International Jugglers' Association facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
International Jugglers' Association

Abbreviation	IJA
Founded	1947; 78 years ago (1947)
Type	501(c)(3)
Legal status	Nonprofit organization
Purpose	To enhance the art of juggling globally.
Chair	Aslynne Howes
Revenue (2019)	$211,458
Expenses (2019)	$192,731
Volunteers (2019)	75

Owen Morse from The Passing Zone joggling at the 1988 IJA festival. He holds two Guinness World Records!

The International Jugglers' Association, or IJA, is the oldest and largest group for jugglers around the world. It's a nonprofit organization, which means it uses its money to help its cause, not to make a profit. The IJA started in the United States in 1947. Its main goal was to create a friendly place for jugglers to meet regularly. While it mostly focuses on juggling, the IJA also supports other fun circus skills.

What the IJA Does

The International Jugglers' Association runs many cool programs and events for jugglers everywhere. These activities help jugglers learn, compete, and connect with each other.

• International Regional Competitions: These are smaller juggling contests held in different areas.
• The Video Tutorial Contest: Jugglers can create videos to teach others new tricks.
• World Juggling Day: A special day each year when jugglers celebrate their art globally.
• eJuggle: This is the IJA's official online magazine, full of juggling news and articles.
• The Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children (MMCC): A program that helps children in Afghanistan learn circus skills.

Juggling Conventions and Competitions

The International Jugglers' Association hosts the biggest week-long juggling festival in North America. This event is a huge gathering for jugglers! The largest juggling festival in the world is the European Juggling Convention, which started in 1978. Its founders were actually members of the IJA.

Annual Juggling Festival

The IJA's main festival happens in a different city every year. It usually takes place in mid-to-late July and has been held annually since 1948. In the 1990s, there were also extra winter conventions.

At the festival, you can see amazing shows by professional jugglers. There are also workshops where jugglers of all skill levels can teach and learn new tricks. It's a great place to meet other jugglers and improve your skills. The IJA also keeps track of its record-holders and past competitors.

IJA Stage Championships

The IJA Stage Championships are the official world juggling competitions. Jugglers perform on stage to win medals and prize money. These exciting contests are part of the IJA's annual summer festival.

There are three main categories in the IJA Stage Championships:

• Individuals: For single jugglers performing by themselves.
• Teams: For groups of two or more jugglers performing together.
• Juniors: For individual jugglers who are 17 years old or younger.

The very first world juggling championships were held in Los Angeles in 1969.

