FoosTalk Live | Ep 316 | Michael Stahl Great Lakes Classic Preview

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[00:02:18] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to talk about foosball. Don't you worry. But, of course, if you're going to talk about foosball, you better have somebody nearby who really loves the game. Not just as a player, but also as a pro ref, which would be the great Randy Raposo out of the state of Alabama. What's up, Randy? What's going on, Tom? Peace, bro. What's going on? Hey, we had quite a time last week. I think that the ladies really liked you. Really do.

[00:02:47] Really? Really? I'm like LL Cool J, but with an R. Well, you know, I'm just saying. Come on. Come on. I was like their grandpa just saying, hey, you know, good job. Tom, you're everybody's grandpa. Quit playing, dude. Papa Tom. Yeah, buddy. Look out. That's what we call you down here, Papa. Papa? Papa. No. Papa.

[00:03:17] Papa. Papa. Yeah, that's other for grandpa. Is that what that is? Okay. Because I've heard that before someplace. Mama and Papa. Okay. Yeah, that's right. Now that I got the lingo down, I know I'm being insulted. I'm good. No problem. That's not an insult. That's not an insult. What are you talking about? Look, I'll show you. My wife's grandfather's in my phone is Papa Billy. Oh. I love Papa Billy. Got it. Okay. It's not an insult. I love Papa. Look, if Papa called me right now and told me to come kill you, I would do anything for that, man.

[00:03:46] I love Papa Billy. So that's not an insult. I promise. It's a term of endearment then. Okay. All right. 100%. I'll take it. I'll take it. If I can get it, I'll take it. 100%. Yeah. Nonetheless, you know, we've been chatting a lot about worlds because it, I mean, it was that good. There's been so much fallout from this fantastic year, 2026. And of course, Ryan Moore, the man himself, has been hanging out.

[00:04:13] And I guess he's heading to Vienna pretty soon, which is coming up. So that'll be fun. Yeah. He's been tying up loose ends, getting ready for that. I think he's running on a little bit of sleep and trying to get it all done, trying to put it together. This is going to be big. I mean, this is the first time anyone from here has ever taken something over there and done something this big. So, you know, I got a feeling this thing's going to be pretty big.

[00:04:42] So hopefully it works out really well. So that way we can keep doing it. Yeah. Um, so, but now, man, it's look, worlds was awesome, but it's, it's now one to the next one, dude. And the next one's going to be, well, next one's going to be really good. We're going to, we're going to have some fun. Um, and yeah, so we're only 11 days away from the Great Lakes Classic Regional Tournament, uh, for the first time this year in Grand Rapids.

[00:05:06] And of course, uh, well, you know, if you're going to talk about that, it's probably beneficial to have somebody who's been, well, running the tournament for what? Six years, seven years, seven years. I've forgotten now, but let's find out from the man himself. Uh, welcome back, Michael Stahl. What's up, dude? Hey, hey, what's up, fellas? So how many years has it been? Great Lakes Classic, Michigan State. Yeah. So the first plan year was actually during COVID.

[00:05:36] Um, I started promoting foosball back, uh, maybe 2018. Okay. And, uh, years local promoting had a, had a nice spot at a sports bar, ran tournaments, kind of got fatigued from doing that. Uh, just mostly the venue and location and like logistical nightmare, being a promoter sometimes locally. Um, and yeah, so after that I got into foosball clubs.

[00:06:06] Um, but before that I was, uh, you know, we started planning the state championship during COVID. So, um, that would have been our first year, but yeah, we didn't, we had to cancel that. So 2021 was our first year. This is our sixth annual. Sixth annual. Okay. So my mathematics isn't as bad as I thought. Um, but it's, uh, it's been a great tradition, but, uh, so, so first of all, uh, we're not going to be in Lansing this year.

[00:06:35] We're, uh, we're headed for Grand Rapids, uh, new location. And, uh, I, now don't get me wrong. I think Lansing was fantastic and the hotel was beautiful. Just a, just a great venue. Uh, what, what, what, uh, prompted the move to Grand Rapids? Yeah. So, you know, this tournament has always been, um, it's always been really special and any state tournament out there or any state promoter out there knows that, you know, you have to

[00:07:05] find ways to at least break even. And we had a couple of really good years. Like we, we did great, you know, super healthy. The idea is to, you know, get some friends to help bankroll it. That's what we did in 21. Um, and then give them their money back. And then, you know, maybe if we can make a few thousand to put towards the next year. So we asked for less help and that's, that's exactly how it started.

[00:07:32] Um, and we ran into this. Great contract at the Hilton after our first year at this really bad hotel. So we changed the Hilton garden and Lansing, uh, from the Causeway Bay, um, which was just a phenomenal move and that the contract was extremely good for us and the players. Yep.

[00:07:57] Uh, too good for the hotel because a few years into it, the management team was fired and Oh, really? We actually, yeah. So we, a new team came in, um, and really great people, but they just wanted too much. And, you know, the old manager, she was really nice. You know, she told me that we were bringing in quite a bit of money for the hotel and it

[00:08:25] was just really, it was super reasonable, uh, for them to continue running it. And then these new guys came in and they just wanted more. And it's probably, uh, internal attempt to not lose throughout the year and just do better. And that's how corporate America works. Yeah. So we had to roll with it. And we, two weeks before last year's contract was finalized, it was completely changed. They sent me a new bid said, Hey, we're a new team. And I really didn't have any other options.

[00:08:55] And I knew that we had to increase attendance by quite a bit to at least break even. Oh yeah. So we went optimistically forward last year and we, we didn't make a profit on the event. Um, we, we definitely lost some money and with it now being like a, a, a benefit to foosball clubs, us, this is so stringently important to make sure that we can pull in, you know, at least some, you know, some profit to donate to the organization.

[00:09:24] So, um, that's why we've moved because we found, I did a lot of research and I put in a lot of hours and I found a hotel that was willing to donate $15,900 worth of value to, to us. Wow. And that's just the entire package. That's multiple ballrooms. That's just a whole lot of support. And it just felt silly not moving it. Yeah.

[00:09:52] Even though I was born, you know, I was born in Lansing 30 years ago and Lansing is just like this special place to me. We had to make that decision. Okay. So, yeah. Wow. Well, uh, you know, obviously you got to do what you got to do, you know, to keep this thing moving forward and expanding. And that's the idea, right? I mean, as a state championship or regional championship really, because it's called the Great Lakes Classic. It's more about not just Michigan, but, but other states. Correct? Yep.

[00:10:23] Yeah. That's right. And, you know, when one thing that I've learned is that, you know, operating a nonprofit organization, you have to do, you have to scratch and claw and be super gritty to try to manufacture as much value as you can.

[00:10:42] And so, um, but yeah, I mean, it's going to be a great tournament. This venue is great. It's not as nice as the Hilton, you know, this was a brand new hotel that we were at for multiple years. Um, it's a, it's a double tree. So it is quite nice. Um, it's just maybe one step below, uh, but more affordable and it's closer to the airport.

[00:11:11] You've got the international airport, uh, Grand Rapids international airport, less than 10 minutes away. Nice. Uh, free shuttle for flying in, you know, most regional flights are going to be cheaper from the major cities. So it's just logistically, it makes more sense. Uh, and I want this to grow. I want this to, to do what it's supposed to do. How far is a Grand Rapids from Detroit, by the way?

