WFDF 2019 World Overall Championships (WOC) to be held in Richmond, Virginia USA
26 October 2018
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is pleased to announce that the WFDF 2019 World Overall Flying Disc Championships (WOC 2019) will be held from Monday 8th – Saturday 13th July 2019 in the city of Richmond, Virginia USA. It will be staged at various venues including the Bryan Park Disc Golf Course, Richmond Strikers West Creek Complex, Forest Hill Park, Henrico County’s Dorey Park and Gamble’s Hill Park.
Overall events require athletes to demonstrate a variety of individual skills in a field events format, not dissimilar to concept of the decathlon. This will be the 14th edition of the World Overall Championships. This biannual event is planned for approximately 100 athletes in seven flying disc feature competitions. Accuracy, Freestyle, Disc Golf, Discathon, Distance, Double Disc Court (DDC), and Self-Caught Flight (SCF) champions will be crowned for each individual discipline. The World Overall champions will be awarded based on a tally of points on three or more disciplines contested by an athlete, and Champions will be crowned by age and gender.
“The Overall Championship is the ultimate test of core flying disc skills. It will be exciting to be back in the USA next year since the last three events were held in Europe,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “We have a very experienced organizing team and perfect venues, so we look forward to a great event.” The WOC was last hosted in the USA in 2011 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The successful bid came from Jack Cooksey, Event Director and head of the Tournament Organizing Committee (TOC), with assistance from Sam Kaye and Jason Koonts. Cooksey commented "We are absolutely thrilled to bring this event back to the United States in 2019, and to host Overall Flying Disc competitors in Richmond, Virginia. It's an honor to be chosen to carry the World Flying Disc Federation banner in our city. Our hope, as the tournament organizers, is to spread the visibility and participation in disc sports. Richmond is a Mid-Atlantic, East Coast city bustling with activity and energy, so we think this will be a great fit for spectators and those who are curious to pick up a disc and to start playing.
“We’re excited to welcome the World Overall Flying Disc Championships to the USA and are honored that WFDF selected Richmond, Virginia, to host all WOC athletes and spectators.” said Jack Berry, Richmond Region Tourism President & CEO. “Richmond Region Tourism enjoyed working with the local team of flying disc enthusiasts in preparing the bid and to help bring the competition to the area. The event will take place at parks across the region and will be a great opportunity for spectators to explore the area. We can’t wait to see some of the world’s best flying disc athletes show off their Overall skills in Richmond next year.”
Latest WFDF Communiques
24 March 2020 - Official Communication 
Health and safety concerns due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outweigh all other factors
After consultation with medical experts and the various Tournament Organizing Committees (TOCs), the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) today announced that it is cancelling or postponing all scheduled world championship events for at least the next six months of 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic. This decision takes into consideration first and foremost the safety and health of WFDF athletes, in addition to the uncertainties around the spread of this disease, and resulted after extensive deliberations this last weekend among the Executive Committee of WFDF’s board, staff, and WFDF Medical Officer, Dr. Jamie Nuwer. This decision will affect the following events, at minimum: the WFDF 2020 World Ultimate & Guts Championships (11-18 July in the Netherlands), the WFDF 2020 World Junior Ultimate Championships (18-25 July in Sweden), and the WFDF 2020 World Masters Ultimate Championships (5-12 September in Australia).
“We regret having to take this extraordinary decision, but the health and safety of our athletes, team support, volunteers, staff, and spectators is our paramount concern,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “We know that this decision will disappoint many athletes who have been extensively training for these competitions, but it is difficult to imagine moving forward given the current environment of border shutdowns, individual lockdowns, and other exceptional governmental actions. We appreciate the understanding of our incredible TOCs who have been working on these events for the last three years. Further, WFDF appreciates all of the medical personnel around the world, working tirelessly at reducing and eradicating this unprecedented threat, and we are in solidarity with the whole of society to contain the virus.”