Year	Individual	Teams	Juniors
1969	George Zsilak	N/A	N/A
1970	Danny Rees	N/A	N/A
1971	Tommy Curtain	N/A	N/A
1972	N/A	N/A	N/A
1973	Jerry Greenberg	N/A	Martin Gray
1974	N/A	N/A	Nate Stein
1975	N/A	N/A	Peter Cuneen
1976	N/A	N/A	Norm Johnson
1977	N/A	N/A	Lenny Mazel
1978	N/A	Fred Garbo, Allan Jacobs	Ben Decker
1979	Edward Jackman Larry Vaksman Peter Davison	The Wimbledon Brothers (Dan Berg, Bruce Pfeffer) J. Held, B. Felker Locomotion Circus (Bounce, Cyrus, Flip)	Lindsey Morris Maria Alcarese Nguyen Phuc
1980	Michael Kass Edward Jackman Larry Vaksman	Magnificent Material Movers ISU Gamma Phi Jugglers (Dan Berg, Pete Schulte, John Burns, Greg Grimstad) Les Foubrac	Kezia Tenenbaum Nick Newlin Jon Leffingwell
1981	Tommy Curtin Edward Jackman Allan Jacobs	Gravity's Last Stand (Carville, Fry, Gagnepain) L.A. Juggling Company (Rosen, Jackman) Up In the Air Juggling Club (Boyer, Friedman)	Anthony Gatto Patrick Dempsey John Webster
1982	Peter Davison Anthony Gatto Michael Marlin	Airjazz (Davison, Held, Tenenbaum) Gravity's Last Stand (Carvill, Jim Gagnepain, Matt Gagnepain) Not Awarded	Andrew Allen John Webster Christa Rypins
1983	Allan Jacobs Edward Jackman Anthony Gatto	Bryan Wendling, Scott Burton Jongleur Jugglers Raspyni Brothers	David Deeble Rick Coleman Patrick Cox
1984	Albert Lucas Mark Nizer Dan Holzman	Raspyni Brothers (Dan Holzman, Barry Friedman) Young Gentlemen Jugglers (John Webster, Robert Stuverud) Circus Shmirkus (Steve Westren, Fred Stinson)	David Lee Dana Tison Robbie Weinstein
1985	Andrew Head Dan Holzman Arsene	Benji Hill, Dana Tison Benji Marantz, Tom Murphy Live Aid	Ken Falk Robbie Weinstein Bogar Zuniga
1986	Anthony Gatto Scott Burton Benji Hill	Jet Set Jugglers (Eastman Webber, Richard Chesbrough Raspyni Brothers (Dan Holzman, Barry Friedman) Jongleur Jugglers (John Creveling, Mike Stillwell, Yvonne Wetherell)	Robbie Weinstein OranCanfield Mark Bakalor
1987	Benji Hill Jeff Mason Dana Tison	Manic Expressions (K.C. Canter, Tommy Gabriel, Mark Lippard) Raspyni Brothers (Barry Friedman, Dan Holzman) Doubble Troubble (Nick, Alex Karvounis)	Curt Bonnem David Cain Mark Faje
1988	Jeff Mason Ryder Schwartz Benji Hill	Raspyni Brothers (Dan Holzman, Barry Friedman) Passing Zone (Owen Morse, Jon Wee) Philippine Pride Jugglers (Emily Cafina, Regina Tayko, Joyce Bonachita, Irlopal Macabinguil	Jason Garfield Matt Linnell Clarke Mcfarlane
1989	Cindy Marvell Larry Vee Michael Menes	The Passing Zone (Owen Morse, Jon Wee) Doubble Troubble (Nick, Alex Kervounis) Clockwork (Jack Kalvan, Rick Rubenstein)	Jonathan Rosenberg Brian Patz Alfonso Guerra
1990	Mark Nizer Carlos Rodriguez Dan Holzman	Darn, Good and Funny (Kevin Holman, Karen Phariss, Paul Phariss) Raspyni Brothers (Dan Holzman, Barry Friedman) Not Awarded	Chuck Gunter Joel Purcell Brian Patz
1991	Not Awarded Andrew Head Jason Garfield, Dana Tison, Tuey Wilson	Not Awarded Doubble Troubble (Nick, Alex Karivounis) Clockwork (Rick Rubenstein, Jack Kalvan)	Pat McGuire Brian Patz Sean Mckinney
1992	Not Awarded Miguel Herrera, Dan Holzman, Dimitri Mourkes France Robert, Larry Vee, Bob Whitcomb	Not Awarded Chuck Gunter, Benji Hill Dew Drop Jugglers (Jason LeMay, Michael Lunzer, Jeff Kasper)	Sean McKinney Ben Tolpin Brian Patz
1993	Fritz Grobe Not Awarded Jill Westover, Eric Wenokor	Not Awarded Benji Hill, Chuck Gunter Not Awarded	Jay Gilligan Corey Hoelcker Jason Kariotis
1994	Tony Duncan Brian Patz Martin Mall	Crash and Burn (David Cain, Jay Gilligan) Darn, Good and Funny (Kevin Holman, Paul Phariss, Cindy Marvell) Clockwork (Jack Kalvan, Rick Rubenstein)	Joey Cousin Artom Khomanko Casey Boehmer
1995	Francoise Rochais Jay Gilligan Jochen Schell	Blink (Jay Gilligan, Fritz Grobe, Morty Hansen) Cousin Brothers (Dan, Joey Cousin) Trio One Over Par (Thomas Hinte, Daniel Megnet, Dirk Meyer)	Vladik Miagkostoupov Casey Boehmer Kevin Bylund
1996	Greg Kennedy Jay Gilligan Brian Patz	Dew Drop Jugglers (Mick Lunzer, Jeff Kasper, Jason LeMay) Tripp and Fall (Dextre Tripp, Reid Belstock) Not Awarded	Casey Boehmer Mike Price Rick Friscia
1997	Vladik Miagkostoupov Brian Patz Matt Henry	Mark, Charlie Peachock Flight Patterns (Todd Blair, Jimmy Robertson) Stoolies (Aaron Schettler, Reid Belstock)	Adam Kariotis Emil Carey Rick Friscia
1998	Jason Garfield Dana Tison Brian Patz	Les Tourisks Raising Cain (Scott, David Cain) Redefining Gravity (Heather Hackett-Brinegar, Darrin Marriott)	Jeff Civillico Luke Jay Mike Roberts
1999	Adam Kariotis Sean McKinney Jay Gilligan	The Mad Five The Fling Kings Marty and Jake	Peter Gerber Emil Carey Christopher Chiappini
2000	Michael Price Jason Garfield Patrick McGuire	Redefining Gravity (Heather Hackett, Darin Marriott) We're Not Clowns (Scott Parker, Kelly Anzalone, Andrew Pratt) Propellorheads (Dan Berman, Peter Frey)	Christopher Chiappini Nate Seefeldt Dorothy Finnigan
