The News-Press in Fort Myers, Florida ran an article covering the IFPA Project Pinball fundrasing campaign that is taking the nation by storm. Check out the article HERE.

blog post courtesy of Daniel Spolar

Take a look at this list to see if there is a city near you so you can show your support for the charity and have some fun playing pinball.

• Jul 12th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – Pittsburgh/ North Versailles, PA
• Jul 12th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – College Park, MD
• Jul 12th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – New York/ Middletown, NY
• Jul 13th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – New York/ Brooklyn, NY
• Jul 13th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – Beaumont, TX 
• Jul 13th IFPA Project Pinball Fundraiser – St. Petersburg, FL
• Jul 13th IFPA Pinball Project Fundraiser – Columbus, OH
• Jul 11th – 13th California Extreme- Santa Clara, CA

For more information on this tournament above and other tournaments for this month of July, click here: http://www.ifpapinball.com/calendar/full.php or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/650686285008059/?ref=br_tf

These are charity pinball tournaments. All proceeds go to the Project Pinball Charity Group to help place pinball machines into the Children’s Hospitals. You do not have to be in attendance to donate. You can still help by giving to the Project Pinball Charity through our donation site: http://www.projectpinball.org/ez-shop/

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at ProjectPinball.org

Thank you to all the people that make this possible. Your support makes good things happen!

PinBrawl @ PAPA will be returning on Wednesday, August 13th, 2014, in conjunction with the PAPA 17 World Pinball Championships.

PinBrawl is the ultimate team pinball competition featuring teams of 4 players. Although the competition in PinBrawl is as fierce as any other tournament around, PinBrawl has always been about FUN first.

At the end of the day, PinBrawl is all about camaraderie. Competitive pinball is usually a solitary sport, and PinBrawl has made it possible to play in a group with your closest friends, and meet tons of other people throughout the matches during the tournament. Many players will say that it is the best tournament they’ve ever played in, so don't miss your chance to get in the action!

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

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player] 
Jorian earned a total of 313.27 WPPR points in May. This included wins at not only the IFPA11 World Pinball Championship, but also the Pre-IFPA tournament at 1Up Lodo and the Lyons Pinball Spring Classic. Jorian is currently the top ranked player for the Colorado SCS, and is qualified for Pennsylvania(5th) and Michigan(13th), as well as currently sitting in 19th place in the inaugural ECS season.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Tapio Heilala[/player]
Tapio moved up 8481 spots by finishing in 14th and 10th place in the Oslo Pinheads Open Main and Classics divisions respectively. This netted Tapio 3.59 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 4684th in the world, as well as 372nd in the ECS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Jeff Teolis[/player]
Jeff moved up 6999 spots from his 3rd place finish at the Total Man Show Pinball Tournament, and 13th place finish at the Stern Launch Party Tournament in Toronto. Jeff earned 2.44 WPPR points from these performances and moved him up to a rank of 5123rd in the world, as well as 45th in the PCS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Dario Morlacchi[/player]
Dario moved up 6894 spots from his 17th place finish at the Stern Launch Party Tournament in Milano, along with a 21st and 20th place finish in the Italian Pinball Championship Main and Classics Divisions respectively. Dario earned a total of 4.48 WPPR points from these performances, which moved him into now being the 2728th ranked player in the world, as well as 355th in the ECS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Tim Klaesson[/player]
Tapio moved up 8481 spots by finishing in 14th and 10th place in the Oslo Pinheads Open Main and Classics divisions respectively. This netted Tapio 3.59 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 4684th in the world, as well as 372nd in the ECS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Mike Barry[/player]
Mike moved up 6942 spots from his 3rd place finish in the Capitol Corridor Pinball League West. Mike earned 4.71 WPPR points from this performance and moved him up to a rank of 3987th in the world, as well as 148th in the California SCS.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – [player]Christophe Stucki[/player]
Christophe moved up 5543 spots from his 2nd place finish at the Swiss Flipper Tour – Blandonnet tournament. Christophe earned a 21.95 WPPR points from this performances, which moved him into now being the 1354th 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.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that the following players saw the biggest jump in their world ranking based on their May 2014 tournament performance. 

The biggest movers for May 2014 included [player]Tim Klaesson[/player] from Sävsjö, Sweden, who moved up 6969 spots by finishing in 1st place in the Korsberga Manadsfinal. This netted Tim 5.04 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 3856th in the world.

[player]Mike Barry[/player] from Vacaville, CA moved up 6942 spots from his 3rd place finish in the Capitol Corridor Pinball League West. Mike earned 4.71 WPPR points from this performance and moved him up to a rank of 3987th in the world, as well as 148th in the California SCS.

