of the Australian women’s woodchopping team.
“We’re not at the level of the guys, but the competition now is in a really good place,” she said.
