This year in August WFDF will announce which of the three candidate cities will be awarded the 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships. Among the candidates is the 2018 European Capital of Culture: Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. The Netherlands are a sports loving country in which ultimate has had the chance to grow substantially over the past years. Also: the Dutch are known for their organizational skills: many (sport) events take place in this relatively small country. (only 41,500 km2 or 16,023 square miles)
The ambition of the Dutch Flying Disc Federation (NFB) is to optimally support the growth of ultimate by means of attractive competitions and tournaments, good training courses and strong national teams and national youth teams that everyone enjoys watching and that many boys and girls dream of joining one day. Their wish to organize the 2018 WUCC is in line with this ambition: they intend to use this high profile event to raise media attention and thus public awareness, which results in an ever bigger growth of the sport within the Netherlands and maybe even the surrounding countries. European Ultimate Federation’s Treasurer Ted Beute, who will fulfill the role of Tournament Director, concurs with this intention: “I have visited many Ultimate World Championships and I have witnessed from within the impulse such an event generates for the sport.”
In order to acquire the world championships NFB put in a rather unique, yet very complete bid. For instance: all venues, including hotels and other accommodations, are within a 6 km (± 3.6 miles) radius only. For the participants to travel around, the organization will offer each and every one of them a bike to use during the entire event, free of charge. Finals will be held in a professional soccer stadium, completely equipped with all necessary facilities. Live stream during the finals is guaranteed! Also: instead of setting up a catering tent for participants, the organization issues dinner cards, with which players can have their meals in a wide selection of restaurants in Leeuwarden. The beautiful city center theatre ‘De Harmonie’ will be the main location for all official gatherings; close to hotels and sport venues. And last but not least: As Leeuwarden has a lot of canals, typical Dutch sailing boats will moor in the city to offer participants an incomparable lodging experience, in addition to Leeuwarden’s quality hotels.
For the first time in ultimate history a national federation has chosen to bid for an event in cooperation with a professional organizing company. The Organizing Connection, specialized in organizing international sports events, has teamed up with NFB to organize the WUCC. The company has a strong reputation and has operated both nationally and internationally. On their resume, among others: 6x UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships: four times in the Netherlands, once in Louisville, USA (2013) and once in Luxembourg, which is yet to come (2017), UCI Road World Championships (2012-2014), 10x Davis Cup meeting for Dutch and Belgian national team, ATP Champions Tour (2003-present), UCI BMX World Championships (2014), 2015 UCI Junior Track World Championships (Astana, KAZ) and 2015 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships.
In Leeuwarden NFB found a perfect partner. The city is capital of the northern province of Friesland, known for its green surroundings with lakes and recreation areas. The Frisian capital is a true royal residence with a beautiful and historic city centre, a wealth of nationally listed buildings, surprising shops and nice outdoor cafés. At the same time, it has the most modern facilities for residents, students and entrepreneurs. Leeuwarden is proud to have been elected as the 2018 European Capital of Culture. The awarding of the WUCC would be ‘the cherry on top of the cake’ for the cultural program. On the other hand, the extra attention generated by the Capital of Culture can prove to be of use when promoting the 2018 WUCC.
