Episode 71 - Women's Competitive Pinball
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
1 hr 3 min
Summary
Women's competitive pinball history and the necessity of women's spaces in a male-dominated scene.
Zoe Vrabel, an IFPA director and former IFPA Women's World Champion, discusses the history and significance of women in competitive pinball across multiple eras: from the ubiquitous but underdocumented 1970s-80s scene, through the 1990s Papa tournaments, to the modern rise of women's organizations starting in 2013 with Bells and Chimes and Babes in Pinland. The episode emphasizes why women's spaces are necessary (addressing sexism, intimidation, and safety in male-dominated tournaments), the importance of tournament directors enforcing codes of conduct in open events, and how women's tournaments serve as visibility and recruitment tools for the broader community.
Highlights
- IFPA was rebooted in 2006 and began ranking pinball players under Josh and Zach's leadership
- Bells and Chimes was founded by Eka Schneider in Oakland, California in 2013
- Babes in Pinland was founded by Kayla Greet in Seattle, Washington in the same month (2013) as Bells and Chimes
- There are now over 100 women's pinball groups worldwide, including Bells and Chimes chapters and independent groups
- When Zoe started playing pinball competitively in 2009-2010, women were approximately 10% of the IFPA rankings
- Shorty's Coney Island in Seattle has been running the Powder Puff Pinball Tournament for women since the early 2000s
- In the 1970s-80s, most bars had 3-4 pinball machines and pinball was a ubiquitous social activity across genders
- In 2011, a crowdsourced women's ranking spreadsheet initially excluded Zoe Vrabel because they thought she was a European man based on her name
Support the show: ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast IFPA director, and former women's world champion Zoe Vrabel is back on the show to discuss the past, present, and future of women's competitive pinball. Zoe tells us all about the rise of competitive women's pinball, and what she would like to see in the future. Stream the Women's World Championship March 29th-30th on Twitch through Backhand Pinball Local Portland Women's events mentioned in the show: Gator Queens - Every last Monday of the…
Comments