IFA President Jörn Verleger and Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner used their trip to the German Indoor Fistball Championship in Mannheim, which begins today, to advance the preparation for the IFA 2023 Fistball Men’s World Championship at the same place. In cooperation with the German Faustball League DFBL and TV Käfertal, the legal structure for the World Championship was founded, which should also promote the international work of the IFA.

The talks started with a visit to the CEO Eric Schneidenbach from the service company of the German Gymnastics Federation DTB in Frankfurt to cooperate in marketing and sponsoring matters. The meeting with BUGA 23 managing director Michael Schnellbach and marketing director Kirsten Batzler focused on synergy effects for the Federal Garden Show BUGA, which will also take place in Mannheim in 2023. Topics such as joint ticketing, marketing and events were discussed.

The most important point was the establishing of the new club “Förderverein Faustball²”, a legal structure as basis of the World Championship. The association should be the basis for the preparation of the World Championship, but also support the international work of the IFA. The founding members elected the TV Käfertal chairman Jörg Trinemeier also as the new clubs chairman, who represents the association together with IFA President Jörn Verleger as treasurer. The five-member board also includes Ulli Meiners (Germany), Peter Oberlehner (Austria) and Franco Giori (Switzerland), three representatives of the fistball core markets in Europe, to launch projects for international work in fistball.

“The next step will be the appointment of a voluntary Local Organizing Committee and the establishing of an event company in order to provide legal and tax protection for the preparation for the World Championships,” said Verleger. Since August last year, Trinemeier, Verleger and Oberlehner have been working on the basics for preparing for the World Championship at a weekly jour fixe.

World Championship leaders at Rhein-Neckar TV

In the evening program of Rhein-Neckar TV, Trinemeier and Verleger have been invited to talk to moderator Wolfgang Grünwald and promote the coming German and World Championships.

At its headquarters in Feistritz / Drau, IFA President Jörn Verleger and Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner visited Sportastic HandelsgmbH. With CEO Thomas Stadtler they discussed the cooperation for 2020 and the further developments in ball production and testing.
Sportastic will provide the official balls for the IFA 2020 Fistball World Tour Final in Birmingham (Alabama, USA) and the IFA 2020 Fistball Women’s World Championship in Llanquihue (Chile). “We are delighted that we were able to agree on the continued cooperation with Sportastic in these two important competitions,” said IFA Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner.
The A series model is newly approved for the 2020 season. The following Sportastic models are now approved:
– PREMIUM dry, 350, men
– PREMIUM dry, 330, women / juniors
– Premium FITTED dry, 350-360, men
– Serie A men
– MICRO dry, 350, men
– MICRO dry, 330 women / juniors
– MICRO wet wet, 370 men
– MICRO wet, 330 women / juniors

In the coming year, the IFA ball licensing system will be completely reorganized. The existing ball licenses for all IFA ball partners expire on March 31, 2021. President Verleger thanked Sportastic for the many years of cooperation and showed confidence that Thomas Stadtler with its high-quality ball products will remain one of the outstanding providers of fistballs even under the new licensing system in 2021.

In a three day session Eric Kindler from USFA and IFA Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner visited the venue and discussed with the local Organizing Committee from The World Games 2021 – Birmingham all areas and departments like Sports Competition, infrastructure, TV production, Volunteering, Marketing or Ticketing. Three days full of great meetings and an exciting site visit at the venue. We are looking forward to the World Tour Finals in Birmingham.

“One of the biggest events of our sport is coming to the US and Birmingham has some very unique advantages compared to other cities. You can expect a truly genuine southern hospitality experience and you will be able to enjoy the incredible soul food of the South! Birmingham has a rich history and in some cases not a positive one. The city has embraced it’s past and looked forward to rebrand the city without forgetting some of the things that happened. You can expect opportunities to interact with the people of Birmingham and will find that they have a curiosity for the new sports coming from The World Games.” said Eric Kindler, who is also chairman of the IFA Athletes´ Commission.

