Friday, 11 November 2011
Poster of the Barcelona tournament
The poster of the Barcelona tournament has been revealed. Well do to the organizers for preparing a great event!
Thursday, 10 November 2011
The news of the week (21)
Hello, here is another short newsletter
Is there an issue for FISTF? - Last week, I was ratjer enthusiast about the future of FISTF because the end of Piero Capponi's presidency and the hope to have elections in February was very positive for the future of the sport. Of course, many things need to be built again from scratch but there was a strong hope that good people could build a strong future by working hand in hand. Unfortunately, things change very fast and not always in the right direction. Laurent Garnier, the General Secretary of FISTF, was named President of FISTF and, by surprise, he was "confirmed" as being president till the next Congress... in 2015. The simple fact that there might be no elections in February proves the people int he FISTF Board only think about their own interests and not about the good of the game and the needs of the community. Having a Board working against the basic principles of democracy and against the expectations of the players and the national associations will prevent out community to work serenely.
In such a situation, WASPA might take more and more importance because I expect many disappointed players to look for "something else" and hopefully WASPA could give a positive answer to the questions of the players who are unhappy with FISTF. As several national associations have already written to Laurent Garnier to say they are unhappy about the latest changes, we hope that the FISTF Board will answer to the expectations of the players and that good sense will prevail. Until possible elections, a lot of things might happen. Wait & see...
The priorities of WASPA - Right now, there isn't much going on in the WASPA calendar. There is only one tournament to be played this month but there are good plans to have more tournaments in the next few months. Hopefully more events will take place in December and in 2012. Having more tournaments and more nations involved is definately the top priority of WASPA for the next few months.
Competion: create the new WASPA banner - I recently had several messages from players telling me the WASPA blog is fine but they don't like the picture on top of the blog. So there is an open competition to give the possibility to everyone to send proposal for a new banner. All ideas are welcome. The banner can just be a picture but the WASPA logo can also be included. All proposals should be sent by e-mail to Vincent.cop@rsca.com
Thanks in advance!
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- December 9 - Tournament in Attard (Malta)
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- December - Tournament in Templeuve (Belgium) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Germany, the US, the UK, Spain, Finland, Greece, Belgium, Russia, Malta and Australia.
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
Is there an issue for FISTF? - Last week, I was ratjer enthusiast about the future of FISTF because the end of Piero Capponi's presidency and the hope to have elections in February was very positive for the future of the sport. Of course, many things need to be built again from scratch but there was a strong hope that good people could build a strong future by working hand in hand. Unfortunately, things change very fast and not always in the right direction. Laurent Garnier, the General Secretary of FISTF, was named President of FISTF and, by surprise, he was "confirmed" as being president till the next Congress... in 2015. The simple fact that there might be no elections in February proves the people int he FISTF Board only think about their own interests and not about the good of the game and the needs of the community. Having a Board working against the basic principles of democracy and against the expectations of the players and the national associations will prevent out community to work serenely.
In such a situation, WASPA might take more and more importance because I expect many disappointed players to look for "something else" and hopefully WASPA could give a positive answer to the questions of the players who are unhappy with FISTF. As several national associations have already written to Laurent Garnier to say they are unhappy about the latest changes, we hope that the FISTF Board will answer to the expectations of the players and that good sense will prevail. Until possible elections, a lot of things might happen. Wait & see...
The priorities of WASPA - Right now, there isn't much going on in the WASPA calendar. There is only one tournament to be played this month but there are good plans to have more tournaments in the next few months. Hopefully more events will take place in December and in 2012. Having more tournaments and more nations involved is definately the top priority of WASPA for the next few months.
Competion: create the new WASPA banner - I recently had several messages from players telling me the WASPA blog is fine but they don't like the picture on top of the blog. So there is an open competition to give the possibility to everyone to send proposal for a new banner. All ideas are welcome. The banner can just be a picture but the WASPA logo can also be included. All proposals should be sent by e-mail to Vincent.cop@rsca.com
Thanks in advance!
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- December 9 - Tournament in Attard (Malta)
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- December - Tournament in Templeuve (Belgium) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Germany, the US, the UK, Spain, Finland, Greece, Belgium, Russia, Malta and Australia.
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
Thursday, 3 November 2011
The news of the week (20)
Hello everyone, here are the news of the week.
