Foosballers is precisely the movie you are picturing in your head upon hearing the title. Yes, it is a documentary all about table soccer, aka foosball. You know, that game you’d play at the bar when the pool tables were all taken up. A whole culture and sporting division surrounds that past time.
Joe Heslinga’s documentary tracks six professional players as they prepare for the upcoming Foosball World Championship Tournament. Todd Loffredo is the legend of the sport. In 1977 he unexpectedly won the doubles championship with his Gil Jackson. Loffredo would go on to team with Frederic Collignon, who is considered one of the greatest foosball players ever. They would win several back to back championships.
“…tracks six professional players as they prepare for the upcoming Foosball World Championship Tournament.”
Of all these people, Loffredo is the only one still active in the sport. Tony Spredeman is considered to be one of the best of the younger generations competing. Based on what is discussed and shown here, he might make his living doing this, but that is a bit unclear.
Ryan Moore’s mother runs the IFP- International Foosball Promotions. As such, he was always around foosball tables and took to the game quite naturally. In his teens, Robert Mares won an old, beat up foosball table during a raffle at an arcade. This is how he started in the game. Cindy Head, a police officer and her brother (also a cop), played the sport with each other, and she holds the record for most wins ever.
Finally, there’s Terry Rue. Rue’s whole family, wife Keisha and daughter Sullivan, are also competitive foosball athletes, each with several wins to their names. For the first hour, give or take a few minutes, Foosballers gives the history of the sport and examines how these players prepare for the upcoming tournament.
"…You know, that game you’d play at the bar when the pool tables were all taken up. A whole culture and sporting division surrounds that past time."
