Montreal in the Footsteps of Prague

Montreal in the footsteps of Prague, Czech Republic
The Quebec Footbag Association, in collaboration with the International Footbag Players Association and
the Quebec Footbag Freestyle Association, will be hosting the 25th edition of the World Footbag
Championships from July 26 to August 1, 2004. We are expecting over 150 athletes from all around the
world to attend. Last summer, the Prague edition of these championships welcomed players from 21
countries.
This week of alternative sport is a unique occasion for any sponsor wishing to reach a young, dynamic and
enthusiastic public.
The visibility flowing from this event will be unprecedented in the history of our sport. Judge for yourself:
during the last three days of the tournament, spectators will be attending the following events:
*Footbag Net – Jeanne-Mance Park will be the venue for Friday's quarter finals, Saturday's semis and,
finally, Sunday's grand finale. The matches will be played in a mini stadium seating 750 persons, and there
will be DJ’s, animation and refreshment booths. Among the many highlights on the sports menu will be
Montrealer Emmanuel Bouchard defending his singles title for the seventh year running.
**Footbag Freestyle - Following two preliminary rounds played in a gym, the grand finale will be held on
Saturday night at the Rialto Club, a former Parc Avenue cinema that was recently converted into a stunning
venue, seating over 1,000 people. In addition to being able to witness an incredible display of skill,
spectators will be entertained by live MCs and a giant screen.
To top it all, our public relations department will forward the tournament's daily results to more than
1,000 media targets, from Montreal to Moscow.
▪
Footbag Net is played on a badminton court in singles, doubles and mixed matches. Mastering a
small ball with one's feet probably looks difficult enough to most, so just wait until you see these
top-notch athletes control, pass and smash the Footbag with their acrobatic, martial arts inspired
moves. You'll understand immediately that this activity is a sport of the highest calibre.
▪
Footbag Freestyle is the artistic form of this sport. Participants
perform routines in singles and doubles. The routines are judged according to the level of difficulty
of the players' movements and the quality of their choreography. The current trend is virtuosity, and
one simply can't imagine what these players can do without seeing them perform.
Sponsorhip Contact:
Yves Archambault
Quebec Footbag Association (QFA)
410 Saint-Joseph Blvd East
Montreal, Qc
H2J 1J5
(514) 845-2194
(514) 845-0378 fax
yevez@footbag.org
History of the World Footbag Championships
The World Footbag Championships are already 25 years old and still counting. Here's how it all began and
how the championships developed.
The first Footbag Championships, at the time merely a national event, were held in Oregon (United States)
in 1980. In 1983, the competition moved to Boulder, Colorado for two years until 1985, when the
championships began a nine-year stint in Golden, Colorado. In this suburb of Denver, known for its being
the home town of Coors Brewing Company, several unforgettable pages of Footbag history were written,
including the first official World Footbag Championships, which were played here in 1986.
Under player pressure, the World Footbag Championships eventually moved to San Francisco for the 1994
and 1995 championships.
In 1996, the championships were held outside the United States for the first time. The honour of hosting
the event fell to Montreal. The year was to become a landmark year in the sport's history: for the first time, a
Canadian, Sebastien Verdy, secured a title in the open (and strongest) category, winning not only the Net
singles, but also the doubles with Emmanuel Bouchard.
In 1997, the competition went back to its roots, returning to Oregon, this time to Portland. A total 212
players registered for the championships that year, a record that was to be unbeaten until 2003.
Furthermore, the level of skill that year was extremely high, with players receiving much attention. The
championships were held in conjunction with a huge music festival, which attracted 200,000 spectators to
the site every day.
In 1998, the World Championships returned to Montreal, and once again, the event was an enormous
success. The players greatly enjoyed Montreal, and spectators loved the Freestyle finals at the Jardin des
Étoiles and the Footbag Net finals at La Ronde. The year was a memorable one for Emmanuel Bouchard,
who won the Net Singles for the first time in addition to landing the doubles and mixed doubles titles. Since
then, Emmanuel has been the singles world champion five more times and unbeaten in the last 30
tournaments he has competed in.
