Unplugged Games for the Family - Foosball

Stay unplugged for the holidays and enjoy your time with family and friends! Good old fashion face-to-face time keeps your family connected.  Traditional games such as foosball can really bring families together for in - person, unstructured settings that are becoming more and more rare in the lives of today’s highly scheduled and tech-addicted youth.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The longest foosball game ever made was a custom 11-per-side Leonhardt table in Berlin.

• The Tournament 3000 table is the only table recognized as “tournament grade” for the United States Table Soccer Association (USTSA).

• There are Professional Foosball Players. We even had one in our store to practice on our Tournament 3000 table we have on display.

• Over 500 people from 30 countries participated in the most recent International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF) World Championships.

• The largest table ever made was in 2006 when Berlin set up a game using life size Buddy Bears for foosball men during the Football World Cup.

FEATURES TO LOOK FOR:

1. Hollow steel rods – You would think solid is better than hollow, right? Wrong, the lighter, hollow steel rods are faster and easier to play with which makes the game much more enjoyable. Play with a solid steel rods and your arms actually get tired pretty quickly.
2. Nylon men – Strong, durable material to handle years of use. They hold up a lot longer and have a much smaller chance of breakage than plastic men.
3. Lead weighted men – This allows the men to be counter balanced which is a really nice feature when playing one on one. You can balance the men into a horizontal position to make clear shots to the goal.
4. Adjustable feet – Many foosball tables end up in a basement game room where the floor can sometimes be un-level. The adjustable feet will fix that so the ball doesn’t have a slight roll to one side or the other.
5. Side ball return – The ball returns to the side of the table instead of the end. This allows easier access for quicker play. Also, one end can be push closer to a wall for a more compact space.

HISTORY:

• Table tennis was first played sometime around the 1890s in Europe, but the first ever patent was in 1927 in the United States.
• The game spread like wild fire across Europe in the 1950s when table soccer (foosball) leagues were established.
• Foosball became outrageously popular in the 1970s in the United States through the “coin-op” industry where they were mostly used as arcade games.
• In 2003 the U.S. became part of the International Table Soccer Federation. The ITSF hosts the Multi-Table World Championships every January in Nantes, France.
• Although arcades aren’t as common today as they were in the 1970s, the game is still popular for use in homes, churches, workplaces, bars, and clubs.

CURRENT TABLES ON DISPLAY
Check out our current models we have on display or visit our website for more detailed information. We try to have these tables in-stock and ready for delivery or pick-up. There is still time to have one before the holidays!

***Thanks for visiting Entertaining Design!

*** Click here for Unplugged Games for the Family - Table Tennis.

Thanks to Wikipedia for information and photos to add to this posting.