According to a formal survey conducted by the WFDF of its member associations, the number of competitors fell by a third in 2021 and it has struggled to recover since.

Participation figures were originally sitting around 174,000 in 2020, but this has now dropped to an estimated 117,000.

Disc golf was the only discipline to be unaffected negatively by COVID-19 with it experiencing significant growth instead.

However, Robert Rauch, the President of the WFDF, admitted to the Congress here that "we have lost players who may never comeback" while also stressing all of sport "is facing the exact same challenges."

This issue was discussed during the Congress, along with what solutions could be found.

USA Ultimate managing director Will Deaver remarked that one of the strongest ways the member association is battling to regain participants is by simply staging more competitions.

"We are cramming in as many events as he can," Deaver said at the Congress in the Marriot Cincinnati Northeast Hotel.

"The demand from lifelong players seems to be still there.

"There is a group of players and teams where the critical mass was borderline before the pandemic and you see the drop off there."

He added that as USA Ultimate remained understaffed in comparison to pre-pandemic levels, the organisation is advocating for greater support for their volunteers and localised structure.

Building on from his compatriot, USA Ultimate chief executive Tom Crawford commented that the member association is promoting the ultimate 4x4 format to bring greater participation at youth levels with one reason being it requires less participants.

This format is the one the WFDF is proposing for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Ultimate Canada executive director Danny Saunders established that they are strategising around online coaching.

He said it helps the association to "go into smaller communities" and involve children who may not have trainers.

At the elite level, the effects of the COVID-19 crisis are clear with all WFDF events in 2020 either postponed or cancelled and all World Championships set for last year suffering the same fate.

The Beach Ultimate World Championships, originally scheduled for April 2022, was cancelled due to ongoing travel restrictions.

Most national championships were also postponed or cancelled in 2020, although this started to change the following year with several countries staging their national competitions in the second half of 2021.

The WFDF is hopeful of mitigating the consequences by not staging these events by having several major events this year, including the World Ultimate Club Championships and the World Overall Flying Disc Championships.

This is in addition to the events that have already been staged, such as the Masters Ultimate Club Championships and The World Games, which flying disc is part of.

Other developments at the Congress include the WFDF expressing its belief it will surpass the 110 member associations mark next year.

Senegal, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Guatemala, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Fiji, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Myanmar, San Marino, Monaco, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia are potential countries that may join the International Federation in the coming 12 months.

Several reports were also approved unanimously, including the 2022 audited financial statements, 2023 budget, 2022 auditor and the revision of its bylaws.