DONEGAL TWP — Horseshoes had always been a part of Vince Neff's life.

Better known as Butch, he was practically born into the sport.

“My father (also named Vince) played quite a bit and that's how I took up the game,” the 74-year-old Neff said. “I've been playing it all my life.”

Neff and his wife went on to have three daughters — Sharon, Karen and Melanie — who were active in sports. They played basketball and softball at Karns City High School.

But no horseshoes.

“They never got into it,” Neff said.

But his lone son, Mike?

Different story.

“I took up the game when I was 6,” Mike Neff, now 54, said. “It was all around me. My dad played. My grandfather played. My uncle played. We'd go over to my grandparents' house for supper on Sundays and we'd wind up at the pits in his backyard, tossing shoes all day.

“It was almost a ritual.”

Butch Neff had horseshoe pits in his yard as well. That's where his son said he truly learned the game that led him to winning a horseshoes world championship in 1999.

“During the summer, I used to go down to those pits and practice four hours in the morning, break for lunch, then go down and toss for another two hours,” Mike Neff said. “I did that for years growing up. All I wanted was to be as good as my dad.”

When Butch Neff's time became available later in the day, he joined his son and they played a few games each day.

“I used to spot him points ... until the day came when he was good enough to beat me without 'em,” Butch Neff said, laughing.

“I was about 17,” his son said. “I remember that well. We became really competitive with each other. I'd win a game, he'd win a game ... The competitiveness was so much fun.”

As was having something in common about which to be passionate.

“We loved the same thing, so we always had something to do together. And we are always talking horseshoes,” the elder Neff said. “It kept us close through the years. There's no doubt about that.”

Butch Neff has been a member of the Butler County Horseshoe League for decades. His son joined the league at age 12.

But eventually, Mike Neff moved away, accepting a job transfer to Los Angeles. He lived there for 23 years.

“Yeah, I missed it,” he said of tossing horseshoes with family and friends. “But I never left the game.”

Mike Neff found horseshoe leagues in California. He became the first vice president of one league, and secretary, treasurer and statistician in another.

Meanwhile, his father continued to play in the Butler County league.

Both went on to place second at the National Horseshoe Pitching Association tournament in different years, neither ever claiming the individual title. Butch Neff won at NHPA nationals three times in doubles.

Mike Neff returned to Butler County in February 2013.

The father-son duo became teammates again in the Butler County Horseshoe League. Both honed their skills to the point that Mike once tossed 32 ringers in a row, his father 20 out of 22 tosses.

Mike Neff hasn't tossed horseshoes in the past few years. He developed shoulder problems and had a hip replacement. His father is showing no signs of giving it up.

“There are guys in this league still playing in their 80s,” Butch Neff said. “I'll probably be one of them someday.”

Mike Neff remains part of the league as its statistician. He remains on his team's roster as well.

“You never know when we might need him as a last-minute replacement,” his father said.

Mike Neff bowls once a week “as my athletic activity now.”

But is his horseshoe career over?

“Nah, I'm planning on playing again,” he said.

“I'm counting on it,” his father said, grinning.