World Flying Disc Federation

WFDF ANNOUNCES COMMENTARY TEAM FOR WORLD ULTIMATE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

The World Flying Disc Federation is pleased to announce the core commentary team for the WFDF 2018 World Ultimate and Club Championships (WUCC) in Cincinnati, Ohio this summer.

WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch noted that “for the first time at perhaps any World Championship event — in any sport involving both men and women — the on‐air commentators and the production and technical staff will be comprised of more than 50 percent female professionals. Stay tuned for more important announcements about our additional coverage and distribution partners.”

This news follows the announcement in March that Fulcrum Media Group has been named the official production coverage provider for the event.

WUCC 2018, the premier club championship event for Ultimate, will be held 14‐21 July, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. More than 3,500 athletes on 128 teams from 36 countries are competing and, for the first time, WUCC will have a team gender balance, with 40 teams each in the Men’s and Women’s Division and 48 Mixed Gender teams. The tournament website.

“We’ve hired the best and the brightest, with an emphasis on storytelling and audience engagement,” said Tim Rockwood, Executive Producer for the WUCC broadcasts, who also oversaw the WFDF 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate in Royan, France and the WFDF 2016 World Ultimate and Guts Championships in London. “In addition, we are privileged to have four seasoned Ultimate veterans competing or coaching at Worlds who will join us in the booth for commentary: Chuck Kindred, GeeGee Morrison, Qxhna Titcomb, and Robyn Wiseman.”

The lead commentators for the WFDF 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships are:

EMI FITZGERALD

Emi is an advertising communications pro by day but taps into her broadcast background and love of Ultimate as part of our commentary team. She began her career in local news as an anchor and reporter, which included color commentary for basketball and golf tournaments. She has played Ultimate for several club teams since learning about the sport during cross country practice in high school. She serves as co‐chair of the Dallas Ultimate Association Women’s Subcommittee and earned a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.

LIAM GRANT

Liam, who lives on the west coast of Ireland, previously worked as a commentator at the WFDF 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate and the WFDF 2015 Under 23 World Championships. He has represented Ireland at many international events, including the European Ultimate Championship and the European Championships of Beach Ultimate, and captained the Irish Mixed team at the WFDF 2016 World Ultimate and Guts Championships. Tall and easily sunburnt, Liam makes up for what he lacks in talent in food‐related catchphrases.

EVAN LEPLER

Evan, a professional play‐by‐play announcer for more than a decade, is in his sixth season broadcasting Ultimate and his fourth year contributing to the sport's World Championship event coverage. Based in Winston‐Salem, North Carolina, Evan also calls a variety of college football and college basketball games for numerous national and regional outlets, including the ACC Network and ESPN. He spent seven years broadcasting minor league baseball and has served as the primary "Voice of the AUDL" since 2014. A 2007 graduate of Wake Forest University, he started playing Ultimate as a freshman and captained the school's club team during his junior and senior seasons.

HANNAH PENDLEBURY

Now based in Portsmouth, Hannah was first enticed into playing Ultimate in 2009 at university in Kent, following in the footsteps of her older brother. Since then she has played right up to the dizzying heights of the international scene. Following an early season knee injury in 2017, Hannah combined her love of Ultimate with her background in radio commentary to keep attending the UK domestic events she was unable to play in. A financial advisor by trade, her commentary style is brim‐full of passion ‐ after covering the EUF Championship women's final, she was so excited that she had to lay face down on the floor for five minutes... She hopes to bring some of the same fire to Cincinnati!

TOM STYLES

Tom has been an Ultimate player since 1998, and an active contributor to the coverage of our sport since 2002 as a commentator, photographer, blogger, writer, and video producer. The "Voice of UK Ultimate" is known for his lively ultimate video podcast “Blockstack.TV” with longtime collaborator Steve Giguere. Tom has brought his trademark bush hat, and instantly recognizable pace and enthusiasm to play‐by‐play coverage at major UK, European and Worlds tournaments for over 10 years, including UK Nationals, Paganello, WUGC in Vancouver, WUCC in Prague, WU23UC and WUGC in London, WCBU in Royan, and the World Games in Wroclaw for the Olympic Channel.

BECKY THOMPSON

Becky is a recent graduate of the University of Guelph and has a passion for sports journalism. She joined Ultimate Canada as communications manager in October 2017. Through Canadian events, she has been able to develop her commentary skills first as a volunteer and now continues to do so in her professional position. Becky started playing Ultimate over 10 years ago and recently represented her country at the WFDF 2018 Under 24 World Championships in Perth, Australia.

IAN TONER

Currently based in Denver, Ian is a familiar face on the American Ultimate scene, as a frequent contributor to broadcasts for USA Ultimate, AUDL, and international games for ESPN, Ditch, NGN Ultimate and other platforms. Ian captained the Canisius HS DISCiples to third place at the 2008 New York State Championships and was part of the second Virginia Night Train team ever to win the Atlantic Coast regional championship and qualify for USA Ultimate College Championships, in 2011. More recently he won gold at the 2016 USA Ultimate Beach National Championships with his team “And The Warhawks.”

MEGAN TORMEY

Megan started playing Ultimate at the University of Chicago in 2002. In 2005, she began playing with Nemesis, the elite women's club team from Chicago and continued playing until 2016. She began broadcasting ultimate in the American Ultimate Disc League in 2013 and has since branched out to broadcasting in the club and international divisions.

About WFDF:

The World Flying Disc Federation is the international sports federation responsible for world governance of flying disc (frisbee) sports, including Ultimate, Beach Ultimate, Disc Golf, Freestyle, Guts and Overall Events. WFDF is a federation of 79 member associations that represent flying disc sports and their athletes in over 77 countries. WFDF is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and it is a member of the Association of Recognised International Federations (ARISF). WFDF is a member of GAISF and the International World Games Association (IWGA) and IMGA. It is also a signatory to the World Anti‐Doping Agency Code. WFDF is a registered not‐for‐profit 501(c)(3) corporation in the state of Colorado, USA.

For more information, please contact: Volker Bernardi, Executive Director World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) Enggasse 2a, D ‐ 55296 Harxheim

Mobile: +49 176 64 19 77 02, eMail: ed@wfdf.org