Monthly report (golden book) available

The monthly report with the latest results, rankings and statistics of the WASPA circuit is available now from the download section. We hope you will enjoy the file. December was a great month for WASPA with 15 different tournaments and 129 new players! We have now 472 players from 24 countries involved! We can only thank all those who have made this possible. It is a great feeling to see there are more and more people who believe we can play subbuteo in a fair and friendly spirit! Of course we also hope more nations will be involved in the future and hopefully some nations will be back after some inactive periods. There is a promising future coming up! Hopefully 2013 will be as great as 2012 but we are convinced the circuit will row as we already have many tournaments confirmed for the next few weeks and months, including some tournaments with ETF rules. Thank you and happy new year!

First tournament in Vancouver

This Saturday Dec 29 2012, West Coast TSC hosted a subbuteo tournament in Vancouver under the WASPA banner with 4 players taking part. At the end of the tournament, Gurmeet Khaira lifted the trophy over Parjesh Randhawa in a penalty shoot-out, while Shaan Bal took 3rd place by beating Richard Ho in a consolation final. Special thanks to novice player Richard Ho who showed passion to learn the game and enjoyed participating in the tournament.There was pop and pizza for everyone whom to took part and the effort to make it to the event including having lots of fun.

Pasquale Guerra wins in Modena

The first tournament held in Modena by the club of Riccardo Porro was played by 10 players who played a group stage first and knock-out games later in the evening. Pasquale Guerra was the final winner, beating teamate Montanari in the final (3-2). There will be another WASPA tournament in Modena on January 4, 2013 but this time it will be played with the old rules.

Salvatore Mandanici wins in Barcellona (Sicily)

Congratulations Salvatore!

12 players attended the first tournament organized by the club of Barcellona CT in Sicily (Italy). The event was organized with the swiss system and every player was offered the chance to play 5 games. Salvatore Mandanici, a player of the local club, was the final winner after he won 4 games and tied with Francesco La Torre. Claudio La Torre (Barcellona CT) finished 2nd and Cesare Natoli (Messina) was 3rd.

Tournament win for Steve Filée

The belgian club of SC Jambes organized a WASPA tournament last friday. Five players were taking part and the event was played as a group stage. Steve Filée (SC Jambes) came on top of the group with 10 points while Vincent Guyaux was 2nd, Pol Serwy 3rd, Ralf Grégoire 4th and Kevin Sorlin 5th.

Another win for Giorgos Zangylos

Action in the hall!

Time for celebration!

Giorgos Zangylos won his second WASPA title on sunday, beating Demetris Parperis in the final of the third tournament held by Famagusta TFC in Limassol. The tournament had only 8 players but many close games. Well done Giorgos!

Four more tournaments

Four tournaments have just been added to the WASPA calendar.

December 27, 2012: tournament in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Sicily (Italy). Contact: Casare Natoli at cnatol@tin.it
January 12, 2013: tournament in Penrith (Australia). Details at http://www.megagames.com.au/subbuteo.html
January 13, 2013: tournament in Attard (Malta). Contact: Joe Debono at jmdebono@onvol.net
January 26, 2013: tournament in Grand Rapids, MI (USA). Contact: Mike Ewer at info@mistfa.org

Huge success for the Templeuve tournament

Final of the Serie A: Pierre De Leeuw, Vito Di Ruggiero (referee), Alain Jadot

Final of the Serie C: Maxime Rairoux, Marc Hanbouck (referee), Maxime Hoguet

Finalists of the Serie B: Frank Lannoy & Vincent Coppenolle

WASPA "category B": Margault Delval (first girl), Corentin Bouchez (winner) & Théo Maton (finalist)

WASPA main final: Joffray Laurent vs Geoffrey Marain



WASPA finalists: Geoffrey Marain & Joffray Laurent

40 players attended the Templeuve tournament on December 22. The tournament counted for the national circuit and was divided in 3 sections. Pierre De Leeuw (Charleroi) beat Alain Jadot (Charleroi) in the final of the main category with Jérôme Heyvaert and Vito Di Ruggiero reaching the semis. In the "B section", Frank Lannoy (SC Flanders) beat Vincent Coppenolle (Eugies) by a single goal in the final. In the "Serie C", the young Maxime Rairoux (Eugies) beat the French player Maxime Hoguet (Templeuve United) in the final. In the afternoon, a WASPA tournament was also organized and there was a spectacular entry field of 24 players. The organizers decided to have 2 categories. The mainc ategory was played by 16 players. The two semi-finals were decided on shots with Geoffrey Marain beating Stelio Tsangouris and Joffray Laurent beating Fabian Limpens. In the final, Geoffrey Marain also had to wait the shootout to beat Joffray Laurent. It's already Geoffrey's 8th title under WASPA banner but it was definately the most exciting win! In the other category of the WASPA section, 8 young players competed in 2 groups of four. At the end, Corentin Bouchez (SC Eugies) beat his friend Théo Maton (2-0) to win the trophy. The event had also a U12 tournament won by Théo Maton. It was definately a great day of table football in Templeuve.