What future for FISTF? - Important facts happened in the last few days in FISTF. After the European cups played in Slovenia, president Piero Capponi decided to resign and he was followed in his decision by Sports Director Stefano De Francesco. Both men had an important role in the FISTF Board and their decision will probably involve a lot of important changes in the future. Piero Capponi said elections should be held in February at the Major of Mons but this has to be confirmed. Whatever happens, it will be difficult for FISTF to get back on the right track after all the mess of the last two years. Since a few people decided to take over things after the world cup in the Netherlands in 2009, a lot of promises have been made to change the main international body. The new Boards, firstly led by Malta's Silvio Catania and later by Spain's Piero Capponi, wanted to make a more professional game, to introduce professional rules and to get more media coverage and sponsors. Even if some ideas were good, they were probably not realistic and the community is not ready to change his attitude. It's not only about the game itself but new rules about the size of the figures have not been appreciated by many players and there were some incidents last week-end in Slovenia when players were told they were not allowed to play because the figures were smaller than 27 mm.
So what will be the direction of the new Board? Will people continue to dream about a professional game or will we get back to a more "human scale" where the game remains the priority? Should we insist on having large venue with perfect tables or should we just insist on having tournaments with many games for every player and a better organisation of games? There were no scoreboards at the Europa Cup and nowhere to have a drink or something to eat in the hall and this is certainly not what players expect from a major tournament, in particular when they travel thousands of kilometers to play.
It will take some time before elections are held and before new people take over things again from scratch. The fact the next world cup will be held in July in Greece involves it will certainly be one of the worst events in terms of attendance. The new Board has there to take the right options to make the world cup something special and a priority for all players who are qualified to play.
The future of WASPA will of course depend on the future options of FISTF. Some voices say both FISTF and WASPA should merge and an amateur circuit should be organized under FISTF banner. This will only be possible if the new Board is able to make a difference between the players who just play for fun and those who play to win.
For the moment, WASPA is still taking its own way with a small circuit of tournaments and hopefully more clubs and nations will join the circuit in the next few weeks. Ideas and suggestions are always welcome so please don't hesitate to send your views by e-mail at vincent.cop@rsca.com
Another tournament in Malta - The next tournament to be organized by Attard SC will take place on December 9 in the evening and details are available from Joe Debono at jmdebono@onvol.net
Congratulations Pisa and Bologna - The WASPA community wold like to congratulate the team of Black & Blue Pisa, winner of the Champion's League, and the team of Bologna Tigers, winner of the Europa League. Both tournaments took place last week-end in Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- December 9 - Tournament in Attard (Malta)
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- December - Tournament in Templeuve (Belgium) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Finland, Spain, Italy, Greece, germany, Singapore, the US, Canada, France, and Malta.
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
What future for FISTF? - Important facts happened in the last few days in FISTF. After the European cups played in Slovenia, president Piero Capponi decided to resign and he was followed in his decision by Sports Director Stefano De Francesco. Both men had an important role in the FISTF Board and their decision will probably involve a lot of important changes in the future. Piero Capponi said elections should be held in February at the Major of Mons but this has to be confirmed. Whatever happens, it will be difficult for FISTF to get back on the right track after all the mess of the last two years. Since a few people decided to take over things after the world cup in the Netherlands in 2009, a lot of promises have been made to change the main international body. The new Boards, firstly led by Malta's Silvio Catania and later by Spain's Piero Capponi, wanted to make a more professional game, to introduce professional rules and to get more media coverage and sponsors. Even if some ideas were good, they were probably not realistic and the community is not ready to change his attitude. It's not only about the game itself but new rules about the size of the figures have not been appreciated by many players and there were some incidents last week-end in Slovenia when players were told they were not allowed to play because the figures were smaller than 27 mm.
So what will be the direction of the new Board? Will people continue to dream about a professional game or will we get back to a more "human scale" where the game remains the priority? Should we insist on having large venue with perfect tables or should we just insist on having tournaments with many games for every player and a better organisation of games? There were no scoreboards at the Europa Cup and nowhere to have a drink or something to eat in the hall and this is certainly not what players expect from a major tournament, in particular when they travel thousands of kilometers to play.
It will take some time before elections are held and before new people take over things again from scratch. The fact the next world cup will be held in July in Greece involves it will certainly be one of the worst events in terms of attendance. The new Board has there to take the right options to make the world cup something special and a priority for all players who are qualified to play.
The future of WASPA will of course depend on the future options of FISTF. Some voices say both FISTF and WASPA should merge and an amateur circuit should be organized under FISTF banner. This will only be possible if the new Board is able to make a difference between the players who just play for fun and those who play to win.
