New Rules Accreditation Requirements for 2014 WFDF-Sanctioned Ultimate Events Announced

In Official Communication, Press Release * Official Communication by WFDF

The WFDF Ultimate Committee and WFDF Ultimate Rules Sub-Committee are pleased to announce the new WFDF Rules Accreditation Requirements for WFDF-sanctioned Ultimate events in 2014, including both the World Juniors Ultimate Championships and the World Ultimate Club Championships. As a self-officiated sport, the objective of this accreditation is to ensure that all players are fully versed in the rules to ensure that there is no confusion on playing within the “spirit of the game.”

The Rules Accreditation process was introduced at the start of 2013 and is designed to allow players to demonstrate that they have read and understood the Rules of Ultimate. There are two types of Accreditation: (1) WFDF Accreditation – Standard: for all types of players (including those who have not played a game); and (2) WFDF Accreditation – Advanced: for experienced players only.

Players who successfully complete the quiz are issued a certificate. A register of people who are Rules Accredited is updated each month and is available on the Rules Website. Full details regarding the Rules Accreditation Process are available from each specific event website and from the Accreditation section of the official Rules of Ultimate website.

For 2014, the WFDF Ultimate Committee has established the following Rules Accreditation Requirements that must be met at WFDF-sanctioned Ultimate events.

•    Standard Accreditation: All team members on the roster must have at least a Standard Accreditation.
•    Advanced Accreditation: At least half of the players on the roster must have the Advanced Accreditation, one of whom must be the team captain.

The WFDF Ultimate Rules Sub-Committee is working on developing translated versions of the Accreditation questions, and new translations are updated on http://rules.wfdf.org/accreditation/translations .  Translated versions are currently available in German, Japanese and Spanish (standard only).  As of now, if a local language version is not available, players are expected to complete the Accreditation process in English.

WFDF Ultimate Committee Chair Brian Gisel commented “We believe that this is an important next step to ensure that players have the tools they need to learn and apply the rules and play with good Spirit.  This enhanced requirement for 2014 puts in place the next step of the program outlined a year ago and we expect that players will find it useful.”

There is an important note regarding Rules Accredited players:

•    They have the same responsibilities on the field as every other player
•    They do not release a Captain from their responsibility to ensure their team upholds the Spirit of the Game
•    They do not replace the requirement for each player to learn and apply the rules and play with good Spirit

If there are any questions about this process, or any other rules issues, please do not hesitate to contact the Chair of the WFDF Ultimate Rules Sub-Committee, Florian Pfender, at florian.pfender (at) wfdf.org .