USA Remains Dominant at WFDF 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate
27 June 2017
USA takes gold in Mixed and Men’s Divisions; Russian Women win first title
The WFDF 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate (WCBU), in association with BULA, concluded on Saturday, June 24 with the USA showing its continued dominance, taking gold in the Mixed gender and Men’s divisions. Russia overcame the USA in a stunning come-from-behind victory -- winning the final four points of the Women’s Division final -- to take the women’s title 11-10. The USA also swept all four divisions of Masters’ Division play. The USA had taken gold in all but the Mixed Division in the WFDF 2015 World Beach Ultimate Championships. The week-long event, which opened on Sunday, June 18 on the beautiful beaches of Royan, France featured nearly 1,800 players from 39 countries on 127 teams in 9 divisions. The 30-person broadcast team livestreamed more than 120 games across three showcase fields over the course of the week, which is the most games live broadcast for one event by WFDF.
“It was an incredible week of competition and spirited play on the beaches of Royan,” commented WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “As the largest world championship of Beach Ultimate ever, our tournament host Fédération Flying Disc France led by FFDF President Franck Leygues and Tournament Director Amandine Constant surpassed all expectations in the level of organization and amenities despite this being their first world championship event. And we thank our partner BULA, headed by Patrick van der Valk, for all the support they provided. It was great to see how the local community embraced the event which made it even more enjoyable for the athletes. Beach Ultimate is growing quickly and this is now one of the most popular championships on our event calendar.”
In addition to awarding medals to the top three finalists in each division, WFDF also provides a separate medal for Spirit of the Game, highlighting a core tenet of Ultimate. Players are expected to self officiate by making their own foul, line and violation calls during the game. The Spirit award in each division is calculated based on scores awarded by the opposing team after each game over the course of the entire championship.
The finals results across all 8 divisions are:
Mixed
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Germany
Spirit: New Zealand
Women’s
1. Russian Federation
2. USA
3. Great Britain
Spirit:Austria
Men’s
1. USA
2. Great Britain
3. France
Spirit: New Zealand
Mixed Masters
1. USA
2. Canada
3. France
Spirit: Japan
Women’s Masters
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Australia
Spirit: Australia
Men’s Masters
1. USA
2. France
3. Canada
Spirit: India
Grandmaster Men
1. USA
2. Great Britain
3. Canada
Spirit: Spain
Great Grandmaster Men
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Austria
Spirit: Great Britain
The opening and closing ceremonies featured the Vice-President of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) Jean-Pierre Mougin, and local dignities including 1st Counciller Patrick Marengo and Vice President of Charente Maritime Department Marie-Pierre Quentin, among others.
Royan was the fifth edition of the WCBU, with the previous event hosted in Dubai, UAE in 2015, which consisted of over 1,000 athletes on 71 teams representing 24 nations. The first WCBU was held in 2004 in Portugal, followed by Brazil (2007) and Italy (2011). This year’s event featured three newly approved WFDF national federations, Turkey, Guam and Malaysia. Also of note, the Great Grand Masters Division Beach Ultimate Championship event for athletes 48 years of age and older was held separately in Praia do Meco, near the village of Aldeia do Meco, south of Lisbon, Portugal, due to space constraints.
WFDF has previously stated that the WCBU 2017 will serve as the qualifying event for the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games which has been announced by the Association of National Olympic Committees to be hosted in San Diego in October 2019.
Latest WFDF Communiques
01 December 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation ("WFDF") is pleased to announce that it has launched today a new official website and domain name "wfdf.sport." The web site revamp was undertaken to upgrade the underlying site architecture, from the last overhaul in late 2011, to current standards, including native mobile accessibility. WFDF signed an agreement in 2018 to use the dot sport internet domain, which is managed by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) for ICANN, as use of the dot sport domain shows we are a recognized member of the international sports community.
09 November 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is pleased to announce that WFDF has joined the UNAOC One Humanity Campaign, which calls for solidarity, compassion and unity in the face of discrimination and divisiveness. The International Federations which sign up to the initiative have pledged their commitment to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) campaign. The campaign will see signatory sports champion One Humanity by demonstrating their commitment to peaceful and inclusive societies through a range of initiatives and projects that will be featured on a dedicated online platform in future to increase the visibility of this important campaign.
30 October 2020 - Official Communication
Planning to resume global Flying Disc events starting in July 2021
Following the March 24 announcement by the World Flying Disc Federation that all Flying Disc championships in 2020 were cancelled or postponed due to the rapid spread COVID-19 virus and effect of the pandemic on international travel, WFDF has been pushing forward with negotiations, plans, and preparations for a full calendar of events for 2021.
