Ultimate News: 2004 Spring by USA Ultimate

ULTIMATE NEWS A publication of the Ultimate Players Association

Vol. 24 No. 1 - Spring 2004

25 YEARS

Ultimate Players Association

1979-2004

A look back..... Ultimate Players Association 741 Pearl Street, Side Suite Boulder, CO 80302

Table of Contents

F E AT U R E S 12 14 16 22 24

College Series Preview Growing Women’s Ultimate

THE UPA TURNS 25! Sectional & Regional Coordinators of the Year What Grassroots Looks Like: Youth help grow Ultimate in their communities

26 Switching & Poaching: IN EVERY ISSUE Jim Parinella & Eric Zaslow present Ultimate tactics and 6 News Briefs techniques 28 A Dating Story: SFUL 10 Seven on the Line organizes a game for Learning 11 College Director Channel special 30 Ultimate Glory: Excerpt from David Gessner’s new book

Report

Player Profile

Cover: The final between Glassboro and Aerodisc during the 1980 National Ultimate Championships held in Atlanta, GA. Observers ruled no foul in this play. Photo by Karl Cook. This page (clockwise from top right): Lady Godiva vs. Satori in the semis at the 1991 Nationals. Photo by EA Fuchs; Iguana vs. Graffiti at 1991 Nationals. Photo by Karl Cook; Sholom (Eric) Simon, Kathy Pufahl (Managing Director), and Nob Rauch (Executive Director and player for NYNY) after the men’s division final in 1990. Photo by Karl Cook; Chain Lightning vs. Gainesville at the 1992 Nationals. (Stu Downs is the player on the left; read his profile on page 25.) Photo by Grant Wise.

SPRING 2004

News Briefs

2004 UPA STATE HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS

UPA FINANCIALS

In 2004 the UPA Youth Development Program will be expanding the UPA State High School Championships to include eight state championship events. These events will be open to all high school teams within each state, as well as teams from outside of the state if there is space available. If your team is interested in participating in a UPA State High School Championship, please e-mail your state championship contact or Kyle Weisbrod at kyle.weisbrod@upa.org.

The UPA books are audited annually by a certified public accountant. The Audited Statement of Activities and the Change in Net Assets did not make it into the winter issue of the magazine; we apologize for the omission.

Colorado

Date: May 15-16 Location: TBD Contact: Karl Mimmack E-mail: rmimmack@cherrycreekschools.org

Georgia

Date: TBD Location: TBD Contact Eileen Murray E-mail: eileencmurray@yahoo.com

Minnesota

Date: TBD Location: TBD Contact: John Sandahl E-mail: johnsandahl@hotmail.com

New Jersey

Date: June 12-13 Location: TBD Contact: Anthony Nuñez E-mail: aultimate@aol.com

New York

Date: June 12-13 Location: TBD Contact: Judy Lombard-Newell E-mail: judeln@rochester.rr.com

Pennsylvania

Date: May 22-23 Location: TBD Contact: Darren Schultz E-mail: dshultz@andrew.cmu.edu

Virginia

Date: May 1 Location: LC Bird HS Contact: Nick Ligatti E-mail: nkchl@yahoo.com

Washington

Date: May 8-9 Location: Skagit River Park Contact: Mike Mullen E-mail: weeznation@hotmail.com

ULTIMATE NEWS

The 2003 audit will take place this spring, and the results will be published in the fall issue of Ultimate News.

Statements of Activities and Changes in Net Assets For the Years Ended December 31, 2002 and 2001

THE KATHY PUFAHL S P I R I T AWA R D

SUPPORT AND REVENUE

2002

2001

Membership Dues Championship Series Merchandise Sales Cost of sales Corporate Sponsorship Donations Sanctioning Interest Advertising Miscellaneous TOTAL Revenue

441,877 72,035 64,920 (66,647) 50,244 7,724 3,600 3,360 450 529 $578,092

388,663 67,979 48,988 (50,274) 43,870 11,500 4,508 2,479 3,375 1,396 $522,484

The UPA would like to announce the establishment of a “sister” honor to the Farricker Spirit Award—the Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award. This award will be given to the woman player who best exemplifies both the ethos of the Spirit of the Game, along with a personal commitment to giving back to our sport. The selection process will be in place for the 2004 UPA Club Championships.

EXPENSES

2002

2001

The criteria for this award is as follows:

Program Services: Championship Series 154,258 Member services (inc. newsletter)140,771 Outreach (inc. youth) 66,409 Marketing 34,978 International 14,794 SOTG/Rules 4,579 Sanctioning 3,825 TOTAL Program Services $419,614 Supporting Services: Headquarters 117,280 Board of Directors 15,698 TOTAL Supporting Services 132,978 TOTAL Expenses $552,592

122,314 148,054 19,574 35,388 22,179 2,906 23,119 $373,534

The Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award is given to the player(s) adjudged to have exhibited personal responsibility, integrity, and selfless contribution to Ultimate, combined with a high standard of playing ability.

In establishing this award, we feel there is no better player to honor than Kathy 67,514 Pufahl. For those who knew her, no one 21,660 better exemplified the combination of being 89,174 a fierce, fun loving competitor, as well $462,708 as a selfless, ongoing contributor to the CHANGE IN NET ASSETS 25,500 59,776 betterment of Ultimate. Kathy served as the NET ASSETS, beginning of year 105,480 45,704 second womenʼs national director and then NET ASSETS, end of year 130,980 105,480 as the first managing director of the UPA. Published in the winter 2003 issue of the UPA magazine were two articles written to honor Kathy. The characteristics described in these articles speak to the criteria cited above. The Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award recognizes both competition and contribution. Without the selfless contributions from players at all levels of play, the sport of Ultimate would not have grown. By honoring a national caliber player who exemplifies both Spirit of the Game and individual contribution to Ultimate, we can elevate the core value of giving back at the highest levels of our sport. Two individuals have been recognized as Peter Farricker Spirit Award winners—Moses Rifkin of Bostonʼs Death Or Glory (2002) and Andy Crews of the Santa Barbara Condors (2003). Through the Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award, the UPA will honor players in the womenʼs division in similar fashion and for similar reasons. --Suzanne Fields

UPA member Joe Borden invites all Ultimate players to visit his ranch in the Missouri Ozarks National Forest, aptly named The Ultimate Paradise. For more information, please visit www.slua.org/up.

News Briefs

LEAGUE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IN 2004! At this year’s annual meeting, board members came to the conclusion that the need to schedule a meeting for league organizers from around the country so that they would have the opportunity to meet with each other and the UPA could wait no longer. The UPA wants to take a proactive approach in addressing issues for the local leagues by bringing these parties together to encourage league-to-league communication, as well as communication between the leagues and the UPA. We believe that this communication between league organizers and the UPA is crucial for the continuing growth of the sport of Ultimate. Many organizers have been asking for this for several years now, and we intend to do everything we can to make it a reality in 2004. Some of the goals of this meeting are: • to provide resources for organizers by putting them in touch with each other and creating a forum for communication • to find out directly from league organizers what the UPA could do to help them with their outreach efforts, organization, support, etc. • to support youth programs that are dependent on local league support and infrastructure • to encourage the growth of Ultimate for all divisions by supporting the development of new and existing leagues • to determine the future interest in a recreation-level league series • to address additional issues and concerns of organizers for large and small leagues • to draw support for the UPA at all levels by providing opportunities and services that are otherwise difficult for smaller organizations to acquire In order to facilitate this two-way dialogue, the UPA administration has been instructed to work with a board liaison in organizing and conducting a conference in 2004. Our first step in meeting this goal is to develop a steering committee. With this committee, we hope to outline goals, set an agenda, determine a conference date, contact league organizers and advertise the event. event. If you are interested in being involved with the development of this proposal, being notified of future developments and possibly attending the conference, please contact Melanie at mel@hq.upa.org. --Melanie Byrd Be sure to go to www.upa.org to read LOTS more relating to the UPA’s 25th anniversary. Many articles from newsletters dating back to the early ‘80s have been scanned and are now available for download!