“We are very fortunate to be able to have the backing of The World Games brand and can promise one of our best marketing experiences of Fistball ever. We have a few ‘secret plans’ in the works to give the Fistball community a new untraditional environment that could bring in a larger audience to Fistball. We are looking forward to what is to come and are happy to be able to work with individuals that truly are happy to work for Fistball, and really don’t know what Fistball is beforehand. Fistball is family as we know and tradition will continue on with the World Tour Finals in Birmingham, Alabama.” added Christoph Oberlehner, IFA Secretary General.

IFA is pleased to announce that the IFA Board of Directors has decided unanimously to nominate and fully endorse IFA President Jörn Verleger as candidate for the position as AIMS Secretary General during their recent meeting.

The Alliance of Independent recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) was founded in 2009 by the members of GAISF being non-recognised by the IOC. IFA has always contributed to the development of AIMS and put a focus on such support. Since the last elections IFA was represented in the Council by Karl Weiss, IFA President until 2019. The election is conducted end of April.

Jörn was elected IFA President in 2019. The International Fistball Association (IFA) is the global sports association for Fistball, comprised by 66 national federations. From 2015 to 2019 he served as the federations voluntary Secretary General.

In his professional life he is running the Grünwalder Freizeitpark GmbH as CEO, which is a multi sports venue nearby Munich (Germany). As Sports Manager he has been administrating and serving international sport events and sporting networks since more than 20 years, including the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 in the City of Dresden, the FIDE Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008 and several ITTF World Table Tennis Championships (2006, 2012, 2017).

He is a chair of the IWGA Anti-Doping Panel (International World Games Association) and engaged as Anti-Doping-Officer for WFDF, the World Flying Disc Federation a position he also overtook on a voluntary base for the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) until 2019 respectively. Furthermore, he serves as a member of the Parasport Commissions of WSF (World Squash Federation) and WFDF.

On the national level he has been working for the German Sports Youth (dsj), the German Sports Confederation (DSB) and the Bidding Committee for the Olympic Games Leipzig 2012.

He holds a Master degree (Executive Master of Sports Organisation Management, University Claude Bernard Lyon/France) and has completed his studies of jurisprudence with first and second state examination at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany).

While the first tournaments of the new World Tour season are already played, the best 16 teams of the last year have another highlight coming up: The World Tour Final 2020 from July 17th to 19th in Birmingham, Alabama (USA). Birmingham is a very special venue, as next year the city will also host the World Games, where for the first time in the history of the World Games, fistball will be represented by a men’s and women’s competition, which means a huge progress in the development of fistball. The World Tour Finals will serve as a pre-event before this international sports spectacle, in order to make the sport of fistball more widely known in Birmingham and to bring the sport closer to people in the USA as well.

So who are the “glorious 16” who will be competing for the World Cup at this year’s World Tour Final? A total of 8 men and 8 women teams from 3 continents and 6 countries are represented at the big finals. With the winners of the World Tour Final 2019 Pfungstadt and Dennach, as well as Stammheim, Germany provides three strong teams, who will certainly give everything to be at the top again. Neighbour Austria could double the number of participants this year and is sending state champion Nussbach as well as World Tour newcomer Wolkersdorf/Neusiedl to the women’s competition and vice champion Vöcklabruck and the boys from Froschberg to the men’s event. From Switzerland the men and women of the SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter will travel to the USA. The representatives from Brazil are the women and men from Duque de Caxias and Novo Hamburgo as well as the girls from Sogipa. With Club Manquehue in the women’s competition, another South American team has qualified and host USA is with Swim&Sports Club from New Jersey also represented in the men’s competition.

We can therefore look forward to an exciting World Tour final with the best club teams in the world and are curious to see who will be wearing the fistball crown in 2020.

Today the IFA Board of Directors conducted its 4th meeting since the election in Winterthur (SUI) last year in August.

The International Fistball Association (IFA) is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has approved Malta Sports For All, the Federacion Boliviana de Fistball and the Uganda Fistball Association as its newest member associations, increasing IFA’s membership to 66 national member associations. “IFA is proud to welcome the new member associations to the IFA,” said IFA President Jörn Verleger.

The board heard several reports from IFA Secretary General Chris Oberlehner about the preparation of the IFA 2020 Fistball Women´s World Championship Chile, the IFA 2020 Fistball U18 World Championship Austria with 19 registered teams, the IFA 2020 Fistball World Tour Final in Birmingham and the IFA 2020 World Tour which lift off this weekend in Chile. The fourth season of the IFA Fistball World Tour starts with a total of 27 tournaments on five continents. A record number of 124 teams will fight for the club-fistball crown and the title of the best team in the world. A total of six new tournament organizers are on the tour calendar for the new season of the IFA Fistball World Tour.

