World Flying Disc Federation

Membership

WFDF has member associations in 62 countries, from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, The Caribbean and South America. WFDF is a not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in Colorado, US, and it was formed in 1985. Disc sports represented include: Ultimate (outdoor, indoor, beach), disc golf, field events (distance, accuracy, self caught flight, discathon), guts frisbee, double disc court, and freestyle. WFDF is a member of SportAccord (formerly known as GAISF), The International World Games Association (IWGA), and the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE). In May 2013, under the leadership of WFDF President Robert L. "Nob" Rauch, WFDF was granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee and gained full IOC recognition on August 2, 2015. It is now one of 35 sports that are members of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations.

History

Flying disc sport rose with the invention of plastic and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007. The early years of international flying disc play were dominated by the influence of the International Frisbee Association (IFA) which began in 1967 as the promotional arm of the Wham-O Manufacturing Company. Many of the international affiliates began as Wham-O distributorships that sponsored tours of well-known Frisbee athletes. Several groups of individual disc event stars like Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner touring Canada in 1972. The brothers Jens and Erwin Velasquez and the team of Peter Bloeme and Dan "Stork" Roddick made several tours of Scandinavia and the rest of Europe in the mid-1970s; Jo Cahow and Stork went to Australia and Japan in 1976 and Victor Malafronte and Monica Lou toured Japan around the same time. Stork—starting as head of the sports marketing arm of the U.S.-based Wham-O in 1975—played a crucial role in encouraging the establishment of national flying disc associations (FDAs) in Sweden, Japan, Australia, and in many of the countries of Western Europe. The FDAs began with freestyle and accuracy competitions but as Ultimate and disc golf caught on, the associations began to broaden their focus.

The concept of an independent world organization for the development and coordination of all of the disc disciplines began in 1980 at an Atlanta, Georgia, meeting of 40 international disc organizers. A loose federation led by Jim Powers was formed from that meeting but never took off. The following year, the relatively well-established national flying disc associations of Europe formed the European Flying Disc Federation (EFDF). In 1983 Wham-O was sold to Kransco and the IFA was disbanded. Spurred on by the demise of the IFA, Stork called a meeting at the US Open Overall Championships in La Mirada, California. A plan was presented by Charlie Mead of England and a formal decision was made to establish a worldwide disc association in Örebro, Sweden during the 1984 European Overall Championships. This decision was confirmed later that year by other flying disc countries in Lucerne, Switzerland, during the World Ultimate and Guts Championships, and thus the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) was born.

The first WFDF Congress was held in Helsingborg, Sweden in July 1985, where the first set of statutes was adopted and the first board was elected. The first president was Charlie Mead (England), the first secretary Johan Lindgren (Sweden) and the first treasurer Brendan Nolan (Ireland). Membership was composed of the national flying disc associations and US-oriented organizations such as the Ultimate Players Association, Freestyle Players Associations, and Guts Players Association. Committees were established to oversee international play and rules for each of the disc disciplines. Over the remainder of the 1980s, WFDF took on an increasing role in overseeing and promoting international disc tournaments with Stork as President and Lindgren as Secretary-Treasurer.

In 1992, Robert L. "Nob" Rauch was elected President of WFDF and Juha Jalovaara become chair of the Ultimate Committee. Over the next two years, WFDF was reorganized to better reflect the increasing growth of Ultimate and the diversity of WFDF's membership. The disc committee structure was simplified into a broad category of team sports (Ultimate and Guts) and individual events (golf and the overall disciplines). The role of the Rules Committee was expanded, headed by Stork, to ensure consistency and an annual rules book was printed. With a variety of representation, the categories of membership were further defined, with national associations able to join as regular, associate, or provisional (non-paying) members depending on level of participation and resources. WFDF's corporate standing was reorganized and incorporated in Colorado, obtaining US tax-exempt status. WFDF, with a fairly nominal budget, found help with the increasing use of e-mail that permitted reasonable communication and coordination. In 1994, the application to join the International World Games Association (IWGA)—championed by Fumio "Moro" Morooka of Japan—was prepared and eventually accepted by the IWGA leading to Ultimate's participation in the 2001 World Games in Akita, Japan, and in each of the subsequent competitions.

In May 2013, under the leadership WFDF President Robert L. "Nob" Rauch, WFDF was granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee and it is now one of 35 sports that are members of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations.

WFDF World Ultimate Club Championship

Lecco, Italy, 2–9 August 2014

Prague, Czech Republic, 3–10 July 2010

Perth, Australia, 11–18 November 2006

Honolulu, US, 4–10 August 2002

St. Andrews, Scotland, 12–20 August 1999

Vancouver Canada, 27 July – 2 August 1997

Millfield United Kingdom, 22–29 July 1995

Madison, Wisconsin US, 24–31 July 1993

Toronto Canada, 22–28 July 1991

Cologne Germany, 26–30 July 1989

International World Games Ultimate Championship

Kaohsiung Taiwan, 19–21 July 2009

1. US
2. Japan
3. Australia

WFDF 2009 World Overall Flying Disc championships

Jacksonville, Florida, 9–12 July 2009 Open Division

1. Conrad Damon – US
2. Jack Cooksey – US
3. Harvey Brandt – US

Women's Division

1. Mary Lowry – US
2. Stina Persson – SWE
3. Marygrace Sorrentino – US

WFDF World Ultimate and Guts Championship (WUGC)

London, Great Britain, 18–25 June 2016

Sakai, Japan, 7–14 July 2012

Vancouver, Canada, 2–9 August 2008

Turku, Finland, 1–7 August 2004

Heilbronn, Germany, 12–20 August 2000

Blaine, Minnesota, US, 15–22 August 1998

Jönköping, Sweden, 10–17 August 1996

Colchester, United Kingdom, 21–28 August 1994

Utsunomiya, Japan, 17–23 August 1992

Oslo, Norway, 8–14 July 1990

Leuven, Belgium, 29 August – 3 September 1988

Colchester, United Kingdom, 25–31 August 1986

Lucerne, Switzerland, 2–9 September 1984

Gothenburg, Sweden, 29 August – 3 September 1983