In 1999, destiny brought the championships to the Windy City, Chicago. Scott Davidson, one of the
tournament's main organizers, seized the occasion to win the Freestyle singles after 15 years of determined
practice. The championships returned to Canada in 2000 with Vancouver playing host to many players. The
tournament revealed another Footbag prodigy, Ryan Mulroney, who stood out by winning the Freestyle
Singles.
The 2001 championships in San Francisco established the talent of Montreal Net players, who reached
new heights: Emmanuel Bouchard won the singles once again, on top of seizing the mixed doubles title
with Marilyn Demuy. The doubles title went to Yves Archambault and Alexis Deschênes, and Ryan
Mulroney secured the Freestyle singles title for the second time in a row. In 2002, still in San Francisco,
spectators and players alike were lucky enough to witness the birth of a new phenomenon, Vasek Klouda,
a 15-year-old Czech, who has brought Freestyle to an entirely new level.
2003 saw a new direction for Footbag, with the sport's main event—yes, you guessed it, the World
Championships—being held in Europe for the first time. The tournament's host country, the Czech Republic,
welcomed 215 players from 21 different countries. Vasek Klouda and Emmanuel Bouchard continued to
rule their respective events, while in women's Footbag, Carol Wedemeyer in Freestyle and Jody Welch in
Net singles were also seemingly unbeatable.
We are looking forward to carrying on this rich sporting tradition in Montreal in 2004.
The organizers of the World Footbag Championships
Founded in 1986, the Quebec Footbag Association is a non profit organization, which has been running
tournaments in Montreal since 1989, including two World Footbag Championships, the first in 1996 and the
second in 1998. Both tournaments were a great success, as much for the sport itself as for the recognition of
the sport.
The QFA, represented by its president, Yves Archambault, and the other members of its board of
administrators, Martin Côté, Éric Côté and Patrick Asswad, will be coordinating events during the World
Championships as well as supervising the Footbag Net tournament.
AFFQ
The creation of the newest group on Montreal’s Footbag scene, the Quebec Freestyle Footbag Association,
responded to a growing need for structure in Freestyle Footbag in this part of the country. Founded in 2001,
the AFFQ already has an impressive local track record. Some very successful tournaments played at
Montreal venues in the last few years give promise of an exciting Freestyle event this summer.
The QFFA, through its founding members, Yacine Merzouk and Sebastien Duchesne, and with the help of
Eli Piltz, will be directing the Freestyle tournament at the World’s this summer.
The International Footbag Players Association (IFPA) is pleased to present the 2004 IFPA World Footbag
Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, hosted by the Association Quebecoise de Footbag and the
Association de Footbag Freestyle du Quebec. Following on the tails of last year's Championships in
Prague, Czech Republic, the 2004 IFPA World Championships will be among the most exciting, highly
skilled events we have ever witnessed in the history of footbag.
The International Footbag Players Association is a volunteer-run, non-profit US 501(c)(3) charitable
organization dedicated to the growth of footbag play worldwide, as a competitive sport on a national and
international level and as a lifetime recreation. To achieve its purposes, IFPA fosters international
competition by playing host to the annual World Footbag Championships as well as conducting other
footbag events including competitions, festivals, demonstrations and instructional programs. In addition,
IFPA furthers its purposes by providing information to its membership and the public through its website at
http://www.footbag.org, where one can find event listings, local clubs, rules of the sport, and everything else
you can imagine about footbag.
IFPA representatives, Steve Goldberg, Julie Symons, Tina Lewis, John Leys and Chris Ott, will be attending
the tournament to ensure that the high level of professionalism of this annual event is maintained.
Net Footbag: The last three days of the competition will be played at Jeanne-Mance Park, with the best
matches being featured in a 750-seat mini stadium. On Friday, the intermediate singles and doubles finals,
as well as the best open quarter-finals, will be played there. On Saturday, the stadium will be host to all the
semi-finals, and, on Sunday, to all the open finals. Banners will be displayed around the main court. DJs,
MCs and a refreshment booth will create a great atmosphere for our spectators.
Footbag Freestyle: The competition's two preliminary rounds will be played in a gym, but the
grand finale will be held at the Rialto. This magnificent, recently renovated venue offers both a
very big stage for the athletes and a perfect atmosphere for spectators. Banners can be hung on
the stage background and on the walls of the main floor, ensuring that your logos are expertly
displayed. Throughout the finals, a giant screen will show up-to-date information and participants'
scores.
