WJUC 2016 Opens

In News, News, Official Communication, Press Release * Official Communication, Sports, Ultimate by WFDF

[lead]WFDF 2016 World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC) Opens[/lead]

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) 2016 World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC) began today in Wroclaw with an opening ceremony and showcase game taking place at the Polemarsowe Fields in front of a thousand enthusiastic local and international spectators.

A total of 988 athletes representing 49 teams from 29 countries playing the sport of Ultimate will contest the Men’s and Women’s divisions at WJUC. The event runs from today, July 31st, through August 6th, 2016. The Tournament brings together the best U20 players from in the world, with 640 young men and 348 young women athletes. The week long competition will culminate in the finals to be played on August 6th at 11am (Women’s) and 1pm (Men’s).

“It’s great to see the next generation coming up and the level of competition continuing to rise,” said WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch.  “We’ve been hosting juniors’ championships since 1983 and this year represents the greatest number of participating countries ever.  WJUC is being hosted at the same site that Ultimate will be played at The World Games next summer from 19th – 24th July, 2017 and is serving as a test event for the Games.”

In the opening showcase game, host country Poland beat New Zealand by a score of 15-13 in an exciting match.

Tournament director Michal Dul invited the local community to attend saying “we encourage Wroclaw residents to visit the Polemarsowe Fields over the next week between the hours of 9am and 7pm to watch the best teams from around the world. The finals will be on Saturday with fun activities for all the family.” He concluded by stating “that years of hard work have paid off as I watched the athletes parading into the stadium representing their countries, capped off by a fantastic opening game with Poland winning.”

The official tournament web site can be found here..