German fistball championship
The German fistball championship marks the final round of the best teams in Germany for the title of German champion . It is played in every season (field and hall) and usually arouses the greatest interest in fistball after international tournaments.
As the indoor season runs from October to March, the finals usually take place in March (youth and seniors partly until April), while the championship of the field season (May to September) takes place in August, with all youth and senior tournaments taking place afterwards.
Game system
women and men
In German fistball, leagues are only played in the active area. Since this is a purely amateur sport, the 1st Bundesliga is still divided into north and south due to the financial and time possibilities of the clubs and players.
Both leagues play their own season, which then results in a final table. The top three teams in both leagues qualify for the final round of the German championship, which results in a tournament with six teams each. There are different systems in the draw for these finals.
Field season
In the summer, the men's and women's championships are played together. So there are 12 teams in one place, which always play the same game plan alternately, with the women playing the first pairing and the men following in the next round.
The mode is always the same, but differs depending on where the championship takes place, whether in the south or north. The championship will open with qualifying games, with the season winners already qualified for the semifinals. First of all, the runner-up of the organizing season plays against the third-placed runner of the others. This is followed by the opposite qualifying game. The first semi-final is played by the season winner of the guest season, which means that a third-placed who survives the qualification has to compete against his own master, while the second-placed winner meets the master of the other group. The order ensures that the supposedly strongest team of the organizing season can play the last semi-final at "prime time". This system is also intended to prevent the possibly two strongest teams from mutually eliminating each other in the semifinals, as it does happen that the future German champions and runners-up come from the same season. All three podium places from one area have also occurred several times.
The second day then begins with the women's game for third place, followed by the men and the two finals.
The losers of the qualifying games are eliminated from the tournament immediately, which means that there are teams that already have to pack their bags in the first game of the tournament, while the pre-qualified semi-finalists are usually not on the sports grounds at this time.
| Day | game
No. |
Game type | gender | Team 1 | Team 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | Q1 | qualification | Women | North 2 | South 3 | Loser 5th place |
| Q2 | qualification | Men | North 2 | South 3 | Loser 5th place | |
| Q3 | qualification | Women | South 2 | North 3 | Loser 5th place | |
| Q4 | qualification | Men | South 2 | North 3 | Loser 5th place | |
| HF1 | Semifinals | Women | South 1 | Winner Q1 | ||
| HF2 | Semifinals | Men | South 1 | Winner Q2 | ||
| HF3 | Semifinals | Women | North 1 | Winner Q3 | ||
| HF4 | Semifinals | Men | North 1 | Winner Q4 | ||
| Sunday | Pl. 3 | 3rd place match | Women | Loser HF1 | Loser HF3 | Winner bronze |
| Pl. 3 | 3rd place match | Men | Loser HF2 | Loser HF4 | Winner bronze | |
| Pl. 1 | final | Women | Winner HF1 | Winner HF3 | Winner of German champions | |
| Pl. 1 | final | Men | Winner HF2 | Winner HF4 | Winner of German champions |
- International qualification and special case 5th place for men
The fifth places are not played out at the German Championships, as the schedule often only allows another game under floodlights. The men's tournament was an exception, due to the fact that there are two European cups:
The European Cup of National Champions (now Champions Cup), for which the national champions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as the defending champions qualify and the IFA (now EFA) Cup, for which the next two qualify, as well as the champions from Italy and Czech Republic, as well as the defending champion (or successor, if the TV plays in the Champions Cup) and another team from the host country, which means 10 participants. This can lead to the special case that occurred in Ahlhorn , for example, in 2013 : TSV Pfungstadt was already the defending champion for the EP of national champions and was also German champion, so VfK Berlin moved up as "regional champion". Since the EFA Cup 2014 was to take place in Wardenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany (although not defending champion) had another starting place. The two regular starting places went to the third (TV Vaihingen / Enz) and fourth (TV Schweinfurt-Oberndorf). Thus the "host place" had to be played out in a game for 5th place between the qualifying losers Ahlhorner SV and TV Brettorf. Since almost all games in this championship were played over the full distance of 5 sets (in German championships, 3 winning sets are always played), this game was played under the floodlight, where the TV Brettorf was able to win 2 sets, but again in the tie Break prevailed.
