From the 2nd July through to the 8th July, the University of Nottingham is proud to be hosting the World Flying Disc Federation World Under-24 World Championships at our Highfields Sports Complex. This will see the highest level of ultimate play that is accessible for those of university age and we are delighted to be hosts of this prestigious tournament with UK Ultimate. The week-long event is usually hosted every 2 years but due to Coronavirus, the last tournament took place in 2019 in Heidelberg, Germany and the 2023 edition expects to see teams from at least 20 nations, comprising approximately 1000 athletes, participating.
The competition will be the first World Championships of any sport to be held on the University of Nottingham campus and University of Nottingham Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West said of the upcoming tournament; “University of Nottingham is thrilled to be the host of the 2023 World U24 Ultimate Championships at Highfields Sports Complex. We are perfectly set-up to host a major international event of this calibre, bringing together competition venues, training facilities, accommodations, and catering in a world-class environment. We hope to create a warm welcome to players, coaches, officials and supporters from around the World, and wish everyone involved in the tournament the very best of luck!”
Si Hill, CEO of UK Ultimate, added; “We are absolutely delighted to be hosting the WFDF 2023 World U24 Ultimate Championships. It’s exciting to get back to running large-scale WFDF tournaments after our successful events in 2015-16 and to bring international Ultimate back to the UK. WU24 will be held at University of Nottingham, our long-standing event partner, and we’re happy to be working on something new together. We trust that WU24 will prove to be an inspiring experience for all involved. Good luck to all nations in their preparations for WU24. We look forward to welcoming you to Nottingham.”
There will also be plenty of University of Nottingham representation on the field of play across the week as students from both our Nottingham and Ningbo China campuses will be in action. Ningbo students Gao Shuqiao and Yang Mingxi will both be a part of the Chinese National team, whilst Zhang Keyuan and Wu Hanze were also selected for the side but have not been able to travel.
Marina Symington, Kei Watanabe and Emily Stewart from our University Park campus is Nottingham will all compete for Great Britain with Marina and Emily part of the Women’s side, whilst Kei will play in the Open Team. Emily Symington, a 3rd year Medical student, will captain the Women’s side. Her team mate Marina Symington, an Economics student alongside Kei, has captained the University of Nottingham Women’s team to a 3rd place finish at BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Indoor Nationals and a 4th place finish at BUCS Outdoor Nationals.
Before the tournament begins we spoke to Marina who said; “I started playing ultimate here at the University of Nottingham back in 2019 as a first year and quickly fell in love with the sport. The frisbee community is so welcoming and I was lucky enough to have great role models around me who took an active interest in improving and developing me as a player. In ultimate there really is a place for everyone. You can join more casually for the social aspect, or to keep fit, but there is also scope to play at the highest level, even if you only get into the sport at university like myself. It's amazing to be part of such an inclusive community and rapidly expanding sport - I would encourage everyone to give ultimate a go! This sport has opened up so many opportunities for me. I've travelled around the UK and Europe, met people from all over the world, and pushed myself in ways I never thought I would. Being selected to play for the GB U24s women's team this summer is a huge honour and a dream come true, made even more special by the World U24 Championships being in my home town Nottingham! I'm so excited to match up against talented players from around the world and see the GB team's hard work pay off.”
If you are unable to make it to Highfields to catch some of the action, spectators from around the world will be able to watch up to 65 live games, including the semi-finals and finals, all streamed exclusively via WFDF’s subscription partnership with Ultiworld.
Interested in working with us on your tournament or major event? We've put together an informational brochure with all you need to know which can be
viewed online here.
Posted on Friday 30th June 2023