U.S. TABLE SOCCER FEDERATION ANNOUNCES $20,000 COLORADO STATE FOOSBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Denver, CO (USTSF) - Colorado, one of the world’s hotbeds for tournament-level table soccer (a.k.a. “foosball”) for more than three decades, is once again extending the challenge to the best of the nation’s foosball elite: a chance at the title at the annual Colorado State Foosball Championships. Accepting the challenge July 3rd- 6th at the Crowne Plaza Denver International Airport hotel will be more than 200 table soccer (a.k.a. "foosball") enthusiasts and professionals from all around the United States.

Determined to take home prizes, trophies, and the coveted state titles, all are expected to take on Colorado’s best, which includes a long line of legendary foosball players, such as: Mike “Doc” Bowers, first World Champion of the game back in the early ‘70s; Colorado native Todd Loffredo who holds more World Champion titles than any player in the history of the game (40 World titles, countless U.S. and National Champion titles, and even foosball’s Masters Invitational title); multi-time World Champions Scotty Wydman and Tom Spear; multi-time Masters Invitational Champion and U.S. National Team member Robert Mares; Women’s World Champion Dawn Duquette; and Open Mixed Champion Shelley Langley, to name a few.

These and about 20 other Pro and Master-ranked Colorado players will definitely have their work cut out for them, as they face fierce competition from USA #1-ranked Billy Pappas of Lowell, MA, multi-time World Champions Terry Moore of Chicago and Tony Spredeman of Milwaukee (hot off a major title win at the recent U.S. Open of Table Soccer), and several other members of the U.S. National Foosball Team. Women’s challengers like U.S. Team member Dusty Bambenek of Ohio, top-ranked Tiffany Moore of Chicago, and more will also vie for the Colorado State titles.

Events are open to all comers, with numerous categories for men and women from beginner up to Master. Competition further includes events for youths aged 17 & under and specialty events such as “Goalie War,” “Forward Shootout” and “2-ball Rollerball.” The tournament is also open to press and spectators, and there is no admission fee to enter the tournament area. Players of every skill level can register for events on site (entry fees vary) and all competition will take place on Tornado Table Soccer™ tables from the Valley-Dynamo division of Brunswick. Opening events begin at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 3rd with most finals on Sunday the 6th. Sponsors of the event include the Crowne Plana DIA (formerly the Holiday Inn DIA, at 15500 E. 40th Ave, in Denver, CO; tel: 1-303-371-9494 for reservations), while sponsors of the U.S. National Team include Brunswick’s Tornado Table Soccer™, Warrior Custom Golf, Bonzini™ USA, Borden Milk Products of North Texas, Foosball.com, Rod-lock.com and TTR MasterWraps.

Now recognized as an International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF) Pro Tour Series event, the annual Denver area tournament has even been elevated to international tour status. This means that at the Master level, players are competing not just for the $20,000 in cash and prizes at the event, but also for qualifying points to compete at the ITSF World Championship Finals in Europe early next year. And, with many Masters playing exceptionally strong after foosball’s recent U.S. Open and Hall of Fame Classic tournaments in Atlanta and Las Vegas, respectively, matches at Colorado State could be extremely intense!

Other USTSF/ITSF 2008 World Tour events in the United States are scheduled for Raleigh, North Carolina, Austin, Texas, Las Vegas, Nevada and more. Meanwhile, table soccer players from over 50 countries are gearing up for further ITSF competition in Austria, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Germany, India, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Romania, the United Arab Emirates and the UK, among others. In fact, this year’s 55-tournament, five-continent tour is the largest worldwide table soccer pro tour ever!

For additional details about the event and the sport of table soccer, see the following websites:

www.ustsf.org - USTSF official web site/Pro Tour & U.S. National Team sponsorship opportunities
www.table-soccer.org - ITSF official web site/international rankings/news
www.foosball.com - General information about the sport of table soccer
www.vifa.com - Tournament/league information site

For more information, photos, or for an electronic version of this release, please contact:

Shelly Langley, Tournament Director, Tel: 1-970-581-6723; Email: Shelly@coloradofoosball.com
Larry Davis, Executive Director, USTSF, Tel: 1-563-580-9485; Email: larry.davis@ustsf.foosball.com