It all began in October 2009, when Shuffleboard appeared in Germany’s biggest TV Game Show. GSA-President Dieter Hussmann refereed a game between the prominent host and his challenger. It took over 20 minutes of prime time Saturday evening, when the match was to be decided by the last disc. That last shot was worth $750,000 and the host finally won.
That nationwide show had more than 3 million viewers, one of them being Christian Telieps, working for Germany’s carrier DHL as an Executive Manager for Business Development in Russia.
He asked one of his business partners to accompany him to the National Shuffleboard Center in Langenselbold, Germany. That partner was Igor Ekert, CEO of Olympic Investment Group from Sochi, Russia.
During his visit to the Shuffleboard Center, Mr. Ekert became excited about the game itself, its opportunities in Russia and he promised to return.
Sometimes good things take time, and it was not before December 2010, when Mr. Ekert decided to bring one court to Russia. He drove 2,000 miles by car from Langenselbold to Sochi, to ship the court and to donate the court to the Hotel “October” in his hometown Sochi.
Working in the wide field of Marketing he knew his business and how to promote Shuffleboard in Russia.
So he contacted the Germans again and asked for their assistance in organizing an International Shuffleboard event. He offered to take care of the accommodation and tourist program, if the Germans take care of the International players.
No sooner said than done!
In February 2011 the GSA-President approached Jim and Beth Allen from Seminole, Florida. They have already set up various trips to foreign countries for travelling Shufflers and were optimistic to find some 5 or 6 couples willing to travel to Sochi in May 2011.
To everyone’s surprise the feedback was overwhelming.
Within a few days 40 Shufflers from Canada and the U.S. signed up and the Allens had to close the list.
At the same time some 15 Germans agreed to travel to Sochi.
Beth Allen on the U.S. side and Birgitt Hussmann on the German side were more than busy to take care of the respective visas, a task that cannot be appreciated enough.
In the end they succeeded and everyone had his or her visa in hands. During the stay in Sochi, Beth pulled the strings together with her congenial Russian contact, Ellina Akinschina from travel agency “Planeta Sochi”.
What could have been feared by some to become a “Mission Impossible”, ended up in a major success for the sport of Shuffleboard, the 1. Sochi European Open.
You may want to check the websites of the CNSA or GSA for a comprehensive cover of the trip. Most of the reporting work has been done by former reporters Stan McCormack and Alf Primeau from “The Shuffler.org”, but there are also comments from others, being cited to have had “the most interesting week of their lives”.
The winner of the European Open, Pam Hill from Canada confirms:
”It was a magical week for all who took part, full of wonderful memories of a trip of a lifetime”.
Hall of Famer Gus Bondi writes: “Words can’t describe the great time we all had. The Russian host were absolutely great to us.”
The people and the town of Sochi, also being the host of the Olympic Winter Games 2014, did everything to make the Shufflers feel welcomed.
The Sochi European Open was not only enjoyed by the foreign travelers, but produced also some new enthusiastic local players.
During practice and tournament play, skilled players trained the novice ones. Special thanks goes to Peter Berg from Canada and Torben Hussmann from Germany. Both acted as mentors for Viktor (16) and Boris (14) respectively.
These two young fellows will be part of the Russian team that has made a commitment to travel to the World Singles in Dieppe, Canada in August 2011.
It looks like Russia will send three men and three women to compete, including the President of the Russian National Shuffleboard Association (RNSA), Mr. Igor Ekert.
To make this happen, there are still some obstacles to overcome, as there are visas and travel costs. Beth Allen is working hard to achieve exactly that and if anyone can do it, than her.
In the end we all can be optimistic to soon have a new country joining the international Shuffleboard community and welcome Russia in the ISA.
Russia’s way to Shuffleboard – Shuffleboard’s way to Russia…
we all did it the Russian way…
Leave A Comment