The Onion keeping up with the world strategy of nobody wanting to talk about competitive pinball. Don’t read the article HERE.

For the 3rd hour of TODAY, NBC’s Savannah Sellers heads to Lyman’s Tavern in Washington, D.C., one of the many venues around the country where pinball competitions are springing back to life. Click HERE to watch the piece.

The IFPA is excited to announce the addition of the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board.

The role of the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board is to provide expertise and guidance in all aspects of competitive pinball as well as to serve as a sounding board as the IFPA continues to grow and evolve. The participation of women in IFPA-sanctioned events continues to increase at a record pace, and the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board is here to offer expert counsel and insight to ensure the IFPA is optimizing opportunities for the continued growth and long-term success of women in competitive pinball.

The initial members of the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board are Olivia Helm, Karyn Kiser, Kim Martinez, Juana Summers, Zoë Vrabel, and Anna Wolk. All will join the IFPA as IFPA Directors. Although she will not be serving on the Board, the IFPA wants to recognize and thank Tracy Lindbergh for the critical role she played in the formation of this group.

The first initiative of the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board has been to collaborate with PAPA to update the Personal Conduct verbiage in the IFPA/PAPA official ruleset (Section III). Clarification of what kind of behavior is acceptable/unacceptable is paramount towards fostering a safe and welcoming environment for all participants at IFPA-sanctioned events. The IFPA looks to IFPA-sanctioned Tournament Directors to hold their players accountable based on the updated rules. The updated IFPA/PAPA rule set with this added verbiage is available HERE.

IFPA President Josh Sharpe commented, “Since launching 13 years ago, the IFPA has always relied on volunteers to move the organization forward. Having these women step up to volunteer their time to serve on the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board and more broadly as IFPA Directors will no doubt shape the world of competitive pinball for the better. The initiatives already being discussed by the Board excite me for the impact they can make now and in the future.”

“Including women’s perspectives in the IFPA governance structure is a critical step in making sure competitive pinball serves all interests and all communities, recognizing that different groups have different needs. Our board represents a diverse set of backgrounds and regions, and we are so excited to join the IFPA in developing competitive pinball in communities across the world,” said Zoë Vrabel, one of the founding members of the Board.

The Board can be reached via email at ifpawomen@gmail.com.

‘THE OPEN’ IFPA World Championship will be held at the Museum of Pinball in Banning, CA from January 9-12th, 2020 as part of the 9th annual “It Never Drains in South California Pinball Tournament”.

The Museum of Pinball will be OPEN for INDISC 2020! 500+ pinball machines on Free Play!

New this year for INDISC 2020:
~ ‘The OPEN’ IFPA Championship! The World’s 5th Major Championship!

~ Senior Division

~ Classic Target-Match Play tournament – Thursday Jan 9th!
(Match-Play tickets go on sale Sat, Oct. 26th at 9am PDT. Ticket link: [https://indisc2020.eventbrite.com 5.
Max 2 tickets purchased per player.) (100 person cap!)

Full schedule and more information HERE.

INDISC 2020 Video Announcement HERE.

Dave Andersen out of Fort Collins, CO finished 2018 as the 442nd ranked pinball player in the world. This qualified him for the Stern Rewards Program for finishing the year ranked in the top 1000. The rewards program allows qualifiers to purchase a brand new Stern pinball machine at a special IFPA price. Dave redeemed his reward for a Deadpool Pro.

So far in 2019, Dave has participated in 28 IFPA sanctioned events and remains in the top 1000 ranked players in the world (ranked 698th currently). He’s also currently sitting in 15th in the Colorado SCS qualifying for this season.

Congratulations to Dave, and remember if you’re interested in qualifying for the Stern Rewards Program, check out the rules here.

Here are the August 2019 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Colin Urban (407.80 WPPR’s)
*ALL-TIME RECORD FOR ONE MONTH*

Biggest Movers:
Brett Smith (+32,933 spots), Tom Law (+27,086 spots) and Jessica Rausch (+23,807 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2019. Congrats to everyone!

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Welcome to the 35th Annual Pinball Expo show taking place in Wheeling, IL October 16th – 20th. As always, there will be plenty to see, experience, and play at this year’s event, and many tournaments going on throughout the weekend. To find more information on these events as well as other show details, please visit pinballexpo.com.

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As the 2019 season enters the final 4 months of the season, so does the process for selecting those IFPA sanctioned events that end up on the Stern Pro Circuit for the 2020 season.

The top 15 events currently on the SPC will earn the right to stay on the SPC for next season. Each season 5 new events will be included in the SPC, replacing the 5 current events with the lowest average WPPR point total over the past three years.

The IFPA is excited to announce that the dates have been set for the 17th annual IFPA World Pinball Championship. IFPA17 will be held May 29-31, 2020, with the 7th edition of the Epstein Cup scheduled for Thursday, May 28th, 2020.

Our host will be The Pinball Asylum in Fort Myers, Florida.

We will continue to update details on the event HERE.