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Paga 2007: To Compete Or Not To Compete?

I am going to Paganello for the first time ever after 10 years of watching it from afar and envying those who have been able to be there. I am really excited about Paga, but more so to see all my friends after almost a year away from Europe.

The first challenge was finding a way to travel to Paganello. After searching for months, I was able to find a good airfare. Once I figured that out, another question appeared: will I compete or just jam? Experiencing Paganello is one thing, but having the experience of competing in Paganello is legendary. Will I feel like I’m missing out by not competing?

The question is actually a bit trickier now because it is so late. There are only a few weeks until Paga, and most players have already teamed up. Usually I have been able to put together superteams of elite players, and that has spoiled me because superteams have a tendency to place well.

No superteam this year, but competing at Paganello with the rising European stars might be just as fun. I had a great time playing in Köln with Flo Hess.

And here is the quandary. In order to compete in Paga, I need to find a team soon, but part of my process for finding a team is finding a bond – jamming with someone, knowing them. For instance, Flo and I had jammed for a few weeks before Köln.

If I compete at Paga, I won’t have a chance to put together the magical Paga team, the team that can capture Paga’s spirit and shred (no matter what our level is). Maybe my team will have magic; maybe it won’t. It will be sort of a blind decision.

So, now I must decide what to do. Will I be happier just jamming, like I did in Berlin? It’s nice to not have to rehearse or warm-up or conserve energy. It’s nice to just watch the competition and take photos. Or will I be happier experiencing Paga through the lens of a competition team. It’s nice to share four minutes of performance.

So, Yendor, and the entire Shrednow community…what should I do? Should I jam or should I compete? Should I compete with you? Should I compete against you? Should I leave my nails at home and go sightseeing?

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FPA Board Supports Rankings System Changes

Each year, I look at the rankings system to figure out what’s working and what might need improvement. Each year, I share proposed changes to the FPA Board along with suggestions others have made. Sometimes those changes are small; sometimes they are systemic.

Last year, we made some small changes in classifying which tournaments would offer larger point values. This year, there will be some broader changes designed to address the evolution of the freestyle tournament scene and to create some standardization toward future upgrades.

I will update the rankings section of the site soon with detailed descriptions of all the changes, but in the meantime let me outline the main changes. None of the changes affected the year-end lists (open | women) for 2006. All of the changes begin with the February 2007 lists (open | women).

Taken separately, the changes might seem strange or scary, but read through them as a package of changes that work together to keep the rankings in balance, with the goal of creating a useful reflection of current tournament performance.

Continue reading “FPA Board Supports Rankings System Changes”

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DiscCast 14 – With Larry Imperiale (Part 2)

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Feburary’s episode, number 14, brings you the second part of Larry’s
interview, where he enlightens us this time about his own personal freestyle career. Though this is a more concise episode than normal, we do have another special one-off segment, as we play a radio interview with DiscCast hosts John and Joe that was aired earlier in the month on a UK radio station.
Enjoy.

Episode 14 Timeline-

1. Intro (0:00-1:15)
2. World Freestyle News (1:17-5:18)
3. FPA News (5:19-8:08)
4. DiscCast Interview – Larry Imperiale on the FPA. (8:10-36:00)
5. Radio Lancashire Interview John and Joe. (36:01-41:10)
7. Conclusion and Goodbye (41:12-THE END)

If you have anything to say about the show, e.g. comments, suggestions, requests to be a guest, or even just that you enjoy listening, please e-mail us at
ukDiscstyle@yahoo.co.uk !

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Video: Introducing Malawi Orphans To Freestyle

Hey Everyone,

This summer John traveled to Malawi (Africa) in order to do voluntary work with
a charity (FOMO) that cares for about
3000 of the poorest orphan children in the World.

Thanks to discs donated by The
FPA and Spinning Bees, he was able to
take about 20 freestyle discs with him (and also several whiz rings and
spinjammers)! He spent a lot of time spreading the jam by showing them moves and
teaching them how to do the basics! They absolutely loved the sport and it was
really touching to see how happy it made them! Many were determined to spend
time learning to become freestylers (and they have a lot of spare time out there
with no TV’s or PC’s to entertain so they do mean business)!

John’s made a 5 minute highlights Video, showing him giving
demonstrations and teaching them how to play!

THE
VIDEO CAN BE SEEN HERE ON YOUTUBE.

Enjoy!

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DiscCast 13 – With Larry Imperiale (Part.1)

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A full year on from its beginnings, DiscCast is back, albeit a little late, for 2007. Episode 13 features the first part of our exclusive interview with
Larry Imperiale, where he talks in detail about the FPA. We also celebrate the anniversary of DiscCast with some interesting trivia, as well as a special segment on the recently announced Jammy awards.

Episode 13 Timeline-

1. Intro (0:00-2:21)
2. World Freestyle News – With a clip from Dave Lewis’ ‘Supercool’ track. (2:22-5:17)
3. FPA News (5:19-6:54)
4. DiscCast Interview – Larry Imperiale on the FPA. (6:54-28:20)
5. The Jammys 2007. (28:23-36:42)
6. DiscCast Facts – Replaces ‘Frisbee Facts’ this month! (36:43-44:26)
8. Conclusion and Goodbye (44:26-THE END)

If you have anything to say about the show, e.g. comments, suggestions, requests to be a guest, or even just that you enjoy listening, please e-mail us at
ukDiscstyle@yahoo.co.uk !

Alternatively, discuss the podcast on our thread at the fantastic FPA forum at: http://freestyledisc.org/learn_to_jam/index.php?topic=78.0

Although slightly late, this is January’s episode, and you can
expect another episode later on this month, where we’ll feature the second part
of our interview with Larry, in which he talks all about his own fascinating
career.

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Jam Reports: January

In the spirit of Tall Pall’s All Star Thursday reports on the Jammers on the Net list, I thought I would open up a space to talk about what happened in your January jams. Brag about yourself, tell us about a big move someone else did, report on a perfect co-oping moment, or just tell us how good it feels to play in the middle of the winter.

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2007 FPA Disc Design

The 2007 FPA disc design has been announced. It is a tulip themed graphic (tulips/Amsterdam – get it?) by Carolyn Yabe. Personally, I love it and can’t wait to receive mine (a perk of FPA membership).