As you may know, the IFPA has recently decided to remove optional opting out of result submission starting March 1st. I want to thank everyone for reaching out directly to me, in our community spaces, and to the NPC site admins and team to share your thoughts on this change.
Let me lead with the news first: I’ve had a conversation with Josh at the IFPA, and NPC will be able to operate our Season Two as planned. Locations that are offering IFPA opt out for this season will be allowed to do so for this season only. All sanctioning of our leagues and Grand Finals remain as we discussed. I want to thank the IFPA for providing us the ability to deliver on the season we’ve been talking about for the past 3 months and planning for the last 5 months, and their good-faith extension of the opt out for this NPC season.
As I’ve said many times since we’ve announced Season Two, we will fully plan and discuss our league’s integration with the IFPA for Season Three and beyond.
I don’t want to relitigate all of the issues and events that have led people to have lost faith, trust, or desire to participate in or with the IFPA. These reasons are sound and I want to again express that I appreciate and respect everyone’s decision to engage or not based on their experience, feelings, and concerns. I also want to thank the whole New England pinball community for repeated good faith discussion on these topics — I’m really proud to be a part of a community with diverse opinions and feelings that can still clearly discuss these topics and not resort to the type of vile attacks we see elsewhere on the internet.
I firmly believe that our game is for everyone, and that NPC should be as big a tent for everyone that wants to play competitively in New England. You have my commitment and the commitment of all of NPC’s volunteers helping to run these wonderful leagues that they will continue to be welcoming, safe, and inclusive — IFPA sanctioned or not, now and in the future.
As always, I appreciate your thoughts, feedback, and any concerns you have in any way you’d feel comfortable expressing them — you can share with your location admin team, or directly with me on discord or at derek@npcpinball.org.
Thanks for your patience as we continue to work to bring you the fun and awesome pinball league y’all deserve.
-Derek