The world’s greatest sport returns to CloudFest, and it’s getting even better.
As the internet infrastructure industry prepares for CloudFest 2025, the sporting world is bracing itself for the World Server Throwing Championship, which is like the Olympics, the World Cup, and an IT-department audit rolled into one. Since the World Server Throwing Association (WSTA) was convened last year, this underground sport has exploded even more spectacularly than a hurled server.
After learning more than I ever wanted to about the history of Server Throwing, I caught up with CloudFest CEO and WSTA Co-President Christian Jaeger to find out what’s in store for us March 18-19 at the 2025 WSTC.
How did you first find out about Server Throwing?
For many young children, going for the first time to a huge sports stadium is a remarkable event which they will never forget. The same happened when Simon Besteman from Dutch Cloud Community invited me to the “serverwerpen” near Utrecht two years ago. I stood at the crash barriers for hours, watching brave tech nerds throwing servers as far as possible. The simplicity of the sport is also the beauty behind it. FIFA wants to bring football to all regions of the planet, and likewise the WSTA wants to open the world of server throwing to an even wider audience.
How did it feel to see the first official World Championship awarded last year?
It’s been a far throw for Bartosz Wojciak, the 2024 Champion, but a huge leap for our sport. Planning professional sporting events at this level takes years of dedicated preparation, so of course there was no chance that we would have started only three weeks prior to CloudFest 2024. Seeing it come to life in a vibrant atmosphere has been truly amazing—and it made Simon and me very very proud.
What should we expect as this hardcore sport grows and reaches a wider audience?
After the great success of 2024, we are introducing two main changes for this year:
1. We introduce a female division which will be on par with the male division. Unlike football or ice hockey, the players of both divisions will play at the same time, in the same stadium, for a unified audience. The WSTA takes inclusion seriously right from the beginning. We don’t call it “DEI”, though: we prefer “ETS” (Everyone Throws Servers).
2. We will introduce a master league which, many long-time server throwers are already calling “the Champions League of Server Throwing”. On Day 2 of CloudFest the current local champions of the Netherlands and Spain, as well as the winner of Day 1 of CloudFest ,will officially throw against Bartosz Wojciak to find out who is the undisputed WSTA Champion of 2025!
If people want to engage in the time-honored pastime of pro-sports corruption, what’s the best way for them to do that with Server Throwing?
While many professional sport leagues struggle with their ongoing commercialization, we are very clear about it from the beginning. The Bundesliga introduced their famous 50+1 rule, prohibiting investors from purchasing more than 49% of the clubs, while the English Premier League Clubs are being sold to the highest bidder, resulting in fans turning away from their sport. The WSTC is transparent about their intransparency from day one. Yes, the furthest throw wins. But who knows the actual weight of a server being thrown… Only the presidents and the winners know that.
They’re heavier than they look, though! Okay, when should we expect to see this sport in the Olympics?
The Olympic committee keeps adding sports every four years, including the unforgettable breakdance appearances in Paris in 2024. Having seen that, I think we do have a realistic chance to become an Olympic sport sooner rather than later.
If you want to find out more about Server Throwing—and indeed sign up, visit the CloudFest Server Throwing page.
Meanwhile, here’s a sample training routine you can take to your gym. You can also do a training montage in a barn if you’re short on time.
- Cable rows
- Squats to tiptoe extensions
- Goblet squats
- Squats to shoulder presses
- Lateral raises
- Cable twists
- Planks
- Yoga
- Mindfulness meditation
CloudFest is calling you
March 17-20, 2025
