Fistball history – 35 years ago today …

… the sixth Men’s Fistball World Championship opened in Buenos Aires. Six teams took part in the three-day world championship. In the preliminary round everyone played against everyone. In the semifinals, the first-place team plays the fourth-place team from the preliminary round and the second-place team plays the third-place team from the preliminary round. The fifth and sixth-placed teams from the preliminary round played for fifth place. In the semifinals, Austria beat Switzerland 23-21. Germany won 27:23 against Brazil.
A few hours after the semifinals, Germany beat Austria 26:25 in the gold medal match, while third place went to Brazil with a 24:22 win. Fifth place was secured by a clear 34:19 against Chile by the team from Argentina, which hosted a Fistball World Championship for the first time. A total of about 6,000 spectators followed the action, 4,000 of them on the final day.
World Champion Germany: Dieter Thomas (TSV Pfungstadt), Dirk Schachtsiek, Udo Schulz (both TSV Hagen 1860), Udo Mehle, Udo Cymera (both TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Ulrich Richter (SV Wacker Burghausen), Torsten Büsselmann (Ahlhorner SV), Uwe Schäfer (TV Waibstadt);
Coach: Hansfried Heinrichs (TSV Pfungstadt).
Substitute Stefan Lebert (TuS RW Koblenz) was part of the team but was not officially allowed to play.

Congrats to IFA Athletes Commission Chair Katharina Lackinger, who becomes Austrian federation coach and takes over the management of the Fistball Performance Center Linz.

National team player Katharina Lackinger will take over the management of the fistball performance center in Linz as well as the function of the federation coach of Faustball Austria from November. The sports scientist succeeds Martin Weiß, who has decided to take on a new professional challenge.

Martin Weiß, who as a former world-class player has been responsible for and played a major role in developing athletic training at Faustball Austria over the past 16 years, took over as head of the University Sports Institute at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz. In his role as team manager of the men’s national team, Weiß will remain with the federation with his expertise.

Katharina Lackinger convinces at the Hearing.

Of the applicants for the succession, two made it to the final round. After a hearing in front of a commission of Faustball Austria led by Vice President Peter Oberlehner, the decision then fell on Lackinger, who will celebrate her 26th birthday in a few days. “As a studied sports scientist, Katharina is outstandingly qualified professionally. In her role as a still active pillar of our women’s national team, she is also very familiar with the work in the federation,” Oberlehner is pleased with the decision of the commission.

Large area of responsibility.

The tasks for Lackinger are many and varied. As the contact person for all sports science agendas of the Faustball Austria national teams, she is responsible for sports motor tests, the training plans for the team squads and personal support. Furthermore, the Linz native is responsible for training and further education within the association (training of trainers, instructors and coaches) as well as for the supervision at the Heeresleistungssportzentrum (HLSZ) and the BORG Leistungssport Linz. “After all, I already went through many of these processes as a player. It is a nice challenge for me to continue the successful work of my predecessor and to contribute my experience and ideas for further development in this area,” says Lackinger, looking forward to the new tasks.

Women’s National Team coaching staff to be restructured.

Not only professionally, but also athletically Lackinger has to prepare for a change. After the runner-up title at the home World Championships in Grieskirchen, the coaching duo Christian Zöttl/Markus Fels decided to end their involvement in the women’s national team. “This job, which we do besides our main professions, is very challenging and especially time-consuming. Due to the workload and the desire to spend more time with the family, we have decided with a heavy heart to end our coaching activities,” the two explain. “We are of course sad about this decision,” Oberlehner says, “but we are also grateful for the time Christian and Markus spent with us. They have done an excellent job and hand over an intact team. We wish them both all the best for their future professional and private careers!”. Until a new coaching staff is found, sports coordinator Michael Reisenberger will take care of the needs of the women’s national team on an interim basis.

The 12th edition of The World Games will take place in Chengdu (People’s Republic of China) from 7 to 17 August 2025. These dates were agreed upon by the International World Games Association (IWGA) together with the Local Organising Committee in the capital of Sichuan Province. After the 11th edition of the TWG in Birmingham, Alabama had to be postponed by one year to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IWGA is thus returning to its standard scheduling.

The World Games 2025 will be the first edition held under the guidelines set by the strategy paper ‘Growth Beyond Excellence’. The maximum permitted number (this includes athletes and technical officials) for the official sports programme of TWG 2025 onwards will be increased from 4200 to 5000.

In principle, this number will include 4000 participants proposed by the 39 IWGA Member Federations with events on the programme. The remaining 1000 participants will be made up of participants from other disciplines in agreement with the host cities, participants from disciplines determined in consultation with the International Olympic Committee, and participants from para-disciplines. These disciplines will be determined after consultation with the International Paralympic Committee.

