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I sent the following to the AARP Bulletin after an article insulting Shuffleboard appeared on the AARP web site. Don't under-estimate the Tournament Shuffleboard Players who are supported by the FSA (Florida Shuffleboard Association), NSA (National Shuffleboard Association), ISA (International Shuffleboard Association) and eleven other State organizations.
I was sooo disappointed by the article May 6, 2008 by Thomas Goldsmith regarding the New Senior Center in Raleigh. The line in the May 6, 2008 article by Thomas Goldsmith - “Shuffleboard? Sorry, wrong mind set” - really got my blood boiling. It’s blatantly obvious to the over 20,000 members of the Florida Shuffleboard Association www.fsa-shuffleboard.org and the other thousands of active tournament shuffleboard players throughout the world represented by eleven other states, the National Shuffleboard Association and the International Shuffleboard Association, and our friends at www.theshuffler.org , that Mr. Goldsmith, Lifespan Design Studio, and the Raleigh Planners did “Not” do their homework accurately regarding the active sport of “Tournament Shuffleboard”. The worldwide International Shuffleboard Association tournament is hosted this year in Australia with participating teams from the USA, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Germany, and others. The Florida Shuffleboard Association hosts two sanctioned tournaments most every week from October 1st through March 1st every year, with participants traveling around the state to compete. Our local club hosted one of many National Shuffleboard Association Tournaments on June 2 – 3, 2008 which drew 104 participants from several states and Canada. This tournament was sponsored by Humana Health. Most of our tournaments have major sponsors who understand the sport and the benefits. One National Real Estate company last year televised a commercial depicting shuffleboard as a game played by decrepit invalids in nursing homes. This raised the ire of our members who after a Nationwide campaign within our membership, the commercial was pulled and the company apologizing for it’s insensitivity. Shuffleboard is a very active sport played by serious athletes in organized events around the globe. Those who know nothing about our sport only relate to play on the courts seen on cruise ships or playgrounds, or places where the game is just a leisurely activity. Well, the sport also has the serious side in Tournament Shuffleboard with support of the organizations I have mentioned. The Raleigh planners would have done their residents a favor if they had included tournament shuffleboard in their plans. They have deprived these folks of this real competitive, active sport. I retired four years ago with the idea of playing a lot of golf. I got to know the sport of Tournament Shuffleboard and now play zero golf. Shuffleboard is very competitive, requires stamina, concentration, strategy, and a lot of training and skill to compete at the tournament level. A lot more skill than golf ever required and a sport more available to everyone! ….. Painting an image of shuffleboard as this article by Mr. Goldsmith has painted, is harmful and woefully inaccurate. It’s like saying baseball is a little kids sport because he only saw it played once by some t-ball players. There needs to be more positive coverage of our sport and that can only be done when folks get to know the sport with an accurate portrayal. They won’t want to if people write about what they don’t know. Next time, get it right – do your homework. Come see me – I’ll show you the ropes. It would do AARP a lot of good to get on the bandwagon and step up to the plate by getting on board with the active tournament players through one of the organized channels. P.S. to my shuffling friends – see the article referenced at www.aarp.org then do a search of shuffleboard …. The article is titled “Not your father’s senior center:…… “ Support me by joining in the dialog by signing up at the AARP website and send in your two cents worth…….
Tags: Florida Shuffleboard
June 2 - 3 saw Betmar in Zephyrhills, Florida as host club for the National Shuffleboard Association "Any Doubles" tournament with 102 participants showing up from Michigan, Ohio, New York, Canada, and more. This was the first "National" hosted here and was a tournament awarded to the club on a trial basis due to the unknown number that it may draw. With 102 players, it was considered a success, and Joe Messier was there to say so. Joe is President of the National Shuffleboard Association and was delighted with the response. The Zephyrhills News was there and will print the story on Thursday.
