The International Jugglers' Association or IJA is the world's oldest and largest nonprofit circus organization, and is open to members worldwide. It was founded in the United States in 1947, with the goal of providing, "an organization for jugglers that would provide meetings at regular intervals in an atmosphere of mutual friendship." Although its focus lies on juggling, its programs also support other circus disciplines.

Programs and events

The International Jugglers' Association runs the following programs and events: * International Regional Competitions * The Video Tutorial Contest * World Juggling Day * eJuggle - the IJA's official publication * The Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children (MMCC)

Conventions and competitions

The International Jugglers' Association holds the largest week-long

juggling festival Many countries, cities or juggling clubs hold their own annual juggling convention or juggling festivals. These are the backbone of the juggling scene, the events that regularly bring jugglers from a wide area together to socialize. The attendanc ...

in North America. (The largest juggling festival in the world is the European Juggling Convention, started in 1978 and whose founders were members of the International Jugglers' Association). The convention is held in a different city each year during mid-to-late July since 1948. There were also additional winter conventions in the 90s. Aside from the competitions, at the convention there are shows open to the public in which professional jugglers perform, and workshops are taught by jugglers of all skill levels. The organization maintains lists of IJA record-holders, and IJA competitors.

IJA Stage Championship

The IJA's Stage Championships are the formal world juggling

championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

that offers medals and prize money for juggling performances. These competitions are held during the week at the IJA's annual festival, held in the summer. There are three categories of IJA Stage Championships: Individuals (individual competitors), Teams (two or more people per team) and Juniors (individuals 17 years old or younger). The first annual world juggling championships were held at the Sheraton West Hotel in Los Angeles in 1969.

IJA Online Juggling Championship

In response to COVID-19, IJA created an annual event based on IJA Stage Championships normally held at the annual IJA Festival, but with some modifications to accommodate the circumstances. Instead of a live event, videos submissions judged by the entire attending IJA membership in five categories of Juggling Difficulty, Juggling Creativity, Juggling Execution, Entertainment Value, and Presentation.

IJA Numbers Championships

The Numbers Championships awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals to those who demonstrate that they can juggle the most balls, clubs or rings for the highest number of catches. Competition occurs in three categories: Individuals, Duos and Trios. See the current IJA records. Starting at the 2006 convention, prize is given to each "numbers" winner, with an extra prize for anyone who breaks an existing International Jugglers' Association record. Other competitions held at the IJA's annual festival include the Individual Prop Competitions, th
Extreme Juggling Competitions
the World Joggling Championships, as well as traditional (and more informal) juggling games and events.

Publications

The IJA has published ''Jugglers' World'' and ''JUGGLE'' magazine. In 2012, the IJA transitioned to an all-digital form of communications, halting publication of JUGGLE magazine. Today, members read juggling news throug
eJuggle
hosted on the IJA's website. In addition to the online magazine, the IJA also produces a monthl
eNewsletter
with IJA news, articles of interest, and news from the global juggling community.

Notable members

* Thomas Dietz * Vova Galchenko * Marcus Monroe *

Christoph Mitasch Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German language, German variant of Christopher (given name), Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (musician), Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * ...

Manuel Mitasch Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

The Passing Zone The Passing Zone is an American comedy- juggling duo comprising Jon Wee and Owen Morse. Wee, originally from Minnesota, and Morse, a California native, met at a juggling convention in northern California in 1986 and decided two years later to ...

* Thom Wall * Sergeij Ignatov * Anthony Gatto Presidents have included Ronald Graham, co-inventor of Mills Mess.

References

External links

* * {{Juggling Juggling Organizations established in 1947