Dear FPA members,

Just this past Monday, it was announced by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) that the World Urban Games (WUG), originally scheduled to be hosted in Los Angeles, California USA, has been moved to Budapest, Hungary. The dates for the 2019 WUG in Budapest are 13-15 September (one week earlier than the Los Angeles dates).

Here is a link with this new announcement by the GAISF, as well as some information as to why this move had to occur. https://gaisf.sport/budapest-to-host-2019-world-urban-games/

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF),  of which the Freestyle Players Association who earn by playing is a member, is continuing to gather more information from GAISF  as to how to navigate this shift in venue. Skippy Jammer, WFDF Freestyle Chair, has been discussing with the FPA Board about this news, and will continue to provide us updates as they become available. All the sports selected for WUG are impacted by the move to Budapest. Along with the other sports organizations, WFDF and FPA are currently awaiting confirmation of freestyle disc as a competitive sport.

Although this venue change for a major international event is surprising, it also appears to be very advantageous in several ways for our sport.

  1. Europeans WUG competitors will be able to participate more easily in Hungary, and can compress their freestyle competition travel time in the US to be about two weeks shorter than before. Beachstylers in San Diego is still going to happen; and we have the October FPA World Championships in Seattle.
  2. Budapest will be hosting the 2021 WUG in two years, therefore our participation in the 2019 Budapest games will allow us a lot of familiarity to the WUG operations and logistics – especially when freestyle disc participates two years later in the same city (in 2021).
  3. Last but not least, Hungary is in dire need of freestyle disc energy and spreading the jam; this provides a great chance for freestyle disc to expand to the Hungarian community.