2001	Matt Henry Nicolas Souren Jeffery Daymont	The LaSalle Brothers (Jake, Marty LaSalle) Team Rootberry (Jonathan Root, Bill Berry) Raising Cain (David, Scott Cain)	David DiMuzio Nate Seefeldt Josiah Jones
2002	Jason Garfield Pat McGuire Rod Laver	Saccade (Greg Kennedy, Chris Ivey) Team Rootberry (Jonathan Root, Bill Berry) Stoolies (Reid Belstock, Aaron Schettler, Luke Jay)	Ryo Yabe Josiah the Bold (Josiah Jones) Stephen Caruso
2003	Bill Berry Matt Hall Vova Galchenko	Team Rootberry (Jonathan Root, Bill Berry) Olga, Vova Galchenko Jugheads	Jonathan Brady Charles "C.J." Smith Jr. Leo James
2004	Thomas Dietz Ivan Pecel Emile Carey	Olga, Vova Galchenko Stanford Juggling Research Institute (Martin Frost, Rick Rubenstein, Neil Fred Picciotto) The Jugheads	Wes Peden Leo James Edgar Mkrtchyan
2005	Ryo Yabe Mark Kolbusz Cecile Poncet	Jonglissimo (Christoph, Manuel Mitasch) Kikyo Brothers (Atsushi, Takashi Kikyo Entropy (Tony Gonzalez, Will Oltman)	Kazuhiro Shindo Komei Aoki Takashi Kikyo
2006	Artem Khomanko Yuki Kojima Michael Karas	MHD (William Wei-Liang Lin, Ting-Chin Hsu) Swatch Vanillatown	William Wei-Liang Lin Tony Pezzo Billy Watson
2007	Thomas Dietz Wes Peden Vova Galchenko	Jonglissimo (Christoph, Manuel Mitasch) Kikyo Brothers (Atsushi, Takashi Kikyo Genetic Fallout (Scott, Amanda Richter)	Yoshiaki Nagatake Nate Martin Teruki Okamoto
2008	Vova Galchenko Billy Watson Yoshihisa Suehiro	Sharpe Brothers (Jacob, Nate Sharpe) Kikyo Brothers (Atsushi, Takashi Kikyo) Taiwan Physical Education College (Ching-Ta Huang, Huang-Chin Lien	Takashi Kikyo Chu Chuan-Ho Ben Hestness
2009	Doug Sayers Billy Watson Yusaku Mochiduki	The Jugheads (Rory Bade, Stefan Brancel, Sean Carney, Ricky Harr, Ben Hestness Jonny Langholz, Jack Levy, Colin Revere, Amanda Richter, Scott Schultz Joey Spicola, Hanna Stoehr, David Uhr, Silas Wallen-Friedman, Brenden Ying) Smirk (Ried Belstock, Warren Hammond) Poetic Motion Machine (Steven Dimon, Jeremiah Johnston, Jesse Johnston, Eli March	Liu-Wen Yeh David Ferman Jack Levy
2010	Jordan Moir Yu Kondo Ivan Pecel	Dream Team (Doug Sayers, Josh Horton) Poetic Motion Machine (Steven Dimaon, Jeremiah, Jesse Johnston, Eli March) The Five of Clubs (Rory Bade, Sean Carney, Jack Levy, Scott Schultz, Brenden Ying	Noah Malone David Ferman Lauge Benjaminsen
2011	Tony Pezzo Kitamura Shintarou Tomohiro Kobayashi	Showy Motion (Stefan Brancel, Ben Hestness) Smirk (Reid Belstock, Warren Hammond) The Jugheads (Rory Bade, Michael Barreto, Alex Behr, Daniel Burke, Sean Carney, Tom Gaasedelen, Joe Gould, Danny Gratzer, Conor Hussey, Reid Johnson, Griffin Kelley, Jonny Langholz, Jack Levy, Chris Lovdal, Mara Moettus, Chris Olson, Evan Peter, Scott Schultz, Joey Spicola, Brenden Ying)	David Ferman Jack Denger Patrick Fraser
2012	Satoshi Eto Thom Wall David Ferman	Daniel, Dominik Institute of Jugglology (Galen Harp, Ellen Winters) Kikyo Brothers (Atsushi, Takashi Kikyo)	Kellin Quinn Jack Denger Ashley Ellis
2013	Kyle Driggs Wes Peden Kellin Quinn	The Pastels Kikyo Brothers Mountain Motion	Ashley Ellis Yusuke Yokoyama Patrick Fraser
2014	Kota Hayashi Yusaku Mochizuki Thom Wall	Institute of Jugglology (Galen Harp, Ellen Winters) Duck and Cover The Nine Hips	Jack Denger Patrick Fraser Delaney Bayles
2015	Yusaku Mochizuki Yosuke Ubukata Kento Tanioka	Kentokaito The Jugheads The Bling Bros.	Delaney Bayles Max Poff Daniel Van Hoomissen
2016	Hiroki Kamei Jorden Moir Scott Sorensen	Jonglissimo (Daniel Ledel, Dominik Harant, Manuel Mitasch) Totchees (Tetuya Tochikubo, Ayaka Tochikubo) Aki and Takeru	Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse Christopher Haaser Bennett Santora
2017	Hayato Watanabe Shinya Yamane Delaney Bayles	CAPT – New Style Crew (Thean Leong Hng, Pei-Chen Jung, Wei-Hsuan Chang, Meng-Ti Hsieh, Yu-Ping Chiang) CAPT (Yu Cheng Lu, Chin Yao Yang) Duo Octo (Peter Irish, Jordan Moir)	Bennett Santora Christopher Haaser Houston Odum
2018	Masayuki Furuya Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse Makoto Hanada	Cosmic Cousins (Eli March, Nate Hughes) KK Staff (Keiichiro Kato, Takumi Ohkura) The LemonHeads (Isaac Cantor, Joshua Nelson	Sho Kasuya Grant Bishop Christopher Haaser
2019	Zak McAllister Eric Jackson Elia Taylor	Zak and Delaney CBO Juggling Team Jugheads	Christopher Haaser Kyle Albrecht
2022	Ho Lam Pun Kathryn Carr Futa Fujimoto	N/A	Matthew Walmsley LilyRuth Mamary Leona Barocas
2023	Shih Rong Huang Michael Karas Matan Presberg	Manuel Mitasch & Moritz Rosner	N/A
2024	Delaney Bayles Galen Harp Gideon Elson	Daniel & Julius Smile Group Canada	Stefan Hart Chu-Huan Wang Atticus Abraham

