Heya Belles! It’s been a while since we’ve sent out an email update. Since our last update was late October, we’re combining out two events into one! This cadence is something we might consider doing as we go into 2026. Please let us know if you have any thoughts when it comes to the frequency of emails and the content. We want to be sending things out that you enjoy!
Notable Sections in Email:
Fundraiser Update, OBX/IFPA/Inclusivity Update
Wednesday Match Play
On Wednesday we had 11 players join us, including 2 new people, for six rounds of matchplay at Aftershock Classic Arcade Bar. Finals were held on Tales of the Arabian Nights, and it came down to just a couple of shots between the top two. A very close finish.
🏆 Winners’ Circle 🏆
🥇 Cora
🥈Tiffany
🥉 Chelsea (her first tournament with us!)
🏅 Mary
They all won a trophy, new player Liz picked out a flipper keychain, and Tamara took home a District 82 hat. Congrats!
We also lucked into a generous haul of Batch Bakehouse goods that made for a great mid-meetup snack. Yuuumm. 😋
Thank you to Steve for serving drinks, Jacque for the trophies, and to everyone who joined us and contributed to our Food Drive
Sunday Pin-Golf
Thank you to the 7 ladies who came out to play some pin-golf with us at Aftershock Classic Arcade Bar! After 9 holes, Tiffany led the group to a 3-game final of Addams Family, Twilight Zone, and Terminator 2.
🏆 Winners’ Circle 🏆
🥇 Donelle
🥈Tiffany
🥉 Cora
🏅 Elise
Our finalists took home some Pie-Faced Oscars just in time for the upcoming holidays.
Tumiracle won a Stern Pinball shirt after taking the win on High Speed. Tamara was blessed by the ducky gods yet again as she went home with a Dialed In translite.
📅 Upcoming Events – Giving Back at the Kickback 📅
Our next event is at The Kickback on December 10th for 5 rounds of MatchPlay. It’s $5 buy in + token drop. Proceeds will be matched and donated to FairWisconsin. Registration starts at 6PM and we officially start at 6:30PM.
We will be closing out the fundraiser which includes giving away multiple prizes throughout the night! Be sure to make a donation of cash or non-perishable foods for your chance to win a small prize. All donations are going to WayForward Resources in Middleton.
The following event is also at The Kickback on December 28th for 9 holes of pin-golf. Registration begins at 11:30AM, and we start playing at 12:00PM. Entry fee is also $5 + coin drop. Proceeds will be matched and donated to FairWisconsin.
We encourage you to RSVP on Facebook. It helps the engagement on our page and can drive additional viewers to the event.
⭐ Pin Tip: The Beatles Free Multiball ⭐
Playing Beatles and about to plunge your third ball?
Use your flippers to change your song to “All My Loving”. This will start a 2 ball multiball where scores are doubled while it’s still active. This mode is untimed and switch hits will increase your jackpot. Get to the magnet up top to collect. Hitting the mystery shot will reward add-a-ball.
📢 Fundraiser Update 📢
Thank you to everyone who has donated to the WayForward fundraiser and food drive this year. We have hit over $200 raised thus far, and we still have our Dec 10th meetup to collect even more cash and food.
Remember that every $3 donation is a chance to win a prize, every $10 is a guess at the beans, and anyone who donated in general will have a chance to win the ducky race prizes as we try to empty the prize pool. Equivalent amount of food will yield you chances to win as well.
We still have plenty of Stern goodies, Aftershock goodies, and a bundle of other goodies. Come through and donate cash and food for a good cause!
Below are some of the goodies won so far:
Additionally, we have $28 from our last meetup bringing us up to $56 so far for FairWisconsin after matching. We will be donating and matching this event along with the pin-golf event.
