Developing: What’s Going on With the IFPA and the OBX Fall Flippers Event?
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Note: an update has been shared on Saturday, November 15th with new information and a statement from the IFPA.
Note: an update has been shared on Thursday, November 20th, following the resignation of the IFPA Women's Advisory Board and their statement.
A sanctioned IFPA event became the center of a major controversy last weekend after a venue manager forcibly removed a trans woman from the women’s restroom and the tournament director allowed the event to proceed without interruption. The IFPA’s response has now created a second controversy.
Since this story came to my attention, I’ve spoken with several people involved and reviewed materials, including this public blog post that provides a detailed description of the event.
As of publication, I have not yet spoken directly with Tournament Director Kevin Stone or members of the IFPA Board.
Between November 7-9, 2025, Flippers Arcade in Grandy, North Carolina, held the latest edition of their annual IFPA-sanctioned OBX Fall Pinball tournament series. The series took place over three days, playing host to an open field Main tournament, a Classics tournament, and a Women's tournament. The tournament was operated primarily by longtime Tournament Director (TD) Kevin Stone, alongside several volunteers and venue employees.
On the morning of November 7th, players started arriving at the venue for the qualification period of the event, which was scheduled to run from 12 pm to 9 pm. The registration desk was staffed by a Flippers Arcade employee named Becky Connell.
At 11:40 am, an anonymous transgender woman registered for the event and interacted with Becky. Sometime between 11:40 am and 11:48 am, the anonymous player attempted to use the women's restroom at the venue, where, according to multiple accounts, she was openly confronted and forcibly removed from the restroom by Becky.
According to one direct account I have reviewed, when confronted by a player at the event, "The manager [Becky] showed [me] a tablet displaying an unfiled North Carolina state bill, falsely claiming it gave her authority to take such action. She further stated she would call the police on any transgender women using the women's restroom and have them trespassed from the venue."
The player immediately left the venue, and the Tournament Director was also notified of the incident.
Becky remained at the registration desk, where, according to players I spoke with, she continued verbally harassing trans and queer-presenting players as they arrived to register for the tournament.
At 12 pm, the tournament began on schedule.
At 12:29 pm, a player notified the venue owner, David Shields, to report the incident.
At some point around this time, the IFPA Board was also notified of the incident.
At 1 pm, the venue owner stated that no player would be trespassed or have the police called on them. Around 10 minutes later, the venue owner attempted to remove Becky from the premises, but Becky refuses and threatens to quit.
Becky is allowed to finish her shift and remains at the registration desk until 3 pm.
Despite the venue manager continuing to staff the registration desk and multiple players leaving or refusing to enter the venue due to safety concerns, the tournament proceeded as scheduled.
Later, as a make-good, players were offered a few additional hours of qualifying time to make up for the hostile environment that was created by Becky's actions. Some were also provided with refunds on their tournament fees.
Otherwise, the incident was not addressed publicly by event staff, the Tournament Director, or other IFPA representatives.
Here, it's important to note the IFPA's official positions on Gender Inclusion and WPPR points (World Pinball Player Ranking Points) eligibility.
"The IFPA only recognizes open divisions of play to be included in the World Pinball Player Rankings. If certain players are prohibited from playing based on age, gender, skill or personal reasons, those results will not be counted. This includes B-divisions, Novice divisions, Women’s divisions, etc. Team events are also ineligble. The IFPA also requires that any endorsed tournament be listed on the IFPA Calendar a minimum of 30 days prior to the event being held. A website with full details about the event is also required. Any event where pre-registration is required must be submitted into to the IFPA Calendar a minimum of 30 days prior to the pre-registration date." - IFPA Website
"The IFPA recognizes that there are many genders and that gender identity is a complex spectrum that goes beyond our current binary system of categorizing tournaments and leagues as “open events” and “women’s events.” Within the current framework, we support an inclusive definition of women and expect tournament and league directors for women’s events to include cis, trans, and nonbinary players for whom womanhood is a part of their gender identity or experience. We expect organizers not to require proof of any identity and to respect all rights of all participants. The intention is to include those who have good-faith reasons to want to be included, and for organizers to treat information about gender identity of players as sensitive and private. The IFPA Women’s Board will continue to further our understanding of trans and GNC issues and to prioritize player safety by taking into account the changing political landscape surrounding queer identities when planning events." - IFPA Website
Taken together, these policies raise a question: if trans players were effectively driven out of the event by harassment and threats, did the OBX tournament still meet the IFPA’s own standards for an open event eligible for WPPR points?
This afternoon, six days after they were made aware of the incident, the IFPA, along with Tournament Director Kevin Stone, issued an official statement, along with immediate disciplinary actions and changes to mitigate issues in the future.
Notably, Flippers Arcade is now prohibited from hosting IFPA-sanctioned tournaments for at least the next year, and the IFPA has set up a new email address to be used as a reporting mechanism for faster response times in the future.
The official statement was shared first in the IFPA's Discord channel, then on their website.
IFPA Statement Regarding the OBX Flippers Arcade Fall Pinball Bash
On Friday, November 7th, transgender members of our pinball community were subjected to an act of discrimination while attempting to participate in the OBX Flippers Arcade Fall Pinball Bash.
This incident was brought to the attention of the IFPA within an hour of its occurrence. Tournament Directors (TDs) at the event reached out for guidance; however, due to a failure by IFPA leadership to fully recognize the seriousness and ongoing nature of what had occurred, we did not provide the immediate and decisive support that was necessary to protect the affected players and uphold our values of inclusion and safety.