CSTV on DVD A limited number of DVDs containing all six episodes of the 2003 College Ultimate Championships on CSTV are now available to UPA members for just $10. Check www.upa.org to find out how you can get a copy!

Teaching Ultimate for National Girls’ and Women’s Sports Day In celebration of National Girlsʼ and Womenʼs Sports Day, a one-day “girls only” Ultimate clinic was held on Tuesday, February 10th in Chula Vista, California (Eastern San Diego). Ultimate was chosen as one of only eight sports represented for the event, which was held at the US Olympic Training Center, a 150-acre complex where over 4,000 Olympic athletes come to train every year. Players from womenʼs club team Safari and UCSD college team Psychos teamed up to teach 100 6th grade girls how to play Ultimate. This was the seventh year San Diego Ultimate players had taught the clinic, which has now become an annual event. ”Itʼs lots of fun teaching the young girls how to play,” said Alicia White, former captain of the Psychos and three-year

Safari member. “Some of them are really good!” Most of the other players agreed that it was also a great way to give back to the sport that they all love. Several Olympic athletes and coaches were present to convey the message of encouraging young girls to play sports. Surprisingly, most of the girls were already familiar with Ultimate, indicating the growth of the sport into mainstream popularity. Many of the parents who were there also asked about how to get Ultimate into the middle schools, as it was very apparent how popular it was with the kids. One of the instructors, Chloe Winant of Safari, added, “I definitely think the new wave of younger Ulty players and a wider-spread acceptance of the sport is upon us.” --Beth Thomas SPRING 2004

News Briefs Letter from the Conduct Committee Club players are in their off-season and college players are gearing up for more competitive tournaments. Now is therefore a good time for us to reflect on our Ultimate experience, free from the biases of heated competition. Most of us use the off-season opportunity for a frank assessment of our performance and a re-evaluation of goals for the upcoming year. The UPA Conduct Committee would like to encourage the disc community to think about our on-field behavior, too. A game of Ultimate is a competitive venture. Opposing teams have opposing interests, and, as in art, this conflict enhances the drama and incorporates our emotions. Thatʼs why sport is fun! Our psychological investment in the game also has some unintended side effects, for our emotionality regularly affects our rationality. When we are giving it our all and canʼt complete the play due to a foul, we understandably feel slighted, indignant... “Foul!” Our opponent feels a similar frustration upon hearing our call, if s/he feels the play was clean. These emotions often break through the mind/mouth barrier, and what results is an outburst: “What!?ʼ” (How much is let out from the mouth depends on the individual player.) Uninvolved spectators often chuckle at the emotional over-reaction of the players. We do too when we watch ourselves on videotape. Much of this initial interchange is unavoidable, and no one intends to make phlegmatic drones of us. I would like to pick up the scenario from the moment after the outburst. You, as caller of the foul, carry the responsibility to: 1) know your call 2) articulate your case concisely, limiting disputes to the facts 3) stoke no fire That is, you should simply state the reason for calling the foul in as clear a manner as possible. (“Push-out. I would have landed in bounds if you hadnʼt collided with me.”) Editorial remarks about the nature/character of your opponent are unnecessary and out of bounds. Any contestation should be quickly contained and limited to a dispute over facts—avoid irrelevant details. For example, in an in/out call on an unlined field, demonstrative reconstructions of the play are seldom necessary. What is relevant is just the first point of contact. Establish this point first, then go to the cones to check. You must limit comments and discussion to the case at hand, not responding to one outburst with another one, and not letting teammates fan the flames (captains are also responsible for keeping the sideline quiet at such times). Isolating yourself and your opponent from the reactions of teammates helps to avoid conflagrations. We hope that no cases will be brought to the Conduct Committee this year. Still, our collective behavior leaves room for improvement outside the jurisdiction of this committee. We must actively nurture the vibrant culture of spirited play, not drum it in through heavy-handed enforcement policies. This committee can serve the sport most effectively by inspiring you to reflect on your own behavior and the means you have to resolve and manage disputes. We as Ultimate players must do more than lament occurrences of poor conduct. We must with clear minds set reasonable standards for ourselves and each other—then work to uphold them. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound (or 175 grams, at least) of cure.

Ultimate News Ultimate Players Association 741 Pearl Street, Side Suite Boulder, CO 80302 1-800-872-4384 www.upa.org • info@upa.org

President KATE BERGERON Executive Director SANDIE HAMMERLY Editor STEPHANIE KURTH Board of Directors DEIRDRE ABRAHAMSSON KATE BERGERON TODD DEMETRIADES JEFF DUNBAR DENNIS KARLINSKY ELIZABETH MURRAY MIKE PAYNE TOMMY PROULX CHRISTIAN SCHWOERKE JOE SEIDLER HENRY THORNE ERIC ZASLOW UPA Staff MELANIE BYRD, Outreach & Membership WILL DEAVER, Championships SANDIE HAMMERLY, Executive Director STEPHANIE KURTH, Media & Communications KYLE WEISBROD, Youth Development For a complete list of UPA contacts, please visit www.upa.org/upa/contacts/contacts.shtml

--Eric Zaslow, Conduct Committee Chair Clambake Called on Account of Weather The fifteenth annual Clambake got off to a raging start on September 27, 2003 with thirty-two teams from up and down the eastern seaboard facing off in open, women’s and mixed categories. Sunday’s play began in a fog, but that failed to dampen the spirits of any of the teams heading into the playoffs. As the fog turned to mist and finally to rain, the teams played their fiercest, hoping to capture a victory before getting capped. But after the second round of games, the rain came in torrents, and Tournament Director Alex Pozzy called off the remainder of the day. The trophies will have to wait for another year. Since the inception of Clambake in 1989, the event has served as a fundraiser for the Maine Special Olympics. At the conclusion of this year’s event, the Portland Ultimate teams were able to deliver a donation of over $8,000.00, with at least $1,800.00 still outstanding. --Clover Burns

ULTIMATE NEWS

Ultimate News is the official publication of the Ultimate Players Association. All ideas expressed in Ultimate News are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the UPA. Ultimate News assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Advertising Complete rates and specs are available online at www.upa.org/upa/2004_upa_mag_rates.pdf Change Address Ultimate News is not forwarded by the post office. To update your address, go to www.upa.org/members, call 800-872-4384, or email info@upa.org.

News Briefs Sanction your LEAGUE, TOURNAMENT or PRACTICE with the UPA! • Do you need insurance coverage for your fields? • Would you like to advertise your event in the magazine at a reduced rate? • How about the opportunity to purchase discounted discs? • Would you like to support the UPA and all of its programs? For these reasons and many more, you should look into sanctioning your league, tournament or practice with the UPA. Event sanctioning is free for current members. For more information regarding event sanctioning, go to http:// www.upa.org/outreach or contact Melanie at mel@hq.upa.org.

