Foosball Tournament for Fun and Prizes
by Barbara Bjelke
At one time or another in one’s usual escapades in bars on or off campus, the game of foosball becomes a familiar sight or pastime. As for this reporter, I am more acquainted with the sight of the game than its details. Yet, this past weekend I was exposed to the game of foosball more and became acquainted with some of the finer points.
On March 18, and 19, there was a Hurricane Foosball Tournament held at the Holiday Inn of Stony Brook. The tournament, sponsored by the Irving Kaye Company, Incorporated drew participants not only from the immediate vicinity but from around the tri-state area as well. This weekend’s tournament is one leg in a series of tournaments to be held by the Irving Kaye Company this spring; all of which include $1,000 in prize money.
William Currier, a representative from Irving Kaye, which is located in Stamford, Connecticut, explained the basis of the tournaments.
Before the tournaments are held the company sends out representatives and demonstrators to various arcades, bars, and colleges in and around the area where the tournaments are to be held. Here both the product, the Hurricane Foosball table, and the tournament are promoted. Besides being promotional campaigns, the demonstrations show interested players of the game how to play the game correctly and strategically.
In most cases, Currier explained, the company will lose money to these tournaments, mostly because of the amount of the purse as compared to the entrance fee, which ranges from two dollars to seven dollars and 50 cents per player. “It is the company’s interest to promote the game in these tournaments more than to promote the sale of tables,” said Currier.
The thousand dollar open was broken up into 17 purses, top prize being $200 to the first place winners of the open doubles and on down to $10 to the seventh and eighth place winners in the open singles.
There are three purses one can enter. These are the open doubles, the open singles and the mixed doubles (men-women teams). If the teams are of high caliber they will qualify to enter the finals which, this weekend, were held on Sunday.
Mark Davis, “the main man ” as Currier put it, sets up and runs the tournament with regard to the organization of competing teams and in dealing with entrants. Davis, who has been playing foosball for about four years, began working for Irving Kaye nine months ago. Of the nine months he’s been with the company, four of those months have been spent on the road setting up various tournaments.
This weekend, Davis said, there was an excellent turnout of both players and spectators. In open doubles there were 24 teams, mixed doubles 20 teams, and in singles there were 18 teams. What surprised Davis even more was the number of women who came to compete in the tournament.
Most of the players prove to be very dedicated to this sport. Nick Ames and his partner, Brian Pace, have been following Hurricane tournaments for a year and a half. Their dedication is somewhat admirable because the tournaments could lead them from their home town of Ithaca, New York as far away as Cleveland, Ohio or Miami, Florida. Ames explains that he is able to follow the tournaments every weekend because of his sponsor, a vending company in Ithaca. To Ames, foosball is a profession.
Tedi Wamer of Binghamton, one of the young women competing in the finals, told how she gained interest in the game. She began to play foosball with her boyfriend when they went to local bars. He soon became interested in following Hurricane tournaments and she, for the sake of “escaping a boring weekend,” followed him. Needless to say, she began to compete. This is the second tournament she has competed in, her first was in Cleveland.
Winners of this spring tour will qualify for entrance into a July 4 Tournament which is going to be held at a ski resort in the Poconos. The prize money worth $2500, will be divided into various purses.
Foosball, an old European sport, was introduced to this country about 15 years ago in Texas. From Texas its popularity has spread so that it has become a familiar table sport in many bars and arcades throughout the United States.
The Irving Kaye Company, which has been manufacturing the tables for eight years now, began running these tournaments three years ago. As an organized sport foosball is relatively new in this country. Foosball seems to be catching on very quickly as a pastime for many and a competitive sport for others. “Anyone can play,” says Currier, “you don’t have to be a big jock type because the game depends on strategy and not strength.”
So, young or old, weak or strong, as long as you’ve got a good eye and some semblance of strategy you can become a foosball champion within a few months.
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Irving Kaye Foosball in the Statesman -
In the mid to late 70’s the factory team at Irving Kaye sponsored a series of Foosball Tournaments designed to promote this emerging sport. This is a reprint of an article from the Stony Brook University Statesman on March 22 1978.