Anyone familiar with Kelton, PA-based I Love Produce owner-partners Jim Provost and Neil Millman know about their love of table soccer, also referred to as table football, and in North America, as foosball.
Neil Millman and Jim Provost reprenting the U.S. in Spain.
On July 2-7, the pair represented the U.S. in Murcia, Spain, where they were among 350 players from 40 countries to participate in the International Table Soccer Federation competition.
“The U.S. men and women won the team events,” said Provost. “Germany garnered the most medals, with the U.S. coming in second.
“Neil and I placed fifth out of 26 teams in senior doubles on the Spain foosball tables,” he continued. “We beat Germany and Canada before losing to the champions from Spain on their home tables.”
Provost added that I Love Produce’s garlic suppliers in Spain helped by sending the specific Spain table to them so that Provost and Millman could qualify on it.
“Neil and I also got to play matches against Argentina,” said Provost. “Some of the far-reaching countries represented at the tournament included Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Kuwait, Iran, China and Japan. Most European countries were also represented.”
He pointed out that the best players from around the world were represented playing in the Men’s, Women’s, Senior’s, Junior’s, Disabled and Team event categories. All events were going on simultaneously on the floor of the stadium, which is usually used for basketball.
“The ITSF sanctions several foosball tables, and each country chooses their table prior to the matches,” explained Provost. “When you play a certain country, you might play on your home table — in our case the U.S., while your competition’s table might be from Spain, France, Germany, Italy or Great Britain.”
The U.S.A. Men’s Team and the U.S.A. Women’s Team each won gold medals.
“I Love Produce sponsored the U.S.A. team uniforms, so our logo is on the sleeves of the jerseys,” said Provost.
Although Millman and Provost did not make the finals in their matches, they said the event was an outstanding opportunity to compete with the finest foosball players in the world.
Further attesting to their love of the sport, the company featured an American made Warrior Table Soccer table at its booth at the 2017 PMA Fresh Summit in New Orleans, where visitors were invited to play foosball.
The table was customized with the I Love Produce logo emblazoned on its surface and cabinet. Visitors included their names in a drawing and the winners were presented with the table.
Videos of portions of the Spain competition can be viewed on YouTube by searching for ITSF World Cup 2019.