THE

UPA

ULTIMATE

INSTRUCTIONAL

KIT

Are you trying to form an Ultimate program at your school or in your community? The UPA Ultimate Instructional Kit has everything you need to get started, including 14 instructional discs, a skills and drills manual, lesson plans for middle and high school PE teachers, two Play Ultimate posters, a 10th edition rulebook, a copy of the 10 Simple Rules of Ultimate, a copy of Ultimate News and ten UPA membership forms. Available online at www.wrightlife.com/ upa.php. Please contact Youth Development Director Kyle Weisbrod at kyle.weisbrod@upa.org if you have any questions.

JOIN THE ULTIMATE PL AYERS ASSOCIATION! Become a member of the largest Ultimate organization in the world! The Ultimate Players Association is the national governing body for the sport of Ultimate and has more than 17,500 members worldwide. Members receive many great benefits, including: ~ A quarterly glossy magazine packed with the best Ultimate news and photography ~ The opportunity to sanction your league, tournament or practice with the UPA and receive liability insurance coverage ~ The chance to participate in UPA championship events ~ Discounts on Ultimate merchandise, including discs, gear, videos & more ~ A voice and a vote in the development of this amazing sport!

Circle one: New Member or Renewal Your Name: (please print legibly) _____________________________ Former Name,if changed:____________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ City/State/Zip:____________________________________________ Email:___________________________________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________ SSN* or UPA ID: (circle one) ________________________________ Circle one: Male or Female Check your membership level: ____________ $40 Regular ____________ $30 College Student School Name: ____________ $20 Youth** ____________ $400 Lifetime ____________ Optional donation of $ _________ Please make your check payable to the UPA and send to 741 Pearl Street, Side Suite, Boulder, CO 80302.

(Note: You can also subscribe to Ultimate News without becoming a UPA member. Annual subscriptions are $12 US/$16 outside US for four issues. See www.upa.org for more info.)

*Optionally, you may use a “777” in place of the first three digits of your social security number. Returning members may use either your SSN or your UPA ID. **To qualify for youth membership, you a) must not have graduated from high school, and b) must not have reached your 19th birthday before June 2004. SPRING 2004

Seven on the Line

How has Ultimate changed in the last 25 years? From an obscure pastime for the geeks of society to a mastadonic culture of elite athletes and diehard disc fanatics, Ultimate is rapidly taking the world over, one huck at a time. Two and a half decades of evolution saw masses of cleated gladiators crush the handfuls of sandal-bearing hippie kids; we will fake your ankles out of their sockets, sky you so bad you’ll be inhaling the leftover mud on our cleats, and dive straight through you, grabbing discs to leave you feeling robbed beyond your deepest comprehension. Ultimate is here, fashionably late, but duly hyped for global domination. Melody Hui Vancouver Ultimate League Vancouver, British Columbia

I’ve been playing for 28 years. The athleticism and skill level have increased dramatically, but so have the smack talk and nasty attitudes. That will be the downfall of the sport. Tom Gleason Sometimes Old & In the Way Player (masters club team) Ft. Collins, CO

I started playing Ultimate as a college freshman in 1992, a time when students discovered disc in college. Today, children are learning the basics of Ultimate in grammar school and are choosing colleges depending upon their Ultimate programs. Unfortunately, disc has become so highly competitive within the club scene that cheers are rarely shared outside co-ed tournaments, and good spirit is often compromised. It continues to be a close-knit community where lifelong friendships can be formed. Christina Valvo San Francisco Ultimate Club Sunnyvale, CA

Ultimate itself has undergone several minor rule changes over the past two and a half decades, but it’s the players who have really changed. There is a much higher proportion of competitive players than even just ten years ago, which I feel makes the game much more fun and exciting to play and watch. Also, the number of quality tournaments in each region and abroad (hosted by quality players and teams) has significantly increased, and this has been the real impetus for the bolstered competitiveness. Keith Allen Big Ass Truck (club open team) Cincinnati, OH

Being only 18 myself, I think that its appeal has dramatically increased for the young. Also, with 25 years under its belt, Ultimate has become a second-generation institution. I, as well as many other players, have fathers or mothers who have played the game and are being brought up to throw a forehand before we can toss a football. I think the sport of Ultimate can only continue to grow in the years to come. Sean Foreman Mamabird (Univ of Colorado open team) Boulder, CO

My frame of reference is the 1982 period, and it was quite different as it was all straight up force, 90% man D, no picks, and no college division. Obviously, there are many other differences now such as cool, poly-pro uniforms and the overall general sense of the sport being more organized. One thing that hasn’t changed is that folks still say, “I think it will be an Olympic sport in 20 years.” George Cooke Chinstrap (mixed club team) Newton, MA

Clearly, Ultimate has changed since the inception of the UPA 25 years ago. There’s been a very clear shift away from the original group of people who, for one reason or another, did not fit in to mainstream culture, including mainstream sports, towards those who now help define the mainstream. For good or ill, this shift has brought tremendous growth, athleticism and attitude to Ultimate, at the expense of some of what Ultimate stands for: a rejection of the win-at-all costs mentality. Dan Kehler Sugar Halifax, Nova Scotia A SHOUT FROM THE SIDELINE: Youth Director Kyle Weisbrod adds his two cents on the issue, “Today, there are fewer short shorts and mustaches.” 10

ULTIMATE NEWS

College Director Report

Joshua Greenough

How are yaʼll doing? Hate to disappoint you, but this is not Lyn—your usual warm and respectable national college director. He decided to take a different job in Afghanistan and frankly, it was a little far to travel for the Stanford Invite or the Yale Cup. So in his place, you get me, Joshua Greenough, a fairly recent college grad who has decided that he had better start working with the UPA before they revoke his membership for something that teammates may or may not have done at recent tournaments.

By now many of the tournaments in the college “season” will have already happened, and we are getting ready for the spring series and our version of March Madness. I am sure that it has been a roller coaster and that RSD is blazing with predictions about who will take home the Callahan awards and national championships. I will refrain from making a comment on who I think is a favorite because that isnʼt what I am here to do. Yeah alright—so what am I here to do? I can already hear a bunch of people heckling me, but I was always told never to respond to hecklers, so we will persevere. I am here to help the over 500 college teams have fun and survive the college championship series with minimal damage to their universities and our public parks. Now, what that means is probably different for each of the 8,000+ players in college. I am still learning things about this job on a daily basis, and I am ecstatic about the new features being rolled out that will change the way that teams, tournament directors and members interact with the UPA. Three big things that I am looking forward to for this college series are: more and better reporting on the pre-nationals tournaments, a new tournament creation and reporting system, and another year of CSTV producing college nationals. We want to help the college division show off all the Ultimate that is being played. Most people donʼt realize it, but there were almost 4,000 individual games entered into the score reporter last year. Now, I get the fact that the college season is much more than one to three tournaments that happen in April and May, and we are working to provide more to the college division outside of the series. But to do that, we need to know the issues that matter to each college. Of course, Carleton may face a few different issues than Lewis & Clark (itʼs in Oregon), but all teams are welcome in the college division. Let us know how we can help out.

H O S T A U PA E V E N T ! The UPA is looking for host sites for its 2005 Club Championships and 2006 Youth, College and Club Championships. Go to www.upa.org/events/bids/ championship_bids.shtml for complete information, or contact Championship Director Will Deaver at will.deaver@upa.org with any questions.

