USA Ultimate

USA Ultimate attends WFDF World Congress

Dr. Tom Crawford, CEO of USA Ultimate, just returned from Prague, CZ and the 2010 WFDF World Congress and the World Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC). We sat down with him to learn about his experience and new developments on the international Ultimate scene.

Prague is a beautiful European city with some pretty dramatic architecture and an interesting layout. It is a huge tourist destination, and most Czech citizens get around via a well designed and really inexpensive mass transit system, while the tourists ride on special busses. The WFDF World Congress was held at the WUCC headquarters hotel, which sits right beside one of the stadiums and set of fields used for the event, which was very convenient. I believe this 2010 WUCC event is the best attended in the history of WFDF. After spending many years in international/Olympic sport, it was a great reminder that we have to pay attention to international developments and engage with our counterparts worldwide. They look to us and Canada for leadership and help, and as a good international Ultimate citizen, I really think we have to be as helpful as possible. We will all benefit if Ultimate grows and thrives around the world.

Like the event itself, I believe this was the most well attended congress in WFDF history. I’m sure I’ll miss some of the attending countries, but the ones I can recall were:

Canada, Japan, Germany, Ireland, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Sweden, Australia, Mexico, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Chinese Taipei, France, Columbia, Finland, United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore and the Slovak Republic.

We had good representation at both the open forum and the formal congress. Sandie Hammerly and Kate Bergeron were both present the entire time and serve on the WFDF Board of Directors as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. USA Ultimate President Peri Kurshan and I attended as well. Peri was awesome, as she was functioning on only one hour of sleep, but did a great job of presenting our perspective on some very important topics. I think Australia was the only other country with four representatives there.  

I would have to say managing the dramatic growth of Ultimate over the past couple of years, and WFDF’s strong motivation to continue driving development worldwide. We and Canada offered to help in any way we could with this development. Spirit of the Game was also discussed at length, with a strong reminder to all countries that maintaining and nurturing SOTG is the second by-Law of WFDF and its member countries. I was reminded that in our by-Laws, the second “purpose” of USA Ultimate as an organization/business is “to maintain the ‘Spirit of the Game’ as the central governing principle of the sport.” We actually had a very spirited and interesting discussion about how Ultimate in the U.S. is growing, with many new athletes who did not begin their athletic careers in the sport, and do not bring an understanding/appreciation/respect for SOTG like athletes who get oriented into SOTG early in their development. This creates unique challenges for us which the rest of the world has yet to experience, and thus struggles to understand. 

Yes, in a very positive way, and no pun intended. Very few countries, with the exception of Canada, have the large growth in the college game the way we do. I tried my best to explain the healthy and really fun ‘competitive juices’ that get flowing in collegiate sports in the U.S. A lot of folks watched our collegiate coverage and pretty much hated the open final in Madison…so they were asking a lot about that game and the reaction of our players to it. They also noted how beautifully the women’s final was played. Many countries offered their advice on how to maintain SOTG while competing fiercely, like the women’s finals in Madison.   It was also interesting to watch the very visceral negative perception of our observer system. They really believe our observers are way over-involved in the game, and it was interesting to hear them describe the very positive review our sport got at the World Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) representatives due to the self-officiated nature. While they were initially skeptical, it sounds like they (IOC) were very impressed and loved that aspect our sport.

We listened carefully, respectfully and responded in kind. I did note that we were being responsive to our players, and would only do what we thought was in the best interest of the sport long-term, a reflection of the first ‘purpose’ in our by-laws. Several countries asked if we thought learning to play with observers put us at a competitive disadvantage in international competition. I think the answer to that is definitely yes, but I’m not too worried about that just yet…but will be in the years to come. There is no doubt… as a matter of fact it was clearly stated, that other countries have a definite goal to become the number one country in the world in Ultimate. We are going to have to be diligent and strategic to maintain our global leadership, and learning to play by a different set of rules, and competing in a different environment,  are not conducive to maintaining our competitive edge long term. My long-term sense is that WFDF will eventually end up adopting sideline officials (calling the lines), and they already keep the game moving with sideline scorekeepers and timers, which the World Games officials insisted on.

