Clarksville, TN. Remember paper football? The football: a folded sheet of paper in the shape of a triangle. The field: a tabletop. The goal: to score a touchdown by flicking the ‘football’ across the table until a part of it hangs over the edge. Touchdown! Now, a company has brought this simple sport to a whole new level, with Clarksville hosting the first of 16 city tournaments that will send winners to a national championship with major prizes.
The first of 16 city Finger Football tournaments will be held April 15-16 at the Rivers & Spires Festival in Clarksville. The single elimination tournament will consist of 256 local players and will culminate with a championship match. Players are randomly selected for times to play their first game and will be notified well in advance of their appointed time. The top four places in each local tournament will be invited to participate in the National Championship. That double elimination tournament will be a two-day event in Columbus, Georgia in January 2011.
The local tournament will be held Thursday, April 15, and Friday, April 16 from 4-10 p.m. at the First Baptist Church gymnasium. Players must be over 10 years of age and will be entered on a first come first serve basis. A short instructional period will occur before each local tournament.
The winner of Clarksville’s local tournament will receive $1,000, with $750 for second place, $500 for third place, and $250 for fourth place. The winner of the National Championship will participate in a nationally televised commercial and receive $10,000 and two tickets to a major professional championship event to be determined.
This new Finger Football frenzy is the brainchild of former Olympic athlete Spud Alford, founder and president of Zelosport and Finger Football. Alford’s inspiration came from growing up in a family of athletes in Mississippi. His family valued their time together in the kitchen and living room, where they spent hours bonding over board games. Alford started dreaming big in college when he watched Bruce Jenner win the decathlon in the 1976 Olympics, and was inspired to begin training for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. He trained four hard years, but in early 1980, President Jimmy Carter called for a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games, and at the Olympic Trials, Alford shattered his knee in the ninth event, the javelin. He was later diagnosed with cancer, underwent two major surgeries, several excruciating chemotherapy treatments, lost his home, his job, and a business he had just started, 45 pounds and most of his hair. But he says prayer and the spiritual conviction of a friend led to his recovery. Alford says he learned valuable lessons through it all, and he speaks nationally to young people about the dangers of drugs.
Alford founded Zelosport and several Finger Sport leagues, focusing on offering a product that is appealing to all demographics and providing a medium over which people can bond. Alford says tournaments offer kids the chance to get off the computer for a little while and build memories that will last much longer than a high score online. In past tournaments, entire families have come out to compete. Even NFL quarterback Brett Favre has endorsed Finger Football, and in 2007, Zelosport was awarded “Toy of the Year” in Family Fun Magazine.
Finger Football replaces the paper football with a “slider,” a widget made of a plastic ring with a sliding ball in the center, that is used for everything a real football is used for: from passes and runs to fumbles. A 3-inch foam football is used to score extra points and field goals, just like in paper football, through finger “goal posts.” The playing surface is a 2’x4’ high gloss, durable, multi-colored board designed very much like a real football field.
To register for the Clarksville Finger Football tournament, go to www.fingerfootball.com and enter under the ‘Contact Us’ tab, or contact Spud Alford at (706) 888-6065 or spuda@zelosport.com.
The 8th Annual Rivers & Spires Festival will be held April 15-17 in downtown Clarksville, with cooperation and support from City and County Government, sponsors and volunteers. Applications are still being accepted for artists, event participants, sponsors, and vendors (arts & crafts, quilts, marketplace and food). The festival is free and open to the public. For applications or more information on festival activities and entertainment, visit www.riversandspires.com.
Rivers & Spires is an award-winning FREE festival with live music, interactive entertainment, activities for the kids and great food held in historic downtown Clarksville, Tenn.
