WFDF Congress approves Turkey and Ukraine as regular members

In Official Communication, Press Release * Official Communication by WFDF

WFDF is pleased to announce that the Congress has approved the Flying Disc Players Association of Turkey (Oyunun Ruhu Derneği – ORD) and the Ukrainian Flying Disc Federation (UFDF) as regular national member associations of the World Flying Disc Federation.  The approval given by Congress to FDPAT-ORD and UFDF brings WFDF to a membership of 59 member associations in 56 countries.

“The approval of Turkey and Ukraine as full regular members represents exciting growth for WFDF into Eastern Europe,” commented WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “With the approval by Congress in late June, teams from both countries were able to participate in the BULA/WFDF European Championships of Beach Ultimate in Spain. We are looking forward to working with President Cem Gürses of the Flying Disc Players Association of Turkey (Oyunun Ruhu Derneği – ORD) and President Dmitry Strelchyn of the Ukrainian Flying Disc Federation, along with their respective Boards, and wish them success in their growth and in participation in future WFDF sanctioned events.”

“We are very proud to become a full member of WFDF. This means a lot to all the players in our community, whom for years have been working on improving flying disc sports in our country,” stated FDPAT-ORD President Cem Gürses on the decision. “Becoming a member of WFDF will make it much easier for us to get sponsorship deals for our events and also to attract more players to flying disc sports and the community in our country. Last week, for the first time in Turkey's history, we attended a WFDF sanctioned event (ECBU 2013) and are proud to have won the Spirit of the Game award in the Mixed division together with Portugal,” added Gürses. “This means a lot to us since, as a developing Ultimate community, we strive to embrace the Spirit of the Game. In participating in our first WFDF sanctioned event, we are really thankful to everyone who supported us, gave us strong words of encouragement, and showed interest in the development of Ultimate in Turkey.”

“We are happy to become a WFDF regular member and to be officially a full participant in the international Flying Disc community. This was important for the Ukraine because disc sports are growing fast in our country and our players need to participate in competitive WFDF tournaments,” stated Dmitry Strelchyn UFDF President. “Also the regular membership is an important step for the recognition of the sport by the Ukrainian government. Ukrainians have been playing Ultimate since 1995, and since 1999 we have participated in international events like the Paganello tournament as well as the European Club series. Nowadays our teams are capable of playing at the highest level as evidenced at ECBU last week when our Open team played in the Bronze medal game.”