WFDF 2016 World Ultimate and Guts Championship Prepares for Finals
25 June 2016
The WFDF 2016 World Ultimate and Guts Championship is prepared for the final gold medal rounds today at the Allianz Park stadium in London, home of Rugby's reigning Premiership Champions, Saracens RFC. Championship finals will be held in the mixed gender, women’s, and men’s divisions, capping the weeklong event that began Sunday 19 June. At the event today Australia will take on the USA in the mixed division, Colombia will face off against the USA in the women’s division, and Japan will play against the USA in the Men’s division. The preliminary and play-off rounds of the WUGC 2016 were held over the last week at the University College London (UCL) Sports Ground in London Colney. More than 3,000 athletes have competed in the event, representing 115 Ultimate teams from 39 countries.
“It’s been a great week of disc sports,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. There were many competitive and spirited games, with several upsets in semi-final rounds heading into today’s finals. As our largest World Championship ever, it has also been exciting to welcome for the first time a number of countries to our premier event.”
Friday’s Results
For Ultimate in the mixed division, Australia upset first seed Canada in the first semi-final, 15-12, while the USA easily dispatched France by 15-4. In the men’s division semi-final, the USA outmatched Canada by 15-8 and Japan beat Australia 15-9. In the women’s division semi-finals, Colombia upset first seed Japan in a defensive battle 10-7, and the USA defeated North American rival Canada 15-10.
In the men’s masters division final, Team USA bested Canada 15-10 to take gold, with host Great Britain taking bronze over Denmark 15-9. In the women’s masters, the USA also defeated Canada 15-10 for the gold medal, with Australia taking bronze over Japan 14-12. New Zealand was awarded the “spirit award” in both divisions.
For Guts, the USA 1 team defeated a strong Japan team for the championship. Great Britain bested USA2 for bronze. USA 1 was also presented with the “spirit award,” evidencing their spirited and supportive play throughout the week.
Video Telecasts
Over two dozen games have already been livestreamed throughout the week The game streams are available at http://livestream.com, at http://wfdf.org/live, the WFDF Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/worldflyingdisc, WFDF’s youtube channel at www.youtube.com/wfdfchannel, and the World Games channel at http://channel.theworldgames.org/. A two hour broadcast will be televised in North America on Saturday 25 June on CBS Sports Network from 1600-1800 EDT.
Background
Competition this week has been held in five divisions: mixed gender (30 teams), men’s (31), women’s (26), men’s masters (17), and women’s masters (11). In addition, there are 8 teams competing in the discipline of Guts Frisbee.
A total of 39 countries competed in the 2016 WUGC. These are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hong Kong China, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and USA.
This year’s event represents the 14th edition of the World Ultimate and Guts Championships. The first event was hosted in 1983 in Gothenburg Sweden and is now held on a quadrennial basis.
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.
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