2005 Events • Club Championships (held in late October). Bid deadline 5/31/2004.

2006 Events • High School Easterns and High School Westerns (mid-late May). Bid deadline 12/31/04. • College Championships (late May). Bid deadline 12/31/04. • Youth Club Championships (mid-August). Bid deadline 12/31/04. • Club Championships (late October) - Bid deadline 5/31/2005.

If you donʼt play college but have made it this far, I applaud you—or at least I understand that you can only look through the pictures so many times before you get bored and read the articles. Depending on how long you have been out of college, you may or may not know that things are changing. Many tournaments use observers for their games, a few schools have scholarships for Ultimate, high school kids are checking out programs before they commit, and programs are no longer flying under school radar as rogue sports teams. But perhaps the biggest influence on the college game is the growing trend of coaches. Most of the major programs have veteran players who help out by coaching the college team. Even small schools are out there asking for help from experienced club players, and some are even paying stipends. If you have the time, help out your local college by offering your experience to new college players, even if it is only for one day. Either way, swing by the local college tournament and watch a game because frankly, college kids are nuts, athletic and generally dumb with the disc. It might not be pretty Ultimate, but man, it will be exciting when that guy or gal lays out four feet high for the blade to the back corner. Do what you can to support college Ultimate. If you are in college and have read this far, congrats, because this is ten minutes of studying that you have managed to avoid. As somebody with a full-time job, I hope that you are having a good time and looking forward to the next tournament or Ultimate social that you are planning to attend. College Ultimate is an amazing time, and honestly, whether you love or hate your current teammates, you will have some serious memories with and of them. Here is where I should give you some sage advice as an elder, but you—like my former teammates—probably wouldnʼt listen to me anyway. Instead, I wish you good luck with the rest of the series and close with a simple reminder from Henry Callahan: “Play hard, have fun, nobody hurt.” --J.G.

� ��

��

�� SPRING 2004

ou can tell these days that the College Series is revving up for a new season: in Baton Rouge, the bushes are in bloom; in Wisconsin, the forecast calls for snow; in California, the San Diego weather is balmy, as always; and in Canada, the Chasing Plastic issue covering last springʼs Series has just come out.

2004 UPA Colleg

In the menʼs division this year, as nearly every year, nothing at all is certain. As the amount of parity increases every year, so does the number of legitimate contenders for the UPA title. Here they are, in no particular order: 1. Virginia: This team, unsung in years past, looks very strong early on and by all informed accounts, could be the next William and Mary. With a medium-sized streak of good luck, they could come out of nowhere to ambush teams at nationals. First, though, theyʼll have to overcome regional rivals and more traditionally strong programs like… 2. N.C. State: Humiliated at nationals last year and returning some top players, few teams can be as hungry for redemption as the Wolfpack. Many scoffed at the 37-1 record that they took into nationals last spring, seeing only two opponents of any strength in their season schedule. Look for N.C. State to attend more high-quality preseason tournaments this spring. Even great teams can be undone by a lack of big-game experience. Great teams, like…

bevy of talent and its players who remember winning a national title, Carleton will be awfully tough this spring, which hints at another great year in the Central region rivalry with… 7. Wisconsin: The returning national champions have a great deal of rebuilding to do—at long last, Hector Valdivia has run out of eligibility, Tyson Park and Bryan Paradise have graduated, and unsubstantiated rumors say that Andrew Brown is not enrolled in school. But, (but), one cannot discount championship experience. Although losing Park and Brown might appear to hurt the team, consider this: following the 2001 season, Wisconsin, who had never made it past quarters at nationals, graduated eight handlers, their entire backfield. The next year, they changed their offense and went on to the finals. This most recent loss of talent, and Wisconsinʼs history of overcoming adversity, makes this team the most unpredictable in the college game. Speaking of unpredictable, 8. The Northwest region is ridiculously stacked, as rec.sport.disc never fails to remind us. Ad nauseum touting aside, the qualifiers out of this region, whoever they might be, stand poised to win it all. With the amount of talent in one region—Oregon, Stanford, Berkeley, UBC, Washington, and Oregon State, to name a few—the opportunities for real competition on a weekly basis are unmatched in the nation. This regional tournament is almost as competitive as nationals. The winner has a clear edge, biggame experience-wise, over the rest of the country; but as we saw last year—contrary to RSDʼs predictions—anything can happen at nationals. With that in mind, look out for…

MEN S DIVISION

3. Cal-Berkeley: Not even making it into the regional finals last year after the arousal of such high hopes had to hurt. So they sent Hodges to Jam in the fall (Gabe, first cut by Jam and then, embarrassingly, wooed back, decided to play with Valhalla instead) and brought in big-game veteran and former Stanford star, Bart Watson. Good decisions. The question for Berkeley, now that talent and experience are confirmed on their team, is whether their role players will be able to step up at regionals and win some pool play games on their own so as not to tire their stars out. Every team has superstars; itʼs the role players that usually make the difference. And speaking of role players, watch out for…

by Derek Gottlieb

4. Colorado: Fear this team. Colorado is talented and ferocious every year; but every year, it seems, they crumble late in close games and finish well short of expectations. But last year, breaking form, they squeaked into nationals on a double-game-point regional win and finished well above seed. An overachieving Colorado team? Get used to it. Coloradoʼs role players have only gotten better, their superstars have all come back, and they have added top-quality rookies to their roster. Playing with real confidence—not the angry spiking fake confidence of years past—they believe in themselves at long last, and they are looking to make believers out of everyone else. Other teams looking to create their own faithful include… 5. Brown: Itʼs been a full graduation cycle since the glory days of this program. Seeing its rise in the late nineties and a championship in 2000, Brown has not made it past quarters since then. Having spent the last few seasons rebuilding, establishing superstars of their own, this team now looks to return the program to its former heights. Like Berkeley though, Brownʼs success will depend on its secondtier players and an injury-free spring. And speaking of injuries and success, the hopes of… 6. Carleton rest largely on Chase Sparling-Beckleyʼs ability to come back from an ACL rupture in the fall. CUTʼs got plenty of talent and athleticism, as usual, but only one truly intimidating deep threat. Without Sparling-Beckley in the lineup, other teams will be able to make life much more difficult for Carletonʼs offense. Fortunately for the Minnesotans, the ACL appears to be healing, and with its 12

ULTIMATE NEWS

9. Santa Barbara: With a second bid to play with, and San Diegoʼs history of choking at regionals, Santa Barbara is looking to revive its dominating program. Looking solid early on this year and more athletic than they have in recent seasons, Santa Barbara would love to return itself to national prominence. Since losing in 1999 finals, the program has been in steady decline: semis ousters in 2000 and 2001, quarters in 2002, and a failure to qualify in 2003 have led some to say the dynasty has ended. With its young roster and traditional fire though, Barbara would like nothing better than to prove those nay-sayers wrong on a nationals stage. Of course, several potentially strong teams have been left off this list— Texas, a team in its ascendancy, probably heads those teams—but with word count restrictions, what are you going to do? The college game continues to improve, and the number of good teams to climb—great things for the sport to be sure, but even better for the fans. Flowers are blooming in Baton Rouge once again. Who loves spring? —D.G.

Be sure to check out www.cstv.com/ ultimate_index.htm each week for new coverage of the college Ultimate scene.

ge Series Preview s the start of the College Series approaches, college Ultimate fansʼ excitement and anticipation builds while trying to guess which teams will perform well at regionals and nationals. Early season tournaments act as indicators of teamsʼ relative strength, but part of the fervor surrounding college Ultimate is that the winner of a tournament in March is never guaranteed to be the winner of a tournament in May.

