The aim of the Frontball Academy Games is to gather young people from our different  Frontball Acdemies from around the world for a week. The young people who pre-qualify to attend the week long Academy Games are between 14-18 years old.

This year 23 young people participated in this intensive full week which included sports training and physical preparation.

At the end of the week, the winners of the tournament classified in different categories were announced: Imanol of France, William of South Africa and Mandy of France .

Beyond sports, the Frontball Academy Games are an incredible opportunity to meet and interact with other young people who mutually enrich each other thanks to the diversity of their nationalities.

Togo, South Africa, Argentina, Spain, Portugal and France were represented this year. We regretted the absence of Cambodians who were unable to obtain their papers in time.

In collaboration with the Town Hall of Cayenne, Frontball was introduced in Guyana for the first time.

The Mayor of Cayenne, Marie-Laure Phinéra-Horth warmly received the frontball delegation and demonstrated a promising enthusiasm for the development of frontball in Guyana.

16 educators were initiated and trained in frontball pedagogy. Both sports educators in the city, as well as neighbourhood animators.

Yoan Heguiabehere, assisted by these educators, was able to initiate some sixty children between the ages of 7 and 14 during the PAC sport days organised by the city during school holidays. Children and young people showed great enthusiasm and were very proud to be trained by a world champion!

The week ended with an appointment at the Creek district, also known as "Chicago," where the educators trained at the beginning of the week managed to gather about thirty young people on the basketball court. Half of a wall of this area was beautifully decorated with a fresco painting of different sports balls. This wall was waiting for the little yellow ball of frontball...

Music, initiation games, challenges... in the afternoon there was a huge number of children, young people and adults curious to discover this new discipline within their neighbourhood.

The facilitators from the Association of the brothers of the Crick, decided to integrate frontball in the activities offered to young people and raise the wall height  of the basketball court in order to obtain a play area of official dimensions.

A new Frontball Academy is definitely in the process of seeing the light... to follow!

On March 7, 2019, the first official frontball wall was inaugurated in Asia! The wall was built within the PSE (For a Child’s Smile), an NGO helping children to escape destitution and provide them the skills required to get a job. A year ago, a delegation went to Phnom Penh to introduce frontball to children and teachers of the PSE. A great inauguration ceremony was organized by the PSE ECAP and Frontball Development team, with the participation of PES students: demonstration of frontball, dances, musical bands ... under the interested eyes of the PES representatives who were there in strength. The evening was followed by a tournament gathering about sixty young people from 10 to 18 years old. The new frontball wall fits perfectly into the area reserved for sports and extra-curricular activities. PES youth will be able to practice frontball in PSE sessions thanks to the program developed by Frontball Development with EPS teachers, as well as the creation of a frontball club within the ECAP. The most motivated can also train on their free time since the wall remains free access area within PSE. 

This mission successfully ended with great news ... two young people and an educator will join the  Frontball Academy Games 2019 in Anglet!

The 2018 Youth Olympic Games were held in Buenos Aires from the 7th to 8th of October.

The Frontball, led by FIPV, was participating as a demonstration sport.

There were three large play areas installed in the Olympic Park.

Each day for 10 consecutive days, 500 young people from all the schools of Buenos Aires went to discover different sports , including the frontball. All together some 5,000 young people could try the Frontball! And even the pedestrian in the Park.

There were a large number of athletes from other countries, as well as representatives of several Olympic committees that also enjoyed the Frontball: Argentina, Hungary, Turkey, Greece, Vanuatu, Paraguay, Mauritius, Thailand, Slovakia, China, Switzerland, Germany, Botswana. , Lesotho ...

Many personalities came to discover this sport unknown to them until now:

Olegario Vázquez, member of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Pablo Sorin, former professional player and captain of the Argentine football team, the presidents of the Olympic Committees of Lesotho, Botswana ...

And finally, THOMAS BACH, the president of the IOC who didn't hesitate t ohave some rallies with Yoan Heguiabehere, the frontball world champion!

The first French championship organised by FFPB (Fédération Française de Pelote Basque) took place in Saint Lon les Mines .

The finales took place le 22nd of September.

4 catégories were in competition.

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THE RESULTS :

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1)  under 22 years - Men:

Unai Irribarren / Adrien Dufau

10-3 / 4-10 / 5-2

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2) Under 22 years - Women:

Ania Oronoz / Marie Goyeneche

10-9 / 10-8

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3) Elite Men

Yoan Heguiabehere / Mickael Massonde

10-1 / 10-9

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4) Elite Women

Stéphanie Castanchoa / Maider Garat

10-2 / 10-7

This year, we welcomed 26 youngsters from our different academies around the world from July 1st to 7th for the FRONTBALL ACADEMY GAMES 2018.

South Africa, Spain, Argentina, Palestine and France were represented. 

Unfortunately, the two young Togolese players and their accompanist as well as two young Chinese players were not able to come due to a visa problems ...

The Frontball Academy Games is a week dedicated to and around the Frontball activities.

Progressing due to daily training, but also learning the rules of daily hygiene that go with the sport. And finally, to learn to  give the best of oneself on the day of the final tournament!