The next edition of TWG in Birmingham, Alabama will be attended by 3,600 athletes from more than 100 countries. 34 sports are on the programme for the Games, which take place from 7 to 17 July 2022.

Leipzig STAR winner Jacob Jungclaussen will meet numerous national fistball players in Nuremberg at the 2×2 Fistball European STAR presented by Greater Birmingham CVB, Alabama

Five years after the successful U18 Fistball World Championships in Eibach, international fistball returns to the sports facility at the Rednitz with a tournament. Teams with from Germany, Austria, Brazil and Chile will fight for the first “2×2 Fistball European STAR” presented by Birmingham (USA), the venue of the next World Games. The preliminary round starts at 11 am, the final around 5 pm. Admission is free.

Leipzig winner Jacob Jungclaussen, who won with Fabio Lauck a week ago, will compete with Marc Löwe this time. In the field of participants filled with numerous national players, he will meet, among others, Fabian Sagstetter from Schweinfurt, who will compete together with national teammate Nick Trinemeier from Mannheim. Other top players include German U18 World Champion Johannes Jungclaussen, who has entered together with German U18 national coach Kolja Meyer.

From Brazil, national player Gabriel Heck has announced his participation. He will form a team with Brazilian U18 national player Manuela Zott Jacobs. Both are playing in the Austrian Bundesliga.

In addition to mixed teams, mixed country teams are also allowed, as demonstrated by Chile’s Lorenza Valenzuela and IFA General Secretary Christoph Oberlehner from Austria.

Game schedule
11:00 Preliminary round
14:00 1/8 Final
15:30 Quarter finals
16:30 Semifinals
17:00 Final (20 min after the end of the semifinal)

Great honor for IFA Honorary President Karl Weiss, who was awarded the Ring of Honor by the Faustball Austria on Sunday on the sidelines of the Austrian Final3 event in Nussbach.

The Ring of Honor is the highest award given by ÖFBB.

Birmingham, Alabama (USA), host city of The World Games 2022, supports the world premiere of the new “2×2 Fistball STAR Events presented by Greater Birmingham CVB, Alabama” in Leipzig and Nuremberg.

“This will give the host city of the next games of the non-olympic sports a special presence in the run-up to The World Games,” said IFA President Jörn Verleger looking forward to the support for the world premiere of the new discipline.

“Birmingham and Alabama are always worth a trip,” said Janin Nachtweh, representative at the Alabama Tourist Office for Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Traditionally, a large Fistball fan base always travels along to the World Games, which will be held next year from July 7 to 17. “Alabama will delight its guests with its outstanding southern hospitality”, Nachtweh added. All tickets are officially on sale now and available on www.twg2022.com/tickets.

“Our goal is to complement the offer for Fistball players and to be able to offer a form of play for even more young people in inner cities without the classic grass court,” International Fistball Association President Jörn Verleger said. “I don’t want to rule out that we will still propose 2×2 Fistball to the IWGA at short notice as an addition to the program in Birmingham after a successful start. For the first time, six women’s teams will also play for medals in the traditional 5 a side match in 2022. Fistball has been on the program of the London Games since 1985.

The game is played on an area of 15 by 30 meters, with the actual playing field measuring only 10 by 3 meters. During the turn, the ball is allowed to come up within the complete own half. When the ball rolls over, it must land in the opponent’s half of the field. The official match ball was developed especially for the series, weighs 230g and is 55cm in circumference. The small circumference reduces the advantage of strong attacking players. Technical skills and reaction speed promise spectacular rallies.
Teams from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Brazil, Chile and probably India will compete in the inaugural 2×2 events.

Originally, the final of the Fistball World Tour was planned to take place in Birmingham (Alabama) this year, but had to be cancelled due to pandemic.

What is generally known under the term “small field fistball”, IFA has now poured into a uniform set of rules as the official “2×2 Fistball”. The new discipline will now celebrate its world premiere this weekend at the “2×2 Faustball Leipzig STAR” with 12 teams from Germany and the Czech Republic as part of the male U12 German champs at the Wettinbrücke sports venue. The group matches start at 10 am and the semifinals at 4 pm. The gold medal match on the Sparkassen Center Court will take place at 5:30 pm. Admission including the U12 champs costs 6 euros.