IJA Online Juggling Championship

During the time of COVID-19, the IJA started a new online competition. It was similar to the Stage Championships but adapted for people to compete from home. Jugglers submitted videos of their performances. These videos were then judged by all the IJA members who attended the online event.

Performances were judged on five things:

• Juggling Difficulty
• Juggling Creativity
• Juggling Execution (how well they did the tricks)
• Entertainment Value
• Presentation

Year	Individual	Teams	Juniors
2020	Hazel Bock Kohei Itabashi	N/A	David Pavlove Cunsolo Zaila Avant-garde Thomas Whitaker
2021	Adam Dipert Cinthia “La Flaka” Buitrón Keisuke Yamazaki	Raising Cain	Nikolai Marshall Ella Catanzaro Janice Chao

IJA Numbers Championships

The Numbers Championships are all about juggling as many objects as possible. Jugglers try to keep the most balls, clubs, or rings in the air for the highest number of catches. Medals are given for Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

This competition has three categories:

• Individuals
• Duos (two people)
• Trios (three people)

Since the 2006 convention, winners in the "numbers" categories receive a prize. There's an extra prize for anyone who breaks an existing IJA record!

Other fun competitions at the IJA festival include:

• Individual Prop Competitions (for specific juggling props)
• The Extreme Juggling Competitions
• The World Joggling Championships (juggling while jogging or running)
• Many traditional and informal juggling games and events.

Famous Jugglers in the IJA

Many talented jugglers have been part of the International Jugglers' Association. Some of them include:

• Thomas Dietz
• Vova Galchenko
• Marcus Monroe
• Christoph Mitasch
• Manuel Mitasch
• The Passing Zone
• Thom Wall
• Sergeij Ignatov
• Anthony Gatto
• Erin Stephens

Some past presidents of the IJA include Ronald Graham, who helped create a famous juggling pattern called Mills Mess.

More Juggling Organizations

• European Juggling Association: This group was inspired by the International Jugglers' Association.
• World Juggling Federation: This organization was started by an IJA member, Jason Garfield.
• International Sport Juggling Federation: Founded by Albert Lucas, this group promotes joggling and sport juggling.