The first day competition started promptly at 9:00 A.M and the last team wound up their third round at 7:30 P.M. in 93 degree temperatures. At this point, half the field had been eliminated and the other half would compete the second day starting again at 9:00 A.M and finished with the final games over at 5:30. This competition requires a lot of stamina and a lot of fluids to stay sharp. The tournament is played best two out of three, 75 point games to complete one round. A round can last up to three hours or more (normal about 2 hours) of non-stop play and serious concentration. Every player plays a minimum of two rounds. Those who keep winning keep playing until the finals where we have have teams playing on four courts for the 1st to 4th place prizes in both the main event and the consolation event.
First place Main event honors went to Phil Rebholz and George Shaver, both from Ft. Pierce, Florida. Cash prizes are awarded to all the winners from our sponsor of this event, Humana Health. For more info about the tournament and pictures, go to www.theshuffler.org, then click on the center box for photo slide show of the Betmar National Tournament.
Tags: Florida Shuffleboard
This is an excerpt from one of my earlier Blogs that touched on a variety of items, but this one "I" feel worth re-peating ................ What If ????? ...................... What if the schools adopted a Shuffleboard Program. Think about it.... How many school age children "do not" participate in the more physically competitive sports such as baseball, football, volleyball, hockey, etc., due to a variety of reasons including lack of space - ability - desire - etc.... Shuffleboard can be learned and played by literally - "anyone".... of any shape, size, or handicap. Active tournament play requires stamina, concentration, focus, and a desire to compete. Portable courts are available in a couple of different styles. They can be set up indoors or outdoors on any flat surface. Some schools already have a court surface "drawn" on the floor in a hallway. My neice in Dayton, Ohio plays on such a court at her high school although they have no formal classes. Equipment is not very expensive and lasts for years. Classes and training would be fun. Competition could evolve in many ways; girls teams, boys teams, individual competition, mixed doubles, novice, junior, advanced, expert levels based on prior tournament results. All of those boys and girls of any age who may not be physically suited for the primary sports offered in schools, could participate in shuffleboard and become just as active and motivated as any other sport offered today. Getting more children involved in competition and getting their minds off the negative distractions todays world offers up to our children could do wonders for the future. Ours, theirs, and yours. A school program that would not only teach more children the values learned from competitive sports, but would follow them home where families could participate together in family events. Interaction with more experienced shufflers is already occurring at a few clubs here in Florida. Two I'm aware of are Pinellas Park, and St. Petersburg. Consider the possibilities!!!.... Low cost, can be portable or fixed, exciting, competitive, constructive, instructive, bonding, exciting, no-boundaries, confidence-building, NO OTHER SPORT CAN DO SO MUCH............ O.K... there may be others that can do a lot too, but Competive Shuffleboard is literally for everyone and I encourage you to take a closer look. Today's youth are tomorrows Masters and we can't leave any possibility to chance. Message me for more information or see www.fsa-shuffleboard.org for rules and information, links, results, etc.
Tags: Florida Shuffleboard Youth
Believe it or not, April 14th was the start of the summer shuffleboard season in Florida and soon - in several other states as well. The Florida summer season tournaments are shortened to one day instead of the normal Winter season two to three day tournaments due to fewer people here in the summer and the heat. (Although the avid shufflers "Do it all the time") Our district shuffleboard tournaments are every Monday and Thursday, rotating between several of the central district clubs. Zephyrhills, Betmar, Avon Park, Lakeland, Winterhaven, Kissimmee, Sebring, St. Cloud. The opening season tournament was held at Betmar in Zephyrhills and drew 88 players from Clearwater, Lakeland, Deland, Pinellas Park, and a few other locations. The first place prize was $96.00 in the Pro division and $44.00 in the Amateur Division. We start at 9:00 and usually finish the play about 2:30 with a 20 minute break for lunch. Eight games are played and new partners are drawn for each game. The individual logging the most games wins first, then second, etc. Ties are broken with a lag-off. We'll be playing straight through until late September with no breaks for holidays and we'll be ready for the FSA sanctioned, Winter tournaments when all the snow birds return to their Florida nests. For more information, results, and schedules, see www.theshuffler.org and www.fsa-shuffleboard.org or, leave me a comment or question - I LOVE QUESTIONS And comments. Read my other blogs about the sport of shuffleboard and get into the game if you can keep up with us.
