The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) announces major changes to the upcoming WFDF 2023 World Beach Ultimate Championships (WBUC) to be hosted in Huntington Beach, USA.
In consultation with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and with agreement from all WFDF member National Federations (NFs) with participating WBUC teams, the dates for the event have been revised. The event will now run for five (5) days from Wednesday 1st November through Sunday 5th November inclusive. The change was made to reflect the current competitive format for 5 divisions and 42 firm teams (provisional bid list below). WFDF and the LOC are committed to proceeding with WBUC 2023 as planned and made the planning decision to make it more efficient and right-size to a more compact competitive schedule. Both the Master Open and Master Women’s divisions were canceled after late drop outs from multiple countries.
“It is clear that the effects of the pandemic are still being felt by our members and players, with some countries informing us that some participants have chosen to attend events this year that are closer to home with less costly travel,” stated Robert “Nob” Rauch, WFDF President. “Notwithstanding the situation with WBUC, our other events this year have been strongly subscribed and in any case we are looking forward to an exciting Beach Ultimate event in California.”
While some NF’s signaled difficulties in recruiting players for National teams to attend WBUC this year, interest from others surged in the area of club teams for both Grass and Beach Ultimate. As a result of this interest, and to utilize facilities and resources already allocated for WBUC, WFDF and the LOC have agreed to host the inaugural WFDF 2023 International Beach Ultimate Mixed Club Challenge (IBUXCC). This event will be a stand-alone event, with one division (Mixed) of play for Beach Ultimate Club Teams.
WFDF Beach Ultimate Chair Shiellah Quintos said, “WFDF has been waiting for Beach Ultimate Clubs to grow at the local level and there appears to be enough interest to bring together mixed club teams from around the world for an exciting five-day international challenge. The IBUXCC will be a stand-alone event, and will not involve the Mixed National teams who are competing at WBUC. This is a chance to bring together international Beach Ultimate Mixed Club Teams for the first time.”
The IBUXCC will take place in Huntington Beach, California, USA during the same five (5) days as WBUC on Wednesday 1st through Sunday 5th November, 2023. All facilities, staff, social functions and fields will be shared between both events with a united feel of one Beach Ultimate event.
WFDF kindly asks interested Mixed division Beach Ultimate Club Teams to put their names forward for participation via the pre-registration online form. The pre-registration will take place from the 17th through the 31st of March. Once all expressions of interest are received by WFDF, the Beach Ultimate Committee will allocate bids using the following criteria:
- All National Federations will receive at least 1 bid if requested. (Round 1)
- National Federations will receive an extra (1) bid if they hosted a national Beach Ultimate event for club teams in 2019 or 2022/2023.
- Additional spaces will be offered to National Federations based on WFDF World Rankings at the time of bid allocation, starting with the first-place country, this allocation will continue to loop thrgh, until all available bids are filled. (Round 2)
National Federations (not teams) will be offered the bids awarded, and NF’s will be responsible for the allocation of the teams to fill the bid/s (team names of pre-registered teams will be sent to the NF’s). WFDF will mail out to all pre-registered teams as soon as the bid list with team names has been filled by the 21st April, 2023. Players may NOT play in both the IBUXCC and WBUC. All players must be members in good standing with their respective National Federation for the club team they are representing and all teams and rosters must be fully endorsed by the NF. The club teams must meet any obligations as placed on them by their NF and club teams will be defined by the NF. More information about IBUXCC will be shared with those who are offered bids.
For further information about WBUC or IBUXCC, please contact the WFDF Events team by email: [email protected] or [email protected].