The International Fistball Association (IFA) awarded its IFA 2020 SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD to United Through Sports President Stephan Fox and CEO Julia Govinden representing the world’s first ever United Through Sports World Virtual Youth Festival. With the IFA 2020 WOMEN IN SPORT AWARD the world governing body for Fistball honored all female sportswomen, who are involved in the medical and health sector worldwide represented by its Chairwomen of the Medical Commission Dr. Giana Hexsel from Brasil.
Since 2019 IFA has established IFA AWARDS in several categories. The first award ceremony took place in Winterthur (Switzerland) within the framework of the IFA 2019 Fistball Men´s World Championship.
The 2020 award ceremony will take place virtually.
IFA WOMEN IN SPORT AWARD
The IFA 2020 WOMEN IN SPORT AWARD goes to Dr. Giana Hexsel representing all female members of the medical and nursing staff.
“Sometimes you just have to say thank you. Thank you to all those who still have the biggest part to play in the current COVID-19 crisis in care and hospital missions, women, who are there to help day and night”, said IFA President Jörn Verleger.
“Dr. Giana Hexsel, who is doing an outstanding job not only within the Fistball family, among others, as Chairwoman of the Medical Commission, but also in her professional life working as doctor in a hospital.”
“For her and many other female sportswomen, who are involved in the medical and health sector worldwide, this is a sign of honour to staff members who work for our health and currently harder than ever before.”
IFA ACTIVITY AWARD
The IFA 2020 ACTIVITY AWARD goes to Rahel Schreiber and Swiss Faustball for the initiative “Fistball at Home.”
Rahel as Chairwoman of the Education Commission started for Swiss Fistball with “Fistball at home” a great initiative for Fistball training during the first lock-down in spring 2020. Within five weeks, 27 fistball players – including current or former national team players – from Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Brazil have produced instructional videos with training exercises for home use. These have been published under the hashtag #fistballathome on the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.
The further nominees were:
– Fistball Austria for the Adventkalender
– TV Rendel e.V. from Germany for Fistball Adventskalender
IFA SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD
The IFA 2020 SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD goes to UTS President Stephan Fox and UTS CEO Julia Govinden representing United Through Sports World Virtual Youth Festival 2020.
Over 100 organisations joined forces with United Through Sports (UTS) to engage youth in sport during the pandemic with an innovative virtual festival connecting youth of all abilities across the five continents.
The IOC, IPC, SOI, SportAccord and GAISF granted patronage towards this unique festival event in which many young Fistball athletes also participated.
IFA MEDIA AWARD
The IFA 2020 MEDIA AWARD goes to the Fistball Federation of Australia for “The Fist, The Whole Fist And Nothing But The Fist, So Help Me Pod – The Official Fistball Australia Podcast.”
Since August 2020 Fistball Australia has produced 10 editions of “The Fist, The Whole Fist And Nothing But The Fist, So Help Me Pod” with a total of more than 15 hours of content.
The further nominees were:
– DFBL & XinCAST for the TV series Fistball GOLD
– Fistball Austria & evenMo for the TV production of the Final 3 in Austria
IFA LIFETIME AWARD
The IFA 2020 LIFETIME AWARD goes to the 88 year old Art Jesswein from the Wisconsin Fistball Association (USA).
Art first came upon Fistball whilst he was an American soldier in Bamberg, Germany, from 1956-57, when he attended the Bavarian Junior Fistball Championships and fell in love with the game. Not long after returning to Milwaukee and rejoining the city’s Deutsche Athletic Club, where some of the older members mentioned that the sport had been played there in the 1920s and 30s.
In 1963, Art and his friends started practicing regularly on Sunday mornings, a tradition that’s carried on today. By 1965, Art formed a Milwaukee league and the Wisconsin Fistball Association was founded. In 1999, the newly formed U.S. national team, with Art as Head of delegation, competed for the first time in World Championships held in Switzerland.Today, Art can still be seen on the sidelines in the summer and is happy to support the young fistball athletes with his experience.