Tags: Florida Shuffleboard
The following was sent to me by the President of the Florida Shuffleboard Association, Jim Bailey, who recommended that I post on Geezerjock. It was written by Evan Brown.
Shufflin’ From Young Eyes Intensity and responsible competition thrive under the warm spring Florida sun. Discs slide across a limited sea of green painted cement, guided by the skilled hands of professionals of their craft. The playing field consists of the young and sprightly over-50 crowd of fun-loving young-at-hearters. Shuffleboard has enjoyed a reputation as a sport for the “elderly.” Something retirees take up in their latter years to escape the boredom of retirement in lieu of Golf, simply a fallacy this argument is. This is a sport not to be taken upon lightly; professionals on the Shuffle circuit practice regularly, developing knowledge in the complex art of shuffle strategy. The sport mixes the geometrical prowess of Pool with the long-distance consistency of bowling and the strategy of chess. To the untrained eye it is naught but a pastime for bored cruise ship passengers, but to the learned man, Shuffleboard is a complex sport requiring finesse, consistency, and a complex series of thought processes. The shufflers have joined on this beautiful, sunny Monday morning at the hour of 9 am to begin a tournament that will take up most of the next six hours. They meet on the courts, a field of green and grey concrete, and after a good 10 minutes of warm-up, the match begins. The first shuffler bends low, and smoothly coaxes the yellow disc into the “Tampa” position. The following shot launches the first disc off the court. Play like this continues until the last disc for the frame, the hammer comes to rest comfortably in the 8-point area. The score goes on the board and the next frame begins and play becomes more and more complex. A win is no less exciting, and a loss no less disappointing than any other sport. The level of dedication is to the same level. Maybe there are no coaches, or workout routines, or hundreds-thousands of fans in the stands, but maybe there could be, or even should be. This grandson of a shuffler is no less enthralled in the ups and downs of the competition than with a basketball game or track meet, or football game, or golf tournament. The fact that shuffleboard is relegated to the excuse of old age is nothing less than tragedy for this classy sport. What sets it apart though, is the spirit of the shufflers. Though prize money is awarded, it seems obvious that the competitors are just as interested in playing as they are winning and reel from an opponents bad shot almost as much as their own. Evan Brown 10 March 2008
Tags: Shuffleboard
Shuffleboard is a sport!!!! Convincing those unfamiliar with the sport of shuffleboard that it is in fact an active, vibrant sport has been a challenge. When searching the web, I am directed primarily to places that talk about the table game as found in bars and clubs, which may be a fine sport as well, but this writer is focused on the hugely popular sport of floor shuffleboard, and more specifically, Tournament Shuffleboard. I’ve searched the web and found shuffleboard references in articles about real estate developers promoting new housing communities making statements to the effect that their condo’s are not going to become a colony of old folks playing shuffleboard but rather promote other activities to attract the more active lifestyle. These developers are missing the boat and don’t understand the gold mine they could have by promoting Tournament Shuffleboard. One large real estate company that uses red, white, and blue hot air balloons in their advertising, had TV commercials running last fall which depicts shuffleboard players in a nursing home hardly able to sit, much less walk or play shuffleboard. With all this negative press it’s no wonder the image of shuffleboard is tainted. Saying that shuffleboard is only for old inactive folks, is the same as saying baseball is only for little children. The Florida Shuffleboard Association (FSA) www.fsa-shuffleboard.org represents over 300 clubs in the State of Florida totaling over 20,000 members. The active tournament season starts in October every year and runs through March. The top players in the state compete at season end at all levels of skill, District Amateur, State Amateur, and the Masters Pro event to top it all off. There are other State organizations heavily involved in organized Tournament Shuffleboard. Among them are the Arizona Shuffleboard Association, California Shuffleboard Association, Michigan Shuffleboard Association, New Jersey Shuffleboard Association, Ohio Shuffleboard Association, Texas Shuffleboard Association, and others. There is also the National Shuffleboard Association who represents players Nationally, and the International Shuffleboard Association promoting the sport internationally. Links to these organizations and others can be found at the FSA web site. Information about our sport is also on this site – rules, officers, state tournament