After several years of pandemic disruption, the WFDF World Overall is back on the schedule. The dates are July 31st  through August 6th, hosted by Rick LeBeau in San Diego, CA. The return of this event is notable for a number of reasons. Overall (multi-event) meets have a long history in disc sports, but it’s no secret that they are very challenging to run. The diversity of the events brings with it a similarly diverse need for specialized venues, equipment and staffing. In short, overall events are huge fun, but also a huge amount of work to pull off. It requires a very special combination of event sites and staffing experience. Also, overall puts significant demands on the competitors. There are seven different challenging events and each requires unique training, preparation and equipment. There are lots of disc golfers and ultimate players who would love to take on the challenges of overall, but it’s a very tough fit for their competitive schedules. Thus, the number of players able to consistently participate in overall, is relatively small in comparison to the larger disc sports.

 

At the peak of overall’s popularity at US Opens in the 1980’s, we had over 300 players and up to ten day schedules, but that size event requires very significant logistical support and funding. The smaller, less elaborate, events of more recent years have relied at least partially on player staffing and more simple formats. With that approach, the event mechanics and economics have worked best with player entry numbers between 80 and 100. With the break in continuity caused by the pandemic, it may be challenging to get that number of players for our 2022 event in San Diego.