blog post courtesy of Alessio Crisantemi

After months of waiting throughout the continent, it is time for the European Sports Pinball Championship who arrives in Italy for the first time in history. The Fiera di Rimini, through Enada, holds it and offers the performance of the most fashionable sport at the time to the public and to the operators of the field, and not only just to players.

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 TVNZ in New Zealand was on hand to cover the Pincade meet in Christchurch. Click HERE to watch the video.

NBC affiliate WCSH Channel 6 in Portland, ME visited the host of the 2013 IFPA Maine State Pinball Championship, John Reuter. Also interviewed is the first IFPA Maine State Pinball Championship, Michael Haycock. Click HERE to watch the video.

WTMJ 620AM in Wisconsin recently interviewed the Waun-a-Pinball Tournament director Steve Tully. The Waun-a-Pinball Tournament is one of the over 1600 IFPA endorsed events held around the world where players can earn WPPR points to qualify for the IFPA World Pinball Championship, as well as qualify for the IFPA Wisconsin State Pinball Championship. Click HERE to listen to the interview. Steve then appeared on WTMJ a few days later for another interview. Click HERE to listen to the second interview.

ELocal Magazine in New Zealand published an article on the father/daughter duo , David Peck and Danielle Peck that will be representing New Zealand at the IFPA11 World Pinball Championship in Denver. Click HERE to read the article.

Quick update on the fundraising totals from the competitive pinball community.

Between the Kids Fight Cancer campaign associated with the SCS, and the fundraiser events currently being organized for both Barry Oursler and Python Angelo, the IFPA is proud to announce that we've passed the $15,000 mark for funds raised. Special thanks to all the IFPA players that have competed for such great causes, along with Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball and Pinball Inc. for stepping up as sponsors.

There's still plenty of time to get involved by creating an event in your area as part of the Oursler and/or Python campaigns. Just contact the IFPA for details at ifpapinball@gmail.com

IFPA HQ is in the news once again. Time Warner's NY1 took some time to visit Modern Pinball NYC and interviews co-owners Steve Epstein and Steve Zahler. Click HERE to see the video.

The Wisconsin State Journal recently covered the Waun-a-Pinball Tournament in Waunakee, WI. The Waun-a-Pinball Tournament is one of the over 1600 IFPA endorsed events held around the world where players can earn WPPR points to qualify for the IFPA World Pinball Championship, as well as qualify for the IFPA Wisconsin State Pinball Championship. Players featured include Robert Stickney (ranked 1566th in the world), Timothy Enders (ranked 1209th in the world), Steve Tully (ranked 1983rd in the world), Hilton Jones (ranked 1244th in the world) and Todd Mcilwee (ranked 6607th in the world). Click HERE to read the article. Click HERE to watch the video.

February 27th, 2014 marks the 8th year since the rebirth of the International Flipper Pinball Association.

On this day in 2006 the AMOA assigned the rights of the then defunct IFPA over to Steve Epstein and Roger Sharpe to see if they could elevate the awareness and visibility of pinball across the globe.

With the World Pinball Player Rankings now sporting over 22,000 players from 41 countries, the culmination of the first State Championship Series, launch of the European Championship Series, along with the upcoming US National Pinball Championship, Epstein Cup and World Pinball Championship about to take place in May out in Denver, and the arrow continues to point upwards for competitive pinball.

Thanks for the continued support, and we're looking forward to seeing where we can take things in the years ahead

The IFPA is excited to announce that the following players have been now qualified for the $tern Rewards Program based on their January 2014 IFPA endorsed tournament performance! These players have until August 15th, 2015 to exercise their reward option.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Andrei Massenkoff
Andrei earned a total 112.64 WPPR points in January, sweeping the Pacific Pinball Open Main and Side tournaments, as well as finishing in 3rd and 7th place respectively in the 2014 INDISC Main and Classics tournaments.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – Steve Stakem
Steve moved up 10,115 spots by finishing in 56th and 32nd place in the Maryland Pinball Championship Main and Classics Divisions respectively. Steve also finished in 6th place at the Fulton Knockout Showdown Main Tournament, along with a 17th and 8th place finish in the two Side Tournaments. This netted Steve 7.05 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 2279th in the world.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – Gabor Vanderer
Gabor moved up 9003 spots from his 11th and 8th place finishes at the Versenysorozat Main and Classics tournaments. Gabor earned 4.31 WPPR points from this performance and moved him up to a rank of 3962th in the world.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – Harry Bolt
Harry moved up 8809 spots from his 14th and 43rd place finishes at the SHINE Charity Pinball Competition. Harry earned 4.18 WPPR points from this performance, which moved Harry into now being the 4018th ranked player in the world.

Detailed rules for the $tern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers, and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.