12 teams have registered. Participats are: Annutz (Anne & Utz Schönburg), Die Löhdis (Tom & Thilo Löhden), Die Klöppies (Denny & Angelika Kloß) FaC Zdechovice (Nikola Formanová & Nikola Marková), FaC Zdechovice II (Natálie & Nikola Faltysová), VFBree (Andres Knodel & Paul Jantzen), Ajax Dauerstramm (Jacob Jungclaussen & Fabio Lauck) Anna and Elsa (Anna Schreiner & Michael Knodel), Den Uhrzeigersinn (Max Zöhrer & Jakob Mahn), SV 1975 Zeulenroda (Justin Kießling & Martin Lerch), Die bengligen Raubakuen (Malte Schultz & Hannes Himmelhan) and Tunierleitungibteinenaus (Tim Jentsch & Leon Pohl).

All teams will start in the open category.

Originally, the world premiere of the new format was planned for the International German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig in May and was announced as a 2×2 fistball world championship. After the cancellation of the Festival and the CSIT World Sport Games scheduled as a replacement event in mid-October, the federation has now created a small tournament series at short notice to start the project this year.

“The aim is to establish a second discipline alongside classic 5-a-side fistball that is more compact, has an even greater event character and can be played on different surfaces,” said IFA President Jörn Verleger. “We are trying to push the sport of fistball. Our goal is to complement the fistball offer and to be able to offer a form of play for even more young people in inner cities without the classic grass court,” said head of fistball department Julian Scharf of the organizer SC DHfK Leipzig.

The tournament format with two courts and three guaranteed games per team as well as a players’ party in the evening is somewhat reminiscent of beach volleyball due to its compact and event-oriented design.

The tournament is played on an area of 15×30 meters, whereby the actual playing field is only 10 by 3 meters. During the turn, the ball is allowed to come up within the complete own half. When the ball rolls over, it must come up in the opponent’s half of the pitch.

The Errea game ball was developed especially for the series, weighs 230g and is 55cm in circumference. Also the official fistball net tape is a new development of the Leipzig company variscia.

The small circumference reduces the advantage of strong attacking players. Technical skills and reaction speed promise spectacular rallies.

Leipzig STAR receives wildcard for the 2×2 Fistball European STAR in Nuremberg-Eibach on September 25.

The winners of Leipzig can look forward to a prize money of 100 € for the victory in the final and a wildcard for the 2×2 Fistball European STAR, which will take place one week later in Nuremberg-Eibach. In addition to German teams, top European players from Austria, Switzerland, Brazil and Chile will also compete. Mixed country teams are also allowed.

Congrats to the Fistball Association of South Africa documentary “The Mighty Fist” winning ‘Best documentary” award at Genesis International Film Festival in Moscow.

The documentary “The Mighty Fist” directed by Leif Petersen, Justin Patrick, and edited by Benjamin Shepherd Haskins and the crew of Leon Visser Zee Muller James Suter Kayla Peters and many other awesome people was submitted to the Genesis International Film Festival in Moscow.

A bunch of independent, cool and arty people at that festival judged it good enough from over 200 films to win the ‘Best documentary” award!

Leif was in 2015 also the captain of the South African National Fistball team which as he said “fulfilled our dreams of covering ourselves in international sports glory!”

The film is on the IFA YouTube Channel

IFA tests new discipline and format “2×2 Fistball” with new “STAR Tournament Series
Debut at the “2×2 Fistball Leipzig STAR” on September 18 – “2×2 Fistball European STAR” on September 25 in Nuremberg

What is generally known under the term “small field fistball”, the world fistball federation IFA has now cast into a uniform set of rules as the official “2×2 Fistball”. “The aim is to establish a second discipline alongside classic 5-a-side fistball that is more compact, has an even greater event character and can be played on different surfaces,” said IFA President Jörn Verleger. “Our goal is to complement our offer to the youth to be able to provide a form of play for even more young people in inner cities without the classic grass court.”

Originally, the world debut of the new format was planned as part of the International German Gymnastics Festival scedualed in Leipzig in May 2021 and advertised as a 2×2 World Championship. After the cancellation of the gymnastics festival and the CSIT World Sport Games scheduled as a replacement event in mid-October, the federation has now created a small tournament series at short notice to start the project this year.

The 2×2 Fistball Leipzig STAR will kick off on Saturday, September 18, where the male U12 Fistball German Championships will be held at the same time. The field of participants is limited to 48 teams of two persons each. Announced are the categories women, mixed and an open category, in which also pure women or mixed teams can start.

The format with three guaranteed matches per team, a professional center court as well as a planned players’ party in the evening is somewhat reminiscent of beach volleyball due to its compact and event-oriented design.

Games are played on an area of 15×30 meters, whereby the actual playing field is only 10 by 3 meters. During the turn, the ball is allowed to come up within the complete own half. When the ball rolls over, it must come up in the opponent’s half of the pitch. The new ERREA match ball was developed especially for the series, weighs 230g and is 55cm in circumference. Also the official fistball net is a new development of the Leipzig company VARISCIA. The small circumference reduces the advantage of strong attacking players. Technical skills and reaction speed promise spectacular rallies.