Big tournament and big winner in Malta

Action in the playing hall

Another trophy for Mark Gauci

Joe Zammit Pavia & Joseph Mifsud

The 14th WASPA tournament held by Attard Subbuteo Club took place on December 20 with 20 players taking part. Four groups of five players were organized and there were some big names. Mark Gauci won the final against Joseph Mifsud (3-0) while the semi-finalists were Simon Gauci and Daniele Spadaro. This was the largest WASPA tournament in Malta.

Interview: Shane Hoopfer

Shane Hoopfer is the General Secretary of the Canadian Association and has helped to relaunch the game in Canada. Here are his feelings about the latest developments in Canada.

Q: Shane, what do you think about the number of tournaments and the number of players involved since the CSTFA was relaunched in september?
A: For the most part I have been very pleased with our relaunch. We have had some success in introducing the game to new players in Calgary, while in Hamilton Peter Sexton has just done a great job in getting things rolling with the Hamilton Subbuteo Club. However there have been disapointments in that we haven't had the initial success we hoped for out of British Columbia, Quebec, and Nova Scotia that we had hoped for. It will be one of our greatest challenges in the future.

Q: What did you chose to work with WASPA?
A: Working with WASPA was a easy decision for the CSTFA. In Canada we are faced with unique challenges in regards to the enormous physical size of our nation along with the fact that Subbuteo has not been readily available to the public for 25 years. So the ability to play tournaments with a smaller number of players that allow us to participate in a World Organization has been very helpful to draw players in.

Q: In the future: will you also work with FISTF?
A: It's a tough question to answer for us. FISTF has had a lot of upheaval in the past year and from the outside looking in it would be fair to say that we are not sure where Canada would fit in FISTF's long term plans, or any plans at all. So while I wouldn't say 'never' as of right now we would be in a 'wait and see mode'

Q: What are your goals for Canadian Subbuteo in 2013?
A: As of right now we have had 27 players play in a CSTFA event. I would hope we can double that number in 2013. The other priority is to assist getting other clubs in the country up and running. Following that the main goals will be a formation of a national championship in Canada, and looking into the possibility of securing a sponsorship deal with a couple of equipment suppliers to assist in the rebuild here as attaining quality equipment is a cost the CSTFA can not bear at this time as our main goals are to assist helping new players get proper playing equipment to expose them to the game properly. We do this currently by providing basic teams to any new player that needs them, however I can foresee a time when the lack of actual playing surfaces could be a issue in some areas here.

Q: As a player, what are your dreams now?
A: Just to keep playing. We have struggles here in getting the 'old guard' playing regularly in events, but we have had some success in new player recruitment. So building a solid base of players locally is the biggest goal so that we can all play regularly.

Q: Do you think Canada can become a strong nation in the world of table football and stay in the top 5 of the WASPA ranking of nations?
A: As more nations join WASPA it will become increasingly difficult for Canada to stay too high on the rankings with the limited numbers of players we can have at events. However I would be disapointed with anything less than a top 10 finish in 2013 for Canada.

Q: Do you expect more collaboration between the brand Subbuteo and both CSTFA and WASPA?
A: Not at this time. Subbuteo is currently not available in North America and until that happens to a point where the game can be purachsed in a retail enviroment there is not any incentive for the Subbuteo brand to have any collaboration with the CSTFA. In regards to potential dealings between WASPA and the Subbuteo brand I believe it would make sense to have a partnership that is beneficial to both parties but that is not for me to decide.

Thank you for your answers!

Some news from Italy

In the last few weeks, some discussions have been made in Italy and some italian clubs have decided to support the WASPA circuit. The clubs of Lazio and Brasilia have already tournaments in the schedule but this week the club of Versilia held it's inaugural WASPA tournament in Viareggio. it was a small tournament with six players but there were some good games between players of the local club and two players from the Spezia club. Enrico Giannarelli (Spezia Not Football Club) won the tournament with 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.

The club of La Spezia will hold also a tournament on December 22 (kick-off at 10.00 am) in La Spezia. Good luck to all players and clubs involved.

2 more tournaments in Canada

Two tournaments have been added for the month of January. On January 1 at 3 pm, there will be a tournament in Calgary, Alberta. Interested players should contact Shane Hoopfer for details at Hoop27@gmail.com

The Hamilton Subbuto Club in southern Ontario will also meet on January 13 at Peter Sexton's. Interested players can contact Peter at peter.sexton@ymail.com

Flavio Watzka wins in Barcelona

The club of Palomar organized their tournament on saturday with 12 players taking part. After the semi-finals, there were some close games in the semis and Flavio Watzka beat Celes Pérez (1-0) while Josep López beat Xavi Giberanu (1-0). In the final, Flavio Watzka won by a clear 3-0 against Josep López. The pictures seem to show everybody had great fun!

