The IFA Youth Commission invites all interested participants, coaches, trainers and athletes to the 5th IFA Youth Congress (virtual congress) on Sunday, 03 July 2022, 10:30 a.m. Link: http://tinyurl.com/IFA2022YouthCongress

The Youth Congress will be conducted as a virtual meeting and will end at approximately 11:30 a.m.

We inform about the current activities of the IFA and its Youth Commission as well as the developments and projects of the Fistball Academy. For this purpose we have prepared the following agenda:

TOP 1 Welcome and opening of the Youth Congress

TOP 2 Activities of the Youth Commission
o Current information on the strategic goals of the Youth Commission
o Involvement and activities of the U 18 athlete representatives

TOP 3 The Fistball Academy
o News about the current status of the Fistball Academy
o Current status of the training and video platform “United by Fistball
o New projects of the “Training modules” platform
o Presentation youth festival

TOP 4 U18 World Championships
o Information about the U18 World Championship 2022 / 2023 in New Zealand
o Bids to host the U18 World Championships in 2024

TOP 5 2 x 2 Fistball as 2nd Fistball discipline

TOP 6 Proposals / suggestions

Miscellaneous / Other

EN_Invitation and agenda Youth-congress 2022_final

In addition to the large-scale live broadcasts from Birmingham, some of which will cover more than ten hours each day, there will also be extensive highlight summaries to watch. Broadcasts will include (as it stands now) the inaugural Women’s Fistball Gold Medal match on Wednesday, July 14 at 2:00 a.m. CET and the Men’s Gold Medal Match on Thursday, July 14 at 9:00 p.m.
“We are very pleased that Sport1 has today published over 100 hours of free-TV and simulcast live stream coverage of the World Games 2022 on SPORT1.de and in the SPORT1 apps! This is great news, after all, we were the highlight in their TV coverage in 2017 with Fistball.”, said IFA President Jörn Verleger.
The spectacular Fistball final 2017 played between Germany and Switzerland not only thrilled the crowd of spectators in the stadium itself. The transmission of the final reached an audience of almost 300,000 viewers on the German TV Channel SPORT1. The market share of SPORT1 was at a strong 3.0% in the SPORT1 core target group of men from 14 to 49 years (M14-49). This was the best figure during all days of the SPORT1 TV coverage of The World Games 2017.

On 19 April 2022 IFA sent out the invitation to a virtual Extraordinary IFA 2022 Congress on 3 July 2022 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

On 26 June 2022 IFA updated the invitation and the congress file including the amendments to the IFA Statues and the reporting of the Board of Directors.

Please register your delegates on https://tinyurl.com/IFAcongress2022 latest 30 June 2022.

With a 4:1 (11:7, 11:6, 9:11, 11:7, 11:7) victory against Austria, the German men’s national Fistball team defended its title at the European Championships in Caldaro (ITA) (June 9-12, 2022). For six players from the squad of national coach Olaf Neuenfeld it was the first European Championship title. Almost 2,000 spectators watched the European Fistball Championships.

It was the remake of the World Championship gold medal match of 2019, the winner is again Germany at the European Championships. The team around captain Fabian Sagstetter was able to secure the 15th European Championship title four weeks before The World Games in Birmingham (Alabama/USA) after a hard-fought match. Only in the 3rd set the Austrians could challenge the favorite, the other sets were relatively clear in favor of the reigning World Champion.

Bronze went to Switzerland after a likewise very exciting and contested match. The Italians started strongly in the first set and were able to take a 1:0 lead in sets, but Switzerland was able to turn the match around afterwards and secure the bronze medal thanks to a 4:1 victory.

The Czech Republic managed to beat Belgium 3:1 in the 7th place match, while Denmark secured the 5th place thanks to a 3:1 win against Serbia.

The INTERACT Pledge Signing Ceremony took place on 9th June during the 27th TAFISA World Congress in Portoroz, Slovenia. 18 International Sport Organisations signed the INTERACT Pledge in front of an audience of over 300 people.

With their signature, the following organisations have taken the responsibility to create a better world through Sport for All for the next generation:
· ITTF Foundation
· International Fistball Association
· World Flying Disc Federation
· International Functional Fitness Federation
· International Federation Icestocksport
· Fédération Internationale de Teqball
· International Dance Organization
· International Taekwon-Do Federation
· Majorette Sport World Federation
· Confederazione Boccistica Internazionale
· World Minigolf Sport Federation
· International Zurkaneh Sport Federation
· World Judo Federation
· World Jiu Jitsu Confederation
· Badminton World Federation
· World Pilates Confederation
· International Tchoukball Federation
· International Jump Rope Union

Through the pledge’s resolution, based on international and Euopean Policy Papers, signatories commit to:
· Integrate Sport for All as part of elite and major sport events, as well as their legacy;
· Strengthen partnerships with national and local hosts to foster local Sport for All approaches;
· Adapt sports and disciplines to the needs of diverse target groups. This can be done through the modification of rules, equipment, environment and teaching styles;
· Team up with other International and European Sport Organisations and share your knowledge, experience, expertise and resources to promote Sport for All;
· Provide frameworks, support and assistance to national and local members, helping them develop Sport for All initiatives

The signing ceremony was a huge success for INTERACT – an Erasmus+ co-founded project of TAFISA in which IFA is member – , and showed once again how the Sport for All movement is growing.