[00:11:37] I was just going to ask that about on a busy day, probably closer to three hours, two hours. Oh, good night. Okay. Um, yeah. And what about from Lansing from Lansing now to great, to Grand Rapids? How far? Yeah, sure. It's like an hour and five minutes. That's not bad. Oh yeah. Yeah. So it's not terrible.

[00:12:02] Um, it's, it's yeah, maybe yeah, just West, West of Lansing, a little bit North, Northwest. Um, but it's a great location and, uh, I'm, I'm really excited about what we can provide because of that. Um, and so working with the USTSO has been really great because you have like a strategic

[00:12:25] partner behind it, uh, that's willing to, you know, just game planning this with multiple people, partners. I think that provides a better product. Uh, cause I've kind of with maybe only a few people have really been planning this yearly and it's unlike the main organizer. So it's, it's a heavy lift, but when you start early enough, it becomes really manageable

[00:12:51] and you kind of look out for those key pieces, key things every year that, you know, you have to do like media is a non-negotiable. We have to have at least three media contacts. It's all about how can we make a splash with a great tournament for kids and adults that has the media reach for schools. And so we hope that that's how it works out. And we've got the West Michigan sports authority behind us too.

[00:13:21] Uh, previously we had the Lansing, uh, sports authority behind us and they, they did a lot. Um, and the way it works in any like state promoter out there listening, you know, reach out to your local sporting authority. There's, there's almost always one in every major city and they're usually nonprofit organizations and they typically pull in money from the state government to pull in athletes to their city. And there's ways to leverage that.

[00:13:48] There's ways to get them to help with expenses and to be maybe a presenting partner. Um, but it's a long-term play because early on in these organizations budgets, they, like if you hit them up the year of your event, it's almost too late. Like they can help with materials. They might be able to help print thousands of flyers and do a lot of work like West Michigan sports authority is for us. But once they know about you, they know how legit you are.

[00:14:17] Um, and they respect your event. They'll build a budget for it. Like, it's just, it's something that every, every one of these organizations will typically do. I've, I've found. Cool. Well, it's nice to have that, uh, that extra added bonus. I mean, that's just seems like a lot of, uh, state championships don't have that, uh, that kind of extra added, uh, assistance there. Well, yeah.

[00:14:46] And again, I, I, I think that what you do specifically that a lot of maybe other promoters don't, or maybe some do and we just don't know about it is you, you tap a lot of these resources, I guess that foosball clubs USA gives you the opportunity to tap into. And, um, you know, I, I think, you know, we need to get promoters organized so that way everybody can just kind of like, we need like a promoter playbook essentially.

[00:15:14] So that, you know, foosball, like we're, we're funding foosball, right? Like players are funding foosball. So any money we can get is, is great, uh, you know, but so for the listeners and people that have probably never put something of this size or caliber together, right? The tournament is starts on the 15th, runs through the 18th, 19th. When this tournament ends, when do you start working on next year?

[00:15:45] Uh, yeah, I already, I already have really. So I had a few, a few months. Yeah, actually a few, there's a lot of stuff that I wish I could do this year that I know that I can do next year. Um, and some of it's just like, I didn't think about it. Some of it's like, I don't have the ability to do it yet. And yeah, I think that there's a lot of great promoters out there.

[00:16:13] And if, if you look at a two-year contract, that's usually going to help a lot. You know, Ryan is partnered with a lot of local promoters and he's sharing his wisdom in a, you know, in a one-on-one way. And I, I'm sure there'll be a playbook at some point. And I hope he's listening and he's like, yeah, I'll, I'll do that. Uh, because Randy, you're right. Like these are like not always shared secrets.

[00:16:39] And I'm sure there's a lot that I haven't learned that I, I would love to, you know, figure out. And there's certainly a lot I learn every year. So I think it's, it's a super cool idea. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like I'm sure there's a foosball player of all the thousands of who's a tax attorney or at least related to a tax attorney who would be, who would be able to advise us.

[00:17:02] Like, how do we do this and, you know, like basically make it as, you know, not cheap, right. But as beneficial to the players as possible. So, you know, again, I think a lot of players don't really understand how much goes into doing something like this, right. Getting a venue, creating a flyer, doing a schedule, getting tables, getting people to put it together, set up the tables, run the event, do the media.

[00:17:31] I mean, and that's just like the tip of the iceberg. That's not everything else. Like you said, like you're, you're talking to, you know, the West Michigan sports authority, you know, plus you've got foosball clubs, us, like there's just so much to running a foosball tournament. I've seen people have strokes running a one day on a Saturday, nevermind trying to do a regional, a regional event. So, so yeah. Yeah. So it's like, I think players, you know, we all love foosball, man.

[00:18:01] Let's we, we got it. We got to, we got to be a little bit more gracious, maybe a little bit more patient when it comes to these things. I understand we're all competitive and we want to go in, but you know, the amount of work that goes into a tournament of this caliber, man, it's, it's, it's pretty crazy. So plus you guys, you guys have a two new hall of fame inductees this year, correct? Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Ron Olson. Ron Olson. Yeah. Yep.

[00:18:26] So the master for Michigan, the only master currently in Michigan, Ron Olson, you know, our number one player, amazing dude, really influential in, for me and my career too. Uh, but, but so many others and then, uh, Jim Hart, long time promoter, um, just a fantastic person, probably one of the longest standing local promoters in Michigan that still runs

[00:18:54] a weekly, uh, and from Oscoda. So up North. And so, yeah, we're showing a little bit of love to the guys up North and the hall of fame committee, um, was really excited to, to make this happen. And, um, there's just a lot of excitement around enjoying the, really the history of Michigan foosball every year. And we've got a really amazing group of people and guys and gals and stuff.

[00:19:23] So it's, it's really cool to see that happen. Yeah. That's awesome news, man. Ron Olson, by the way, just, just saying is one of my all time favorite people and players, uh, love watching him play, but he's just, just, uh, an extraordinary person just to hang with, you know, just to, just to talk to. And, and he's so, he's always very generous with his, uh, his advice. And, and, uh, when, you know, when you're just, uh, just playing some pickups, but, uh, Ron boy, congratulations. Ron Zilla. Ron Zilla.

[00:19:53] Yeah. There you go. So again, that the torn now you've got your man, like the hall of fame. There's a lot, Mike. It's a lot, buddy. I know it's a lot of work. And there's, there's so many buckets that, and there's even buckets that people don't even know about. And, uh, if I, let me just say this about Ron and Jim really quick. Uh, cause I, I have some more to add about like what I think promoters should focus on

[00:20:17] and maybe just a quick blurb, but, um, you know, Ron, Ron Olson is a, he's a super special dude and, you know, he, he said top finishes at worlds. He's a multi world champion, elite division world chain. I'm sure he's won other events too. Um, but he's just put together such an impressive career and he hasn't really been playing a ton. And so I'm excited to see him come out.

[00:20:44] Um, you know, he, he and I actually played a couple of years there open doubles where we made a few, we made a few, made a final South Dakota. One is actually pro on house of tournaments. So we took advantage of that one pro doubles there too, but, uh, he's just a super great guy. And so it's, it's nice to see that. And then, um, yeah, so I'm, I'm super excited. So dude, Ron, Ron, I think, sorry, Tom, I just, I gotta, I gotta throw this out.

