In 2021 when PDFA was formed, the long-term vision was for the organization to be a governing body and to further grow the game as a sport. The intention was to provide you, our fans and followers, with comprehensive rules and updates as needed, tools for hosting tournaments, and to encourage the community to host their own events with the assistance of PDFA.
We realized there would need to be a period of transition and we also did not want to have too many years go by without any events, which is why we have worked so hard these past 4 years to bring you at least one tournament each year.
For those that are not aware, PDFA used to exist under the name KanJam League and Eric Klavoon has been the driving force behind KanJam League/PDFA since it’s inception in 2005. His passion for this sport has been evident in the time, effort, and heart he put into all of the events, leagues, and tournaments that have taken place over the years, working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure each tournament went as smoothly as possible. So smoothly you probably didn’t even realize he was the one behind it all…
A major event in PDFA history has always been the Discflect World Championship. While hosting the World Championship and other tournaments wasn’t one of the original intentions, we have always tried hard to maintain that tournament as a premier event despite the large amount of time and effort it takes each year to pull it off – months of planning and countless hours are needed to organize and host that tournament.
We’ve had many outstanding tournaments over the years through all kinds of weather: rain and mud, extreme wind, hot and sunny, indoor Classics – you name it, we’ve experienced it! Last year’s World Championship was one of our favorites, especially being at a great venue like Buffalo RiverWorks.
That is why it is hard for us to make this announcement: We (Eric and Kim Klavoon) will not be involved with planning and hosting tournaments moving forward. That is not to say that there won’t be any tournaments in the future! But we will be stepping down. Life has gotten busy and hectic, and we are handling some personal things as well, so we are taking a step back to spend time with our son and our families.
That being said, we will still be involved in the larger picture for PDFA, including some projects already in the works.
Since 2005, we have taken on the task of fully planning and organizing multiple tournaments: 14 indoor Classics, 16 World Championships, 168 league nights over 15 years (seasons), and a slew of other tournaments and events. The planning process for the World Championship alone takes 6+ months with final prep taking up our entire summer. It’s like planning for a wedding every year! We know we wouldn’t have been able to pull this off without the help we’ve had along the way from family and friends and the PDFA board. We truly thank you all for that and value your help immensely. We are going to miss it, but it is time for us to pass the torch not just locally in the Buffalo, NY area, but anywhere else the sport wants to grow!
As you may or may not know, KanJam and discflect has been a HUGE part of our lives these past 20 years. We met at the World Championship in 2006, Eric proposed at that same tournament (6 years later in front of 200+ people!!), we played discflect at our wedding, Kim played in a World Championship while 7 months pregnant!, and we’ve enjoyed bringing our son to various tournaments since 2019.
We do not come to this decision lightly, but it is time for us to step aside as tournament coordinators and organizers. We have so enjoyed putting on all of the different tournaments over the years! Our true passion is to be players though, and we’d like to get back to that.
PDFA moving forward
To clarify, PDFA is NOT going away! But now it is time for the transition and we want to pass the tournament planning torch to the community officially. We want *you* to be able to host your own events and tournaments! In the coming weeks, we will be adding a page to the website that can be used as a tool for planning your own tournaments and determining the different levels and options you might have.
The championship tournament for discflect has a rich history dating back to the 90’s and we’d love for that history and tradition to be continued. We encourage the discflect community to plan for and host their own tournaments and we also encourage you to reach out to others within the community and plan together! Many hands make light work and pulling off a tournament will be best with a team effort. As long as you let us know about your event, we’ll be able to add it to the list on the website! Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
PDFA will still exist as the governing body and PDFA.com will be maintained as a resource for rules and tournament results, along with the history of the sport and past tournaments. Keep following along on our social media pages for future announcements and possible tournaments!
Thank you all for the many amazing friendships and memories we’ve made along the way! We love you all and are looking forward to this next chapter in the discflect and PDFA story!
Eric & Kim Klavoon