WFDF is currently in consultation with the TOCs to discuss alternatives. WFDF Vice President and Chair of the Ultimate Committee, Brian Gisel, stated “We are looking at the possibility of postponing the World Masters Ultimate Championships to September 2021. It may be far more difficult to postpone to next year either the World Junior Ultimate Championships or the World Ultimate & Guts Championships, given the already crowded summer schedule featuring The World Games, World Under-24 Ultimate Championships, and the World Championships of Beach Ultimate. We are considering the possibility of a smaller event toward year-end that could serve as a qualifying event for The World Games, which are being held 15-25 July 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. We will continue to evaluate the rearrangement of the WFDF schedule, and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.”
With regard to team fees and player fees that have already been paid, WFDF is instructing the TOCs to use all unspent funds or prepaid amounts that can be reclaimed from the vendors and suppliers of the events in order to reimburse teams and players, to the extent possible. WFDF appreciates the patience of the teams and athletes as the TOCs work through this complex process over the coming month. We ask the teams to follow instructions supplied via email on the appropriate channels to ask questions and seek information, instead of emailing the TOCs or WFDF directly.
Nothing is more important to WFDF than the health and safety of its athletes, staff, and spectators. WFDF continues to observe the precautions and practices recommended by public health experts. We encourage the entire Flying Disc community to follow the advice of your local authorities as to best practices in this difficult situation, and refer you to the World Health Organization for definitive guidance: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public WFDF sends its best wishes to all individuals and communities that are affected by Covid-19.
WFDF will provide additional updates as new information develops. 20 March 2020 - Official Communication
Consideration of the impact from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) and its rapid spread around the world, WFDF released an official statement on 4 March regarding the impact of the pandemic on its world championship events scheduled for the coming months. As of 19 March 2020, WFDF remains fully committed to holding the 2020 events – WUGC, WJUC and WMUC – as scheduled.
There are two major events scheduled to take place in Europe in July: the WFDF 2020 World Ultimate & Guts Championships (11-18 July in Netherlands) and the WFDF 2020 World Junior Ultimate Championships (18-25 July in Sweden). The WFDF 2020 World Masters Ultimate Championships is to be held in September in Australia.
05 March 2020 - Official Communication
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) in China and the high number of cases across Asia and its spreading to other parts of the world, the Executive Committee of the WFDF Board of Directors and WFDF staff members held a meeting this last weekend with WFDF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jamie M. Nuwer to evaluate the impact of this situation on the upcoming WFDF World Ultimate 2020 events (WUGC, WJUC and WMUC).
There are two major events scheduled to take place in Europe in July: the WFDF 2020 World Ultimate & Guts Championships (11-18 July in Netherlands) and the WFDF 2020 World Junior Ultimate Championships (18-25 July in Sweden). The WFDF 2020 World Masters Ultimate Championships is to be hosted in September in Australia.
22 February 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is pleased to announce that WFDF and BULA have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding for the two-year period 2020-2021. Both WFDF and BULA wish to continue a working arrangement to their mutual benefit and for the benefit of the Beach Ultimate Community. The MoU outlines the ways that WFDF and BULA will continue to support the growth and development of the sport and cooperate with each other in these efforts while WFDF will be fully assuming the organization of World and Continental National Team Championships in order to standardize event organization.
“WFDF and BULA have been formally working together since 2011 to promote the growth and development of the discipline of Beach Ultimate,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “Beach Ultimate has experienced tremendous growth and we are both committed to work to see that continue.”
21 February 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has approved Universe Point as the WFDF Official Footwear Supplier and Partner for 2020-2023, after a competitive bidding process that was held in late 2019. This exclusive agreement will run for four years beginning in January 2020 and Universe Point will be granted exclusive sales rights at WFDF sanctioned events.
“We are delighted to award Universe Point the official footwear supplier contract again after a successful relationship over the last couple years,” said WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “They identified the marketplace need for Ultimate cleats designed specifically for Ultimate athletes. Their footwear is winning acclaim at every level of our sport and their partnership support will assist us as we continue to grow Ultimate and all Flying Disc sports.”
