A WORLD OF TABLEFOOTBALL Tablesoccer in Holland

Holland

Tulips from Amsterdam…
In Holland, table football is very popular.
It is quite local though, I often visit the province of Zeeland, and you don’t find too much of it there.
The epicentre = Limburg.
There are in Holland many talented players, and they are especially POLYVALENT i.e. they play on Topper2000, but just as well on
Soccer2000, Jupiter, Tornado, and Deutscher Meister.

The federations :

NTVB Nederlandse Tafelvoetbal Bond
The most important federation in Holland, to which most of the local ones are affiliated. I have been to many international meetings they had organized at the “Timpaan” in Gulpen, and all of them were really TOP-class!
Chairman : Hein Fisher
Table : TOP 2000

RTVB Regionale Tafelvoetbal Bond (subdivision NTVB)
Contact : Rick van Dijk
Table : TOP 2000

LSN Leonhart Soccer Netherlands
Contact : Jan de Mol
Table : Leonhart Soccer

TFN Tornado Foos Netherlands
Contact : Jeroen Groenemans
Table : Tornado

TTC Tilburgse Tafelvoetbal Competitie
Table : TOP 2000

VTC Valkenwaardse Tafelvoetbal Competitie
Table : TOP 2000

ZOH Zuid Oost Hoek
Chairman : John Packbier
Table : TOP 2000

The Dutch have one of the best sites on the net :
www.tafelvoetbal.nl

In earlier days, NETAVO was the table used by the NTVB.
That was an old table, very hard to master for outsiders.
The ASF regularly has international meetings with the NTVB, and in the NETAVO days, ASF didn’t stand a chance.
Meanwhile, those tables have been replaced.
At one point, the NTVB stood on the verge of buying SOCCER2000 tables, which would have been just great for international foosball.
But in the end they decided against that, and acquired the TOPPER2000 instead.
I personally regret this, the TOPPER2000 is not a bad table, but again so different from the Belgian games.

At the away games on TOPPER2000 the Belgians get the worst of it.
And…those Dutch guys have no problem adapting to our tables!

The tables :

Top 2000

Is in the same line as Jupiter, but the rods are significantly heavier.
The table is somewhere midway between the Belgian models and the Deutscher Meister.
The grips and players are made of wood, the rods are chromed.
Playing field in hardened glass.
(The Topper PRO has a synthetic playing field in combination with plastic balls.)

Balls : Cork.

Leonhart Soccer

Model Leonhart Soccer is in use for the league games in Holland.
It is a sturdy German table.
Classic line up (1 goalie + sloping corners)
Synthetic grips + synthetic players + synthetic balls.
Chromed rods, with a rather heavy feel.

Tornado

There is no denying, even though we don’t appreciate the 13 players…
Tornado is : BIG AMERICAN !
Is it the big prize money ?
The famous places : Las Vegas? Dallas?
Or is it just the challenge that makes this difficult table so appealling?

With an awful lot of practice, EVERYTHING is possible on Tornado.
Pull shots – push shots (ball next to the player)
Incredibly fast passes between players on the same rod.
Front pin shots (not easy = training in triplicate)
It is thé perfect table.
Mind you, also the rules are different :
“snake shot” and “roll over” are allowed.
Passing from midfield to strikers never from a dead ball.
Ball bouncing back out of the goal, is considered a valid goal.

Front pin shot : Ball in front of the player , under the tip, then push or pull.
Roll over : same starting point, then turn the rod over once.
Snake shot : In fact, the combination of the front pin and roll over.

Unfortunately Tornado makes no effort to promote its tables in Europe.
Hence hardly in use for league games in Europe.
In the season 2000/2001, Tornado Foos Netherlands, had organized a regular league with eight teams. This league does not exist anymore.
Right now that in Belgium a few Tornado’s have appeared on the scene…

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