This year, it seems that there are an unprecedented number of teams vying to be in the top tier of womenʼs college Ultimate. Teams like MIT, Stanford, and UC-San Diego (who have each made semifinals or better at least two out of the last three years) are joined by UC-Berkeley and Brown in the powerhouse category. Meanwhile, teams like British Columbia, Carleton, Colorado, Oregon, Penn State, Texas, UC-Davis, UNC-Chapel Hill, Virginia, and Wisconsin are building (or re-building) top-notch programs as well. However, appearing at nationals is not based on how high a teamʼs UPA power ranking is or how many times it has beaten a regional opponent in the past. Making nationals depends solely on earning one of the bids at regionals in May.

The Southʼs write up is pretty simple as Texas is far and away the favorite to win. Unless some mystery team has been training secretly in the off season, Texas wonʼt be challenged at regionals. In fact, with Texasʼ surprise performance last year and its tough schedule this year (including practically all of the most competitive tournaments in the country), the team will likely make it to the quarterfinals of nationals for the second year in a row and will be a challenge for any team come Memorial Day weekend. The Central region has only one bid guaranteed and three competitive teams: Carleton, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Despite not qualifying for nationals last year, Carleton could be the team to beat in the Central region this year. The team returns most of its roster and is traveling to many of the top tournaments in the nation. Although Wisconsin will also benefit from the strength of its schedule this season, the loss of some of last yearʼs leadership will hinder the team and could prevent winning the region. Iowa also lost valuable players from its strong 2003 roster and will likely place third this year at regionals. Regardless of who actually emerges unscathed, the team that wins Central regionals will be battletested and should perform well at nationals. Understandably, the region will also be hoping to win a size bid to send the team that places second to nationals as well.

WOMEN S DIVISION

The Northwest has historically been one of the most competitive regions in the nation. This year is no different as there are at least six quality teams vying for the two guaranteed bids to nationals. The initial favorites are UCBerkeley and Stanford, based on the teamsʼ performances last season and their early season victories over regional rivals this year. However, UC-Davis, British Columbia, Oregon, and UC-Santa Cruz are teams that could win elimination games on any given day if they play to their highest potential and avoid injuries of their key players. With such parity in the region, experience playing in big games, performing well when it counts, and having a deep rotation will be the factors that enable a team to earn one of the regionʼs bids. Teams will also be hoping to earn the last size wildcard to send a third team to Seattle. Regardless, the two teams that make it out of this region will likely both be semifinal contenders at nationals, at least.

With its probable size bid, the Metro East region can send two teams to nationals, one of which is sure to be Penn State. For the past few seasons, Penn State has seemed to be a cut above the competition in its region and should go unchallenged as the number one seed. Although Penn State started off the season with a less-than-stellar performance at the Queen City Tune Up in February, the team could repeat its quarterfinal finish at nationals again this year. Both Delaware and Swarthmore are contenders for the second bid, with Cornell and Rutgers not far behind. However, Delawareʼs nationals experience from last year and its tournament travel to Mardi Gras this season should help the team make it to Seattle again.

by Gwen Ambler

With three assured bids, New England is in position to send a new team to nationals this year. MIT and Brown will be fighting for the number one spot, which MIT is favored to win. In fact, the team should have the talent and experience to make a repeat appearance in the finals of nationals. If it takes the second bid, Brown will likely be a nationals quarterfinalist and could potentially make semis with a big upset, like its win over UC-Berkeley in quarters last year. A battle for the regionʼs third bid to nationals should ensue between Yale and Dartmouth. Although Yale earned third place at regionals last year, facing tough competition early in the season at the Stanford Invite should help Dartmouth be a strong contender as well. Retaining only one of its strength bids from last season, the Southwest now has two spots to nationals. The clear favorite for the first bid is UC-San Diego. With its experienced roster and domination of its own Presidentʼs Day tournament, UCSD is a good bet to appear in semifinals of nationals, maybe even making it all the way to finals. The real question is which team will earn the regionʼs second bid. Based on last yearʼs results, Colorado should be a shoo-in for second place. However, losing most of their experienced players has made Colorado weaker this year than in recent history. As a result, UC-Santa Barbara, Arizona, Claremont, and even newly formed UCLA will all be making a run for the second bid. Nonetheless, the experienced players that Colorado does retain will probably be able to lead the team to nationals.

If the Great Lakes region earns a size bid like it did last year, it will also have two bids to nationals. Michigan won the region last year and is favored to win it again this season based on the experience of their returners and the strength of their schedule. However, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio will also be battling for the right to go to Seattle. Each with nationals experience in the past couple years, Notre Dame and Northwestern have an edge. In 2003, Notre Dame earned the second bid to nationals and could do it again this year if they can stave off an upset at regionals. Although Northwestern had a bit of a rebuilding year in 2003, they have the potential to perform well at regionals and make it back to the Show. The Atlantic Coast region is another region where there are a lot of teams in contention for the bids to nationals. Georgia, Duke, UNCChapel Hill, William & Mary, and Virginia will all be vying for the two bids the Atlantic Coast will have if it earns a size bid. With Virginia and UNC-Chapel Hill in the finals of the Queen City Tune Up, they are the early favorites to earn the bids to nationals. Nonetheless, Duke made it into the power pools of San Diegoʼs Presidentʼs Day tournament and will also be a team to watch. Will this be the first season since the team won the championship in 2001 that Georgia does not make it to nationals? The team that wins the AC regionals will likely be one of the teams appearing in quarterfinals. Of course, so much changes during the course of a college Ultimate season that there are guaranteed to be some surprises in store for the faithful fan. For instance, with the creation of some new teams, the size wildcards could be allocated to different regions this year. One thing is for sure: the College Series will be full of spirit and intensity as college women put it all on the line for their teams. —G.A. SPRING 2004

Pittsburgh Women’s Ultimate Clinics and League:

