There aren’t many world champions who didn’t know their sport existed a year before winning the title.
But then, conkers isn’t like many other sports.
A traditional children’s game in Great Britain and Ireland, conkers players each hold a horse chestnut threaded onto a piece of string, taking turns to try and break the opponent’s nut with their own.
It is an explanation that Kelci Banschbach, who became the first ever American to be crowned world champion last month, has had to repeat multiple times to friends and family back in the US.
“It’s been a lot of, like, ‘Congratulations! I have no idea what this is, but good for you!’” she said in an interview with CNN Sport.
Originally from Indianapolis, Banschbach moved to Suffolk, England, for work and took up the game entirely by chance last year.
“Last fall, [I was] seeing all the conkers on the sidewalks and kind of wondering what they were,” she remembered. “So I just googled it, went down a rabbit hole on the Wikipedia page, and realized that it was a whole sport, it had rules, and that the championship was held just about an hour away.
“I just missed it last year, so myself and some co-workers, we kind of took it up in the office. Just kind of played it as a joke a couple times and planned to come this year.”
Right from the start, Banschbach’s talent was evident. “It’s kind of funny because I had won on two separate occasions, and kind of joked that I was the reigning conker queen.
“Little did I know that that would actually happen.”
‘An out-of-body experience’
Despite impressing among colleagues and traveling to Northamptonshire to attend the World Conker Championships, Banschbach did not originally intend to enter as a competitor.
“A friend of mine entered first,” said the 34-year-old. “I didn’t want him to be the only one, so I ended up kind of begrudgingly registering.”
Banschbach’s last-minute entry did mean that she missed out on one of the traditions of the tournament – competing in a costume.
“There was a man with a giant Yoda head. There was a guy that had sort of a papier-mâché conker shell,” she remembered. “I think my final opponent, she was a flight attendant. There was a Boy George.
“Lots of fun, random costumes… William the Conker-er!”
You would be mistaken for thinking, given the colorful outfits on display, that Banschbach’s opponents were just there for a relaxed day out.
“There was a three-time champion there. She was really intimidating to look at,” said the American. “Just knowing that she was successful, and she kind of had this stone face, like ‘Oh, she’s serious about this.’”
The crowd, about 2,000-strong, was no less hostile, even if it was all in jest.
“It was all in good fun. But I specifically remember the commentator would say something like ‘Oh, we’ve never had an American winner,’” said Banschbach. “And (the spectators) would shout, ‘And you’re never gonna have one!’”
How wrong they were. As the rounds went on, Banschbach grew stronger and stronger.
“Honestly, it kind of felt like an out-of-body experience. I didn’t feel like I was actually experiencing it. I was sort of watching it from outside of my body. Hard to explain, really.
“I think the momentum started flowing the further I got. I was getting more solid hits every round I progressed,” she continued.
“I was kind of in denial about it. I think the further I got, it was just like, ‘Wait, could I? Actually? No, I shouldn’t!’ But you know, we have an American saying, ‘Mama didn’t raise no quitter!’ I had made it that far, so might as well just keep on going!”
I came, I saw, I conkered
Before she knew it, Banschbach had won the women’s final and was facing off against competition veteran David Jakins, who first competed in 1977 and is known as “King Conker,” in the overall final.
The match lasted two or three minutes, a relative war of attrition in conker terms.
“We had some back and forth,” said Banschbach. “I actually got a pretty good crack in my conker, so I was kind of nervous that, you know, I would go out any second.
“His (conker) was kind of spreading further and further,” she continued. “That last solid hit just sort of exploded it.”
Kelci Banschbach, in her competitive conkers debut, had felled an icon of the sport.
“It was pretty euphoric, I’m not going to lie. I felt bad at the same time because David was a lovely guy, and I know it meant a lot to him to win it as well,” she remembered.
“There was some ‘U-S-A!’ chants in the background. So probably the closest I’ll get to any sort of big win at any stage in my life.”
The champion’s prizes for having pulled off such a feat and become the greatest in the land? A trophy, a dish towel, a tote bag and a coaster.
“I do have the trophy out on display. I brought it into work for a couple days, had to do a little victory round of the offices,” she laughed.
However, the victory was bittersweet. Due to move back to the US for work, Banschbach believes it is unlikely she will be able to defend her crown next year.
The 2025 Championships will likely attract an even larger crowd, after controversy overshadowed the men’s tournament this year. Jakins, who had never won the men’s competition previously, broke multiple opponents’ chestnuts with just one hit and was later found with a steel replica conker in his pocket.
He was later cleared of wrongdoing by the organizers, who said there was no evidence he had used the dummy nut, but the scandal had already made news around the world.
“I hope that I can somehow make it back next year because I do wonder if it’s going to draw a lot more people next year,” said Banschbach. “I would love to see that. I’ll just make a surprise cameo out of nowhere!
“Never say never! I won’t be living here anymore, but I’ll certainly try my best. Otherwise, I’ll see if I can convince some of my coworkers to uphold the American title.”