What comes around, goes around — and then comes around again. It isn’t karma in this case. It’s a boomerang.

The most recognized boomerang is the returning boomerang. When thrown properly, it travels in a curved course and returns to its starting point. Today, boomerang throwing has been made into a modern sport. Modern boomerangs are made of plastic, hardwood or Finnish birch aircraft plywood.

Throwing correctly is not as easy as it may seem. The wings of a boomerang are shaped as an airfoil, which allows air to pass over one side faster than the other. Besides skill, wind is another factor in how successful a throw will be.

As unique as this sport may be, one does not have to travel Down Under to participate in competitive boomeranging. There are National Boomerang Championships held every year. Top competitors sort themselves out into teams, and these teams hold trials to see which squads can play in the World Championships. Three U.S. teams participated in the championships this year: Rad Revolution, The Confluence and Black Rabbit.

This year, the Washington Boomerang Club hosted the World Boomerang Championship.

From Aug. 17-24, about 150 boomerang throwers from 12 countries, including Brazil, Italy, Canada, Denmark, Australia and Great Britain, traveled to Seattle to compete in the World Boomerang Team Cup and Individual Championships held at the UW Intramural Fields. It has been a decade since the U.S. last hosted this international event, which occurs every two years.

The official events for individual competition consist of various tests of throwing and catching skills, ranging from accuracy to endurance and team relays. This year in the world tournament, Germany won first, Rad Revolution came in second and Switzerland was third.

Billy Brazelton, a graduate student studying biological oceanography, is a member of the Rad Revolution squad. Brazelton first became involved with the sport around the age of 14, when his older brother received a boomerang for Christmas.

“It is definitely a word of mouth type thing,” Brazelton said. “Seattle is kind of a mecca, the center of the boomerang world. It’s a city where you can see someone throwing a boomerang at a park and be, like, ‘Hey!’”

There is no cash prize for winning the world championships, but the triumphant team does receive a trophy. Many competitors put in their own money to rent practice fields and fly to tournaments.

“It’s a hobby. We do it because it’s fun, not because we want to get famous,” Brazelton said. “The people involved are really cool and fun to hang out with. They’re not too intense about it because it’s not a famous sport. There are no team referees, we referee ourselves, so everyone has good camaraderie.”

While boomerang throwing can be fun and games, the correct technique can initially be complex to learn.

The fundamental instructions are to hold the boomerang almost vertical, with the flat unpainted side facing away from you, and with the wind blowing your direction, turn about 45 degrees and throw the boomerang with a snap of the wrist.

“There is a science, engineering and craftsmanship about [boomeranging],” Brazelton said. “You have to understand aerodynamics and basic physics to be good at the sport. It’s more than athleticism, it’s a science, art and sport.”

James Stickney, a junior biology major at the UW, is a member of Black Rabbit, another U.S. boomerang team. In 2000, a group of his friends went to a boomerang demonstration, and after they made a couple boomerangs, they decided to test the sport out. Boomeranging left an impression on Stickney.

“I anticipate playing for up to 20 years, because there’s so much experience that goes into [boomeranging],” Stickney said. “It’s not uncommon for people to play into their 40s. I plan on competing until I can’t walk, really.”

Stickney was a competitive basketball player in high school and played a bit in college, but he chose boomerang throwing because of the enjoyable atmosphere.

“There is a really tight-knit group of people so it’s fun,” Stickney said. “The community is great.”

Stickney mentioned Mike Girvin as an example of how supportive the boomerang community is. Girvin paid for Stickney’s flight to his first World Championships in France.

“[Girvin] comes out to all the tournaments,” Stickney said. “He’s really an encouraging person.”

Girvin, creator of Gel Boomerangs, is credited to have made boomeranging more public in Seattle in the 1980s.

“When I threw my first boomerang, the very first one, this yellow boomerang went against the blue skies and green trees, and before it was even three-quarters of the way around, I knew this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my adult life,” Girvin said. “It was a major epiphany moment for me.”

The Washington Boomerang Club practices weekly on Sundays at 2 p.m. at the IMA fields. The practices are open to the public, and free lessons are willingly given.

“If people come out, we want to have them experience [the sport],” Stickney said. “It’s the best way to get people interested in what we’re doing. Watching us play is one thing; some people think throwing a boomerang is easy, and some think it’s impossible, but neither cases are necessarily true.”

Reach reporter Caroline Yuen at features@dailyuw.com.