[00:21:14] Ron, I think it was all four. It was all four or all five at worlds him and Jeff Kimmerling won semi pro doubles. And then they got fifth and open though. They got a top five. That was like, I mean, Ron's always been, he's always been solid. Even as a semi pro, he was solid. And Jeff, I, Jeff just won pro doubles at worlds. That dude, he's, he's, you guys got it. You guys got a bunch of solid dudes up there, but, um, so, you know, hall of fame running

[00:21:43] the tournament and then you got the kids to boot. Yeah. So how's it going with the kids? It's been my favorite part about being a promoter. Um, you know, there's, there's been a ton of kids that first of all, like there's a couple different buckets here. When we talk about like junior players, there's junior players in the club. There are junior players that are also in clubs that, that also go on, on tour, which is growing rapidly.

[00:22:12] And I've got some goals there. And I think as an organization, foosball clubs should have some official goals. And it's something I've been working on lately is like, how can we set milestones? What does success look like? What is, you know, performance look like if you're a nonprofit? Um, and so always reevaluating our goals and, but as, as far as players go and junior players on tour, that should be a goal.

[00:22:37] And I'd love to see a hundred kids from our clubs be in, you know, well, um, we've produced a number of them already, but, and it's growing, but I think we need to this year with the curriculum being out in the schools with it, with a fully fledged, uh, coaches portal and the amount of resources that we're providing.

[00:23:01] These kids have more access to tournament foosball than ever before, you know, thousands of kids playing our program. You know, we did a, we did a survey and it was like just over just under 30% of kids. We got surf, sorry. Schools got surveyed that are in the program and it produced roughly 3,100 kids playing foosball. What? 3,100? Uh-huh. Yeah.

[00:23:27] And if you, and, and just our club clubs being started in the last year from August to August, which was roughly actually August to June 30 fiscal year end for school, we surveyed over 1700 kids in our programs just in the last year that we've started the, you know, it was actually 33 clubs at the end of June that we, we had started 1700 kids from that. That's great.

[00:23:55] And the goal now going forward and sorry to get on a rant about metrics and kids playing. Um, you're good. You're good. You're good. The goal is to increase the communication with these schools, find ways to leverage, um, you know, the communication around it. And so we now have an MOU that we've been sending out to schools the last two years, um, but the organization really never did before, before that.

[00:24:22] Uh, so a school signs an MOU membrane of understanding, Hey, you're going to give us some data. At first it was quarterly, but then we realized we really need monthly touch points with schools. We need to know like on a month to month basis, are you running tournaments? How many kids are playing? What does the activity look like? The setting is at lunch? Is it after school? Are you using it for PE? Uh, do you have a wellness elective credit, which some schools are moving to, by the way.

[00:24:49] And that's, we can talk more about that later, but, um, I'm just excited about it. Like it's, it's my favorite thing to talk about. And I think I'm going to be talking a lot more about it in the future. Like it's going to be one of those things we, we hang our hat on is who, how many kids are truly getting impacted by this. Yeah. And it's as an ED for a nonprofit metrics and data are everything.

[00:25:18] Sorry, mostly everything telling the story behind them is everything crafting in, you know, being able to convey what's happening. I mean, that's, that's what we're going to do. So we're getting better at that all the time. It's, it's all about bandwidth. And this year I'm excited, uh, because we're going to be expanding that we're going to be pulling some more help on the team. We're getting more organized from a volunteer perspective.

[00:25:42] Um, we're going to be doing a lot more connecting of the community, you know, connecting the community with the organization. So, well, forgive me if I'm stating the obvious here, but, uh, I can foresee this moment where, you know, the, the Great Lakes Classic Regional Championship becomes the National Junior Championship. That's at least that's, I don't know the, all the indicators point that because even with

[00:26:10] the world championships, you know, world foosball tour, world championships. Yes. There were a lot of kids there, but I don't think they had the numbers that you guys even had, uh, when it comes to the total number of kids, kids playing. This is the thing, Tom, 3,100 kids nationally right now figure in 10 years, if that number doubles, the Great Lakes Classic doesn't become that it would have to have its own national championship because, you know, they might have 2000 kids at this thing. Who knows?

[00:26:40] I mean, you, you guys just broke, you guys just broken Alabama. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, we, we've been, uh, starting some more clubs all over the country. Um, Alabama is one of those places. Let's go. I'm really excited, man. We, I've got Dave Currington out down in that neck of the woods and we've been talking about starting a string of schools, um, in Alabama. So there's, there, the future's bright. Um, there's some prospect states that I think are getting hot right now.

[00:27:09] Um, you know, it's all about funding and we're, we're all about trying to secure that funding so that we can, we can continue to grow. So, you know, last year we pulled in from August to the fiscal year and for schools end of June, we pulled in just over a hundred thousand dollars.

[00:27:33] And that was through donations in kind, all the service income buckets. We've, we pulled in accumulatively that. And, uh, so the more we pull in, the more we can do. I mean, it's simple and we're expanding our team too. So our bandwidth is going to be allowing a lot more quality. And I think that's going to be important, um, as we continue, but we've got great partners,

[00:28:00] great, great assets, you know, that great people that we're working with right now that without those people, this would not be possible. So, um, I'm just a small part of it. I feel like, and we're just, we're going to continue to grow. Yeah. This is exciting. This is great news. Uh, forgive my, uh, my, my, my ignorance here, but I'm wondering within the, the, uh, the foosball clubs USA program, the curriculum that you currently have, is there a specific

[00:28:30] path to pro that you, that you, uh, promote within the kids or is that, is that premature or you just want to get them into the sport first and then maybe cover that later? Is there any thought to that? You know, I think it's just so grassroots right now that we're starting at the bottom. It's all about the culture, not necessarily the competitiveness behind it. And so really like, I can speak to that. I'm not sure. Like we've got a curriculum. It's a 12 week curriculum.

[00:29:01] Can Burroughs created. And the last episode is literally path to mastery. Oh, nice. I've taken the course. And since then I've gained, I don't know how many points I've gained this year, probably over 600 points this year alone. Damn. Singles. And just being right there, probably one of the highest ranked pros in the world right now. Um, virgin master. And it's because of that curriculum helped me a lot. Um, so I think we addressed that need really well. I think Cam did a great job with it.

[00:29:31] Um, but my focus personally isn't really about points or, you know, ranking and sure we'll gamify our, our club system as we go. And there's, there's different, uh, pipelines we're creating and I'll talk more about that later. Um, but yeah, I mean, that's not my focus really right now. I think it's let's, let's get these kids trying foosball. Let's see how many kids can try it. Let's see what that exposure looks like.

[00:29:57] And like the succession rate in the schools, if there's a thousand kids, how many of those kids can we get to try? And then how many are we retaining after that? And why aren't we retaining more? What can we do to make it stickier? Um, and so like, I'm just so process driven right now. It's hard to think about like, that's next year for me is like, you know, can we hit a hundred kids on tour? Right. Like, so right now is like, that would be cool. How can we build, you know, we're doing a lot.

[00:30:27] We're almost doing too much. And that's been the last I've really tried to pump the brakes a little bit and just make sure that we're focusing on the right thing. Scaling a nonprofit's very difficult work and, but it's just so rewarding. And it's fun. Like, it's the most fun I've ever had in my life. Um, is like when something isn't working, how do I make it work better or, you know, figure it out?