On May, 25th and 26th, there were the International Frontball Tournament, in Paris la Défense (business district). During both men and women tournaments, eight nationalities were playing.

David Alvarez from Mexico won the men tournament.

Maritxu Housset from France won the women tournament.

A team from the Frontball Development Association traveled to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, to start a new Frontball Academy. The project came to life with the collaboration with the French NGO PSE, Pour Un Sourire d'Enfant. This NGO aims to help the most disadvantaged children of Cambodia, leading them out of misery to a trade...

It was the first time that the Frontball World Championship was held in Mexico City from 18th to

the 22nd of July this year and organized by the FIPV.

4 continents and 24 countries were represented in 3 categories...

It was in Biarritz, this year again, that 32 young frontball players from our different Frontball Academies got together for a week of fun and games. Accompanied by their coaches, they came from France (Montgeron, Tarbes, Saint Lon les Mines and the Basque country), Argentina, South Africa, Palestine and Spain. This year we were delighted to be able to form a strong women’s team: 11 girls were present; 3 South Africans, 2 Spanish, 3 French from Montgeron, 2 from Tarbes and one young girl from the Basque country! A great group that proved to us that young women definitely have their place in Frontball.

This week was for all (adults as well as the younger) an opportunity to meet, share, have fun, live

together and not to forget, to compete!

For the fourth consecutive year, a team of Frontball Developpement went to South Africa to carry on developping this intense mission.

This year, we came back to the two first places that the organization « Children of Dawn » had presented to us  (QwaQwa and Ermelo), before going to Pretoria, Swaziland and Lesotho.

Senegal, Guinea, Togo… Frontball expands to Western Africa. A Frontball/FIPV delegation went to these three countries in order to train prospective coaches and include as many local children as possible.

The very first edition of the Frontball Academy Games happened this year in Biarritz. 

After 4 years of work including the creation of different Open Walls sites in the world, setting up a whole pedagogic system with adapted tools... The Frontball Games allowed us to gather children from those worldwide sites for one week. 

The sport goal? To organize the first junior Frontball tournament after a week of training. 

But beside this goal, we want to start the new episode of our social mission by enabling those kids from different cultures and different social backgrounds to meet up and learn from themselves on the Frontball court. 

The Frontball World Tour 2015 took place this year on June 6th in Brooklyn.

For the 5th consecutive year , the Mexican Orlando Diaz won the men's finals against his compatriot Juan Medina .

The women's finals was won by the American Jessica Lopez , against the Bosnian Jasmina Dukanovic.

15 nationalities competed during a full day of Frontball at the Brooklyn Bridge Park ,22 men and 12 women .

The men's semifinals were played between, Orlando Diaz and Timbo Gonzales from Puerto Rico, as well as Yoan Heguiabehere
from France and the Mexicain Juan Medina. And once again the Mexicans won both games.

On the women's side , Jessica Lopez eliminated the French Maritxu Housset . The other semifinal oposed the two Bosnian sisters, Jasmina and Emina Djukanovic, and was won the the oldest of the two, Jasmina.

A new team of OPEN WALLS visited South Africa at the end of March with
two objectives for this mission:

- Open a new site in Ermelo OPEN WALLS, two and a half hours east of Johannesburg
- Follow the up-date on the site of QwaQwa which opened in July.

It is due to the collaboration with the association Children of the Dawn that these underprivileged children in South Africa have the chance to learn how to play Frontball!

In Ermelo,  20 children between the ages of 8 and 12 years, discovered Frontball on a small wall, originally a tennis training wall. After the distribution of tennis shoes, shorts and tee-shirts, equipment that unfortunately most of these children do not posses, we were able to start two days of initiation, ball games, physical training, and to top off with a big tournament! Encouragement, teamwork, perseverance, desire to progress, desire to win, great joy and happiness could be read on all their faces...

We went back for a second visit to QwaQwa, were we had left our young Frontballers in July, hoping to see their advancements. And after a very joyful welcome, we noted with great pleasure that they had progressed! The coaches have all taken the training very seriously and done a  good job. We were even surprised by the performances of some of the new children.

The sneakers are well worn out...

The final tournament was of very good quality, with a great ambiance. Songs and dances accompanied the players throughout the different games, supporting their favorite players. Thabang, the young finalist in July, won the tournament again this time around. The cheers of his supporters enabled a moment of triumph and strong emotion for him and us as well.

The experience for these children to be able to practice  Frontball, was both physically and mentally of a  great benefit. The immense joy throughout the tournaments brought a lot of emotion to the entire team and once again the meaning and importance of our project Openwall was well proven.

It's official, the finals of the Frontball World Tour 2015 will be held this year in New York on the 6th and 7th of June.

It is due to the partnership with the association WallBall World and it's president Jasmine Ray, that these finals can be organized.

They will take place in Brooklyn, on the facilities of the recently created BrooklynBridgePark , Pier2, facing Manhattan !

Samedi 15 Novembre, ont été inaugurés les premiers murs de frontball de la ville de Marseille, boulevard des Mûriers, sur le plateau Sportif d'Anjou-La Cabucelle.

