| World Juggling Federation | |
| Abbreviation: | WJF |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| Purpose: | Promote sport juggling |
| Leader Title: | Founder and President |
| Leader Name: | Jason Garfield |
| Website: | www.thewjf.com |
The World Juggling Federation (WJF) is the world's only organization devoted to the promotion and advancement of juggling as a sport (competitive juggling).[1]
In 2000, long-time IJA member Jason Garfield founded the WJF.[2] Garfield attracted interest and membership by framing the skills of juggling as a sport.[3] The WJF broadcast its first juggling convention on ESPN2 in January 2005[4] and its second convention on ESPN later the same year.[5] In 2021, the WJF was reestablished as a 501(c)(3) organization[6] [7] and announced its goal to create a juggling event at the Olympics.[8] [9]
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):
There are "junior"-, "beginner"-, "intermediate"- and "advanced"-level competitors in each of the three main WJF disciplines.
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.
| Year | Event | Location | Competition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | WJF Convention | Las Vegas, Nevada | ||
| 2005 | WJF2 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Thomas Dietz, Overall champion[10] | |
| 2006 | WJF3 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Thomas Dietz, Overall champion[11] | |
| 2007 | WJF4 | Hartford, Connecticut | Thomas Dietz, Overall champion[12] | |
| 2008 | WJF5 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Thomas Dietz, Overall champion.[13] | |
| 2010 | WJF6 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Doug Sayers, Overall champion.[14] | |
| 2011 | WJF7 | Springfield, Illinois | Vova Galchenko, Overall champion[15] | |
| 2012 | WJF8 | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | Doug Sayers, Overall champion | |
| 2013 | WJF9 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse, Overall champion | |
| 2014 | WJF10 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Doug Sayers, Overall champion | |
| 2015 | WJF11 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse, Overall champion | |
| 2016 | WJF12 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Delaney Bayles, Overall champion | |
| 2017 | WJF13 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Spencer Androli, Overall champion | |
| 2018 | WJF14 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Christian Hauschild, Overall champion | |
| 2019 | WJF15 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Eivind Dragsjø, Overall champion | |
| 2021 | WJF16 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Spencer Androli, Overall champion | |
| 2022 | WJF17 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Spencer Androli, Overall champion |