A Model for Women’s Ultimate Gro I. A Brief History of Women’s Recreational Ultimate in Pittsburgh. Recently I had the opportunity to speak with some good friends (and longtime veterans of Pittsburgh Ultimate) who recounted to me the first rocky steps on the road to gender equity in Pittsburgh Ultimate. As I understand it, 10 years ago two members (both men) of the Pittsburgh Ultimate Summer League sat down to write a rule that they hoped would transform the Ultimate scene in the city. The rule, oddly titled WEPTO, or Womenʼs Equal Playing Time Opportunity rule, took the dramatic step of mandating that each of the (then) eight summer league teams have at least one woman on the field at all times. Although one team quit the league, itʼs not clear whether they did so in protest, or simply because they had no idea where they would find a woman to play for them. This small setback notwithstanding, the WEPTO rule ended up having a positive effect on Pittsburgh Ultimate, eventually inspiring the league to expand to a 5-2 ratio requirement even before the gender balance in the league met that ratio. The assumption was that demand would create supply and, to a large extent, this was true. By 2000, the landscape had changed considerably. The highly successful UPA Mixed Division had proven to almost everyone, men and women alike, that true co-ed play, with a 4-3 gender balance, was both possible and the very best way to play co-ed Ultimate. Where the initial push to get at least one woman per team on the field had met with considerable opposition, seven years later, almost everyone agreed that making Pittsburgh Summer League (now up to 24 teams) truly co-ed, was a worthy goal for the immediate future. The question became, how do we best accomplish this? The solution was the Pittsburgh Ultimate Womenʼs Clinic and League, which completed its third year last spring. While we are still short of our goal of a 4-3 summer league, we are getting closer every year, and many other benefits have accrued from the effort. Among these: we now have three other co-ed recreational leagues in town (fall, winter and spring), two of which play with a true co-ed gender balance; we have a cohesive co-ed club team, Balance of Power, which has competed at regionals for the past two years; our top womenʼs club team, Pounce, qualified for the UPA Club Championships in 2002 and 2003 after a two-season absence; and the womenʼs college team, Pansy, representing the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, made college regionals for the first time. The model we developed may prove useful to other cities that are trying to increase gender equity in their Ultimate communities. Like Pittsburgh, some small cities may lack a large population of young, athletic women eager to try a new team sport, and therefore some creativity is needed to attract and, more importantly, retain new female players. II. The Challenge. In the years following WEPTO, word of mouth and limited advertising—primarily through posters and free announcements in local weeklies—had enabled the womenʼs scene to expand in Pittsburgh Ultimate. In ʻ93 and ʻ94, a group of dedicated womenʼs Ultimate players benefited greatly from the increased opportunity to play, and they, along with many male players, recruited quite a few women into summer league. After the successful adoption of the 5-2 14

ULTIMATE NEWS

rule, however, the numbers seemed to hit a wall. The problem was less one of recruiting than of retention. Pittsburgh has a growing Ultimate community that now numbers, with the help of a budding youth program, over 700 members, but a variety of factors have caused the city to retain one big summer league in which players of all levels are mixed together on drafted teams. Feedback from new women players who dropped out of the scene after only one summer indicated that their initial experience in this league was often intimidating. They felt unprepared for the intensity of some of their teammates and opponents as well as the pace of the game, and they felt lost with regard to the rules and strategies. As a consequence, they either dropped out in the summer or stuck it out through finals but never came back. While the top womenʼs club team did very well in the late ʻ90s, womenʼs Ultimate below that level, both recreational and competitive, stagnated. III. The First Women’s League. To address this problem, in the spring of 2000 several of us (primarily members of Pounce) organized the first womenʼs league. The project was advertised with posters in local health clubs and college workout facilities, as well over email and to other sports groups, and by very active word of mouth. The league began with a one-day clinic that stressed basic skills, rules and knowledge. Players were then divided into four teams based on three skill levels, with the most experienced women in town captaining in pairs. A month-long schedule of weekly games was played with a party/final event and hat tournament at the end of the league at which women could sign up for the co-ed summer league. The league was a big success, with 63 women participating in 2001 and 82 in 2002. Many women told us that their experiences in the womenʼs league—learning the rules, getting a chance to try out their new skills in a supportive (albeit sloppy) game situation, and meeting new friends they could connect with on the first day of summer league—made it easier for them to get into co-ed play and increased their enjoyment of summer league. The numbers back up the anecdotal evidence: the percentage of women in Pittsburgh Summer League increased by almost 10% and retention went up considerably. In addition, the womenʼs league helped serve as a training ground for younger women players who went on to participate both in Pansy and Pounce. The increased number of female players created enough demand for co-ed recreational play that a co-ed indoor winter league was formed two years ago and a fall hat league last year, joining the relatively young spring league and the established summer league—and helping Ultimate grow from a oneseason to a four-season recreational sport in just four years. IV. Adjusting to New Challenges in 2003. The womenʼs league had done what it was intended to do, but it was clear after the second season that it was already ripe for some change. Two issues arose that prompted revision in the third year. First, many of the experienced women in town were becoming over-taxed by all of the available Ultimate, and were therefore less able or less willing to participate on a regular basis in the 2003 womenʼs league. A combination of factors led to this: some women were frustrated by the very low level of play that was necessarily a hallmark of a league with so many beginners. In addition, Pounce had

owth in Less-Than-Fertile Ground by Ashley Smith

made a successful but exhausting push for nationals in the fall, Pansy was making a big push in the spring college series, and many players were already involved in Pittsburghʼs Spring League, a competitive coed league that plays twice a week contemporaneously with the womenʼs league. Many of these players planned to captain summer league teams as well. In short, they were booked up or burned out. A second issue revolved around intermediate women, some of whom had started in the womenʼs league several years before, but whose skills had advanced beyond the point where the league was helpful to them. We therefore formed a committee of seven women to address these issues—two from each club team in town (Pounce, Pounce, Pansy, and Balance of Power, the co-ed team), plus one recreational player who had just begun to play the year before. V. A New Format for the League. The committee decided the issues raised by the experienced and intermediate players could be addressed by creating a structure in which there would be more ongoing opportunities for players of several levels to learn skills, rules and strategies, and thus more opportunities for experienced players to teach without giving a full-time commitment to the league. This was accomplished with the creation of “mini-clinics” that took place between games on the four dates (out of seven total league dates) scheduled for regular league games. The league began with a clinic for all players that brought out 60 women, with a high level of participation from experienced players. Eighty-five players joined the league, which was composed of four teams each led by three captains. League games took place on Saturdays in April and May. The first game of the day began at 10:00 a.m., lasting for an hour and a half. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., all players were invited to take part in the “mini-clinics,” which were broken into two simultaneous beginner and intermediate workshops. These were run by captains and by highly experienced women who, unable to commit to captaining or even playing in the weekly league, were able to donate a morning of their time and expertise. Both beginner and intermediate mini-clinics included throwing, catching, offense, defense and rules, with beginners focusing on the basics and the intermediate clinics addressing more advanced aspects of the game, such as zone defense, insideout and overhead throws, switching on defense, and breaking the mark. After the clinics ended, the second game of the day was held from 1:00-2:30 p.m. In addition to learning skills during both the oneday clinic and the miniclinics, league players were able to feel a sense of team identity, bonding, and of course participate in the ubiquitous goofy cheering after games. At the end of the league, players were told about other opportunities to continue playing Ultimate through seasonal recreational leagues, as well as college and club teams. On the last day, each captain trio nominated two women on their teams to receive awards for “Most Improved” and “Spirit of the Game.” This was very tough for captains, as all of the players had greatly increased their skills.

VI. The Results. While it is impossible to fully assess the success of the latest Pittsburgh Womenʼs League and Clinics, the signs are encouraging. Almost all of the women from the league/clinic played on 2003 summer league teams, and one of the two female “rookies of the year” played her first Ultimate in womenʼs league. Their feedback was tremendous. Here are some of the comments we received about the womenʼs league: “I loved the whole event. The best parts were all of the help and tips from the more experienced players.” “Good training, excellent people, lots and lots fun.” “I loved the supportive atmosphere and explanation of rules, techniques, etc.” “Thanks for creating this league; I never would have joined the co-ed summer league if I hadnʼt played in the womenʼs league first.” Overall, we were ecstatic about the responses. We are very hopeful that lots of women who played in the league also seek out opportunities for competitive and recreational play throughout the year, and that they come back as leaders of future womenʼs leagues. This will of course strengthen womenʼs play at all levels in town, and help us get to our goal of gender equity. VII. Looking Ahead. The recent upsurge in the Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League (PHUL) has created a temporary setback in the push for gender equity, as most of the players in PHUL are male. However, we see this as an opportunity, rather than an obstacle. Clearly, there is a groundswell of interest in youth Ultimate in town, and with the model developed by the womenʼs league and clinics, our community is in a position to spread that enthusiasm to the cityʼs high school girls, as well as their male classmates. The use of mini-clinics allows our best teachers to get involved without burning them out, and it gives us the flexibility to teach at a variety of levels, so everyone gets some benefit out of the program. It would be wonderful if every city where Ultimate is played had a thriving co-ed community of athletes, but that isnʼt the case in Pittsburgh. We suspect other cities face our challenges. Pittsburgh has an aging demographic and a somewhat traditional sports culture in which men are more likely to play team sports than women, and women are often too intimidated to take the plunge into the unfamiliar world

of Ultimate. The key to getting and keeping women involved seems to be replacing the plunge with a gradual immersion. If players can create a structure that allows women to enter the sport in a supportive atmosphere, continues to benefit them as they improve, and does not overuse the generosity of already-overextended experienced players, building a healthy, vibrant and growing co-ed Ultimate community is possible anywhere. —A.S. SPRING 2004

