WFDF announces new Chair and membership of its Women in Sport Commission

22 November 2017

As part of its continuing efforts to promote gender equality in disc sports, the World Flying Disc Federation announces that it has added new members to its Women in Sport Commission and appointed Caz Malone of Hong Kong as chair. Ms. Malone replaces outgoing chair Kate Bergeron, currently WFDF Treasurer, who had served as chair since 2011. The Commission is now comprised of 14 women from all over the world, who are already stakeholders in their communities and are committed to engaging athletes, coaches, managers and organizers involved in the sport.

The Commission will focus on ways to further improve our gender equality efforts in disc sports, and achieve a better balance in the number of male and female players. Upon the recommendations of the Commission, WFDF will have an equal number of men’s and women’s teams at the upcoming WFDF 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC). The Commission hopes that this example will be a template for our national federations to promote equal opportunities for male and female players at major events.

"We are working with the Ultimate Committee to create more opportunities for female players at WFDF events," said Caz Malone, the new chair of the Women in Sport Commission.

"We are very pleased to announce there will be true progress towards gender equality with an even number of men’s and women’s teams and a strong Mixed Division at the World Ultimate Club Championships to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA in July 2018. We have always featured the mixed division of play at the World Games and have moved to full 50:50 representation on team rosters, so we will look to continue to build on our successes."

"We are set with 40 Women’s and 40 Men’s teams, along with 48 Mixed teams, for a total of 128 teams at WUCC. Overall, we should be very close to achieving gender equity in terms of athletes at this championship event," said Brian Gisel, chair of the Ultimate Committee.

Women in Sport Commission member Yoonee Jeong, a technology policy professional working with the World Bank, analyzed recent WFDF annual census data and found that:

- 2 out of 3 Flying Disc players in the world are male, and these numbers have been consistent over the last decade.

- Women’s Ultimate teams make up around 20% of those participating at national championships.

- Men’s Ultimate teams make up nearly double that number at nearly 40% at national championships, although mixed gender play does make up for another 40%.

"In sport, it is all too easy to accept the status quo," stated Robert "Nob" Rauch, WFDF President. "We believe that flying disc sports are easily accessible to both men and women, and we are committed to proactively encouraging more women and girls to participate by ensuring that the opportunities for participation are there at all competitive levels. We also want to encourage women to get involved at the local, national, and international level of administration and governance of the sport. The 14 members of our Women in Sport Commission, from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, have an incredible array of experience and enthusiasm and we look forward to supporting them in their efforts."

The mandate of WFDF’s Women in Sport Commission is in line with the International Olympic Committee aims: "Fostering gender equality and strengthening women’s participation in and through sport ... to increase the possibilities for girls and women in sport and to achieve the goal of female athletes representing 50 per cent of the athletes taking part in the Olympic Games."

The commission is looking to have its agenda and priorities shaped by WFDF members of all genders. To help the commission set its goals, please participate in a short, anonymous survey: https://goo.gl/forms/nuQ6Ctz08iaOWaw03 .

The full Press Release including the bios is attached to the email.

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Best regards,

Volker Bernardi

Executive Director

World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF)

Enggasse 2a, D - 55296 Harxheim, Germany

Mobile: +49 176 64 19 77 02

eMail: volker.bernardi@wfdf.org

Web: www.wfdf.org

About WFDF: The World Flying Disc Federation is the international sports federation responsible for world governance of flying disc (FrisbeeTM) sports, including Ultimate, Beach Ultimate, Guts, and Individual Events. WFDF is a federation of member associations which represent flying disc sports and their athletes in more than 75 countries. WFDF is an international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the IPC and FISU and a member of ARISF, GAISF and the International World Games Association, and it is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in the state of Colorado, USA. The WFDF Executive Committee: President Robert L. "Nob" Rauch, Secretary Thomas Griesbaum, Treasurer Kate Bergeron.

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