The golden age of foosball has arrived. The quintessential game of private bars and cellars that everyone has played at least once in their life, today seeks its place as a reference sport in much of the world and The Canary Islands did not want to be left behind. That is why more than a hundred players of various nationalities -especially Germans- have gathered throughout this weekend at the Taoro High Schoolin La Orotavato demonstrate their skills with the levers and celebrate your passion for the sport with a like-minded community.
The one in charge of attracting this elite competition, “unprecedented in the Islands”, has been the company Tikitakafutbolines that, for several years, has sought to promote professional table football in the islands. It was on a trip to Germany, before the coronavirus pandemic broke out, that the manager, Guzmán Hernández, realized the professional scope of the board game that had accompanied him for much of his childhood and adolescence. The enthusiasm for what he saw there intoxicated him and, since he returned to Hernández Island, he mobilized to replicate those high-level competitions in Tenerife.
“Germany is the cradle of this sport,” explains Hernández. “I found myself in a different world and seeing it that way motivated me to rescue the table football of yesteryear,” he highlights. In Hamburg alone, where one of the world’s largest foosball practice centers is located, there are some 1,300 registered professional players. Rikko Tüitjer is directly responsible for creating this youth academy. The German is not only passionate about foosball, he is also a professional player, and this weekend he has been invited to Tenerife to organize all the tournaments based on a Swiss matchmaking system that improves the player’s experience in the competition.
With this system, as the matches take place, the players – individually or in pairs – position themselves in matches with opponents of the same level. “So everyone can play several times and what comes first is always fun,” insists Hernández. The meetings of the best players in this tournament, which takes place from last Friday, August 26 until today, can be seen from the Liceo Taoro but also through the live broadcast on the Twitch platform. “This is the most professional thing we have seen outside our environment,” says Tüitjer.
The pandemic has held back the possibility of carrying out his project for two years, but not the clear trend in the sector towards professionalization. In fact, in recent years the Canary Islands have managed to encourage around thirty residents, divided equally between Tenerife and Gran Canaria, to compete and play in a more professional manner.
two world winners
Among those attending this event are two important figures in international table football, the world champions, Thomas Haas and Maura Porrman. Both have landed in Tenerife from Germany, where almost a decade ago they began to be interested in sneaking balls into the opponent’s goal with a good turn of the wrist. “I got into foosball like everyone else, playing in bars with friends,” explains Porrman.
Those friendly games would soon be little use to him and just a few months later he would begin to train more professionally, learning the strategies and intricacies of that popular board game. In 2013 she faced her first professional competition and unplannedly embarked on a meteoric career that has led her several times to rise as the undisputed winner of national and international championships. Porrman is passionate, methodical, and her play is characterized by careful analysis of her opponent. However, what he loves most about the sport is “the sound of the ball scoring a goal”.
Hass, for his part, discovered foosball in his best friend’s basement in 2013. “We lived it, we were good at it,” he recalls. Being aware of their potential, both decided to enter the world of competition as a team to realize, in just a few seconds, that they were not as good players as they thought: “we lost each one of the games we played”.
Learn from mistakes
His game was not very polished and his opponents told him so. “They told me that just by looking at us, they knew we were rookies,” he explains. But his continuous failures did not intimidate him and, in fact, were an incentive to improve his technique. “The foosball community is very friendly, always willing to talk and help you,” he says. Hass continued to persevere for years until he became number one in the world. A decade later, both have traveled the entire planet in search of opponents with whom to measure themselves in an equal duel. What they have found are many different ways to play. “In Europe, the game is not the same as in the United States or in China, and between countries around us there are also many differences in the style of play,” explains Porrman.
A more “Spanish” style
When it comes to defining the Spanish game, both agree that they are much more “intuitive” and “fast”. “They tend to take advantage of opportunities much more,” says Haas, who says that in Germany the game tactics are more closed and the game more thoughtful.
This is only the first step for the professionalization of foosball. “Our idea is to continue doing competitions in the coming years and grow,” remarks Hernández, who is already thinking of a future where table football will once again capture the attention of young people. “Consoles have gained a lot of ground and we want to give foosball the space it deserves,” he insists. To this end, Tikitakafutbolines is working to attract a “new version of table football” to the Canary Islands, more up-to-date so that children and adults can once again enjoy competing with a healthy activity that facilitates communication and improves physical and mental health.
