Archive for the ‘Foosball’ Category
Classic Indoor Games: Foosball and Shuffleboard
Last Updated on Wednesday, 5 October 2011 04:23 Written by admin Wednesday, 5 October 2011 04:23
When it comes to indoor games, there are few people in the United States that are not familiar with Foosball and Shuffleboard. Featured in television shows and movies like Friends, and Longshot, foosball (otherwise known as Table Football) and shuffleboard are games that are ultimately easy to recognize and play.
What is Foosball?
Also known as Table Football, foosball is an indoor game loosely based on association football (also known as soccer in the United States). The game was conceived by Harold James Thornton in the United Kingdom in 1921 and patented by him in 1923. An avid supporter of a football club in the UK, he wanted to come up with a way for football to be played at home and indoors. Inspired by a box of matches, he laid matchsticks over the box to illustrate the basic concepts of the game, and foosball was born. His uncle Louis P. Thornton brought the game to the United States and patented it in 1926.
The International Table Soccer Federation was built in 2002 in France, with the mission to promote it as an international sports body, regulate international competitions and to establish the game into the Olympics.
Foosball starts when a small ball is placed near the left or right side of a table, in which players rotate sticks with figures of football players on them to score a goal on the other side. It is often found in homes, office playrooms and college dorms and bars as a bonding game.
What is Shuffleboard?
Shuffleboard has an unclear history, but with records tracing back to Europe for 500 years. There are even records of King Henry VIII of England (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) paying with royal expenses for a game of shuffleboard lost to a Lord William.
The game uses broom-shaped paddles to push weighted pucks, pushing them to a marked scoring area. There is a variant of the game played on table boards that are commonly 22 feet long. The objective of table shuffleboard is to bring all four of a player’s weights against an opponent’s so that they reach the marked scoring area that will bring them the highest score, without pieces falling off the table.
Shuffleboard, often referred to as a senior’s game, has now regained popularity among all ages. Participation has increased 100 percent and one million shuffleboards are now played on all across the country, and more manufacturers are now producing boards.
Indoor games are receiving a renaissance, with foosball and shuffleboard leading the way.
