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United Through Sports – Virtual Youth Festival 2020

In News, Official Communication, Press Release * Official Communication by WFDF

WFDF seeks interest from juniors (Under 18) to participate in the UTS Virtual Youth Festival 2020

The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is proud to announce that we have been invited to participate in the United Through Sports (UTS) Virtual Youth Festival (VYF) 2020. This event is a unique opportunity for the WFDF juniors athletes to be involved in a United through Sport movement that promotes health and safety through competition of an online festival. WFDF is seeking interest from juniors (Under 18) who wish to participate.

The Festival will be hosted on a digital platform, and youth participants will need a recording device (such as a mobile phone) and access to the internet to participate during the finals on the 20-22 November 2020. Participants will need to upload their video to participate.  The Festival finals coincide with the United Nations’ World Children’s Day.

The Virtual Youth Festival is officially under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee, the Paralympic Committee, the Special Olympics, GAISF, SportAccord, and AIMS. The festival invites us all to stand in solidarity with the values of the Olympics, Paralympic and Special Olympics in the promotion of inclusion, equality, non-discrimination and peace-promotion.

“WFDF is excited to invite young athletes from our Flying Disc Community to participate in this virtual festival of sporting youth from around the globe,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “During these difficult and challenging times where there has been restricted ability for athletes to compete on the world stage, this provides a platform for everyone to affirm that ‘We Stand United Through Sports.’ The UTS Virtual Youth Festival, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, provides an opportunity for youth from all over the world to engage in friendly sport for all.”

UTS is hosting five competition categories (Max Fit, Aero Fit, Talent All Abilities and Special Olympics) and we invite interested young athletes to enter any of these categories through WFDF. For further information please visit the UTS website: unitedthroughsports.com.

WFDF believes many of our Flying Disc Community Junior athletes from Disc Golf, Ultimate, Beach Ultimate and the individual overall disciplines or the children of our Ultimate Community would fit well into the Max Fit competition.  Max Fit focuses on the athletes Strength, Power and Stamina using standardized exercise and fitness drills.  The competition will be completed over 3 rounds, with each round requiring athletes to complete as many of the designated exercises within the allotted time per round. As an example, the Under 10 category would need to perform 30 seconds of sit ups, 30 seconds of push ups, and 30 seconds of alternating leg kicks for a total of 90 seconds competition which would then be scored by judges on the number of repetitions, as well as the quality and control demonstrated while performing the repetitions.

The second category Aero Fit suits well our junior Freestyle pairs. Aero Fit is a dynamic competition category allowing a team of two to join their abilities and create a routine choreography for up to three minutes. Each routine must be submitted via video. Teams of two can be mixed or single gender combinations and will be judged based on age group. The Video should include the teams chosen music and be videoed with good lighting. Points will be awarded for timing/rhythm, balance/power, creative choreography, synchronicity, costume, fitness and originality.

Should any of our flying disc athletes possess a talent for singing, instrumental, theatre-drama or dance, there is a talent competition as category three of the Festival. This category will also be judged by age group and is an international stage to show your unique talents which promotes and encourages a focus on making every child feel special.

The all abilities category will be run in partnership with the International Paralympic Committee and Special Olympics.

Each participant in the UTS Virtual Youth festival 2020 will receive a certificate signed by the IOC, IPC, SOI, and UTS. Medals will be awarded per age category and gender combination. The UTS Virtual Youth Festival is open to young people of different physical abilities, ranging in categories for age groups U10, U12, U14, U16, U18.

IOC President Dr Thomas Bach said: “The current coronavirus crisis has proven that sport and an active lifestyle can save lives. With its own campaigns, the IOC has been working since the beginning of the crisis to make it even more evident how important sport is for physical and mental health, in particular in times of lockdown, social distancing and uncertainty. The IOC is excited that the UTS Virtual Youth Festival 2020 is inviting youth of all abilities and backgrounds from the international sports community. We have given patronage to the UTS Virtual Youth Festival 2020 and will also play an active part.”

WFDF kindly urges anyone interested in participating to reach out via email to the WFDF Events Team ([email protected] with UTS as the email subject heading) prior to Wednesday 28th October so that WFDF can register you. WFDF will send out more details directly to those who register for the festival and will include tips and a technical manual with specific instructions on how to produce the videos and how to take part in the festival on November 20-22 and how best to practice the Max Fit activities.