The Mid Island Pinball League (MIPL) is hosting a huge 48-player tournament on June 24 at Black Diamond Antiques, 164 Cedar Rd. in Nanaimo. (Doug Ramsay)

By Jordan Davidson

flipper fun

Mid Island Pinball League offers good flippin fun for all

Jun 24, 2023 | 5:54 AM

NANAIMO — Calling all pinball wizards!

The Mid Island Pinball League (MIPL) is hosting a huge 48-player tournament on June 24 at Black Diamond Antiques, 164 Cedar Rd. in Cedar starting at 11 a.m., and it’s open to all flipper enthusiasts.

League member and lifelong pinball fan Doug Ramsay said the league started about a year ago, and he basically “stumbled” into it one day when he walked into Black Diamond Antiques and saw the machines.

“It’s a very welcoming, open community of people. It doesn’t matter your race, gender, age, nothing matters, all that matters is we’re here having a good time playing pinball. Even though it’s competitive pinball, it’s more of a social thing.”

Players come from all across the Island and the Mainland for this once-a-year tournament, including from another league out of Victoria.

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Ramsay said all the tournaments they play in are part of the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA), which also holds provincial, national, and international tournaments and rankings.

“You go to the event and based on where you finish and how many people were involved and how many games were played it awards points, those points accumulate and then at the end of the year we have an island championship with the top 16 or top 24 depends on how many people are in the pool.”

$25 is all you need to pay to join the tournament, and it’s limited to 48 people.

Pinball players during a women and non-binary league tournament. (Doug ramsay)

But the MIPL is open to absolutely everyone who wants to join in on the fun and includes a women-only league.

“Most of the tournaments are open and then probably once a month or once every two months, there will be women and non-binary ones that aren’t open to men. Just makes them feel a little bit safer, there’s less testosterone, less competitiveness.”

Ramsay said the simplicity of pinball machines is what he thinks makes it such a universally loved game, which can be played by anybody who is able to push two buttons.

“It’s very much a family game, and since I’m 55 and I play with my 23-year-old daughter most times. We have young families that show up where the parents play with their 10 and 12-year-old children as well. It seems to be a multigenerational family fun thing.”

The MIPL meet a few times a month, either at Black Diamond Antiques or Wiffle Games in Chemainus, where you can pay $15 which allows them to play unlimited games all day long.

More information on the MIPL can be found here, while more on the June 24 tournament can be found here at blackdiamondcollectables.com.

Members of the Mid-Island Pinball League during their 48-player tournament in 2022. (Doug Ramsay)

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNOW