Get Ready for City vs City 2019 Finals – Feb 9th @ 2p EST/8p CET

City vs City 2019City vs City 2019 Finals are almost upon us: Feb 9 @ 2p EST/8p CET. It’s time to find out who will be crowed the heinest city for 2019. 

In one corner we have New York City. New York made a strong showing in Round 1, with back and forth scoring. They had a few early drops but mostly their play was exciting and on the edge. They also came with some choreography for the opening CoOp and Pairs battles, ending with the patented leg trap.

In the other corner we have Berlin. In Round 2 they started off slow, losing the opening rounds but then brought the hammer in 1v1, with zero mistakes or hesitation. In 1v1 they showed a high level of creativity and tradition “hein”, with multiple spinning combos and huge catches.

New York’s keys to victory will be to take control early, and dictate the pace. If they can take CoOp and Pairs and then continue to shred into 1v1, they could run away with an early win before Berlin has a chance to show all their skills. If Berlin starts winning battles, New York will have its work cut out to keep up. Having a 2 point lead going into 1v1 could make a big difference.

Berlin’s keys to victory are to weather the early storm, and pull ahead at the end. If Berlin plays as they did in Round 2, there may a be a turning point moment where they score a key victory. At this point, strategically choosing players and shredding will put the pressure on New York. If New York cracks, Berlin could end up a stronger roster near the end of 1v1 and ultimately winning. 

What do you think are the keys to victory for each city?

City vs City Round 2: Results

Results

Co-op Battle:
Bologna: Manual Cesari, Andrea Piemonteses, Gianluca Giglio
vs
Berlin: Freddy Finner, Fabian Dinklage, Benjamin Edelmann:
Winner: Bologna

Pairs Battle:
Bologna: Mattia Lambertini, Andrea Sarti
Berlin: Merhdad Hossenien, Stefan Dunkel
Winner: Bologna

1v1 Battles:

Bologna: Gianluca Giglio
vs
Benjamin Edelmann 
Winner: Berlin

Berlin: Fabian Dinklage
vs
Bologna: Mattia Lambertini
Winner: Bologna

Berlin: Freddy Finner
vs
Bologna: Andrea Piemonteses
Winner: Berlin

Berlin: Stefan Dunkel
vs
Bologna: Manual Cesari
Winner: Berlin

Berlin: Merhdad Hossenien
vs
Bologna: Andrea Sarti
Winner: Berlin

 

Berlin moves on to the finals on Feb 9, 2019. Don’t miss it.

City vs City: Round 2 – Bologna vs Berlin – Who Will Make the Finals?

With Round 1 in the books, it’s time to find out who will face New York in the finals on Feb 9th.

In one corner we have Bologna, Italy. They were the winners of last years, City vs City test against Seattle. They have experience on their side, and deep pockets to boot.

In the other corner we have Berlin, Germany. While this is their first online battle, it could be argued that some of the most talented Freestyle Frisbee players in the world reside in Berlin these days.

You’ll have to tune in tomorrow, 1/26/2019 @ 6:00p UTC+1 / 8:00a PST to find out who will move on.

Representing Bologna

  • Manuel Cesari
  • Mattia Lambertini
  • Andrea Piemontese
  • Andrea Sarti
  • Gianluca Giglio

Representing Berlin

  • Graf Mördi
  • Freddy Finner
  • Fabian Dinklage
  • Stefan Dünkel
  • Thomas Nötzel
  • ALT: Benjamin “Benno” Edelmann

City vs City 2019 Round 1: Replay and Results

Click for Results

Click to view results

Results

CoOp Battle:
Medellin: Santiago Piedrahita, Juan Piercing, Andres Rivera
vs
New York: Daniel O’Neill, Rob Fried, Roger Meier
Winner: New York

Pairs Battle
New York: James Wiseman, Ted Oberhaus
vs
Medellin: Pablo Azul, Dreison Arango
Winner: Medellin

1v1 Battles

Medellin: Juan Piercing
vs
New York: Roger Meier
Winner: Medellin

Medellin: Andres Rivera
vs
New York: Rob Fried
Winner: New York

New York: Ted Oberhaus
vs
Medellin: Santiago Piedrahita
Winner: New York

York: Daniel O’Neill
vs
Medellin: Dreison Arango
Winner: New York

York: James Wiseman
vs
Medellin: Pablo Azul
Winner: New York

New York City moves on to the finals on Feb 9, 2019. Don’t miss it.

Announcing City vs City 2019

City vs City 2019

It’s been just over a year since the first ever City vs City online Freestyle Flying disc competition. That event was a test to see if the concept could work. With it’s success, we began planning for the next iteration. And now, it’s official: City vs City Championships 2019 are now scheduled for the early part of 2019.

Four cities from four different countries and three different continents are slated to compete for the Most Hein City for 2019! Which cities have thrown down the gauntlet and put their City on the line? New York (USA), Medellin (Colombia), Berlin (Germany), and Bologna (Italy). Tune in here to watch.

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The City vs City 2019 Schedule

  • Jan 12: SEMI-FINAL 1 – New York vs Medellin (2:00 PM Eastern St. Time, US)
  • Jan 26: SEMI-FINAL 2 – Berlin vs Bologna
  • Feb 9: FINALS – Winners Battle for the crown

The Competition

Overview

Each city will put forth 5 champions to represent their honor. Players will compete in a head-to-head / battle style format as individuals and as groups to earn points for their city.

Three (3) judges watching via an online video conference, will assess the play, and determine during each battle which team or player won that round. This year’s 2019 judges are all members of the Freestyle Flying Disc Hall of Fame and may use any criteria they see fit based on their Hall of Faming expertise. The player’s job is to go out and “shred to impress” the judges.

The Technology

All locations will be connected via a web based video conference. Each location can see every other location in the conference. The locations: City 1, City 2, The Frisbeeguru Tech Room (the hosts). Music will be played by the Frisbeeguru Tech Room, through the video conference. Judges will join in a separate conference where they will see exactly what the live stream audience sees. From there, judges can confer and render a vote.

The Contest

The contest consist of a Co-Op team battle, a Pairs team battle, and five 1v1 battles. Each battle is worth 1 point, for a total possible 7 points. The judges watch each team/player and choose a winner. There is only one chance to play each battle, so players have to their A games. There is also a bit of strategy involved. Each battle has a choice: pick first or play first.

The competition will run like this….

  1. The event begins with a disc toss. The winning city will get to decide: pick first or play first. Example: City B wins the toss and chooses to pick first. Now, City B will identify their Co-Op team and Pairs team. Next, City A will identify their Co-op and Pairs teams and may opt to adjust their teams based on the composition of City B’s teams.
  2. Co-Op begins. Since City A picked second, their Co-op team will play first with each team playing 3 minutes. At the end, the judges will render a vote for a the team they feel played the best. The team with the most votes wins 1 point.
  3. Next up is pairs. The losing Co-Op team may choose to play first or second. There is no “pick” in this round because both teams were decided previously. The Pairs teams will play for 2 minutes. At the end, judges will render a vote for the team they feel played the best. The team with the most votes wins 1 point.
  4. Finally, teams will play in a 1v1 battle format. The losing team the previous round (Pairs or the last Battle of 1v1) will choose; pick first or play first. For example: If City A chooses to play first, City B will pick their player who will play second. Then, City A will choose who they wish to put up against City B’s choice. Now, City A plays first, and City B plays second. Each player receives 1 throw and does their best trick. At the end, the three judges will render a vote for the player they feel played the best. That player’s team wins 1 point. This cycle continues until all 5 players from each team have played, with each battle being worth 1 point.
  5. At this end, the team with the most points is the winner. 

Is there anything that is overlooked or not clear? And which do you think is better…pick first or play first?

Freestyle Disc to Be a Part of the Inaugural World Urban Games in Los Angeles, 2019!

This is such exciting news for Freestyle Frisbee that I just had to share: Freestyle Frisbee is set to be a part of the inaugural World Urban Games (WUG) in Los Angeles, California, USA Budapest, Hungary in 2019! Freestyle Frisbee will be featured in the 5 3 day event (Sept 18-22 Sept 13-15).

World Urban Games is a new event, hosted by The Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). According to their site, “GAISF’s vision is to present a united voice of sport in support of the Olympic ideals and of the Olympic movement and promote sport at every level and in every corner of the world, from grassroots to elite, wherever its members have national organizations and events.”

The World Urban Games event is an effort to give exposure to up-and-coming, modern sports. 

“The programme and festival will showcase all that is best about sports which have been forged by youth and urban culture and which celebrate competition, creativity, lifestyle and the engagement between competitors and fans.” – GAISF President Patrick Baumann

Sounds to me like a perfect description of Freestyle Frisbee. The GAISF must have agreed, since they started with a list 14 eligible sports and narrowed their selection down to 7.

How did freestyle get to be a part of this? Back in 2014 the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) approached the Freestyle Player’s Association (FPA) about pitching freestyle disc as part of their bid for flying disc to be a part of WUG. As members of WFDF, the FPA gave full support. Various jammers world-wide (Germany, France, USA) provided photos and videos of freestyle in urban settings. From there, WFDF made the proposal to GAISF. Freestyle was eventually accepted for eligibility and then made the final cut for inclusion.

Having Freestyle added as an eligible sport for the first edition of the World Urban Games means bringing another Flying Disc sport to a Multisport Games presence, which is a major step for the development of Freestyle internationally, opening new opportunities for our community.” – Kevin “Skippy” Givens, WFDF Freestyle Committee Chair

For 2019, the city of Los Angeles will build a new new urban park specifically for WUG in El Segundo (CA). There will be ~700 competitors, a music festival, and the event is expected to be the focus of global media attention. Competition events will include 3×3 Basketball (FIBA), BMX Freestyle (UCI), Sports Climbing  Bouldering (IFSC), Break Dance (WDSF), Freestyle Flying Disc (WFDF), Parkour (FIG), Skateboard Street and Park (World Skate), Roller Freestyle (World Skate).

This is quite possibly the largest international venue that our sport has ever been presented on, which is a tremendous opportunity for world-wide exposure of freestyle disc!

The FPA is stepping up to prepare. Their plan is to present a mixed pairs event with 12 internationally represented teams from as many different countries as possible; with a maximum of 3 teams per country.  The FPA is also investigating sponsorship opportunities for competitors and staff, to ensure that the best of our sport will be represented at this event. This is an amazing chance for teams to perform in front of a huge crowd, and be pioneers in representing the sport on the world stage.

I, for one, am hugely excited about freestyle being selected for the World Urban Games. I look forward to keeping track of the preparation progress and with helping out in any way I can. If you want to help out too, you can always support the FPA by becoming a member, donating, shopping, or volunteering.

For more details, check out the links below.

What are your thoughts about this opportunity? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Golden Gate Shred 2018 Results

Ryan Vacation

Photo by Lars Åke Vinberg

Over the past weekend (Nov 3-4 2018) the Bay Area freestyle crew hosted the Golden Gate Shred 2018, freestyle Frisbee hat tournament. 16 competitors and even more friends, family, and jammers descended on Ocean Beach, San Fransisco for a fun a time and to test their beach jamming skills.

The competition took place on Saturday. Players where ranked into “A” and “B” groups. “A” players names were put into a hat and B players drew the names to form teams. After a 20 minute to warm up the teams then showed their best moves to random music for 3 minutes. They were judged using the standard FPA categories.

The large volume of hard packed sand made up for the light wind, giving teams plenty of room to run. Making the finals were the teams of Art Viger & Jan Schreck, Jake Gauthier & Johnny O’Malley, Arthur Coddington & Jim Dodelson, and Pavel Baranak & Scott Weaver.

What a treat to see Art Viger, former World Juniors freestyle champion back on the field. He and Jan both hit some tasty moves, with Jan doing the outer rim delay like no on else can and Art hitting moves as if he never quit playing. Jake and Johnny had a nice connection, hitting several passes and big catches. Arthur and Jim stepped up the technical skills hitting multiple spinning combos and some nice, close up center delay exchanges. None of them could out do Pavel and Scott. They definitively won in all three categories, making great catches, multiple spins, technical skids and turnovers, and quirky combos to seal the victory. I must say, Pavel is having an amazing year; FPAW, Beach Stylers, EFO, and now Golden Gate Shred.

The rest of the weekend was filled with sun, kind wind, great friends, and the kind of fun that can only be had at freestyle Frisbee gathering. Thanks to Pavel, Jan, and Arthur for hosting! We hope to see you back on the beach in 2019. Full results are below:

Golden Gate Shred, Group

Photo by Lars Åke Vinberg

 

Jam Britania 4 Will be Live Streamed

Jam Britania 4Thanks to Chris Bellaj, Jam Britania 4 will be live streamed.

Jam Britania 4 is the fourth annual Freestyle Frisbee event based in London, England. Hosted by Jason Salkey and crew, this event is always huge success. They have a great indoor gym with ample space to jam and compete and their vibe is of the utmost pleasance. Given that this is one of the last events for the year, there is always a great turnout as players want to get in their last jams before the brief winter hiatus.

The event takes place on November 10 – 11 and will include Open pairs and Co-op and a possible Westerfield Challenge. Several world champions, top ranked players, up and comers, as well as a blast from London jam scene’s past, Konn Kummins are all slated to attend. If you can’t be there in person, then you certainly won’t want to miss the action on the stream.

Thanks, Chris, for bringing us the action and thanks, Jason, for hosting such a great event.

You can tune in to watch here.

Learn more about the event on the facebook page.

Beach Stylers 2018: Results Updated – New Open Pairs Winners

Beach StylersCongratulations to Pavel Baranak and Harry Skomroch who are the official open pairs winners of Beach Styler’s 2018!

It was originally announced the Jake Gauthier and Dave Schiller took first place, with Pavel and Harry coming in second place by a .1 difference. However, after the event concluded, Dave (being the diligent tournament co-director that he is) went back and re-calculated the numbers. This time he did not round the number to tenths (.1), but rather to hundredths (.01). With this new and more precise calculation, the corrected scores are:

Pavel and Harry: 26.48 (1st)

Dave and Jake: 26.42 (2nd)

It’s amazing just how close the scores were! And, Kudos to Dave for going back to double-check the math to ensure the correct results. Pavel and Harry really deserve this win! Congratulations to both of them, and If you’re curious to see how great both these teams (and everyone else) played, check out the video replays here.