Second title for Matteo Del Brocco

Just like last month, Matteo Del Brocco won the WASPA tournament organized under Swiss system in the premises of the club of Lazio in Roma (Italy). It is already Matteo's second title in the WASPA circuit. He took 13 points in five games, just enouh to come on top of the table just before Gianmarco Del Brocco. Patrizio Lazzaretti was third and Gabriele Silveri was forth. 13 players were taking part this time. Gianmarco Del Brocco is leading the overall WASPA Lazio League with 82 points while Matteo Del Brocco has 72 and Simone Trivelli 70.

First WASPA tournament in Florida

The Suncoast Subbuteo Club and Tampa Bay Tabele Soccer Club are teaming up to host touney on March 24th, 2013 in Tampa, Florida (USA). It will be the 2013 Suncoast Open. Contact Brandon Rowdies, Daniel Louis or Matt Fox via Facebook or the ASA page on facebook or eckatofox@netscape.net (Matt's email).

First tournament in the Republic of Ireland

The second leg of the Irish Circuit will take place on January 5, 2013 and will count for the WASPA circuit. It is the first time a WASPA tournament is held in the Republic of Ireland. The event will take place in Celbridge, which is about 30 minutes from Dublin Airport. "Celbridge is in Kildare where all the great horses are trained", reported organizer John Moore. Details about the tournament are available from John at johnmoorejm@hotmail.com

Great success for the Hamilton tournament

This sunday's Hamilton tournament was a huge success with 15 players, including one from Australia, taking part. For the first time, the tournament was played at the Lionshead pub. Results didn't differ much from the first event, Shaun Burt defeating Stephen McNab in one semi-final, Peter Sexton beating Brodyn Sexton in a shootout in the other semi. Peter defeated Shaun in the final. There were prizes, there was pizza, there was beer, there was fun and hopefully a few new enthusiasts were introduced to the game. Well done to Peter Sexton for organizing the event. Helping new players to be part of tournament is exactly the goal of WASPA so well done for managing to get more and more new players involved!

Subbuteo comes back in California

There will be some WASPA tournaments again in California on January 5 & 6, 2013. The Southern California Subbuteo Club will host 2 tournaments in Simi Valley and Zach Walker, who now lives in Colorado, will be the special guest of both events. Several top players from California such as Wayne Smith, Varant Kurkeyerian and Paul O'Donovan have already confirmed they will attend both tournaments. Interested players can contact Wayne Smith ismith@socal.rr.com

Second title for Shane Hoopfer

The Calgary Subbuteo Club met for their 4th tournament under WASPA banner on saturday evening. The club of Alberta was happy to get a new player involved and Ben Herrel did well by losing his three games only by 0-1. In the final, Shane Hoopfer proved to be in great shape. He beat Josh Braun by a single goal (1-0). This is already Shane's second title in the WASPA circuit.

Souvenir of the Singapore tournament

Rudy Hesty is sending us this great poster of the Singapore tournament with several pictures of the different competitors. A great souvenir for sure!

Rudy Hesty wins in Singapore

There was a last minute tournament added to the WASPA calendar as the Singapore organizers asked to have an exhibition tournament under WASPA banner on saturday while several players from abroad (Japan, Hong Kong and Belgium) are present for this sunday's FISTF Open. It was Rudy Hesty's day of glory as he beat Stéphane Lambert (Belgium) in the final. Tan Kok Wee and John Ho were the semi-finalists. Congratulations Rudy!

Another tournament in Italy

The club of Brasilia in Italy (www.subbuteobrasilia.jimdo.com) will be hosting a tournament in Manoppello on December 22. Interested players can contact Fabrizio Fedele at brasiliachieti@gmail.com

Andrea Gasparini wins the Holiday Silver

Group picture!

Andrea Gasparini, a big champion!

About 40 players were present this saturday in Ellicott City, Maryland for the Holiday Silver. More details and results are still to come but congrats to Andrea Gasparini (Open), Gregg Deinhart (veterans), Adolpho Colindres (U19), Michael Shlining (U15), and Christina Mattera (women) for their Holiday Silver victories. All deserved champions. More to follow this week...

Another tournament in Hamilton

Hamilton Subbuteo Club will have a tournament December 9th at the Lionshead Pub in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Details at Peter.sexton@ymail.com

Sad day for belgian table football

Today is a very sad day for belgian table football. Dylan Devigne, a young player from Rochefort TS, passed away in a car accident. Dylan attended the Berlin tournament in Germany last week and was supposed to attend the national league for clubs in Eugies today. When the present players heard the terrible news, the competition was stopped and the remaining games have been postponed. Our condolences go to Dylan's family and all the RTS players.