As a result of this act of discrimination, members of the impacted community, rightfully prioritizing their own safety and well-being, did not participate in the event.
To the transgender players who were harmed and felt unsafe, and to everyone in our community who expected better from us, you deserve better. We will do the work necessary to ensure this never happens again.
We have thoroughly reviewed the events at OBX, and considered various options. The IFPA takes full responsibility for our failure to create the conditions in which every player, and especially our transgender community members, can feel safe, respected, and supported. We deeply regret that our actions did not meet that standard, and we are truly sorry.
Effective immediately, the IFPA is implementing new measures to ensure we can respond rapidly and appropriately to situations that threaten player safety.
We have created a dedicated contact: ifpareport@gmail.com.
Messages sent to this address will immediately alert the entire IFPA staff, ensuring that urgent safety concerns receive prompt attention. We encourage players and TDs to use this address whenever an incident involving player safety is actively unfolding. Establishing a dedicated contact is the first step in a larger effort, which will include a dedicated reporting system on our website to make it easier for community members to reach us when it matters most.
Additionally, Flippers Convenience & Arcade is prohibited from hosting IFPA-sanctioned events for a minimum of one year. After that period, we will reassess, on an annual basis, whether meaningful and verifiable steps have been taken to ensure the venue provides a safe, inclusive environment for all players, including compliance with the IFPA Gender Inclusion Policy. If those standards are not met, the prohibition will remain in place.
We are also including a public statement from the TD of the OBX Fall Classic below:
To the pinball community,
The events that took place at the OBX Flippers tournament this past weekend were unacceptable and disheartening. As tournament director, it is expected that I will provide a safe environment for all players, and this weekend, the venue owner and I failed to do so. In years past, the annual event at Flippers has been heavily attended and enjoyed by the entire pinball community, including the transgender community, and I always felt it was a safe place for everyone. The events that took place were horrific and completely blindsided me.
At the end of the day, we didn’t do enough to remove the offender from the pinball area and facility fast enough. Under the stress, I simply had no idea what to do other than keep the tournament going. In hindsight, I think I should have simply delayed the tournament until the offender left the property. I wish I could go back in time and make that happen. I truly regret the decisions that were made and not made to handle the situation in the best interests of the affected players, versus my hyper focused attention on keeping the tournament moving forward. My priorities were backwards, and I apologize to the affected players and community that I didn’t do better.
Sincerely,
Kevin Stone
The IFPA’s mission is to foster a pinball community where EVERYONE, regardless of gender identity, expression, or background, feels welcome, safe, and valued. This past weekend, we fell short of that mission. We are reflecting on our contribution to this harm, and we are committed to rebuilding trust through transparency, accountability, and continued partnership with the communities we failed to protect.
We stand in solidarity with our transgender community members and all players who have ever felt unsafe or unwelcome. The IFPA will continue working to ensure that pinball is a space where everyone belongs.
– The IFPA Team
Shortly after the statement was shared on the IFPA's Discord channel, community members started weighing in, including this statement from the IFPA Women's Advisory Board:
"The IFPA Women's Advisory Board unanimously recommended that the IFPA revoke sanctioning for the OBX events, and we vehemently disagree with IFPA Leadership's decision not to do so. We did not contribute to the announced statement or the new process for incident reporting, and we oppose the decision-making process used by IFPA Leadership."
At 1:59 pm, 39 minutes after the original statement was first shared, a second IFPA Women's Advisory Board member commented, saying that the entire Women's Advisory Board recommended a completely different response (de-sanctioning the tournament and thus nullifying any earned WPPR points) and were not involved in the final decision-making process in any meaningful way.
Instead, based on public comments from members of the Women’s Advisory Board, it appears that one member of the IFPA leadership team, Director Adam Becker, made an overruling executive decision and ignored the Board’s recommendations.
It should be noted here that the official president of the IFPA is Josh Sharpe, who so far has not made any public comment on the situation.
Right now, it’s unclear. I started today expecting to schedule more one-on-one interviews with people involved so that I could get a more well-rounded understanding of the issue and frame it within the context of whatever action the IFPA decided to take.
The combination of the statement, community reaction to said statement, and additional public comments by members of the Women's Advisory Board, such as the one shared below by a different member, raises a lot more questions than they answer.
"This is not the first time any man on the IFPA had an opinion that mattered more than the entire unanimous women's board. Just gonna confirm that for y'all."
Frankly, it's all a bit bewildering at this stage. Instead of a story of a single failure and an opportunity to learn some lessons for the future, it’s now a story of two failures–one at the event level and one at the organizational level. Until the IFPA explains who made this final call, why the Women’s Board was sidelined, and whether their chosen response meets their own policy standards, this controversy isn’t going anywhere.
Colin is the chief pixel pusher at Kineticist. He's a lifetime gamer who became enamored with pinball after taking in a family copy of the 1979 classic Joker Poker (the EM version). Since then he's bought, sold and repaired many machines, competed in all kinds of tournaments, and contributes to This Week in Pinball, the New England Pinball League, and Pin-Masters of New England. Previously, Colin spent over a decade working in marketing for agencies and tech startups. He also started and ran a music blog, happy hour website, and wrote a regular craft beer review column for Central Track in Dallas. Once aspired to be an artsy film director.
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