Since the EFA Cup was held for the last time in 2019 and canceled without replacement, this problem no longer occurs.
In the women's category, the 3 medal winners plus the defending champion qualify for the Champions Cup, which is held here in a larger group due to the lack of an EFA Cup.
Indoor season
In the indoor circuit, the men's championships are held in large arenas (usually around 3000 spectators), whereas large sports halls (~ 1000 seats) are used for women. In both, however, there are usually no possibilities for warm playing fields, as is mandatory with the field DM, which is why a time problem would arise if the same mode was carried out together as on the field. That's why the women are played here a week before the men, so as not to take away viewers from each other. However, since some games are omitted from the schedule, it was decided to use the time gained and play another mode, whereby each team has to play at least 2 games. The qualification takes place in the same way as in the field round.
Two groups are formed, consisting of the first and third of one relay and the runner-up in the other relay. Which group A and which B is, and thus always plays the first game of the doubles, depends again on the venue of the championship. The semi-finals are not played in the hall until the second day, which means that a team has to play two games in a row: Loser of the second semi-final in the game for 3rd place, but since only 4 games take place on that day, sufficient regeneration time is usually granted .
International qualification
For both women and men, the champions (and any defending champions) qualify for the Champions Cup, which is held in winter with four teams (see Champions Cup men field season). There is no second international competition in the winter round.
youth
The qualification at the German Youth Championships takes place via the four regional championships, for which one must again qualify via state championships (unless there are too few entries). The 2 finalists of the regional championships take part, plus the host's team (if he has a youth team in this age group, otherwise there are special rules for successors), as well as the third-placed from the regional group that came in the year before (hall for hall and field for field) was the most successful. This results in a field of 10 teams.
In the preliminary round on Saturday, the teams play against each other in 2 groups of five, but in comparison to the active players, nobody is eliminated. The final round on Sunday begins with the qualifying games of the fourth against the fifth placed in the other group. The two losers immediately play out 9th place, followed by the game for 7th place. Often a small award ceremony is held at this point for the 4 lower places to allow the teams to leave early, as there are often hundreds of kilometers to cover and can never be vacation in all regions at the same time. After that, the same system is played as with the active players in the field season: qualifying games of the third against the second placed for participation in the semifinals, for which the group winners are already qualified. The only modification of the system is the game for 5th place, which is always played at youth championships.
While each youth and each gender play their own championship in the indoor season, in the field season these take place in one place for each age group. In the case of youth, there are usually no grandstands (at most one main grandstand), which means that the entire sports field can be used. It is simply played on 2 fields, with most of the organizers having 4 fields available (normal soccer field) and these are then also used to relax the schedule and to be able to start a little later with an earlier end at the same time.
Special case U16 and U12
The historical background of these age groups is that fistball is a gymnastics game and in gymnastics there are only the age groups schoolchildren (11-14) and youth (15-18). A big difference in level within these time periods prompted the fistball players to introduce these "intermediate classes".
However, this meant that no regional championships could be held during the field season, which is why the mode here is different: 24 teams of each gender compete, which qualify directly from their national associations.
The game is played in 4 groups of six, from which one can qualify in various intermediate round groups, where all placements are then ultimately played out through various knockout phases until the game for 23rd place.
Later there was the possibility of holding regional championships, but so far the format has been stuck to to give weaker teams from the smaller regional associations the chance to qualify for German championships and possibly present the national coaches there, even if the team on the whole would be too weak to qualify within the regional group.
In the hall, however, such a mode is not possible, which is why the same is used here as for the other age groups.
In the 2020/2021 indoor season, a German U12 championship is to take place for the first time, which so far has only existed in summer. There are no national championships below the U12 age group.