I only saw part of two games, and that was really not my purpose for going, although it helped provide some perspective. I watched Surly’s second-round game with Australia and it was a good, competitive game for the time I was able to watch. I’m very happy to note that Surly prevailed. I also watched the Czech Republic play Canada in the women’s division, which was part of the opening ceremonies celebration. The crowd was huge and the stadium was rocking…and the Czechs made an incredibly exciting come back which really got the place going nuts. I think everyone felt good for the Czech hosts….they were really trying their best.

We wanted to express our unhappiness and concern about WFDF not following its own by-laws. We have been scrambling to react to decisions getting made and proposals being put forward without input and discussion. For example, pretty much everyone expressed dismay at the timing of the under-23 event and WFDF apologized for that. Countries described how scrambling to send a team actually was hurting other priorities they had previously set, while other countries were clearly delighted by the opportunity, particularly given its close proximity to them. We also expressed our strong concern about a proposal to require continental qualifiers for all nations wanting to qualify for the World Championships. This was being proposed for next year and would be a huge burden to us and our teams. At some point I sincerely hope these qualifying events are needed, as the championships could get too large for most venues without it,… but not yet. Maybe in five years, which would give us time to prepare. As we described in pretty strong terms, we need to be involved in the development of the policies which are going to impact our teams and our planning, and I think WFDF acknowledged that point and will do a better job going forward. We also welcomed beach ultimate into the WFDF umbrella, and USA Ultimate will immediately begin to help our beach program thrive and grow and be competitive internationally. We were also gratified to see almost universal support for banning alcohol at any junior events in the future, which we were strongly in favor of for a bunch of reasons.

No, I wouldn’t say major surprises. It was helpful to get other countries’ perspectives though, particularly when they differ from ours. For example, I think the vast majority of countries want WFDF to offer as many international events as possible, as it gives their teams the chance to compete on a much higher level, and it allows some of them to garner financial support from their governments. We noted along with several other countries that the number of events was getting out of control, and the time and energy and resources getting spent on small groups of select athletes was not going to lead to strong growth over time, and would likely hurt long-term systemic growth. I think there was pretty good consensus on that after discussion. Peri and I tried to point out that to gain international credibility as a sport, World Championships really needed to mean something, and from the U.S. perspective we wanted to only send fairly selected, well prepared and well supported teams. We should never throw together a team just for the sake of going, as the rest of the sporting community would regard this, and thus our World Championships, as a joke. I’m confident we made our points and got a lot of support for that notion. I also gained a lot of respect and understanding of the challenges other countries face, which are very different from ours.

One very pleasant surprise was the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the U.S. Open. Lots of folks came up to ask about it and everyone I spoke to was very excited about it. It was a Field of Dreams- like experience…with the enthusiastic message of ‘just build it and we will come!’

Two quick travel advisories (said with a huge smile): Never get in a taxi in the CZ without asking for the cost ahead of time…there are some mobsters still in that industry. And, watch out for pickpockets, they have a weird old law that protects them from prosecution. Finally, Czech is a tough language, but if you learn just a few key phrases, the Czechs are very helpful and friendly.

On a serious note, I’d ask our athletes to please be cognizant of our role as the National Governing Body of the sport of Ultimate in the U.S. , and the serious obligations and responsibilities that come with that role. Aligned with the interests of our athletes, it is the first ’purpose’ of our existence in our by-laws, and with this stewardship comes the need to have the long term health of our sport, both domestically and internationally, at the forefront of our decisions and plans. As I have described to our Board, my dream is two-fold for our wonderful sport; to continue to lead the world as the best Ultimate nation; and, five years from now, when driving by a set of athletic fields (now often labeled ‘soccer fields’!), to see at least 1/3 of the fields full of young kids and flying discs, having a blast learning the best sport in the world! To get there we have to be strategic, long term thinkers. And, most important of all, we truly need the help and participation of the entire Ultimate Community to make that future possible. The Ultimate Decade is underway, join us, prosim!!    Dekuji!

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