results, schedules, etc. Another great site for Shuffleboard is www.theshuffler.org. WHY IS THIS SPORT NOT BETTER RECOGNIZED BY THE PUBLIC?????? As I mentioned at the beginning, we’ve had bad press for so long that folks can’t properly associate our sport in the same league with other sports. They see a shuffleboard court on the cruise ship, or some old cracked piece of concrete in a park somewhere and think that’s all there is. NOT EVEN CLOSE! Shuffleboard is a highly organized sport with tournaments at the local, district, state, national, and international level. The International tournaments are hosted this year in Australia with teams competing from the USA, Canada, Japan, Germany, Brazil, and others. More information about this is available on the above mentioned sites. Shuffleboard is financed pretty much by it’s members. Some of the local clubs are fortunate enough to get a few local sponsors who contribute trophies or cash to help finance a tournament, but these sponsors are few and far between. What our sport needs are major sponsors. What’s in it for the sponsor? Well, for starters, exposure to a very large group of people whose attention would be directed to that specific sponsor. No-one is paying attention to this group, so when the first sponsor steps up to the plate to embrace the sport of shuffleboard, all eyes will be there. Most of the active sports have sponsors at some level who contribute to the advertising, promotion, etc., of that sport. Many of the other active sports have far less in the number of participants than we have in tournament shuffleboard. In Florida alone, the FSA clubs represent nearly 20,000 club members. Add to that number at least five times as many more clubs who are not members of the FSA for reasons of their own, but do follow the FSA rules of play and in time will become members in this organized effort. In short, there are in my estimate in Florida alone, well over 100,000 active shuffleboard players in organized shuffleboard who deserve proper recognition and for the world to stop talking about shuffleboard in jest and as the lowest form of a sport. Prior to being introduced to Shuffleboard, I played golf for leisure. I can even remember times when I would comment that “you’ll never catch me playing shuffleboard”. I didn’t have a clue what was involved and based my comments on the image I had conjured up from these baseless ads and false impressions. A relative introduced me to the sport the first time we visited them in Florida. I started to become positively aware of the sport and of some of the strategy required. I later started playing and finally awoke to the reality of the game, its’ strategy, the very strong competitiveness, the required skill and stamina to withstand the rigors of a 2 – sometimes 3 day tournament, every week on Monday & Tuesday and Wednesday for six months, and the 2 day tournaments Thursday & Friday almost every week for six months. Tournament Shuffleboard is truly a grueling sport which requires a whole lot more skill, stamina, staying power, concentration, than for me, golf ever required. Understand, you aren’t required to play in every tournament and most don’t, but many do play in a high percentage of these district and state tournaments during the October through March season. Back to my point, Shuffleboard is a sport. We don’t deserve the negative image, jokes, and insults as found in the mainstream of society and news media. A sponsor would do well if one ever stepped on the court with us. Our numbers are very large and I encourage other Tournament players to come out of the closet and help me tell the world more about this terrific active sport of Tournament Shuffleboard.
Tags: Florida Shuffleboard
Playing in tournament shuffleboard, and I've gotta imagine other sports too, one sometimes has to rely upon a good sense of humor. Some of the shuffleboard clubs have signs posted that say "NO WHINING" ........ I'm not real sure the history behind the signs, but can guess and say that in shuffleboard there are a lot of excuses tossed around as to why certain games were lost, why certain shots were missed at a most critical moment, and so on it goes. At the district level there are a lot of "draw" tournaments. i.e. you draw for your partner and it is a random chance as to whom you are teamed up with for that particular tournament. We hear on the shuffelboard circuit many times, "I drew a bad partner", or "my partner was off his/her game yesterday - That, we call - WHINING .... and we use it freqently. Not as an insult, but rather "constructive" dialog with a bit of humor. I'm an avid tournament shuffleboard player and if I've insulted someone, I apologize. In one of the other blogs it seemed that this Geezerjock site was being "admonished" (I borrowed the word) 'cause it didn't have anything about soccer. Soccer seems like a fine sport - one I can't play, but I admire those who are able and have the desire. If you want to promote your sport - do it - or not. It's not the site's fault if there are no blogs about it.