📰 OBX/IFPA Catch Up 📰
You may have noticed that on November 17th we shared a reminder on social media about our chapter’s values around inclusivity and gender identity. This was in response to the events that occurred during and after the OBX Flippers Fall Arcade Bash. If you’re unfamiliar with what happened, here are several articles from The Kineticist that outline the situation:
Background and initial developments
Second Update with Slack Conversations
IFPA Womens Advisory Board Resigns
IFPA New Inclusivity Code of Conduct
TL;DR (semi-short version):
- A trans woman was confronted and nearly removed from a women’s restroom by a venue employee who was helping with the tournament. Police were threatened to be called, which in itself is an act of violence.
- Due to miscommunication, the event was told to “play on.”
- The Women’s Advisory Board (WAB) advised the event be unsanctioned because open events must be accessible and safe for all players, which was not the case here.
- However, some IFPA leaders (namely Josh Sharpe and Adam Becker) decided to keep the event sanctioned even while acknowledging afterward that it should not have been.
- In an attempt to clear their names, Slack messages were released publicly without redacting several individuals’ names including trans community members who had not consented to being publicly identified.
- As a result of disagreements, which may includes things behind the scenes, the entire WAB resigned.
- IFPA later released an additional statement about bathroom requirements and future improvements, but did not acknowledge wrongdoing regarding the Slack message leak and chose to uphold the sanctioned status of the event.
How the broader community is responding:
Since this happened, many tournament directors, venues, and Belles chapters nationwide have been making statements or taking action in solidarity with trans people and the WAB. Some have:
- Unsanctioned all events
- Reduced the number of sanctioned events
- Redirected fees to LGBTQ+ charities
- Allow individuals to opt-out of IFPA results
- Reaffirmed their values while hoping for improvement (The message from the Women’s Advisory Board was that IFPA isn’t full of bigoted individuals but this situation revealed serious gaps and highlighted how much work is still needed.)
- Fully boycotted IFPA
Additionally, some individual players are choosing to only participate in events that allow opt-outs or only participating in women’s events as they are more intentional about safety and inclusion.
Where our Belles chapter stands:
We are still evaluating. For the remainder of 2025, we will continue with our scheduled IFPA-sanctioned events, but we are also taking steps to ensure our space remains explicitly safe and inclusive:
✓ Updated Code of Conduct — We are revamping our Code of Conduct to be stronger, clearer, and more accessible especially for newer folks exploring our chapter.
✓ Reflecting deeply on our IFPA relationship for 2026 — We’ve considered every option and continue to go back and forth. We want to make sure our choices align with our values and with what’s best for the women and nonbinary players in our community.
Here are some realities we’re weighing:
- We are not the IFPA. Our purpose isn’t to “teach IFPA a lesson.” Our purpose is to foster a safe, joyful, competitive space for women and nonbinary players in Madison. The IFPA cannot stop us from accomplishing our purpose.
- For many in our chapter, our tournaments are the only realistic path to qualifying for Wisconsin State Championships.
- Playing exclusively at District 82 is inaccessible for most of our players. Even our strongest local players often can’t qualify without traveling and competing up there.
- If we stop sanctioning entirely, we remove opportunities from our own members and some don’t enjoy open/co-ed events as much.
Because of this, we’re considering practical options such as:
- Allowing players to opt out of IFPA fees for any event (they can still play; their $1 won’t go to IFPA; they just won’t appear in the submitted results).
- Potentially sanctioning fewer events while keeping others non-IFPA or charity-focused.
- Moving away from IFPA is still an option on the docket.
There are many ways for individuals to show solidarity, and we support whatever choice feels right for each member. Besides opting out of a tournament, someone can suppress their IFPA profile. They will still contribute $1 to the pool and submitted to IFPA; however, the individual’s profile will be suppressed. What this means is you can still collect points but you will not be eligible for IFPA hosted events (such as State) during the year your account is suppressed. Please see this IFPA page on opting out and suppressing your profile.
We do value your opinions. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any particular thoughts or concerns when it comes to our relationship with the IFPA as we work towards our final decision forward.
Thank you for being part of our pinball community Belles! We love you all.
– Belles & Chimes Planning Team