21 January 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has released a new version of the Appendix to the Rules of Ultimate 2017. The new version came into effect as of 1 January 2020.
These rules will be used for all WFDF Ultimate Events in 2020, including the upcoming World Ultimate and Guts Championships, World Junior Ultimate Championships, and World Masters Ultimate Championships. Non-WFDF event organizers may also choose to use these rules for their events.
These are the main changes for version 4.0:
● Change the name of the "Men's" Division to the "Open" Division
● Adjustments to the seeding and bids process
● Changes to offside penalties
● New hand signals for "4 Men" and "4 Women" (Updated hand signals will be released later in 2020)
● Direction on how photographic or video footage should be used
● Guidance on how to deal with dangerous plays
● Changes to receiving fouls for contact that occurs after a block
The new appendix can be found here.
08 January 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has nominated Finland’s Disc Golf team in the annual World Games Athlete of the Year competition. The award honors an athlete or a team for their outstanding performance in 2019 or for their social commitment or particularly fair behavior. We direct everyone to the following site and voting for “Flying Disc – Team Finland” at https://www.theworldgames.org/awards/Athlete-of-the-Year-2019-70.
Team Finland, one of 25 candidates for the award this year, defeated Germany to win the WFDF World Team Disc Golf Championships in Alutaguse, Estoniain August 2019. The eight-person mixed squad did not lose a match at the championships and this victory catapulted Finland to the top of WFDF’s world Disc Golf country rankings at year end 2019.
07 January 2020 - Official Communication
WFDF announced today the results of its 2019 elections, with the WFDF member associations voting on several open positions on the Board of Directors.
Kate Bergeron (USA) was re-elected as Treasurer, Brian Gisel (CAN) re-elected as Ultimate Committee Chair, Lori Daniels (USA) elected as Freestyle Committee Chair, and Wolfgang Maehr (SGP) elected as SOTG Committee Chair.
For the continental associations, Nicole Bulos (DOM) was elected President for Pan America and Fumio “Moro” Morooka (JPN) re-elected to represent Asia-Oceania.
Shiellah Quintos was elected as chair of the Events Subcommittee of the Ultimate Committee. All of the above will serve a two year term from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021.
In addition, Liam Grant (IRL) was appointed by the board to serve out the remaining year of the term of the Chair of the Athletes' Commission.
The complete Press Release with results and biographies can be found here. 07 January 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) ended the decade by bringing together the Ultimate community for the annual International Spirit of the Game Day celebrations. More than 500 activities from at least 34 countries were held across the world on December 7 in honor of Spirit of the Game, a core and guiding element of the sports of Ultimate and Guts.
Participants were encouraged to share their love of Spirit of the Game on social media by posting about their events or sharing artwork on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Submissions came in the form of videos, articles, drawings, and more. More than 20 international vendors partnered with WFDF to offer merchandise as part of the festivities.
“The players, teams and organizations that supported these international activities —and the 21 vendors who supplied prizes this year —understand there’s so much more to Spirit of the Game than simply sportsmanship,” said Travis F. Smith, outgoing chair of the WFDF SOTG Committee. “iSOTG Day is our community’s annual opportunity to explore how Spirit of the Game can be better expressed and improved. Each year I’m blown away seeing how many people care so intensely about Spirit and its central role in disc sport.”
More information can be found on the official website of the event: http://www.spiritofthegameday.org/
13 December 2019 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation is pleased to announce that it has appointed Luke Tobiasiewicz as its IT Administrator in a part-time consultancy. Luke Tobiasiewicz, who had been serving as Chair of the WFDF IT Committee and is of British and Polish nationality, is currently also working as an IT Consultant for the Veritas Foundation (London) and for the St Albans Independent College (UK) as the IT Manager. He will also serve as Competition Director at the WFDF 2020 World Ultimate and Guts Championship in Leeuwarden, Netherlands in July 2020.
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