Beach Stylers 2018 Videos and Results

Click to see Results

Open Pairs Semi

Open Pairs Finals

Turbo Shred – All

Airbrush Race – All

Results

Mob-Op Idol Categories with Winners – 2018

(runners-up in parentheses)

Zen Master (Best Man Overall) Jake Gauthier 12 total votes
Disc Diva Deluxe (Best Woman Overall) Amy Schiller 13 total votes
Kinder Setter (Makes others play better) Bob Boulware 6 total votes

(Jay 3 votes)

Clamp-O-Matic (Timeliest Catches) Dave Lewis 3 total votes
Zzzzs Wiz (Throwing Wizardry) Harry S. 7 total votes

(Pavel 3 votes)

Energizer (Human Jam Battery) Brett Schramek 4 total votes

(tied with Bob)

Death Jammer (Most Calories Burned) Johnny Trevino 7 total votes

(schillz 4 votes)

  Amazing Grace (Divine Form and Flow) Julianna Korver 3 total votes

(Brian, Jesse, & Amy-2 votes each)

Sweet Butta Rolls (Rolling Prowess) Joel Rogers 4 total votes

(tie w/Bob, Gus 3 votes)

Flash (Athletic/Technical Savvy) Pavel Baranyk 8 total votes

(Johnny & schillz-3 votes each)

SuperSaver (Tenacious Recoveries) Mike Galloupe 4 total votes

(Johnny & Dave L-3 votes each)

Bust-a-Move (Outstanding New Jammer/Most improved) Kim Larkin 3 total votes

(3 way tie of previous years winners)

Yoda (Disc-pencer of Jamming Wisdom) John Anthony 5 total votes

Open Pairs – featuring schillz’s custom binary system 

[only the top 10, 1-10, difficulty phrase scores are averaged, and execution (.02 point deduction for a drop, .01 point deduction for a bobble or “the”) is deducted from a “perfect” 1 point (instead of 10) and used as a multiplier against an averaged, 5 category, (teamwork, form, flow, vibe and variety), 1-10 point, artistic subtotal, to get an artistic impression score. Add the difficulty to the execution deducted, AI score for a team’s total score]

Semi pool A

7th – Kim & Charles Logan                        25 points

6th – Dave Zeff & Jesse S.                         28.1 points

5th – Jay Hinkle & Gerry Geare               30.1 points

4th – Billy Caplin & Joel Rogers               31 points

3rd – Brett & Brian McElwain                      34.1 points

2nd – Harry & Pavel                                  39.3 points  

1st – Dave Lewis & Jim Dodelson               41 points

Semi pool B

6th – Tim Troy & Gus                                  19.4 points

5th – Julianna Korver & Rick LeBeau          22.9 points

4th – Marie Geare & Danny Miles                 25.2 points

3rd – Amy Schiller and Lori Daniels              32.7 points

2nd – Mike Galloupe & Johnny Trevino         36 points

1st – Jake Gauthier & schillz                         43.4 points

Final

8th – Marie & Danny                                      14.4 points

7th – Billy and Joel                                         14.7 points …….and, no, they didn’t play to Billy Joel…. ;~}

6th – Amy & Lori                                             17.3 points 

5th – Brett and Brian                                       18.4 points

4th – Mike and Johnny                                    22.2 points

3rd – Dave L. & Jimmy D.                                23.4 points

2nd Jake & schillz                                            26.42 points   *Revised

1st Pavel & Harry                                             26.48 points  *Revised

Air Brush Race

Pool Winners

#1 – Pavel

#2 – Rick

#3 – Jake

#4 – Billy

Final

4th – Billy

3rd – Rick

2nd – Jake

1st – Pavel

Turboshred

semi pool A                          Average best score

8th – Kim                                         no catch

7th – Brett                                          71.0

6th – Charles                                     75.8

5th – Johnny                                      83.8

4th – Jimmy D.                                   84.8

3rd – Amy                                           85.5

2nd – Pavel                                        87.5

1st – Jake                                           87.8

semi pool B

8th – Lori                                            71.5

7th – Danny                                        74.3

6th – Mike                                           76

4th (tie) – Brian                                    77.5

4th (tie) – Harry                                    77.5

3rd – Julianna                                      79.8

2nd – Zeff                                             81.3

1st – Dave L.                                        90.8

final                   

4th – Zeff                                             77.0

3rd – Pavel                                         89.3

2nd – Jake                                          92.2

1st – Dave L.                                       93..8