The World Juggling Federation (WJF) is the world's only organization devoted to the promotion and advancement of juggling as a sport (competitive juggling).Christel, Matthias. (2009).
History In 2000, long-time IJA member Jason Garfield founded the WJF. Garfield attracted interest and membership by framing the skills of juggling as a sport. The WJF broadcast its first juggling convention on ESPN2 in January 2005 and its second convention on ESPN later the same year. In 2021, the WJF was reestablished as a 501(c)(3) organizationMartin, Stephen A. Determination Letter of Tax Exempt Status, May 27, 2021. irs.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2023. and announced its goal to create a juggling event at the Olympics.
Competition The WJF's most well-known event is the WJF convention, which has been broadcast on ESPN2. The organization encourages jugglers to compete against each other in order to get better. In WJF-sponsored events, the participants use juggling props, which include: Balls, Rings, Clubs, Cigar boxes, Diabolos, and Devil Sticks.
WJF competition events sometimes include (pending enough competitors attending): Club passing 360s (and similar) Endurance Isolated Endurance Freestyle Extreme Competitions There are "junior"-, "beginner"-, "intermediate"- and "advanced"-level competitors in each of the three main WJF disciplines.
Conventions and championships Annual WJF conventions are held; and juggling competitions produce annual winners who are named "overall champions". At WJF 5, the top competition event ran alongside the Battle for the WJF Presidency, with Thomas Dietz as the inaugural winner, beating Jason Garfield. However, Dietz resigned from presidency soon after, saying he didn't have time to fulfill his duties as president. At WJF 7 in 2011, Doug Sayers was initially named overall champion, but due to a miscount of the scores this was proved not to be the case, as Vova had scored more points overall.
+WJF CompetitionsYearEventLocationCompetition 2004 WJF Convention Las Vegas, Nevada 2005 WJF2 Las Vegas, NevadaThomas Dietz, Overall champion 2006 WJF3 Las Vegas, NevadaThomas Dietz, Overall championWJF3, Dietz, Overall champion 2007 WJF4 Hartford, ConnecticutThomas Dietz, Overall championWJF4, Dietz, Overall champion 2008 WJF5 Las Vegas, NevadaThomas Dietz, Overall champion.WJF5, Dietz, Overall champion 2010 WJF6 Las Vegas, NevadaDoug Sayers, Overall champion.WJF6, Sayers, Overall champion 2011 WJF7 Springfield, IllinoisVova Galchenko, Overall championWJF7, Galchenko, Overall champion (Doug Sayers had originally been announced the winner due to a math error, but Vova Galchenko ended up winning.) 2012 WJF8Sioux Falls, South DakotaDoug Sayers, Overall champion 2013 WJF9Las Vegas, NevadaJonah Botvinick-Greenhouse, Overall champion 2014 WJF10Las Vegas, NevadaDoug Sayers, Overall champion 2015 WJF11Las Vegas, NevadaJonah Botvinick-Greenhouse, Overall champion 2016 WJF12Las Vegas, NevadaDelaney Bayles, Overall champion 2017 WJF13Las Vegas, NevadaSpencer Androli, Overall champion 2018 WJF14Las Vegas, NevadaChristian Hauschild, Overall champion 2019 WJF15Las Vegas, NevadaEivind Dragsjø, Overall champion2021WJF16Las Vegas, NevadaSpencer Androli, Overall champion2022WJF17Las Vegas, NevadaSpencer Androli, Overall champion
References
External links World Juggling Federation official website Competition results WJF on YouTube