Seniors
In the case of seniors, on the whole, the same mode is played as in the youth, with the difference that the championships are not always fully occupied, which is why the game mode can be changed according to the number of participants. In addition, the seniors often have organizers (mostly with large sports facilities) who host all age groups in one place.
The men 60+ are a special case: It almost never happens that 10 teams are found for a championship, which is why usually not even pre-qualifying championships are advertised, which makes the men 60 DM into a registration championship.
There are basically the following age groups: women 30+, men 35+, men 45+, men 55+, men 60. Anything below these age limits is not yet eligible for participation in senior championships.
Problems of the organizers
Recently , the German Fistball League (DFBL) has had increasing problems finding hosts for the German championships.
While clubs in the youth field keep coming up, mostly because they have a promising team this year, some of the active teams have not yet decided to host the season at the beginning of the season. In particular, the issues of professionalization and digitization make such an orientation more difficult for clubs without employees, as they need a corresponding number of volunteers. An example of this is the requirement that all DMs must be viewed online via live stream. Another problem in the indoor season is that large halls or arenas are required and are also necessary due to the interest of spectators, but they are difficult to get because they are often occupied by financially stronger sports such as handball, basketball or volleyball.
The popular sport character can be seen well from the fact that organizing a German championship is always a financial gain and there is usually a lack of the necessary helpers, who often exceed the size of the departments.
In order to create an incentive to mobilize other departments of the club to help as well, the DFBL decided in 2018 that an organizing club that also has a team in the Bundesliga will automatically get a place in the championship. From this it follows that the organizing relay team only has 2 starting places to allocate via the league. This applies to women and men as well as to the field and hall. If an organizer at a field championship has both a women's and a men's team in the 1st Bundesliga, both are entitled to start. This case occurred for the first time at the 2019 field championship at VfL Kellinghusen . The teams took 4th place (women) and 5th place (men).
Reigning masters
field
| Age group | year | German champions | Final opponent | Final result | place | bronze | 4th Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U12 female | 2019 | TV Brettorf | SV Kubschütz (TV) | 2: 0 (11:08 11:04) | Kellinghusen | Ahlhorner SV | TS Thiersheim |
| U12 male | 2019 | TV Unterhaugstett | TV Bardowick | 2: 0 (11:05 11:05) | Kellinghusen | MTV Rosenheim | TSV Kleinvillars |
| U14 female | 2019 | TV Vaihingen / Enz | MTV Wangersen | 2: 1 (09:11 11:06 11:08) | Wangersen | Ahlhorner SV | TV Stammbach |
| U14 male | 2019 | TV Unterhaugstett | VfK Berlin | 2: 0 (11:09 11:06) | Wangersen | TV Brettorf | Guestrower SC 09 |
| U16 female | 2019 | Ahlhorner SV | TSV Essel | 2: 0 (15:13 11:09) | Berlin | TV Vaihingen / Enz | TV Brettorf |
| U16 male | 2019 | Leichlinger TV | TV Unterhaugstett | 2: 0 (11:08 11:05) | Berlin | MTV Wangsern | SG Waldkirchen |