The INTERACT Pledge is available here. International Sport Organisations interested in signing it should contact the INTERACT Team at contact@interact-sport.com. More signing ceremonies will be organized in the coming months, with the next event during the 2nd European Sport for All Games in Perugia, Italy, 23rd – 29th September 2022.

318 participants representing 173 organisations across 54 countries joined the 27th TAFISA World Congress in Portoroz, Slovenia, which was hosted by the Olympic Committee of Slovenia – Association of Sports Federation and Sports Union of Slovenia. Over the course of a week, the Global Sport for All Movement came together to meet, exchange, and discuss how Sport for All can adapt to a changing environment and better contribute to society. IFA was represented by President Jörn Verleger, Secretary General Chris Oberlehner and TAFISA INTERACT project member Theresa Eidenhammer.

On the evening of 8 June, Congress participants were welcomed by a cultural show. With features ranging from gymnastics performed by seniors to modern dance, the cultural performances demonstrated the joy of being physically active at all ages, setting the tone for the Congress.
Tackling the theme of “Sport for All in a Changing World”, the Congress offered insights from over 50 international speakers, moderators and panellists including International Fistball Association President Jörn Verleger contributed to an inspiring programme.

TAFISA General Assembly
On Friday 10 June, the TAFISA General Assembly, TAFISA’s supreme decision-making body, was held and voted on important decisions for the future of the organisation. The host of the 29th TAFISA World Congress 2025 was elected to be Sokol, in the city of Prague, Czech Republic.

TAFISA’s Statutes were also revised and updated. The new statutes can be consulted here on TAFISA’s website: TAFISA Statutes 2022

Finally, the General Assembly concluded with the election of the new TAFISA Board of Directors. Wolfgang Baumann was elected TAFISA President and a new Board of Directors was elected for 2022-2025, with five women present on the Board for the first time in TAFISA’s history.

TAFISA’s 30th Anniversary
On the occasion of TAFISA’s 30th Anniversary, a very special programme was held in the Tartini Theatre, retracing the history of TAFISA and inviting both pioneers and the new generation to share their thoughts on Sport for All. The celebrations continued with a beach party where participants marveled at fire dancers while enjoying a slice of birthday cake and signature non-alcoholic cocktails.

Watch the Highlights
You can (re)live the Congress through the highlights video posted on the official TAFISA Congress YouTube channel.

Tonight the official group drawing of the Fistball competitions at The World Games 2022 was broadcasted on IFA Facebook.

The Men’s and Women’s preliminary rounds are played in 2 groups each (A, B).
The basis for this group drawing was the results of the last World Championships before the COVID19 pandemic: 2019 in Switzerland (MEN) and 2018 in Austria (WOMEN): Teams that were not participating there were automatically added to last pool of the competition.
The drawn teams were then allocated to either group A or B by a second draw.

Pool for the Drawing:

These are the groups of the Men’s Fistball Competition at The World Games 2022:

These are the groups of the Women’s Fistball Competition at The World Games 2022:

Download the match schedule for the Men’s and Women’s Fistball Competition at The World Games: SCHEDULE

In order to promote gender equality in Fistball the IFA Board of Directors established in its meeting on 4 June a Gender Equality Policy to support the equal representation of all genders at a volunteer and professional level within the IFA structures.

Achieving gender equity in Fistball will take time and patience. A step-by-step process from initial consideration, to starting a discussion, to implementing a strategy to promote gender equity is a long road, but it’s necessary and worth starting this journey.

In 2021, the IFA presented for the first time a Gender Equality Toolkit that provides information on gender equality and ideas/strategies specifically for Fistball organizers to make events more gender equitable.

Furthermore, the board approved a proposal to the Extraordinary IFA 2022 Congress on 3 July 2022 1:30 p.m. (CET) to include a link to the new Gender Equality Policy in the updated IFA Statues in fulfilling the IFA Strategic Plan.

The IFA Board of Directors has approved in its 15th virtual meeting on Saturday 4th June 2022 the 108-page IFA 2021 Annual Report and final Financial Report 2021.

Furthermore, the motion of the board to change the IFA Statues at the Extraordinary IFA 2022 Congress and the preparation of the 5th IFA Youth Congress on 3 July 2022 were discussed.

IFA Secertary General Chris Oberlehner repeorted about the latest developments in Birmigham (Alabama/USA) where in a few weeks 207 players and officials from the Fistball familiy will arrive at The World Games 2022. The official match scheduale will be published this week.

Furthermore, the board approved a new IFA Gender Equality Policy.

The International World Games Association (IWGA) and the Birmingham Organizing Committee team up with the Olympic Channel Services (OCS), to stream The World Games 2022 (TWG) at Olympics.com in the USA from 7 – 17 July 2022.

The agreement with Olympic Channel Services (OCS) will see a comprehensive digital offering to stream the live action from The World Games 2022 (TWG) in Birmingham, Alabama on Olympics.com, the sports content hub of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). OCS will provide a 24/7 feed as well as individual feeds of the multi-sports event, the second time it will be streamed on the platform following success in 2017. Fans in the USA will be able to watch the action live on Olympics.com.

This digital streaming agreement is in addition to CBS Sports’ wide-ranging coverage in the USA. CBS Sports Network will televise one-hour highlight shows after each day of competition and the CBS Television Network will broadcast two, one-hour specials, with broadcast coverage also streaming live on Paramount+. Fans in the USA will now be able to watch nearly all of the 223 medal decisions over 34 live events.

Not yet decided is if The World Games are broadcasted e.g. in Germany or Switzerland on public TV.