For the moment, WASPA is still taking its own way with a small circuit of tournaments and hopefully more clubs and nations will join the circuit in the next few weeks. Ideas and suggestions are always welcome so please don't hesitate to send your views by e-mail at vincent.cop@rsca.com
Another tournament in Malta - The next tournament to be organized by Attard SC will take place on December 9 in the evening and details are available from Joe Debono at jmdebono@onvol.net
Congratulations Pisa and Bologna - The WASPA community wold like to congratulate the team of Black & Blue Pisa, winner of the Champion's League, and the team of Bologna Tigers, winner of the Europa League. Both tournaments took place last week-end in Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- December 9 - Tournament in Attard (Malta)
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- December - Tournament in Templeuve (Belgium) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Finland, Spain, Italy, Greece, germany, Singapore, the US, Canada, France, and Malta.
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
Thursday, 27 October 2011
The news of the week (19)
Hello everyone, here are the news of the week.
Darren Bezzina is number 1 - The new rankings have been published (you can take a look on the "Golden book" available in the download section) and Darren Bezzina (right on the picture) remains the number 1 in the WASPA ranking. The player of the italian club SPQR Roma won last friday's tournament in Attard (Malta). He also became the first player to win 2 tournaments since the creation of the WASPA circuit. Well done.
More projects in Malta - After the last tournament in Malta, local organizer Joe Debono confirmed Attard Subbuteo Club will host another tournament in the next few weeks. Details will be announced soon.
Results of the survey - It seems like there is no enthusiasm to try to play with different rules. Therefore the project to play a tournament using the rule fo the direct free kick will not come to reality.
Good luck - The WASPA community wishes good luck to all the plaers who will be travelling to Slovenia this week-end to play the FISTF Europa Cups. European Cups remain some of the most exciting events in the world and it's always an honor to be part of the show.
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- November - Tournament in Attard (Malta) -> Details coming soon
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Malta, Finland, Belgium, Italy, the US, the UK, Greece, Canada, Spain and Germany.
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
Darren Bezzina is number 1 - The new rankings have been published (you can take a look on the "Golden book" available in the download section) and Darren Bezzina (right on the picture) remains the number 1 in the WASPA ranking. The player of the italian club SPQR Roma won last friday's tournament in Attard (Malta). He also became the first player to win 2 tournaments since the creation of the WASPA circuit. Well done.
More projects in Malta - After the last tournament in Malta, local organizer Joe Debono confirmed Attard Subbuteo Club will host another tournament in the next few weeks. Details will be announced soon.
Results of the survey - It seems like there is no enthusiasm to try to play with different rules. Therefore the project to play a tournament using the rule fo the direct free kick will not come to reality.
Good luck - The WASPA community wishes good luck to all the plaers who will be travelling to Slovenia this week-end to play the FISTF Europa Cups. European Cups remain some of the most exciting events in the world and it's always an honor to be part of the show.
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- November - Tournament in Attard (Malta) -> Details coming soon
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Malta, Finland, Belgium, Italy, the US, the UK, Greece, Canada, Spain and Germany.
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Updated results file
The updated golden book is available in the download section. Darren Bezzina has increased his lead on top of the ranking. He becomes also the first player to win two WASPA tournaments. Malta is still on top of the ranking of nations. Enjoy the reading.
Monday, 24 October 2011
Another great win for Darren Bezzina
The fourth tournament organized by Attard Subbuteo Club took place last friday and 16 players were competing. The tournament was not the most surprising one as the WASPA number 1 players, Darren Bezzina (SPQR Roma) came on top of his group and later qualified for the final. In the semi-final, he beat Daniele Spadaro (Attard SC) who is the number 2 in the ranking. Bezzina won the fainal against Nicholas Sciberras (3-2) and improves his lead in the ranking.
The finalists and some of the young talents taking part
George Ebejer from Bormla Subbuteo Club was taking part also
Thursday, 20 October 2011
The news of the week (18)
Hello everyone, here are the news of the week. There isn't much to say this week but hopefully there will be more soon!
News from El Palomar de Barcelona - The spanish club from Barcelona is now clearly promoting the WASPA circuit. The club run by Flavio Watzka will host their first WASPA tournament on November 27. Check more info at the club's blog: http://tablesoccerbarcelonapalomar.blogspot.com/
16 players for the Attard tournament - The following players are confirmed for this friday's tournament organized by Attard subbuteo club: Simon Gauci, Etienne Deguara, Joseph M.Debono, Timothy Spiteri, Daniele Spadaro, Clint Abela Wadge, Gordon Caruana, Brendon Borg, Nicholas Sciberras, Lon Joseph Cachia, Darren Bezzina, Robert Azzopardi, George Ebejer, Marco Mifsud, Hector Scerri, Sharlo Barbara.