[00:30:52] It's, it's very tough, but, uh, you know, and if I could just go back a little bit and address another thing you mentioned a second ago about, I don't think a junior national championships is out of our scope as a nonprofit. Okay. As an organization. Um, I do see that being more plausible down the road, but again, right now you got to walk before you can run. And so that's what we're doing. Oh, makes sense. Makes sense.

[00:31:20] Uh, building the foundation and having the, the, uh, the, the, the demand before you make the supply, of course, uh, makes a, makes a whole lot more sense. Um, dude, I'm, I'm, I'm so excited for you. I mean, I, I still remember when we first started talking about this, oh, I don't know, four or five years ago, uh, when it comes to foosball clubs, USA and the, the, the challenges and the things that, that you had to struggle with and, and struggle through.

[00:31:46] Um, are you happy with what you've done so far, man? I'm elated. I'm more than happy. I'm, I'm stoked. It's, it's been really great. Um, yeah, I, I think we can do better. Okay. Like we've done, we've done really well, man. We've done, I'm super proud of the team that is behind this and what we've been able to accomplish.

[00:32:14] Um, I just have a big vision for this. I think, you know, we did a hundred, just over a hundred K last year. We could do like 500,000 a year. Cool. And then you're talking about like multiple employees being added to the team, um, throughout like a five-year plan maybe. And then just expanding, maybe having like an actual fiscal office, like the sky's the limit.

[00:32:41] And my goal though, is to be one of those, you know, to lead one of those nonprofits that has a super transparent, like we're going to be posting all our reporting on our website. Like you'll be able to see all the financials. Like you don't have to go to the IRS website to find this. It's not there yet, uh, but it's a part of our plan. And I think when people eat and just think about it, like outside of foosball, like we've

[00:33:07] got this, we've got this market, foosball players, great people, some of my most best friends in the world. But then you look at like, we could be creating a whole new demographic of interest around foosball. So that's, that's really like the focus is like, how can we bring in more interest? Even if they just try it? Like earlier I was talking about like, how many kids are in the school? How many kids tried foosball?

[00:33:37] Okay. If not many kids are trying foosball, is it like an admin communication issue? Are they putting foosball in a visible place? Like, are we doing enough around it to make it look fun? Are we, is Foosball Clubs USA doing enough of a good job conveying the program, training teachers, getting admin, looking for volunteer support? Like there's just so much that we can do. Um, anyway, another rant about that, but you have a right to rent. It's fine. Don't worry.

[00:34:07] Um, no, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm enlated for you, man. I think it's just, uh, it's terrific. And of course we, uh, just recently celebrated the birthday of John O'Brien who, uh, who, uh, really kind of kicked this whole thing off and, and, uh, man, you're doing him proud playing simple. He was a great guy. Um, yeah, I, I'm super proud to be able to do this work and, you know, honor a guy like that. Yeah. Yeah. Great work you're doing.

[00:34:38] Well, back to the actual tournament for Great Lakes Classic. I'm curious. You, uh, you added a pro-am event this year, but, uh, no, have you done that before? Have you done a pro-am before? I think pro-am is one of the most important events in foosball. And this is our third year, maybe fourth year. Oh, okay. Okay. Um, I know because I play every year with Aaron Croft. Got it.

[00:35:03] Who, uh, special shout out to this dude is like one of the most supportive people I've had early on. And like, like this, this isn't easy. Like you got to build confidence. You got to build a foundation. You have to believe you can do the work before it gets done. And I didn't always think I could. And Aaron was there when I didn't know. And yeah. So he's a special guy. Uh, I'll be playing again with him this year. We've never won a tournament, but we're going to keep trying. Okay.

[00:35:33] Cool. Be super fun. And, and what's the junior delegation looking like at the great lakes? Oh man. That's awesome. So a lot of the tour juniors are, they, they're networked pretty intimately into foosball at this point. Like a lot of them were playing their first tournament last year for Michigan. Like you've got, um, Noah spray, a cone S Cole Nessel.

[00:36:02] Um, of course, Andrew Spears, uh, you know, just to name a few from the Rockford school district that are now like, and going to turn, like instead of soccer moms, it's foosball moms now. So it's just cool to see it. Like a new term. Cool. I'm sure they have their partners picked out. And, uh, yeah, if I wasn't playing with Aaron, I would have played with one of them. But played worlds with Noah spray.

[00:36:30] It was super fun, but these kids are just awesome. There's a lot of kids that aren't touring that I'm hoping will show up. Um, I was telling Tom earlier, my like immediate goal is 50 kids. It'd be roughly 40% increase. We had, um, like 30 kids last year. So, um, from 11 different schools, I think. Wow. So that was cool. Um, but yeah, 50 kids would be great. Uh, North star is like a hundred kids.

[00:36:59] Of course, you know, if we get a hundred kids, that would be pretty incredible. We'd have to, we couldn't handle it. I don't think like we could, but it would be very difficult. Uh, things would run later for everyone else. Like we would have to prioritize juniors for several hours in a row. And then Friday night's events would just run into the afternoon. That's all. So we could do it, but it might push things back. The junior events are running on Saturday. Is that what happens? Um, typically you, you do most of those. Yep.

[00:37:29] Okay. Yep. Saturday morning is the best time just to PSA to all the promoters out there. Um, they had a bunch of parents and that's the best time because Friday, I mean, Friday school, of course, Sunday church, and that was most people. So, um, we start a junior event on Saturday and we finish it on Saturday. Oh, good. Um, but if the turnout's really rock solid, it's going to be, parents are going to be hanging out and they know that we've, we've made sure they know that.

[00:37:59] So, um, I think my communication blast went out 250 miles radius from, you know, from Grand Rapids. Uh, okay. I want to say, let me see how many clubs we contacted every clubs within that radiate, every club within that radius. So each admin, we felt like that was reasonable and, you know, so hopefully that draws in some,

[00:38:25] some kids haven't been going to a lot of schools because things have been so busy from like an admin perspective. We're developing tools. No one even knows about yet. There's things that we're, we're, we're going to be doing that people are really going to be impressed by. So, um, it's been busy. I'm curious, uh, last year, what was the, the furthest anybody traveled for the juniors? Uh, how far away did they come from? Yeah. So North Carolina, really?

[00:38:54] It was a flight in North Carolina. I think, um, Joel and his mom. Oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I know who they are. I know who they are. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think anyone traveled further than that. Um, but that's a long way. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. Yeah. How many, uh, how many, how many tables you run in this year? You know, we run 30 tables every year.

[00:39:21] It's just that like perfect number. And, uh, we'll have a world cup suite of tables. So, um, if everything works out, no promises, I'll have all five, including tornado. I might even throw a fireball in there. Haven't, haven't played that in a while. Fireball, bring it on. That is one of my, that is one of my favorite parts of this tournament. You, Texas state like you guys, you bring in the extra stuff, man.

[00:39:51] And it makes it so much fun. I love it. Love it. You know, I've been a foosball player for most of my life. Um, and yeah, like I pretty much just looked at every tournament that I absolutely love. And I found, I stole some things and, you know, Wisconsin. Texas was a big influence. Texas was a big influence. Ryan has been a big supporter.

[00:40:16] Mary before him, uh, hours on the phone with, with that bloodline, you know, like, so I've spent a lot of time like accumulating like wrinkles and it's better every year. Um, I do think from like a financial standpoint, we could get so many more sponsors. Um, and I think junior foosball is one of the most sponsorable areas.