| U18 female | 2019 | Ahlhorner SV | TV Jahn Schneverdingen (TV) | 2: 0 (13:11 11:08) | Hallerstein | TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen | TSV Staffelstein |
| U18 male | 2019 | TV Vaihingen / Enz | TV Segnitz | 2: 0 (11:07 11:04) | Hallerstein | NLV Vaihingen | TSV LoLa |
| Women | 2019 | Ahlhorner SV | TV Jahn Schneverdingen | 3: 1 (11:06 12:10 05:11 11:03) | Kellinghusen | TSV Calw | VfL Kellinghusen |
| Men | 2019 | TSV Pfungstadt (TV) | VfK Berlin | 3: 0 (11:09 13:11 11:03) | Kellinghusen | TV Schweinfurt-Oberndorf | TSV 1860 Hagen |
| Women 30+ | 2019 | FBC Offenburg | ETV Hamburg | 2: 1 (11:08 07:11 11:04) | Hamburg | SV Moslesfehn | SV Düdenbüttel |
| Men 35+ | 2019 | VfK Berlin | MTV Diepenau | 2: 0 (11:06 11:09) | Hamburg | MTV Rosenheim | TV Waldrennach |
| Men 45+ | 2019 | TSV 1860 Hagen | TKD Duisburg | 2: 0 (11:08 11:06) | Hamburg | FBC Offenburg | SSV Heidenau |
| Men 55+ | 2019 | ESV Rosenheim | TV Weisel | 2: 0 (11:06 11:08) | Hamburg | TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen | TV Elsava Elsenfeld |
| Men 60+ | 2019 | TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen | Ahlhorner SV | 2: 0 (11:05 11:07) | Uchtelhausen | TV Elsava Elsenfeld | ESV Rosenheim |
Hall
| Age group | year | German champions | Final opponent | Final result | place | bronze | 4th Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U14 female | 2019 | Ahlhorner SV | TV Stammbach | 2: 0 (11:08 11:06) | Biberach | TV Vaihingen / Enz | TV Brettorf |
| U14 male | 2019 | Ahlhorner SV | VfK Berlin | 2: 0 (11:09 11:07) | Ahlhorn | MTV Oldendorf | TSV Dennach |
| U16 female | 2019 | TV Brettorf | SV Düdenbüttel | 2: 0 (11:05 11:07) | Singing | Ahlhorner SV | MTSV Selsingen |
| U16 male | 2019 | Leichlinger TV | MTV Wangersen | 2: 0 (11:04 11:05) | Corpses | TSV Burgdorf | Berlin TS |
| U18 female | 2019 | TV Brettorf | TSV Calw | 2: 0 (11:08 11:06) | Pfungstadt | TV Jahn Schneverdingen | Ahlhorner SV |
| U18 male | 2019 | NLV Vaihingen | Leichlinger TV | 2: 0 (11:07 11:06) | After that | TSV Dennach | TSV LoLa |
| Women | 2020 | TSV Calw (TV) | TV Jahn Schneverdingen | 3: 1 (11:06 11:06 05:11 11:05) | Schneverdingen | Ahlhorner SV | TSV Dennach |
| Men | 2020 | TSV Pfungstadt (TV) | TV Käfertal | 3: 1 (08:11 07:11 07:11 07:11) | Mannheim | TV Brettorf | TV Schweinfurt-Oberndorf |
| Women 30+ | 2019 | FBC Offenburg | TV Brettorf | 2: 0 (11:08 11:05) | Boards | SV Düdenbüttel | VfK Berlin |
| Men 35+ | 2019 | MTV Rosenheim | VfK Berlin | 2: 0 (11:09 11:07) | Boards | TSV 1860 Hagen | TV Dieburg |
| Men 45+ | 2019 | SV Moslesfehn | MTV Rosenheim | 2: 0 (11:04 11:08) | Rosenheim | FBC Offenburg | TV Schweinfurt-Oberndorf |
| Men 55+ | 2019 | ESV Rosenheim | TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 2: 0 (11:08 11:06) | Wasenbach | TV Elsava Elsenfeld | SV Ruschwedel |
| Men 60+ | 2020 | TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen | TV Elsava Elsenfeld | 2: 1 (10:12 11:08 11:06) | Schluttenbach | TV Schluttenbach | Ahlhorner SV |
With the exception of the German championship for men 60+, there were no German championships in the youth or senior sector in the 2019/2020 indoor season, as after the men's championship in Mannheim all other events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany .
Individual evidence
- ↑ DFBL: Point 4.4.5.2. German Fistball League, August 30, 2019, accessed on August 19, 2020 .
- ↑ DFBL: Point 4.4.5.2.1. German Fistball League, August 30, 2019, accessed on August 19, 2020 .