19.7.2004

Turku, Finland (July 19, 2004)– The Finnish Flying Disc Association and the World Flying Disc Federation have announced the final schedule for the Ultimate & Guts Championships (WUGC) in Turku, Finland, July 31 – August 7, 2004.

The WUGC – held once every four years – is an elite international competition drawing more than 75 Ultimate Frisbee and Guts teams from 23 nations and 6 continents.  Participating countries will send Ultimate teams for competition in up to 6 divisions; Open, Women, Mixed, Masters, Juniors (under 20) Boys & Junior Girls. Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Sweden and the USA will each send a team in every division. Six countries will
also compete in the flying disc sport of Guts.

Opening ceremonies will take place at Paavo Nurmi Stadium on the evening of July 31, and will conclude with a feature game between Open division rivals, Finland and Australia. Over 400 games will be played on 19 fields in the cities of Turku, Kaarina and Raisio, Finland.  Finals are to take place at Veritas stadium in Turku on August 7th.

For real-time score updates, team profiles, a complete tournament schedule and full list of participating countries, please visit www.wugc2004.org.

Requests for WUGC media accreditation may be made through the media section of the tournament website (www.wugc2004.org/media/), or by contacting WUGC press officer, Marja Jokinen, at press-at-wugc2004.org by July 23, 2004. Working facilities, local bus transportation and meals will be provided for accredited media, although space is limited.

Ultimate is a non-contact disc sport played by two teams of seven players. The object of the game is to score goals, which is accomplished by passing the disc until it is caught by an offensive player in the end-zone of the opposing team. Ultimate combines the strategy American football and basketball, but is played at a continuous pace, much like America football or rugby. Further information on the game of Ultimate in the USA may be found at www.upa.org, or
at www.wfdf.org.

The Finnish Flying Disc Association (FFDA) is the tournament host, and is the governing body for all flying disc sports in Finland. The FFDA was founded in 1978 and is a member of the Finnish Sports Federation.

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is the recognized international governing body for the sport of Ultimate, and other disc sports. WFDF has member associations in 46 countries, and is a full member of both GAISF (General Association of International Sports Federations) and IWGA
(International World Games Association).

For additional information:

World Ultimate & Guts Championships 2004
Communications:

Marja Jokinen
+358 50 581 0264, marja-at-wugc2004.org

Michael Iacovella
US mobile: (201) 396 9896, mike-at-iacovella.com