[00:40:42] I think with collegiate foosball, which is a part of our five-year plan, by the way. Um, but you know, right now I think we're, we've got room for one more big sponsor, a presenting sponsor. So you can, you can get the, the platinum package, um, 2,500 bucks to be a presenting sponsor.

[00:41:05] Uh, but right now, let me check out the names, have them verbatim off hand. Um, let's see here. Let me just give a shout out to Eric Miller, man. Cause this guy, Eric. Yeah. Great dude donated a thousand dollars to New York state. The effort 500 of it is going to go to the U19 singles champion.

[00:41:33] And that's going to be in the form of an educational grant, which we've actually given over $8,000 this year in educational grants already. Uh, so this will, this will be the next one that we give away to the champion of that event. Uh, that goes to qualified expenses, books, laptops. I think we froze up a little bit there. Just, just, there it goes. Hardship grant for, uh, you just go on the website. There's a place to apply for it.

[00:42:01] And you know, if there's a kid out there that really wants to go, you make your case and we can decide, we'll figure out who has the greatest need unbiased. And we will give that opportunity to that kid. Assuming 500 makes it happen for them. Um, and if you're listening at home, like you can get involved, you can do that. You can hit me up. We can structure something to benefit the two groups that I think should get the most

[00:42:30] love at this tournament, which are women and children. Um, I want to see like big sponsors for women events. I think it should be cool to be a lady foosball player and world foosball tour has done that this year. I want to follow, you know, their, their direction and steps on that too. So, um, yeah, I'm excited. I thought you were going to say children and radio personalities, but women, women, yeah,

[00:43:00] women work. Please, sir, help us out. Please. Please. The women, the women, the women are killing it anyway. Oh yeah. Uh, yeah, yeah. For sure, for sure, dude. It's, uh, the kids, I mean, that's, that's our future right there. The kids aren't playing. I mean, we're, we're just a bunch of dinosaurs. You know, once we stop, this whole thing goes away. So, uh, we need the kids. Oh, big time. Big time.

[00:43:26] Now it's, uh, it was widely apparent at worlds that, uh, that the kids have arrived. They're there. There were so many of them. So many, huge faction. So many. Yeah. Speaking of kids, I got some results right here. Um, so just talking Michigan juniors, uh, Andrew Spears, Ohio state won junior singles, beginner singles, junior doubles worlds, one junior classic doubles with, um, with Jaden Louera's, um, nationals.

[00:43:56] He won beginner singles, which that's huge. Like you have, that's like, it's great when they're winning junior. And they're, you know, their own division in age group, but when they're winning like main events or like ranked events, we'll call it, that's probably more appropriate beginner. That's, that's huge. Rookie's huge. Um, Noah spray one, uh, junior boys doubles with Jaden Louera's this year at worlds, uh, tornado world series, you 16 singles champion nationals.

[00:44:24] He won a junior DYP, um, and was the runner up in junior singles at Ohio. Um, he also, you know, he actually, actually won beginner doubles at Ohio too, which is a huge, that's huge. Uh, Cole Nessel pulled down Ohio third place, junior singles. He's done really well in some DYPs this year. I've actually seen him carry like semi pro ranked players to like semi finals and finals of DYPs. It's pretty awesome. Nice.

[00:44:54] It's getting good. Um, and so, you know, in Brady Wierowski who, you know, just graduated, I think he's 18 still, um, wins pro singles at Ohio state expert singles, uh, pro doubles at Illinois, just tearing up the tour. Like these juniors are crushing it out of Michigan, just to name a few, I've got a, uh, national list to Jaden Louera's got a, had a, just an amazing year.

[00:45:20] Um, right now he's one of the best on tour as, as a junior four titles at world swept nationals one use 19 singles and doubles. Wow. At the world series. Um, he's played with a few Michigan kids too. Uh, Sada Kruger. Oh yeah. She's just been going off like the last couple of years, just. Winning worlds. Junior girls, singles, girls, doubles, women's expert singles, which is huge for first at nationals beat masters.

[00:45:50] Uh, I think she took down Steli and Buffkin this year. Uh, at worlds this year, she qualified for women's single. She was a 16 seed in that field. Wow. She, she, yeah, she got it. She, yeah, she got it. She, she qualified in the elimination bracket. It was, yeah, that was big. She's a, she's a really an amazing player. She has a lot of heart. Um, but just, just puts it all on the table. It's just, uh, really impressive to watch.

[00:46:19] Uh, she's what middle school? Yeah. That's probably. Yeah. 13 or 14. She just actually, uh, yeah, she's just turned 14, I think. Um, and she just went to a new school. I think it's like, she's in junior high now. Yeah. Um, she just left her, her club school, the kaleidoscope. So she, uh, we had a club there and she was basically a support coach there where she was like, you know, teaching kids how to play.

[00:46:47] And yeah, I mean, it's, I think teaching definitely reinforces understanding of the game and that, that definitely makes a better player. And she, she shows that. Well, there'll be, uh, any, uh, any clinics over the weekend? Cause I know that's something that we saw Ryan with, uh, with a level up series. Uh, anything like that happening this weekend for me? It's a, is it my connection? Is it, uh, is it freezing up on you? Yeah.

[00:47:16] We were having some, some internet issues along the way, but Michael, can you hear me? Yeah. Yeah. I'm here. Okay. Gotcha. No, I'm just curious. Uh, are there going to be any, uh, any instructional sessions over the weekend for, for the youngsters? Any, any. Yeah, no, I heard your question. Um, so yeah, there's, we have a lot of questions. We have a junior clinic every year. And so right before we start the junior events on Saturday morning, I'm down there with the

[00:47:43] mic and we do a cool demonstration because a lot of these kids, it's their first tournament. Yes. Uh, so, you know, it's really important to set a standard. Who's ball clubs teaches a lot of things in clubs. And so there's, there's some things that we do. And one thing that I'll say now on the show tonight is I invite any adult who, um, would

[00:48:12] want to be there the morning, Saturday morning and, and to watch this, like this display of all these kids, these juniors playing probably their first tournament. And last year I had about maybe like 15 key people that I, I kind of worked with to work with the kids, their parents being there present. And, uh, it was really good because they're learning. It's like on the job learning. Like they get to learn the rules and understand how it goes.

[00:48:42] And it's communicated to all of the kids to be patient with one another and to, you know, because some of the tour players, tour juniors, they know that it's above these other kids. And so, um, if there's an infraction, you know, just stop play, let them know, don't be rude about it. Don't make them feel bad. It's all about learning. So, um, there's definitely going to be a clinic.

[00:49:05] Um, you know, before we continue, I want to give a few more shout outs. Actually, I got a list here. Yes, please do. These kids really deserve it too. Kelton Grizzle, man, uh, out of Illinois early teens. You know, he's done, apparently he's done 91 events in 26. So like one individual events at, at, at tournaments, he's played in 91 of them. That's what my, my scrape of the results show. Um, he's also won junior singles in Mississippi.

[00:49:35] Um, just balling out of control, second place singles and doubles at worlds and nationals and some events. Um, it says here, and I'm not, this is not something I prepared. This is just like me working through AI to scrape these results. Cause to be quite frank, I want to do a great job communicating what these kids are doing. Apparently beat Cal Mokes and Carlos Amaya this year. Oh, uh, straight up. I don't know if that's true or not.

