Brad Chamberlain is an information technology teacher by day and a competitive foosball player by night.  

After a long week teaching Maricopa High School students about computer bits, networking and servers, the Maricopa Meadows resident takes a trip to Tempe to host table soccer tournaments upstairs at the SaltFire Brewery Co. Taphouse. 

The scent of beer mixes with the competitors’ grunts and groans as foosmen — yes, those little rod-affixed quazi-athletes have a name — pitter and patter, tapping the ball across the floor of a wooden box. Suddenly comes the hard, unmissable thunk of the ball hitting the back of the goal. 

The four foosball tables upstairs, owned by Chamberlain and another man, are occupied by challengers of different skill levels.  

Regular bargoers pay to use the tables on any other night. But on Fridays, Chamberlain uses the tables himself to host tournaments. He and other competitors take the game more seriously than the normie barflies. 

“I want to keep them from possessing the ball, I want to defend my goal, I want to execute my passes, I got to read the defense,” he said. “There’s a lot that goes on when you’re playing foosball, but the biggest thing is you got to be intense.” 

Chamberlain, despite being the only Maricopan who regularly attends such tournaments, is known by name to all. Players flock from all over the Valley to challenge him on one of his own tables. 

San Tan Valley resident Jason Thibodeaux, 39, moved to the Valley in 2023 from Louisiana and attends the Friday night tournaments twice a month. He said he spends $90 just to get an Uber ride to the competition.  

“Everybody plays pool. It’s hard to find people that play foosball,” Thibodeaux said. “So, when you find them, it’s more of an acceptance; it’s more of a community.” 

Ahwatukee resident Townsend Saunders, 57, is an Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling and an avid foosballer. He said he often finds himself at the tournaments for the rush of the competition.  

“I’ve competed at high levels in other sports,” Saunders said. “I just think about trying to do the best that I possibly can controlling what I can control, knowing that my opponent on the other side is also trying to win. 

“It’s a lot like a poker game or a chess match. It’s my form of golf, and it’s a lot cheaper,” Saunders said with a chuckle, adding that he is addicted to the clink of hitting the ball in its “sweet spot.” 

A long-time love 

Table soccer has been a part of Chamberlain’s life since he was a child. He recalled first playing the tabletop sport at the taverns his family owned in Wisconsin.  

“I’ve been playing one way or another for a long time, got a little serious after college, and obviously moved away and did not play for a number of years,” he said. “Then, when I moved to Yuma, I really started to miss the game again.” 

“I lost my money every year,” Chamberlain said. “It was all Hispanic kids, they were all soccer players, so they loved foosball and I actually started teaching them the game and they made me work.” 

Not only were the kids learning to play from him, but Chamberlain was also improving his skills by teaching them. His love for foosball grew so strong Yuma no longer could support it, he said. 

The Phoenix and Tucson metros have the two largest foosball scenes in the state. 

“One of the reasons I moved here was for foosball; I wanted to be closer to it.” Chamberlain said. “It’s just so much fun. It’s a very addictive game.” 

Foosball can bring competitors all across the country, he added. 

“I can go back home to Wisconsin, I can go to Florida, I go to Colorado, there will be like-minded foosball people there who do the same thing and we’ll hit off instantly.” 

A foosball scene of our own? 

Young athletes travel from as far as Mexico and Canada to play regular soccer tournaments at Copper Sky Regional Park, so what’s stopping a table soccer scene from coming to town? 

Maricopa isn’t large enough to support the niche yet, according to Phoenix foosballers. But Chamberlain believes the city is hurting without it. 

“They’re missing the camaraderie, they’re missing making friends, they’re missing the competitive nature of this thing,” he said of Maricopans. 

The fact Maricopa doesn’t have a foosball scene is a thought that ricochets around in Chamberlain’s head like a foosball trying to find its way into the goal. He wants to eventually bring his crowd down to his neighborhood. 

“I’d have to develop it if I was going to do it out there,” he said. “I’d have to invest in some more tables and probably get them in local establishments.” 

Chamberlain and his foosball friend Jesse Rhoade directed the 2025 Arizona State Foosball Championship at the Spokes on Southern in Tempe Jan. 24-26. About 100 people participated. 

They are considering hosting the 2026 Arizona State Foosball Championship in Maricopa. 

Chamberlain said he is also advocating for tables in youth centers and schools. 

“I’ve done the school thing before, but we really need to get all the schools competing against each other,” Chamberlain said. “I’d love to see that because if we get these kids when they are little, those are the kids that grow up and become masters later on.” 

For that community, foosball is the rod that keeps them, like little foosmen, bound together in this table soccer game of life.