IFA Commissions approved

The Board decided about the composition of several IFA commissions. The IFA Youth Commission is composed by chairman Uwe Schneider (GER), Cory Dahn (USA), Verena Hieslmaier (AUT) and an Under 18 representative, who will be elected by the players participating in the IFA 2020 U18 Fistball World Championships in Grieskirchen (Austria). The IFA Ethics Commission is composed by Petra Huber (Secretary General of the Austrian NPC), Thomas Weikert (International Table Tennis Federation ITTF President) and Julia Govinden (CEO of United through Sports) as chairwomen. As a new commission the board established a Sustainability Working Group and asked all member federations for proposals. The board decided unanimously to sign the Sports for Climate Action Framework and approved the first ever IFA 2019 Sustainability Report

Future of Women´s World Championships

Furthermore, the Board established a working group to prepare a decision if their should be a common men´s and women´s world championships 2023 in Mannheim. Currently there will be the women´s event at The World Games 2021, as well as IFA Fistball Women´s World Championships in 2022 and 2024 as well as a possible women´s event at The World Games 2025 in China.

AIMS Council candidate

Finally the IFA Board of Directors nominates IFA President Jörn Verleger as candidate for the position as AIMS Secretary General. The Alliance of Independent recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) was found in 2009 by the non- IOC recognised members of GAISF. Currently, AIMS has 18 sporting international federations as full members. The AIMS President is the General Secretary of IFMA, Stephan Fox. The AIMS Statutory Ordinary General Assembly will be held on Tuesday 21st April 2020 in Beijing and elect a new AIMS Council following the end of the current council’s term. Currently the former IFA President, IFA Honorary President Karl Weiss IFA represents IFA in the AIMS Council.

This year, the fourth season of the IFA Fistball World Tour starts into a new round with a total of 27 tournaments on five continents. A record number of 124 teams will fight for the club-fistball crown and the title of the best team in the world. The tournament kicks off at the beginning of February in Chile, where the first points of the World Tour will be collected.

A total of six new tournament organizers are on the tour calendar for the new season of the IFA Fistball World Tour. This year 124 teams have the possibility to participate in 27 tournaments on five continents and the tournament series starts and ends in Chile in 2020. The new season begins on February 1st with an IFA 250 tournament in Llanquehue (CHI), with Club Manquehue, participant in the World Tour Final 2020. The World Tour season 2020 ends in Chile with an IFA 500 tournament on 1 November in Santiago de Chile.

“The Fistball World Tour is constantly evolving. We have again integrated the feedback of the clubs and hosts and made some changes. New is that with the IFA 250, 500 and Major there are now only three tournament categories. We are very happy about the positive development of the World Tour series and are looking forward to an exciting 2020 season. We are very glad that the World Tour will be carried out on five continents and that we have this amazing number of 124 participating teams. It is particularly pleasing to have another World Tour host in USA, Asia and Australia in addition to the proven World Tour stations and major tournaments in South America and Europe. In addition, there are some new tournaments, especially in Europe,” says Winfried Kronsteiner, chairman of the IFA Sports Commission and co-founder of the World Tour.

Verleger: “Tournament hosts and teams are looking forward to the start of the season”

“The Fistball World Tour is developing very well. In 2020 we will again see many exciting tournaments around the world and the best teams will fight for the World Cup title at the World Tour Finals. I am pleased to see how motivated the tournament organizers and teams are for the new Fistball World Tour season. Especially the record number of participants has put me in a very optimistic mood for this season and I am excited to see which teams can place themselves at the top of the world ranking this year “, says IFA President Jörn Verleger.

IFA 2020 Fistball World Tour with 6 Major tournaments
Six tournaments achieved the quality criteria for the highest category, the major category, in which 1000 points are awarded. 14 tournaments are held in the second tour category with 500 points each, whereas the 250 category consists of 7 tournaments. When taking part in the World Tour clubs can secure a wildcard for the World Tour Finals – the former World Cup. In addition to the six continental winners from Europe, North and South America, Australia, Africa and Asia, the two best-placed teams in the World Tour qualify for the World Tour Final. The women’s team from TSV Dennach (GER) and the men’s team from TSV Pfungstadt (GER) won the IFA 2019 World Tour Finals.