[00:50:02] That could be AI slop, but that's what I'm pulling from the scrape of the results here. Um, Cora Grizzle, his sister, one beginner doubles at Wisconsin with Kelton. Um, second, uh, junior, second and junior doubles at worlds. You got Vivian Marschke from Wisconsin, one open mixed at Wisconsin with Tony. Wow. And at Illinois with Paul Smith, second and junior girls singles at worlds.

[00:50:30] And then, uh, on, uh, Domingue from Louisiana winning two world titles, uh, this year as well. Junior mixed with Lou Eras, uh, and then girls doubles with Kruger. So, I mean, just like some insane rising stars, some honorable mentions, Colston Yoder, um, you know, the carrier brothers, you've got, um, the tapper kids, just so many great players.

[00:51:00] Maya Balcos, like Anakin Munger. There's just so many incredible players out there right now on the junior rink and they deserve to be appreciated, um, and to be celebrated. And I'm hoping that, you know, if we get enough sponsors for the Great Lakes Classic, we can start to reward these kids in different ways. Like this can, this well can run very deep.

[00:51:23] And I think it's important that when you're a young person, you learn the value of being successful and, you know, earning your rank. And I think we can do that in many ways. So, um, that's part of like, what can I do in the future? I alluded to a little bit, but, you know, for this year, we're just going to run it back and, you know, try to add a few wrinkles where we can.

[00:51:52] So let's talk about the, the cup competition, uh, because, uh, we had a chance to play in that last year when that was a blast. Uh, that is that happening again on, was it Sunday, the cup competition? Yeah. So we've got the champions cup. It's inspired by the ITSF world cup. So if you're a player that's never had a chance to be on a world cup team, we're hoping to create an environment we have in the past, you know, that does that.

[00:52:20] And we, you've got a low tier and a high tier and, uh, singles, doubles, singles, doubles. It's a race to five points in each leg mimics. The world cup is typically erased to 40 with four legs to 10. So really does force you to create a great team of players that are really event every rank, you know, and then you get this like, uh, get this great passing of knowledge, you know, from top players to, to low tier players.

[00:52:49] Can I make a comment about last year? Just saying, no offense to anybody else, but if you haven't included the Canadians in that, I think we would have done a whole lot better. Just saying. Yeah. They kind of took us out of the competition. Just saying. Yeah. We get a ton of support from Canada every year. I mean, being in Michigan, you got, it's a Canadian invasion, you know, like, uh, growing up when I was a kid, my first tournament was Michigan state.

[00:53:19] And my best friends were Canadians. Like it was the, the group that I like to hang out with. Uh, Oh yeah. I mean, yeah, yeah. Love the guys, but I don't want to play against them in the cup. I'm sorry. It's just, you know, just saying. You know, I think Midwest monsters won back to back. This will be the third year we've done, uh, the, the cup. Um, and that is an Ohio based leadership.

[00:53:44] Um, Johnny cromish and company with like a little bit of Byrie, a little bit of some really great stellar players from like really the Midwest. Uh, so I mean, it's cool. Like you'll have a lot of great teams. I'm still looking for a few, um, for my team. Um, I'm talking to Sam Dijon right now and we're putting together. You can't have Sam. I'm sorry.

[00:54:15] No, no, no. Whoa, wait, wait. Try to the new kids on the block are coming back and we're going to, we're going to keep going until we can pull this one out. Oh man. It's a, it's a junior task force. We'll call it. Ooh. Junior task force. Oh, that's funny. That's funny. Ah, man. We got to come up with a plan here. I don't know what we're going to do. Um, but, but you know, well, we'll, we'll find someone somewhere.

[00:54:45] Some, somehow. Just saying. Yeah. You guys can still grab your, your room too. I mean, we've got a couple of days till the cutoff. It's one Oh five right now for the rate. You just go to foosball clubs, USA.com. And you can click, uh, the great leagues classic tab under events. You'll learn everything you need to learn. If you want to be a sponsor, we've got different tiers of sponsorship, which by the way, should be something every promoter does. It's something I learned from Wisconsin States.

[00:55:13] Uh, they really do communicate and have great transparency behind who's backing events and provide a lot of value to different organizations, individuals, businesses. So, um, that's one thing we hope to do every year. I think we could break that open. We could do a whole lot better. Um, so I'm, I'm just over 4k and sponsors right now and some restricted sponsorship.

[00:55:41] So like people have a vision. They want money to go to a certain thing and we honor that. And, uh, so yeah, I mean, that's, that's the key. We can, we can do a whole lot better. I think it's a bandwidth thing though. You gotta have like a task force or team. Uh, but we don't really have that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. So, um, when it comes to, uh, the, the software, I think that's, that's huge.

[00:56:09] We've been talking about the place software and of course it worlds, uh, it, it stood the tests, you know, it, it did great. Um, how about you? Are you using the place software? Yeah, of course it's, uh, you know, we always want to use. Great lakes is all about working with everybody, right? Like you're going to see the USTSO is running the event.

[00:56:32] We're using WFT software and we're promoting, um, ITSF, we're promoting tornado. We're promoting every world cup table. Any effort in the sport is welcome here. We're not going to isolate any, any effort. Um, so you can literally be a partner. If you're doing good work for foosball, you, you have a spot here. Um, so that's one thing we're really proud about. That's the way to do it.

[00:57:03] So Randy, before we cut this guy loose and let him get back to his crazy life, uh, what, what, uh, what would you like to ask, uh, ask Mr. Stahl before we let him, uh, do his thing? Nah, man. Who are you playing with? Yeah, man. Um, for the open. So I got a secret weapon. Uh-oh. Yeah. I'm bringing out for this one, man. I'm bringing out Stahl Sr. We're going to be, uh, nice.

[00:57:32] We're going to be playing open and pro and, uh, I'm super excited about that. So playing with my dad, um, you know, this tournament's become less and less about me and me as a player too, like in particular. Um, so I'm not even sure if I'll play singles. Uh, I, I really just want to run a great event. So I might, I might slow. I've considered that over time. I think I could do more if I play less. Who knows? Maybe this year looks like that too, but.

[00:58:01] I thought your secret weapon was going to be a Jeff Rico. No. Jeff is cool. I mean. He's good. I'll play goalie for Jeff. I'll play, I'll play with Jeff sometime. That'd be fun. Right. That's, that's, that's awesome. I'm, I'm actually playing with a senior myself. So. Are you? Yeah. You're playing with. Yeah. Bruce Walton. Bruce. Nice. Bruce is the man. Oh, he is. I love, I love Bruce. I love Bruce. Great player. A lot of people don't know this. Bruce, Bruce is actually like 105. A lot of people don't know that.

[00:58:32] He's in great, he's in great shape. He's in great shape. Yeah. Oh, is he, uh, is he drinking the blood of, of, uh, of, well, nevermind. No, no. He's no, it's just good, good, good, good Asian genetics. That's all it is. Oh yeah. Oh, he's, uh, he's solid. No question about it all. Congratulations. Bruce is a great guy, man. He, yeah. I, I don't like playing Bruce.

[00:58:58] I've played him probably a half a dozen times in the last like two or three years. And yeah, like I, I don't like playing him. Oh dude. Bruce smart guy. Solid. But look, Hey, anybody listening, if you need a, if you need a mortgage, call Bruce. There you go. Bruce is a good dude. That's right, man. But now man, look, I'm, uh, I'm riding up with Scotty Scott. Uh, that's actually, that's actually why I'm coming. Scotty hit me up and he said, dude, I want to go to Michigan. I'm going to drive. I don't want to drive solo.