As of today, WFDF is planning to hold its World Under-24 Ultimate Championships (3-10 July, Limerick, IRL), World Ultimate and Guts Championships (24-31 July, Leeuwarden, NED), World Overall Championships (July, USA), and World Beach Ultimate Championships (November, USA). The World Team Disc Golf Championships (Croatia) will be postponed to August 2022 and World Masters Ultimate championships (Gold Coast, AUS), which was initially announced to be postponed to September 2021, has been cancelled.
21 October 2020 - Official Communication
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.
02 October 2020 - Official Communication
Overview
WFDF is seeking enthusiastic, skilled and committed candidates for its 2020 Elections. Complete nominations must be received by the Nominating Committee by October 28, 2020. The target date for the start of the elections is between November 1 and November 15, 2020, with a targeted end date of no later than December 15, 2020. Results should be announced by December 31, 2020 subject to confirmation of acceptance by elected candidates. The following positions are open for election for two-year terms commencing on January 1, 2021 and concluding December 31, 2022:
Board of Directors
· President (2 year term)
· Secretary (2 year term)
· Disc Golf chair (2 year term)
· Overall Committee Chair (2 year term)
· Guts Chair (2 year term)
· Beach Ultimate Chair (2 year term)
Continental President, Africa (to be elected by Continental Association)
Continental President, Europe (to be elected by Continental Association)
01 October 2020 - Official Communication
Strengthens its commitment to equity and equality in all aspects
The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has approved a WFDF Non-Discrimination Policy during their Board meeting on 20 September 2020.
Among its various provisions, the policy:
· affirms that WFDF is “fully committed to the principles and practice of equality of opportunity. It is responsible for ensuring that all people, irrespective of race or ethnic origin, culture, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, socio-economic status, and physical attributes, have a genuine and equal opportunity to participate in Flying Disc at all levels and in all roles;”
· states that WFDF ”and its members, have an ethical, moral and business responsibility to take stock of their current position and plan for the inclusion of a wider range of participants;” and
· establishes that this “policy has been produced to prevent/tackle any potential/current discrimination or other unfair treatment, whether intentional or unintentional, direct or indirect, against its employees, members, participants and volunteers.”
28 September 2020 - Official Communication
Introduces structures on safeguarding athletes from all forms of misconduct
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has approved of the new WFDF Safe Sport Policy during its meeting on 20 September 2020. WFDF’s policy on safeguarding athletes and participants from discrimination, harassment and abuse shall describe the processes to help prevent this from occurring and define the procedures available to WFDF participants to bring forward a complaint related to a WFDF Event. It will also describe the consequences of a breach of this policy, including interim measures and specific sanctions. It consists of two parts: a Safe Sport Policy for WFDF events and WFDF Personnel (Part 1) and Guidelines for member National Federations on developing a policy for safeguarding participants from misconduct (Part 2).
25 September 2020 - Official Communication
Brings WFDF membership to 88 Countries
The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is pleased to announce that its Congress has approved the Federación de Disco Volador de Nicaragua (FEDIVONIC) as its newest member national federation, increasing WFDF’s membership to 88 national member federations (NFs).
“It is a great pleasure to see organised Flying Disc sport development success in Central America with a growth of our family during these times. This is another example of the success of the WFDF Development grants program, as we provided a grant in 2017 to Nicaragua which catalyzed their development,” commented WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “We are looking forward to welcoming more members from Central America and Africa very soon.”
24 August 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is proud to announce that WFDF has published the WFDF Gender Equity Toolkit in its first edition. The WFDF Gender Equity Toolkit was commissioned by the WFDF Women in Sport Commission and funded by the WFDF Development Program supported by IOC funding. Alicia Lui was lead author for the project.
“Gender equity - the process of giving fair treatment to all individuals based on their needs, interests, experiences, irrespective of gender - is crucial to ensure everyone can participate and enjoy Disc Sports fully around the world,” stated WFDF Women in Sport Commission chair Caroline “Caz” Malone. “The WFDF Tournament Directors Toolkit (“TDT”) provides Tournament Organizing Committees (“TOCs”) with information about gender equity, along with practical ideas to stage events that are more gender equitable. There are also strategies that everyone in the community can use to achieve better gender balance, as well as handy checklists, and a quiz at the end.”
07 August 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is pleased to announce that WFDF will be featured on TAFISA’s Social Media channels in the frame of the TAFISA Family Day. With more than 270 members from over 150 countries on all continents, TAFISA aims to achieve an “active world’ by globally promoting and facilitating access for every person to Sport for All and physical activity.
An online campaign, the TAFISA Family Day celebrates the members’ commitment for a better world. TAFISA Family Day is a great opportunity for the members to share their efforts in combatting physical inactivity through Sport for All and increase awareness within TAFISA Family and the global Sport for All Movement.
|
Play True!
|