Schedule of events
July 26 to August 1, 2004
10AM-1 PM
1PM-6PM
2PM-7PM
Monday, July 26
Mixed Doubles Net
Singles Net - Intermediate
Singles Net - Open and Women’s
11AM-7PM
Tuesday, July 27
Doubles Net - All Categories
Wednesday, July 28
8AM- 8PM
Freestyle - First Round - All Categories
11AM-7PM
5PM-7PM
7PM-10PM
Thursday, July 29
Singles Net – Resuming - All
Intermediate Freestyle Finals
Freestyle Semi–Finals - Open Category
10AM-3PM
3PM-4PM
4PM-5PM
3PM-7PM
Friday. July 30
Doubles Net – Resuming – All
Intermediate Singles Net Finals - Court 1
Intermediate Doubles Net Finals - Court 1
Quarter Finals Open Net Featured MatchesTBA
Saturday, July 31
10AM-7PM
8PM-10:30PM
Open Net Semi-Finals - All
Freestyle Grand Finale at the Rialto Theatre
Sunday, August 1
10AM-11AM
11AM-noon
Noon-1PM
1PM-2PM
2PM-3PM
4PM-5PM
5PM-6PM
7PM-10PM
Jeanne-Mance Park
3rd Place Net Match TBA
3rd Place Net Match TBA
Women’s Singles Net Finals
Men’s Singles Net Finals
Women’s Doubles Net Finals
Men’s Doubles Net Finals
Mixed Doubles Net Finals
Awards Ceremony
Sponsorship Levels – 2004 World Footbag Championships
MAIN
SPONSOR
$35,000
INCLUDED
ASSOCIATED
SPONSOR
$10,000
SUPPORTING
SPONSOR
$5,000
UP TO 24 ON THE
NET SITE
UP TO 10 ON THE
FREESTYLE SITE
1 PAGE
BACK COVER PAGE OR
YOUR CHOICE
UP TO 8 ON THE
NET SITE
UP TO 3 ON THE
FREESTYLE SITE
1 PAGE
UP TO 4 ON THE
NET SITE
UP TO 2 ON THE
FREESTYLE SITE
½ PAGE
CHAMPIONSHIP
POSTERS 24 X 36 (1,000)
FLYERS (10,000)
YOUR LOGO
MAIN ROW
YOUR LOGO
SECOND ROW
CENTRE
YOUR LOGO
SECOND ROW
SIDES
CHAMPIONSHIP
T-SHIRT
200
YOUR LOGO
MAIN ROW
YOUR LOGO
SECOND ROW
CENTRE
YOUR LOGO
YOUR LOGO
SECOND ROW
SIDES
YOUR LOGO
2 A DAY
SEMI-FINALS AND
FINALS
MENTION WITH LOGO
ON THE SPONSORS
PAGE- SIDES
1 A DAY
SEMI-FINALS
ITEMS INCLUDED WITH
YOUR SPONSORSHIP
YOUR NAME AS THE
PRESENTING SPONSOR
BANNERS
CHAMPIONSHIP
PROGRAM (1,000)
CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHIES
AND/OR PLAQUES
YOUR LOGO AS THE
MAIN SPONSOR
YOUR 30-SECOND
COMMERCIAL AT THE
RIALTO
4 SHOWINGS
FINALS
1 SHOWING
FINALS
MENTION OF YOUR
CONTRIBUTION OVER THE
PA SYSTEM (MINIMUM)
10 A DAY
SEMI-FINALS AND
FINALS
MENTION IN THE TEXT +
YOUR LOGO ON THE
SPONSORS PAGE- TOP
3 A DAY
SEMI-FINALS AND
FINALS
MENTION WITH LOGO
ON THE SPONSORS
PAGE- MIDDLE
OFFICIAL
CHAMPIONSHIP PRESS
KITS
BASIC
SPONSORSHIP
$1,000
1 NET SITE
CHAMPIONSHIP
FRIENDS
LESS THAN $1,000
1 PRELIM SITES
1 FREESTYLE SITE
¼ PAGE
MENTION
BUSINESS CARD OR
MENTION
MENTION