[00:59:28] Uh, I was like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So ride up with Scotty. Scotty wants to come hang out. Um, and dude, I'm, I'm pumped. Last time I came up to Michigan, dude, it was awesome. You do a great job. Yeah. It was a blast. Uh, I'm, I'm really, I'm stoked, man. I can't wait to get up there. So I appreciate you taking the time to come on as always, dude. And again, you know, if you need anything, just, just hit me up, bro. That's awesome. You know, uh, we haven't figured out the reffing situation yet.

[00:59:58] I want to talk to you and Miriam a little bit more about that. I think Miriam's coming up. And so I think we should talk and see who we need a head official and, uh, we could probably work something out. And so if I mean, she's done it for you before, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just haven't, I haven't in the last couple of days, but, uh, there's just so much going on right now. Yeah, dude.

[01:00:21] Uh, good, good officials are so important and you two have set the standard and honestly, there should be, I don't know if there was, it's mostly because of the time element, I'm sure, but we need to have like an official of the year award again. I don't know. Maybe, maybe there is one. I just didn't catch it. No, there, there isn't. Okay. No, no, I'm not throwing shade or anything. I just, yeah, no, no, no. I'm just, I'm just saying, I'm just saying. Yeah. Like it's, it's a really tough job.

[01:00:51] And like in 2018, I thought that I could like, I'm like, I'll be an official. And like, I went and took the test and I think I was a trainee or an assistant or something like that. And never said, I'm one of those guys, Randy, that you were talking about that just doesn't do anything. Like, uh, I, I think I passed and I just, I'm like, I can't do this. I just found out that like, I was not about it. Um, but you guys do a tremendous job. It's a really tough thing to do. And we should tip your official.

[01:01:20] Like that should be a thing. Like, please do. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Yeah. Thank you. No, if, if anything, just, just give us a break. We're just calling the rules, right? We're, we're look, think about, think about this, right? I, I, I watch John boy a lot. I don't know if you watch John boy media on YouTube. Okay. I've been watching like baseball, like the paid umps. I mean, they make hundreds of thousands of dollars and they screw up so many calls, right?

[01:01:50] Yes. And NFL officials, NBA officials, NHL, like they all screw up calls were reffing. Like there, dude, there's a lot of times where I ref, I don't charge anything. And people get mad at me if I make a call or like, if I miss a reset, it's like, dude, I'm like, I can't even get the word reset out of my mouth. The ball's already gone. Like, what do you like, what do you want me to do? So, yeah, I just, I just think it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but honestly, I love it. I really do.

[01:02:20] I enjoy it. I, I, I, I enjoy, I enjoy officiating. I, I love foosball. I love foosball. And I just, I, I, I, uh, I don't know, man. I just, I want to be fair to everybody. That's it. I just, I hope everybody understands. Like if I'm officiating, I have no skin in the game. I just, I just want to call the rules. I just want it to be fair. So there's no, you know, um, there's no ill will towards anybody. Like if there's somebody like I've told people, I'll never ref Eddie Mubarak. I can't ref Eddie.

[01:02:50] No, no, no. I'm being, I'm being, look, I'm being complete. I like Rhett. I like Eddie off the table. I can't, I can't, I can't ref Eddie. I can never ref Eddie. Cause I don't want Eddie to win ever. I never want Eddie to win. So I can't ref Eddie because I like, I just, I can't do it. It could never be, never be objective about Eddie. Eddie's a, he's a strong dude and he's a great player. He's a little heavy handed. Heavy handed is an understatement.

[01:03:20] Oh man. Last time I played Eddie when the match was done, I said, look at the table. Eddie, there's four tables lined up. Our tables all the way over here. Like it's, it's, it's all the way. Yeah. Guy, come on, bro. Come on. Come on. I'm just saying. I, uh, I've played Eddie a lot throughout the years. You know, and I'll say that he's given the ball up a ton.

[01:03:45] And so even though he is heavy handed, he like self corrects from what I've seen. I got to give him that. And that's one thing that I, I would like to pride myself on too. Like I, I, in the moment and I've watched some clips where like, I could have done better and, but it's never intentional. And, uh, I think that that's something every player should aspire to.

[01:04:09] It's like how, like Billy Pappas is pretty much one of my favorite players ever. Yeah. And that dude, I look up to him in that category of foosball, especially because he's always been tremendously fair. Fair. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, that's what it should be like, man. We all love foosball. We all want to win. What costs. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. At the, at the end of the day, like I'm, you know, I'm going to sleep.

[01:04:38] It's, this is not like, I'm not going to lose sleep over this. So, and, and, and I've explained to people like energy, right? Like energy. I'm not going to waste energy arguing over something. Like if something happened here, it's cool. Right. If I, if I got, if I got you most of the time, I'm just going to give you the ball. But if you think I got you, just ask me. And I'm going to either be like, sure. I'm going to say, well, I don't think so, but let's compromise. But I'm not going to argue. If you want to argue, I'm, I don't want to do that. I'm not going to waste my energy, man.

[01:05:07] I'm trying to focus on playing foosball. So, but you know, I, I definitely feel like, you know, players, players are really passionate and they're competitive. And when plays happening, they're just so focused. Sometimes they don't even see or understand or whatever it is. So as an official, it's like when something happens and you make a call and they get kind of, they get their feathers ruffled. It's like knowing who you're reffing makes a difference. But sometimes you just have to be like, this is what happened.

[01:05:37] And they'll, they'll, they'll understand. But you know, it's I don't know, dude, like I said, it's not for anybody, but I appreciate that, Mike. I do, man. Yeah, for sure, man. Thank you. I mean it when I say that. And I think we all have roles we play in foosball. I didn't realize this was mine until it kind of came to life. And the same way with a lot of people who are doing things for the sport. Yeah. We all need to do something. Yeah.

[01:06:03] And so with, with foosball clubs, we're hoping to make it easier for people to do things for foosball. Yeah. Building campaigns that categorize efforts, such as like players, promoters, volunteers, you know.

[01:06:25] So we're going to be launching some different pipelines in the next couple years that really do change foosball forever. Especially as it pertains to schools, youth clubs, collegiate foosball clubs. Man. And tying those into community efforts. And so the next one we're working on right now is, is a donor pipeline.

[01:06:52] It's all about bringing in funding to secure the future. And we're going to be building out a lot of really cool things for donors this year. That when you, when you make a gift to foosball clubs to do the work we do, you definitely get something in return. It's not just a thank you. And so we're going to gamify being a donor. We're going to gamify being a student player.

[01:07:18] We're going to gamify being a coach, a leaderboard for volunteers where you can hit milestones and you can earn things. And so there's, there's a lot coming that I think is completely grassroots foundational work that is still missing from foosball. So we're not just talking about tournaments. We're talking about what happens before the tournament happens. Right.

[01:07:47] And so I just want to thank you guys for having me on the show. And I'm going to continue to work to show that progress and to share stories. And we're really putting these kids on, you know, on the map and sharing their stories. So that's what it's all about. So foosball, foosballclubsusa.com. Go there now and do something. Simply just do something and help this, help this, help this process go forward.