Congrats to The World Games Athlete of the Year Rani and congrats to our Mateus Kuntzler who finished 7th place with very honorable 28.529 votes. We are very proud of you. Thanks to all who voted for him and Fistball!

Mateus Kuntzler started with Fistball when he was 10 years old. Sport has always been very important in his life, but him becoming a world-class Fistball player was a surprise to a lot of people, because he was born with a malformation on his left arm, which is not fully developed: he has practically no left forearm.

Mateus always wanted to prove to himself that he could become a very good player in ‘normal’ sport rather than para-sport. Winning the bronze medal with Team Brazil at the Fistball World Championship in 2019 was the greatest proof of this aim in his life so far. He continued to show outstanding performance throughout the year 2019, being voted as the Most Valuable Player of the Fistball World Tour Finals, where he was runner-up with his club team Novo Hamburgo.

The 3rd Olympic Winter Youth Games, the Youth Olympic Games, took place in Lausanne from January 9 to 22, 2020. 1,880 athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 from more than 70 nations fought for medals in 8 sports. For the first time in Olympic history, the best young winter athletes in 3 regions, 2 countries came together for a binational event. Lausanne 2020 impressively filled the “Youth Olympic Games” with life.

The opening ceremony was atmospheric, dynamic and colorful, but above all it was designed by and with young athletes for young athletes. Olympic Capital and the home of the IOC not only sprayed the Olympic fever in the competition venues, but also in the streets, shops and cafes. Everywhere you saw one of the more than 3,000 volunteers who were always ready to answer questions with a smile.

The third edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games will be remembered by many as one full of symbolism. In a year that marks the 10th anniversary of the first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore, as already it was the case in Buenos Aires 2018, it set out to draw young people to sport, and to live by the Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respect.

Through a decade, the event has grown and carved a unique identity of its own, moving from Asia to Europe, South America and now stands on the cusp of making history in Africa as the first Games to be held on the continent.

“The Youth Olympic Games have constantly evolved to remain relevant to youth,” said Antoine Goetschy, associate director of the YOG. “In 10 years it became an incubator for innovation. It has served as a test bed for new sports and event formats – some making their way to the Olympic Games.

There is 3-on-3 basketball from Singapore 2010, due to make its debut at Tokyo 2020. It was at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter YOG that women’s ski jumping featured at an Olympic event for the first time, later added to the Olympic roster from Sochi 2014.
The greatest benefit of the YOG is not just the competition but the activities around it and the education of the athletes on certain important issues like doping and fair play.

“It’s got a little bit more emotions than the senior Olympics, in a way less formal. And these are friendships that will serve these athletes their whole lives,” said Tara Geraghty-Moats, an American ski jumper and Nordic combined athlete in Lausanne as an Athlete Role Model.

IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach praised at the closing ceremony the 1,880 athletes who took part in these games: “You are the best ambassador of the Olympic Spirit. Stay true to these values for your future Olympic career. I look forward to welcoming you to the Olympic Games again soon. ”

The 4th Winter Youth Olympic Games will take place in Gangwon (South Korea) in 2024.

“We had a very productive trip to Lausanne during these momentous Youth Olympic Games,” IFA President Jörn Verleger said. “I would like to congratulate Lausanne 2020 Organising Committee and the tireless effort of the 3,800 volunteers, without whom this event would not have been possible.”

During their time in Lausanne, President Verleger and Secretary Christoph Oberlehner met with a number of sports movement leaders, including AIMS President Stephan Fox and United Through Sports CEO Julia Govinden.

Photos: IOC

IFA would like to ask all members of the Fistball family to join us in supporting Australia as they endure the horrific fires that are currently ravaging so much of the country. We are grateful that none of our Fistball family have lost their homes, but we ask for your support for the many families who have suffered loss due to the wildfires. If you are able to help in any way, please visit www.rfs.nsw.gov.au

https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/about-us/fundraising