Tags: OOOps
TAKE MY POLL!!!!! A few already have and a couple have answered "No Way" .... That's what I used to say before I actually tried it and had someone explain the sport to me. Whatever reply you make, keep in mind that everyone is enthusiastic about something - which is a great thing. As for Shuffleboard, unfortunately the public media has historically described our sport as one for the old and infirmed, making jokes about the geriatric population being it's primary participant. TOURNAMENT SHUFFLEBOARD is what I'm all about as well as thousands of others. Saying Shuffleboard is only for the old and infirmed is as ludricrous as saying that Baseball is only for kids with nothing else to do, running around in the street hitting a ball with a stick and getting in the way of traffic all the time. That's the way I learned to play baseball growing up and it was true. However, we know there's a lot more to it than just a kid's game. That's the same with Shuffleboard. It is a leisure activity played for fun by many, but it's also a serious, organized sport with thousands of active participants touring the State, National, and International Circuits. This year the International events are being held in Australia .... The International teams include the USA, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Australia, Japan and I'm not sure, but possibly others. After I retired and finally settled into a community in Florida, I joined the golf club as that seemed to be what everyone else was doing. I had played Golf for over 30 years and that looked like the most popular thing retired people did. One day I looked into the shuffleboard club and at the time, actually felt a little embarrased just being there watching a tournament. What if I was seen by the golfers? My brother-in-law started explaining what was happening on the courts and my interest grew from there. I started to play the game and found that at first, I couldn't win at all playing against other club members. As I grew accustomed to the feel and started learning the strategy, I found I was enjoying this sport a lot more than I ever did playing golf! I found out too that many of the tournament players were competitive individuals who also participate in other sports as well. We have runners, golfers, bikers, skiers, etc., who enjoy Shuffleboard for it's high level of competition. In fact, most of the tournament shufflers consider Tournament Shuffleboard their Primary sport, and their other activities their secondary entertainment. Go ahead, TAKE MY POLL..... click on Polls and let me know how you feel. I for one would never be critical of other's choices or primary sports interests. I'm not suited for competitive level Triathelon, or many other sports, but I admire those who are involved. We shufflers are wanting the world to gain a true understanding of Tournament Shuffleboard. Shuffleboard is a true sport and one that every age group can learn and appreciate. What IF????? The public schools adopted a Shuffleboard Program. Think about it.... How many school age children "do not" participate in competitive sports such as baseball, football, volleyball, hockey, etc., due to a variety of reasons including lack of space - ability - desire - etc.... Shuffleboard can be learned and played by literally - "anyone".... Portable courts are available in a couple of different styles. They can be set up indoors or outdoors on any flat surface. Equipment is not very expensive and lasts for years. Competition could evolve in many ways; girls teams, boys teams, individual competition, mixed doubles, novice, junior, advanced, expert levels based on prior tournament results. All of those bright boys and girls who may not be physically suited for the primary sports offered in schools, could participate in shuffleboard and become just as active and motivated as any other sport offered today. Getting more children involved in competition and getting their minds off the negative distractions todays world offers up to our children could do wonders for the future. Ours, theirs, and yours. A school program that would not only teach more children the values learned from competitive sports, but would follow them home where families could participate together in a family event. Consider the possibilities!!!.... Low cost, portable, exciting, competitive, constructive, instructive, bonding, exciting, no-boundaries, confidence-building, NO OTHER SPORT CAN DO SO MUCH............ O.K... there may be others that can do a lot, but Competive Shuffleboard is for everyone and I encourage you to take a closer look.
Tags: Florida Tournament Shuffleboard
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