[player]Christophe Stucki[/player] from Lausanne, Switzerland moved up 5543 spots from his 2nd place finish at the Swiss Flipper Tour – Blandonnet tournament. Christophe earned a 21.95 WPPR points from this performances, which moved him into now being the 1354th ranked player in the world.

Congratulations to Tim, Mike and Christophe, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their May tournament performance!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that the following players saw the biggest jump in their world ranking based on their April 2014 tournament performance. 

The biggest movers for April 2014 included [player]Tapio Heilala[/player] from Austevoll, Norway, who moved up 8481 spots by finishing in 14th and 10th place in the Oslo Pinheads Open Main and Classics divisions respectively. This netted Tapio 3.59 WPPR points and moved him up to a rank of 4684th in the world, as well as 372nd in the ECS.

[player]Jeff Teolis[/player] from London, ON moved up 6999 spots from his 3rd place finish at the Total Man Show Pinball Tournament, and 13th place finish at the Stern Launch Party Tournament in Toronto. Jeff earned 2.44 WPPR points from these performances and moved him up to a rank of 5123rd in the world, as well as 45th in the PCS.

[player]Dario Morlacchi[/player] from Milan, Italy moved up 6894 spots from his 17th place finish at the Stern Launch Party Tournament in Milano, along with a 21st and 20th place finish in the Italian Pinball Championship Main and Classics Divisions respectively. Dario earned a total of 4.48 WPPR points from these performances, which moved him into now being the 2728th ranked player in the world, as well as 355th in the ECS.

Congratulations to Tapio, Jeff and Dario, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their April tournament performance!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for May 2014 is current World Pinball Champion, [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player] from Stockholm, Sweden. Jorian earned a total of 313.27 WPPR points in May. This included wins at not only the IFPA11 World Pinball Championship, but also the Pre-IFPA tournament at 1Up Lodo and the Lyons Pinball Spring Classic. Jorian is currently the top ranked player for the Colorado SCS, and is qualified for Pennsylvania(5th) and Michigan(13th), as well as currently sitting in 19th place in the inaugural ECS season.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of May included [player]Keith Elwin[/player] from Carlsbad, CA with 204.88 WPPR points, [player]Cryss Stephens[/player] from Pittsburgh, PA with 201.70 WPPR points, [player]Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player] from Italy with 192.13 WPPR points, and [player]Jerry Bernard[/player] from Patterson, NY with 148.77 WPPR points.

Congratulations to Jorian and the other top WPPR point earners of the month!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for April 2014 is [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] from Delaware, OH. Trent earned a total of 134.17 WPPR points in April. This included top 4 finishes at the Doublewide Grill and Slovak Club Pre-Pinburgh tournaments, as well as at the Ohio Pinball & Gameroom Festival Main and Classics Divisions. Trent is currently the top ranked player for the Ohio and Virginia SCS, as well as being in the top 16 for Pennsylvania(2nd), Maryland(4th) and Kentucky(15th).

The rest of the top 5 for the month of April included [player]Fabio Francescato[/player] from Italy with 83.28 WPPR points, [player]Chris Tabaka[/player] from Jackson, MI with 81.46 WPPR points, [player]Dayvv Brooks[/player] from Ava, MO with 74.34 WPPR points, and [player]Eden Stamm[/player] from White Rock, BC with 70.04 WPPR points.

Congratulations to Trent and the other top WPPR point earners of the month!

The IFPA is excited to announce we've completely redesigned our tournament calendar to make it easier for players to find IFPA endorsed events near them. We have also moved the IFPA Leagues module to this area to help players find and join leagues that may be near them.

The new IFPA calendar also has an updated process for tournament directors to submit their event to be added to the calendar. You will notice that no organizer will be allowed to select a date that isn't at least 30 days in the future. We are also requiring a full address where the tournament will be held, as well as website with details of the format. You will also notice an additional field asking for an email address of the person that will be submitting results. This is because tournament directors will no longer be submitting results via email to the IFPA, but will be responsible for submitting them directly through the IFPA website (coming soon!).

We also have some big things planned for the launch of the 2015 season, including the biggest changes we've ever made to the WPPR system since 2009. Stay tuned for those details later in the year.

Any questions/comments, please contact the IFPA.

The inaugural IFPA European Championship Series is now through Event #9 out of 17, after hosting events on back-to-back-to-back-to-back weekends. Since our last update, Spain, Germany, Poland and France have all hosted their ECS events.

An incredible 633 players have taken part in at least one ECS tournament, with [player]Michael Trepp[/player] continuing to sit at the top of the standings, with 13 countries currently represented above the top 32 cut line. The current ECS standings are available HERE.

The next ECS event takes players to the United Kingdom, where the 2014 UK Pinball Open will be taking place August 29th-31st. Details of that event are available HERE. The entire ECS schedule can be found HERE.