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- October 21 - Tournament in Attard (Malta)
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Spain, Finland, Singapore, Belgium, the US, France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Portugal.
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
News from El Palomar de Barcelona - The spanish club from Barcelona is now clearly promoting the WASPA circuit. The club run by Flavio Watzka will host their first WASPA tournament on November 27. Check more info at the club's blog: http://tablesoccerbarcelonapalomar.blogspot.com/
16 players for the Attard tournament - The following players are confirmed for this friday's tournament organized by Attard subbuteo club: Simon Gauci, Etienne Deguara, Joseph M.Debono, Timothy Spiteri, Daniele Spadaro, Clint Abela Wadge, Gordon Caruana, Brendon Borg, Nicholas Sciberras, Lon Joseph Cachia, Darren Bezzina, Robert Azzopardi, George Ebejer, Marco Mifsud, Hector Scerri, Sharlo Barbara.
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- October 21 - Tournament in Attard (Malta)
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Spain, Finland, Singapore, Belgium, the US, France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Portugal.
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
Thursday, 13 October 2011
The news of the week (17)
Hello everyone, here are the news of the week.
Updated results file - The results of the Stockholm tournament have been updated in the "golden book" that you can find in the download section.
Some pictures from Stockholm - Here are some pictures of the Stockholm tournament where Robert Green (with the yellow shirt) reached the final.
Another tournament in South Africa - The Johannesburg club has announced there will be a second WASPA tournament in december. The exact date and venue will be announced soon.
Contacts in Cyprus - Stefanos Kouratzis is happy to announce that the club of Nicosia is thinking about organizing a tournament. More details will be announced soon.
Well done Andrea - American player Andrea Gasparini, who recently won the WASPA tournament in Yokohama (Japan), won the FISTF Open of Rio (Brazil) last week-end. Antonio Carabillo (Hong Kong) was also taking part. Congratulations to both players for supporting tournaments in such an exotic place!
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- October 21 - Tournament in Attard (Malta)
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Spain, Sweden, the US, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Greece, the UK, France and Germany. We also ad some visitors from the United Arab emirates, Hong Kong and Russia :-)
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
Updated results file - The results of the Stockholm tournament have been updated in the "golden book" that you can find in the download section.
Some pictures from Stockholm - Here are some pictures of the Stockholm tournament where Robert Green (with the yellow shirt) reached the final.
Contacts in Cyprus - Stefanos Kouratzis is happy to announce that the club of Nicosia is thinking about organizing a tournament. More details will be announced soon.
Well done Andrea - American player Andrea Gasparini, who recently won the WASPA tournament in Yokohama (Japan), won the FISTF Open of Rio (Brazil) last week-end. Antonio Carabillo (Hong Kong) was also taking part. Congratulations to both players for supporting tournaments in such an exotic place!
Forthcoming events - Here is a list of the forthcoming WASPA tournaments. We hope many more will be added in the near future. You can see the contact person for every tournament in the section "forthcoming events" (on the right column).
- October 21 - Tournament in Attard (Malta)
- November 27 - Tournament in Barcelona (Spain)
- December - Tournament in Johannesburg (South Africa) -> Details coming soon
- Tournament in Nicosia (Cyprus) -> Details coming soon
Top 10 nations this week on the blog - This week the bigger number of visitors were from Spain, Sweden, the US, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Greece, the UK, France and Germany. We also ad some visitors from the United Arab emirates, Hong Kong and Russia :-)
Keep on flicking,
Vincent
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
A french winner in Stockholm
Second tournament in Stockholm is over! David Cremoux (France) won the final against Robert Green (Australia) with 2-0. Massimiliano Ria (Italy) took the third place when he beat Lars Löfgren (Sweden) with 1-0 in the bronze game. Ari Kainu from Kiruna took a nice 5th place. More info and stats will come later. Thanks to O´Learys and all the participants!
Monday, 10 October 2011
A tournament in Cyprus?
Stefanos Kouratzis has been in touch this week-end to say there was some interest from the club of Nicosia to organize a WASPA tournament soon. The club of Nicosia has a small group of players but they are trying to keep the game alive on the island so hopefully there will be further developments in the near future.
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