1979 December 27: Initial UPA bylaws ratified by players during East Coast Captain’s Meeting at Villanova University in Pennsylvania Tom Kennedy becomes first UPA National Director, while also assuming the role of Newsletter Editor and Western Regional Coordinator; runs the organization from his home in Santa Barbara, CA 7th edition rules in effect; membership dues are $5; Wham-O 165g is the official disc for tournament play 350 teams are registered with the UPA and receive complimentary newsletter subscriptions to help foster communication throughout the country Teams decide to move the National Ultimate Championships from spring to fall by a vote of 61 to 52 One team from each of the five regions (Northeast, Mid Atlantic, South, Central, West) competes in the 1980 National Ultimate Championships; observers are used in all games, and matches are played to time (24-minute halves); Glassboro defeats Boston Aerodisc First election of regional coordinators to be held, but all incumbents (established at the East Coast Captain’s Meeting) are unopposed and retain their positions 1981 Main topics of discussion at annual East Coast Captain’s Meeting include the playing to time vs. playing to points, the use of referees, and throwing & receiving fouls; 135 representatives attend from 50 men’s and 14 women’s teams Membership dues raised to $7; over 500 hundred teams and more than 800 members are registered with the UPA In August, Suzanne Fields, Louie Mahoney, Michele Pezzoli & Leslie Scott present Kennedy and others with idea of adding a women’s division to National Ultimate Championships; Suzanne Fields becomes first Women’s National Director Women’s division included in the National Ultimate Championships in Austin, TX; Boston Ladies Ultimate (BLU) wins the national title over the Northwest’s Synergy 1982 Eric Knudsen presents bylaw amendments at the East Coast Captain’s Meeting that change the organizational structure of the UPA and require that the roles of National Director, Newsletter Editor, Treasurer, and Regional Coordinator not be held by one person Knudsen also proposes a requirement that 50% of each team participating at Regionals and Nationals must be UPA members Men’s division of the National Ultimate Championships is expanded to ten teams; captains vote to play all games to points instead of time; women’s division continues to play to time Discraft introduces the 175 gram Ultra Star 1983 Brian Murphy becomes second UPA National Director; Carney Foy becomes treasurer, a role he’ll hold for the next 15 years

Technically, the celebration of our 25th anniversary shouldnʼt begin until later this year—December 27th to be exact—the date when the UPA bylaws were first ratified. But the work to build a national organization devoted exclusively to Ultimate had begun years before, so perhaps weʼre actually off to a late start. And thereʼs a lot to cover.

1980

: 25

Along the outside column of the next six pages youʼll find a comprehensive timeline of the UPAʼs history over the past two and a half decades. This data has largely been compiled from old newsletters—a fundamental part of the organization since the very beginning. Before we had the Internet to keep us connected, the newsletter was the primary means of communication for the organization. Ultimate was certainly taking shape in all parts of the country back in 1979, but apart from tournaments 1979-1982: Tom Kennedy and gatherings such as the annual East Coast Captainʼs Meeting, 1983-1985: Brian Murphy players did not have a reliable method for communicating with 1986-1987: Gary McGivney each other and addressing issues of debate. 1988-1990: Robert ‘Nob’ Rauch The formation of the Ultimate Players Association, and with 1991-1992: Neal Dambra it the newsletter, changed all that. From the very first edition 1993: Roger Rains in April of 1980, topics such as the use of referees and the need for various rule amendments were presented for player 1993-1994: Steve Goodfriend (interim) consideration. One man, Tom Kennedy—a Santa Barbara 1994-1995: Holly Larrison (interim) Condor as well as a representative for the International Frisbee 1995-1999: Bob Byrne Association (IFA)—was tasked with the none too easy job of 2000-2002: Joey Grey getting the organization and the newsletter off the ground. 2003-current: Sandie Hammerly Acting as the national director, the newsletter editor and the western regional coordinator, Kennedy successfully led the UPA through its first years of growth.

When Brian Murphy came to the helm of the organization in 1983, things were already changing dramatically. Wham-O, who had provided critical financial support to the UPA at its inception, was acquired by Mattel and ended their annual grant to the UPA. This meant that the organization would have to start relying on membership dues and disc sales to sustain itself. Fortunately the UPA was growing rapidly during this time, in part due to the addition of the college division in 1984. Murphy resigned in 1985 to return to law school, which ended up being a boon to the UPA, as he would then serve as the organizationʼs pro bono legal counsel for the next 10+ years. The hallmark of Gary McGivneyʼs time as national director was most certainly his campaign for increased sportsmanship on the field, and many felt that he succeeded in encouraging better spirit among players during his two years at the head of the UPA. Robert “Nob” Rauch (a player for NYNY during their reign as national champions) succeeded McGivney in 1998 and brought much needed business acumen to the organization. Early on, he established a board of directors, a mission statement, and a more professional organizational structure. He drew Kathy Pufahl from her role as national womenʼs director in order to assist him with the operations of the UPA, and the two of them accomplished a great deal in their three years: getting the 9th edition rules passed; updating the bylaws in order to gain non-profit status for the UPA (with much assistance from Brian Murphy); setting up a toll-free number for the membership and hiring an administrative assistant to answer calls; and securing liability insurance—something that was long overdue for an organization that now had more than 5,000 members. The momentum created by Nob, et al, continued with Neal Dambra. It was during his tenure that the UPA settled into a permanent office in Colorado Springs and worked out many competition issues relating to eligibility, the rules, and the official disc of the UPA. Dambra worked closely with Mark Licata, who became managing director when Pufahl stepped down and then assumed the newly created role of Director of Competition. Cindy Fisher took over as managing director and would oversee the day-to-day operations of the organization at the Colorado Springs headquarters for the next four years, a period that lacked stability at the executive director level. In 1993, Roger Rains, a grassroots player from Arkansas, was selected to succeed Dambra, but he would resign just nine months later due to personal reasons. Steve Goodfriend and Holly Larrison served as interim Executive Directors—probably for a lot longer than they anticipated when they agreed to the job—and finally in 1995, the UPA decided that the position of Executive Director could not continue to be filled by a volunteer. Bob Byrne was hired as the first full-time, paid executive director in late 1995 and would serve the organization through 1999. During Byrneʼs time at HQ, the UPA would see the development of a co-ed division, the first

At the East Coast Captain’s Meeting, Andy Borinstein proposes an East Coast Men’s Collegiate Championships to be held in the spring (a precursor to College Nationals) Mike Farnham becomes first National College Director

Wham-O is purchased by Kransco Corp and ends their annual financial grant to the UPA, though they continue to provide support to the organization through the donation of discs for resale

5 Y

election of the board of directors, and a major sponsorship deal for the 1999 College and Club Championships.