Invitation Leipzig

Registration http://tiny.cc/2×2-Leipzig

Leipzig STAR winner receives wildcard for the 2×2 Fistball European STAR in Nuremberg on September 25

The winners of Leipzig can look forward to a small prize money for the final victory and also to a wildcard for the 2×2 Fistball European STAR, which will take place one week later in Nuremberg. There are also three categories. There are already commitments from top players from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Brazil and Chile. Also mixed country teams are permitted. Admission to the event site is free.

Invitation Nuremberg

Registration https://tinyurl.com/2×2-Eibach

Congrats to TV Jahn Schneverdingen and Union Tigers Vöcklabruck winning the European Champions Cup 2021. It was 19 months ago, the last showdown of European club teams at the Champions Cup.

Champions Cup Women in Diepoldsau (Switzerland)

At the Women’s Champions Cup in Diepoldsau, Switzerland, three German teams – TV Jahn Schneverdingen, Ahlhorner SV and TSV Dennach – made it onto the podium.

In a rain battle, TV Jahn Schneverdingen secured the title against Ahlhorner SV in the final. After the Heidschnucken had taken the lead in the first set, Ahlhorn managed to equalize the score 1:1 – but in the end TV Jahn made the title perfect (11:6, 10:12, 11:9, 11:5). The team of coach Tine Seitz remained without defeat over the entire tournament, had, after winning the preliminary round group, defeated Union Nussbach from Austria in the semifinals in a gripping match (11:8, 11:7, 8:11, 8:11, 12:10) and thus paved the way for the first European field title since 2006. With the success, the Schneverdingen women replace TSV Dennach as title holders, who had previously won five times in a row.

The Dennach girls were defeated in the semifinals by the eventual silver medalists from Ahlhorn. Although TSV turned a 0:1 deficit into an interim 2:1 lead – in the end, however, ASV rejoiced (11:8, 5:11, 5:11, 11:8, 11:9). In the bronze medal match, the Pink Ladies went the full distance once again. Against Union Nussbach, the defending champions were trailing 1:2 before they fought their way impressively to the podium (11:8, 10:12, 9:11, 11:7, 13:11).

Final day re-live on https://youtu.be/O1ITUYZQI2c

European Champions Cup Men

The Austrian only men’s final in Vöcklabruck Union Tigers Vöcklabruck beated Union Compact Freistadt in the gold medal match in the first final in 10 years with no German men´s team. In 2011 the finalists were Union Freistadt and FG Grieskirchen/Pötting. TSV Pfungstadt finished third winning against FAUSTBALL WIDNAU.

All matches re-live on www.fistball.tv.

The hosts from Vöcklabruck played sovereign in front of their home crowd already in the preliminary round and took the group victory. However, the plan to avoid a semifinal duel with the big favorites from Pfungstadt by winning the preliminary round did not work out. The Germans, who last won the Champions Cup five times in a row, only finished their group in second place. But the Vöcklabruckers, who were already able to challenge the defending champions in their last duels, did not let that deter them from their big goal. “If you want to win the Cup, you have to win against the best teams. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the final or already before,” Tigers captain Jakob Huemer gave the direction of travel for the semi-final. With a great team performance and an unconditional will to win, the Austrian champions earned a well-deserved 3:2 victory and dethroned the German dominators around superstar Patrick Thomas.

The free skate was done, but the big title goal was not yet reached. The final was anything but a compulsory exercise, as the Bundesliga rival Freistadt was waiting there somewhat surprisingly. The team from the Mühlviertel region had only slipped into the competition at short notice after the cancellation of Bolzano and played their way into the final almost inconspicuously with a refreshing mix of veterans and young talents in the shadow of the anticipated final between Pfungstadt and Vöcklabruck.

Despite being the favorites, it was not an easy task for Vöcklabruck, as the Freistadt team is considered internationally experienced and also won the last Austrian Champions Cup in 2011. However, the current number one in Austria kept its nerve in the final and ultimately prevailed clearly with 3:0. “We are overjoyed that it finally worked out,” said Vöcklabruck coach Michael Fels. For years, a young squad was consistently built up and brought up to the top. “Now we could also reap the fruits of the hard work internationally,” said a satisfied Tigers boss Stefan Huemer. In Freistadt, one can live well with the final result despite the defeat in the final. “Hardly anyone had us on the bill, now we have won silver in the most important international club competition – that fits so!”, my captain Jean Andrioli.

Photocredit: Wolfgang Benedik