How did we end up there again?

Suddenly I got a message on my phone: “You've been pulled!”

At first I couldn't believe it, but then I looked in my mailbox:

Congratulations! We are so excited that you earned a spot and were DRAWN to compete in the

^33rd Annual Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue!!

So it was true. Barbecoa BBQ Team will be going to The Jack this year, on October 14th and 15th in Tennessee, USA. We have the honor to represent our country there, because we are the only Belgian team present.

Sounds cool Tom, but uh… what is this now?

The Jack is a BBQ competition, according to the rules of the KCBS, not coincidentally the competition we participate in. The organizer is the brand Jack Daniels and this competition is therefore also called The Jack.

This year there are 64 teams from the US, and 23 teams from the rest of Europe.

In addition to the US and Belgium, the following will also be represented: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK

The Jack has been held for 33 years in Lynchburg, Tennessee, the town where Jack Daniels is also produced.

This competition is a prestigious one, as it is invitational only, meaning you cannot enter but can be shortlisted through victories.

The more wins, the more chances you have to be there.

If you win 7 matches within the competition, you can automatically go.

Our friends from Southern Dutch BBQ have achieved 13 victories this year and were therefore automatically admitted. What a great achievement!

But hey; in our short existence, we did manage to be Best Belgian team twice, so we thought we had a chance. Until the organization also included the best Belgian teams of 2021 and 2020 in the lottery... from then on we assumed we wouldn't make it.

Until the decisive message: “You have been drawn!”

We are starting the preparations for this trip to try and hold our own against all those other champions, because there are a lot of legendary teams participating!

Do we have ambition, yes of course, otherwise we shouldn't go, but the reality is also that we don't assume that this will be a walk in the park.

We're going to do our best, and have fun.

We definitely have the experience!

TV Oost already dropped by for a short report, which you can watch here.

Of course I would like to thank again the sponsors who made it possible for us to participate in the Belgian Competition: Ateloer François / Carmans – Big Green Egg.