I arrived early in Richmond, Virginia in order to spend a few days with my buddy Jack, who is the TD of the 2019 World Overall Flying Disc Championships (WOC). Jack is also how I first heard about the Overall, when he invited me to compete in the WOC in 2011 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
My plan today was to link up with Phrzby Phil to check out the venues where the 7 disciplines will be taking place during the WOC this July, while also enjoying Richmond, which is an absolutely beautiful city.
Later this week, I’m heading to Fredericksburg to compete in the 43rd annual Virginia States Frisbee Tournament, which is my 8th in a row!
Overall events require athletes to demonstrate a variety of individual skills in a field-events format, similar to the concept of the decathlon. This will be the 14th edition of the WFDF World Overall Flying Disc Championships. This biannual event is planned for approximately 100 athletes in seven disc sports disciplines. Champions will be crowned for each individual discipline. The WFDF World Overall champions will be awarded based on a tally of points on three or more disciplines contested by an athlete, and Champions will be crowned by age and gender.
Distance and Self Caught Flight (MTA & TRC)
The Distance and Self Caught Flight events will be held at the Richmond Strikers West Creek Field Complex, a sprawling 10 field complex with plenty of room for the biggest distance arms!
During our site visit, the wind was stiff & steady, which would make for a perfect distance wind. The only concern are the unmovable poles down the center of the field, so it’s most likely that throwers will get a re-throw if they happen to hit a pole during competition.
Phil and I had some fun throwing a few MTA’s, including this one which he threw and I caught!
Double Disc Court (DDC) and Accuracy
The location for DDC and Accuracy (through semis) is at Huguenot Park, which is an absolutely pristine complex for soccer. The fields are perfectly manicured (in fact they were being cut during our visit today) and there is a pavilion on site, which will be great to stay out of the hot muggy Virginia summer, and a great vantage point for spectators.
Disc Golf
Disc Golf will be played at the Bryan Park Disc Golf Course. I’ve personally played this course a few times and it’s a nice mix of short and long holes, left and right turning holes, with lots of elevation, ob, water, and trees…oh so many trees!
Final Two Days
The final two days of competition, which will feature Discathon, Freestyle, DDC, Accuracy, and a variety of frisbee games and demos including Frisbee Bocce, Ultimate, MTA, Speed Accuracy, Speed Flow, and an XDisc Freestyle Challenge, will be held at Cary St Field, on the Virginia Commonwealth University Complex.
It’s in a great location for foot traffic and visibility, the field is absolutely beautiful, and it will be a perfect way to close out the World Championships.
Final Thoughts
I really like that there are different sites for each day (with a few repeats) because each event has a different feel, so it’s nice that there’s a different site, which will provide a different experience everyday. I’ve been to World Championships in the past that were all at the same venue and I found that I got tired of the routine, the same location, and that when we did go somewhere else (typically for disc golf), it was a nice change of pace and change of scenery.
The TOC is doing a great job so far and I’m looking forward to helping out as much as I can in the next few months to bring everything together. This is going to be a great World Overall Championship, and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with the world!