La matinée pluvieuse n'a pas freiné les dizaines de personnes présentes pour cet évènement : des jeunes de la cité Campagne Lévêque, accompagnés de l'équipe associativee du Rocher et de leurs parents, des jeunes du quartier de la Cabucelle découvrant le frontball, représentant de la FSGT, représentants de la mairie du XVme. Samia Ghali, maire des XVème et XVIème arrondissements de Marseille était également présente. Elle a bien compris l'intérêt que peut représenter le frontball pour les jeunes des cités et a insisté sur la volonté de la mairie d'accompagner ce projet. 

La nouvelle école de Frontball de Marseille est bien inaugurée! 

Grâce à la persévérance et à la collaboration des associations du Rocher (association qui oeuvre au service des habitans, jeunes et familles des cités et quartiers populaires français), et de la FSGT (Fédération gymnique et sportive du Travail, d'où seront issus les encadrants sportifs du frontball), les entraînements vont avoir lieu les mercredis, vendredis et samedis après midi pour les jeunes du primaire et du collège.

Longue vie à l'école de frontball de Marseille!

Mexican men final, french/american women final.

Orlando Diaz win the World Tour 2014 for  thr fourth time versus Juan Medina (20/16)...

Maritxu Housset, the french champion, win versus Danielle Daskalakis (20/11).

Nico COMAS, winner of the Argentine qualifications 2014 in Parana, versus Fernando Martinez in 3 set : 10/3, 9/10, 10/5. Nico will be in Anglet for the World Tour finales the October 31th and November 1st 2014.

Grégory AGUIRRE winner of qualifications FRANCE 2014 versus Yoan HEGUIABEHERE en Finale 15 / 13.

OPEN WALLS ACADEMY: La première école de Frontball sur le sol Africain a ouvert cet été à QwaQwa en Afrique du Sud...

En partenariat avec l'association CHILDREN OF THE DAWN, qui oeuvre pour redonner le sourire et offrir un futur aux enfants Sud Africains orphelins du Sida.

Cette association cherche à combler l'ensemble des besoins nécessaires au développement des enfants.

Une délégation Frontball Développement s'est rendue à QwaQwa afin d'initier un groupe de 32 enfants, ainsi que les futurs animateurs locaux de frontball.

La mission s'est très bien déroulée et l'objectif a été atteint: les enfants ont vite adopté ce sport et les animatrices (oui ce sont des femmes là bas!) ont semblé bien motivées pour pérenniser cette activité. 

L'entraînement hebdomadaire a officiellement commencé le 26 Juillet.

Nous souhaitons que nos nouveaux frontballers progressent vite et que cette école de Frontball soit la première d'une longue série sur le sol africain...

Une délégation de l'association Frontball Développement s'est rendue en Cisjordanie...

Une visite au camp d'Al Fawwar où les jeunes frontballers se sont entrainés sous l'oeil des membres de l'association. Les progrès sont visibles et la motivation toujours présente. 

Cette visite en Cisjordanie a été l'occasion de se rendre dans trois autres camps de réfugiés: Aida, Deishe et Aroub, où il est envisagé de reproduire le modèle d'Al Fawwar.

Des lieux ont été identifiés, des entraîneurs sportifs sont motivés.Espérons que le Frontball se développe avec le même enthousiasme dans ces trois camps...

Fernando MEDINA Vainqueur du Tournoi de FRONTBALL de MEXICO contre Juan MEDINA par 20 à 18 . ( 1/2 finales : F.MEDINA 20 Orlando DIAZ 10 et Juan MEDINA 20 Chato RIVAS 12

Surprises en chaîne à New York!

La 6ème édition du Tournoi de New York s'est déroulée à Brooklyn ce Dimanche 27 Avril et a vu l'émergence de nouveaux frontballers tant au niveau de la compétition féminine que masculine.

Chez les hommes, Pooch GARNET remporte la compétition en battant Tyree BASTIDAS en finale. Chez les femmes, Danielle DASKALAKIS l'emporte après un match très disputé contre Sarah AU.

"Before the current game of Frontball,

there was the story of its past;

before the story of its past,

there were get-togethers, friendships,

lots of hard work and a bit of madness...

And well before that, there was a dream and an idea...

... just a little idea and a blank page."

In front of a packed house at the Atalante cinema in Bayonne, Michel and Nicolas Arribehaute hosted the premiere screening of ‘Open Walls’– their documentary about Frontball.  Their goal is to reach a wider audience in the coming months.  More to follow…

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Just like every year, the World Tour Finals were held in Anglet, France in the Basque Country.

This year 8 frontball players came face to face in Anglet with 4 men semi-finalists and  4 women semi-finalists of various nationalities.

In the men’s finals, the Mexican, Orlando Diaz, once again won the cup playing against the Frenchman, Mickel Poueyts.  It’s Jessica Lopez who beat Jasmina Dukanovic in the women’s finals.

The WORLD GAMES are organized by the International World Games Association (IWGA) which is under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

As a multi-sport gathering, it brings 4000 athletes from 120 countries together in disciplines which are not yet part of the Olympics, but which have all the virtues to become a part.  Frontball was invited to the World Games as a demonstration sport.