[01:08:16] Oh, incidentally, before I forget, streaming the, the, the matches coming up in the Great Lakes Classic. Who's doing the duties? What's, what's going on there? Yeah. Yeah. So world foosball tour on YouTube, we're going to be streaming from the Great Lakes Classic 29 events coming at you guys live on YouTube. We will be prioritizing junior matches. We will be announcing every final. Nice.

[01:08:41] We will be building hype around these kids while also giving the top players and ladies of the sport what they deserve. So you can check out all the streaming there. It's free all weekend. And yeah, we'll have some guest appearances. Guest appearances.

[01:09:01] One thing that not to put you on the spot, Randy, but if you're ever interested, I think that you've got a really awesome personality and you're great at color. And from what I, from what I can see, I think, dude, you're, you're good at what you do. We'd love to have you. Um, and there's, there's some other people, if you're interested, please reach out. We'll weigh that and decide who gets in the booth. Outstanding. Wow.

[01:09:27] You know, it's all about talking about the mission and, you know, a little color on the side. Let's go. A little color, a little color. It's pronounced color. Color. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. We got color. I got you, bro. I got you, bro. Well, to have you, man. Gotta say, Michael's tradition that Sunday. You and me, Tom. Oh, well, I mean, if Randy's around, we'll, we'll drag him in too.

[01:09:55] It's, uh, unfortunately it does tend to happen later. Uh, just saying, but, uh, it does, it does happen. Yeah. It will happen. I'm, I'm, I'm not even going to go, I'm not even going to speculate. It will happen, uh, live from Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Doubletree Inn. There you go. Enough said, but so Michael, let's get your rooms guys. It's going to sell out. Oh yeah. Let's go. Yep. And, uh, we're looking forward to seeing you there.

[01:10:23] Oh, by the way, tonight, uh, thanks for tuning in on Twitch TV and YouTube. We were having some issues, uh, initially when it came to the, uh, the comments and there were people commenting. I had to go into another, uh, another app here to, to see those comments and thank you for, for chiming in tonight. And of course, watching this, uh, live on those two channels. Um, hopefully we'll have our, uh, our, uh, software things straightened up for next, next weekend when it comes to Foos Talk Live. But, uh, Hey, uh, again, thanks so much, Michael, for being here.

[01:10:54] Yeah. Thank you guys. And, uh, yeah, thanks for tuning in everyone listening at home and we'll see you in just a bit. Yeah. Yeah. 11 days, baby. Can't wait. 11 days. I'll be, I'll be strolling through the door with my gear right about, uh, Thursday. I think my, I'm landing around two 30, something like that. So, uh, 10 minutes away. I guess there's a shuttle from the airport to the hotel. So that's right. I'll be, you got to call the hotel, make sure they know and they'll, they'll schedule a pickup. It's free.

[01:11:24] Sweet. Uh, tip your driver and, uh, we'll have a nice comfy spot for you, Tom, for your, uh, for your booth and awesome. Yeah. We're going to have a great weekend. All right. Randy, any, anything else you want to add? Nah, I'm good, bro. This has been fun. Always nice when Mike comes on. Oh yeah. I'm just, I'm looking, I'm looking forward to it, Tom. I live my life from one tournament to the next. So of course. Yeah. What other life is there? You know, there is no other. Yeah.

[01:11:53] Are you going to bring your dog by the way? Who me? Yeah. No, no. He's saying, no, no, that dude, that dude, he's a, he's a menace. He's a menace to society. Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, no, no, no, no. Maybe, maybe in a couple of years when he's fully grown and completely trained right now, he is, uh, I mean, legitimately he is a man. He, he bit me today. He's so his, his, his little nuts, his little nuts dropped. Right.

[01:12:23] So now he's like, he's getting really aggressive, you know, like that testosterone. So he's getting aggressive and he's trying to bite me. And it's, it's actually pretty fun. It's pretty funny. But when he bites my wife, she freaks out. And I, again, that's pretty funny too. But, uh, yeah, no. Right, right now, homeboy is just, uh, he's, he's good right here. We're not taking it. All right. Some prayers, bro. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. It's good.

[01:12:53] It's good. It's fun. Yeah. It's good. Well, nonetheless, you'll, you'll be there and, and, uh, that's, that's, uh, that's news. That's it. Yeah. That's good. That's awesome. Yeah. We're good. Well, uh, we'll all be together again very soon. 11 days and, uh, hope you can make it to, to Great Lakes Classic, the regional championship at the Doubletree Inn in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We're, uh, we are looking forward to this one. It's going to be awesome. And, uh, once again, thanks for tuning in tonight on Twitch TV and YouTube. And, uh, we'll catch you next week for another episode of Foos Talk Live.

[01:13:23] Hey there, I'm Tom Robinson. We'll talk to you very soon. Stick around now. Now we've got Foos Talk Live's Tournament Beat coming your way next. Time now for the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat brought to you in part by foosgadgets.com, using technology to create a better foosball experience. And by Boise Foos Works, high-fidelity refurbished foosballs. Professional foosball is a game of precision, a matter of accuracy, consistency.

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[01:14:50] Foosball tournaments are everywhere. Foos Talk Live proudly presents a weekly update of events near you. With the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat, here's what's up. The Akron Foosball Tournament is being held Saturday, October 10th at Station 300, Akron, Ohio. Here comes the 2026 Great Lakes Classic Regional Championship. October 15th through the 18th at the Doubletree Inn by Hilton, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

[01:15:19] The third annual Interstate 80 Nebraska Shootout 26, October 16th through the 18th. At the other side, Kearney, Nebraska. OKC Foos presents the OKC Halloween Open Foosball Championship 2026. October 30th through November 1st, Mr. Seas, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The ITSF presents the 2026 Quebec Leonhardt Open.

[01:15:47] November 13th through the 15th, Hotel Voyager Quebec, Canada. Buffalo Foosball presents the 10th Anniversary Tournament. November 20th through the 22nd, Bison Billiards, Buffalo, New York. World Foosball Tour presents the International Championships of Foosball. November 25th through the 29th in Vienna, Austria. The North Carolina State Championships scheduled for November 26th through the 29th.

[01:16:15] More details soon to be released. It's the 20th Annual 2026 Louisiana State Championships, December 3rd through the 6th at the Holiday Inn, Metairie, Louisiana. Looking ahead to 2027. The World Foosball Tour presents the Tour Kickoff. February 4th through the 7th. Nashville, Tennessee. The South Dakota State 2027 Foosball Championship.

[01:16:41] February 26th through the 28th at Royal River Casino and Hotel Landro, South Dakota. The World Foosball Tour presents the 2027 Hall of Fame Classic. April 7th through the 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada. More exciting details soon to come. Each week, we do our best to give you the most up-to-date listing of foosball tournaments near you. If you have an event you'd like to add, send us all the details at foosballradio at gmail.com.

[01:17:11] Tune in every week for the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat. The Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat is brought to you in part by foosgadgets.com. Using technology to create a better foosball experience. And by Boise Foos Works, high-fidelity refurbished foosballs. Foos Talk Live is a product of Foos Ball Radio. With gratitude, we recognize our Foos Ball Radio Patreons. Our Foos Talk Live sponsor.

[01:17:41] Original-Leonhardt-USA.com Tune in again next week for another episode of Foos Talk Live. In the meantime... We'll see you foosin'. Foos Talk Live. Foos Talk Live. ...we'll see you. Foos Talk Live.