A E

Joey Gray, the first National Co-ed Director, was recruited to succeed Byrne in 2000. She recognized that more staff would be necessary if the organization were really to continue to grow in meaningful ways; within a short period of time, she succeeded in hiring a full-time Championships Director, Youth Director and Media/Communications Director. Gray also helped to build the UPAʼs technology infrastructure and worked with a talented team of volunteer programmers to build an online membership system that launched in 2002.

The board took an unprecedented step in selecting the next (and current) executive director—they widened their pool of candidates to include non-players for the first time. At that point in the organizationʼs development, the board felt it was their job to set the vision of the UPA, and the administrationʼs job to carry out that vision. With this in mind, they hired Sandie Hammerly, formerly the assistant executive director at US Field Hockey with over 20 years of experience in non-profit administration. In her first year as executive director, Hammerly made great strides in streamlining the organization and exploring new partnership and outreach opportunities. So thatʼs a look at the UPAʼs top dogs in a nutshell (a very small nutshell). On the next few pages, weʼll take a look back at the various divisions of the UPA and see how they came into existence. Key players in the administration of these divisions are listed along with the years that they served, though these lists by no means cover all the volunteers who have given selflessly to the organization over the last 25 years. Online youʼll find interviews with a few of the big names in the UPAʼs history—Tom Kennedy, Sholom (Eric) Simon, Nob Rauch, and Neal Dambra. These interviews were originally printed in the 20th anniversary newsletter, but are worth revisiting if youʼre interested in learning more about how the organization has evolved. Also be sure to check out Adam Zagoriaʼs entertaining and informative account of the history of Ultimate (written in 1998) to get a better understanding of the sportʼs early years. Thereʼs far more to the story of the UPA, and over the next few months, weʼll be presenting as much of it as we can to you—both in print and online. We hope that youʼll learn something new as you glance through the next few pages, or that a few fond memories may be jogged. Hang on to this issue—it could help you settle debates with your friends and teammates in the months to come (“Hey coach - when did the college division start playing by the Callahan Rules anyway?”) Finally, itʼs worth noting that the UPAʼs membership is nothing if not entertaining. In reading through hundreds of articles and letters to the editor from old newsletters, weʼve come across quite a few gems that we felt were worth sharing. On pages 20 and 21 of this issue, youʼll find some excerpts from newsletters past that demonstrate how the voices of the players have shaped, and continue to shape, the sport and the organization today. Enjoy. --Ed. A note to those who have been around and involved with the UPA for a while: we welcome your clarifications regarding any errors or omissions in the timeline weʼve presented. This information will be posted in a special 25th anniversary history section of the UPA website, and weʼd like to ensure that itʼs accurate and complete. Or, if you simply have a story youʼd like to share about the early days, weʼd love to hear those as well. Top center: The American Starflyers flying disc team. (L to R) - Michael Pace, Mary Lowry, Jeff Jorgenson (obscured), Tim Brattan, Jim Parks, and Mark Powers Opposite page: Tom Kennedy in 1994 This page: 1992 Coordinating Committee. Top row, L-R: Northeast RC Steve Goodfriend, College Director Frank Revi, Treasurer Carney Foy, Mid Atlantic RC Sholom (Eric) Simon, South RC Jeff ‘Getty’ Freeman, Executive Director Neal Dambra, Communications Director Andy Borinstein. Bottom row, L-R: Central RC Marcia Dutcher, National Women’s Director Marie Hartley, Intl Director Nob Rauch, West RC Brent Russell, Director of Competition Mark Licata, Managing Director Cindy Fisher

Tournament fees first instituted, and newsletters no longer sent free of charge to registered teams 8th edition rules passed by membership 1984 UPA holds first Coordinating Committee meeting at SUNY Purchase First College Nationals held at Tufts University in May with ten teams competing; Stanford defeats Glassboro for the title UPA begins offering event sanctioning in the fall; benefits include information on how to host a tournament, as well as 30 days credit on discs sold at the tourney 1985 Number of teams participating in College Nationals increases to 12 UPA first investigates a group insurance policy Membership surpasses 3,000 1986 Gary McGivney becomes third National Director of the UPA UPA requires that 75% of players at College Nationals and 100% of players at the National Ultimate Championships are UPA members UPA institutes more rigorous college eligibility rules Sholom (Eric) Simon starts the Collegiate Top 20 (later to become the Top 25) High school Ultimate addressed at the East Coast Captain’s Meeting; Byrne Kelly named first National High School Coordinator 1987 Men’s division at Nationals expanded from 10 to 12 teams; two wildcard bids are awarded based on number of teams submitting valid rosters in each region; captains elect to use active line judges at Nationals for the first time Six women’s teams participate in the National Ultimate Championships Women’s division added to College Nationals (seven teams participate) 100% membership requirement goes into effect for College Nationals and Easterns Sholom (Eric) Simon creates booklet How to Start a Summer League and makes it available to UPA members The UPA begins offering lifetime memberships for $150 UPA moves from calendar year membership cycle to a two-date expiration system (either February 28 or August 31) Membership reaches 4,500

1988 Robert ‘Nob’ Rauch is selected as the fourth UPA National Director UPA organizational structure is overhauled again to establish an Executive and a Managing Director position; Kathy Pufahl steps down as Women’s Director to become first Managing Director Coordinating Committee expanded to 11 members; goal is to allow more time for special projects UPA develops a mission statement Membership dues are raised to $10 Issue of redrawing regional boundaries comes to the forefront; Canada formally included in regional boundaries for the purposes of the UPA Series tournaments Women’s regional coordinators are elected by membership rather than being appointed by the women’s national director; the women’s director is then elected by the regional coordinators Eight women’s teams compete at Nationals; women’s division grows from 38 teams in ‘87 to 55 teams in ‘88 Ten women’s teams participate in College Nationals Ultimate archive established at Penn State and maintained by John Caporali Collegiate Top 20 goes online on electronic bulletin board Membership reaches 5,400 1989 9th edition rules and revised bylaws (written by Brian Murphy) are ratified by membership Rauch accepts another term as Executive Director after no one else applies for the position

UPA establishes seven-member board of directors to deal with day-to-day concerns of the organization; Coordinating Committee shifts focus exclusively to issues relating to competition UPA applies for 501(c)(3) status UPA insurance coverage established and waiver becomes required Membership dues raised to $25, primarily to help fund liability insurance; a new student rate is offered as well UPA Joins NIRSA, National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association Fall Nationals moves from three- to fourday format; Certified Observers Pool established The RUFUS (Record Using Fast Ultimate Shorthand) system, developed by Scott Gurst, is used for the first time at Nationals Number of women’s teams participating in the Fall Series increases to 76; twelve women’s teams compete in Nationals

If there were ever any doubts that youth are shaping the future of Ultimate, this photograph ought to lay the matter to rest. The 1996 US Juniors team contained a future Callahan Award Winner (Alex Nord-top left), a future National College Director (Joshua Greenough-top, 2nd from left), a future Director of Youth Development (Kyle Weisbrod-bottom, 2nd from left, next to one of his predecessors, former National Juniors Director Mo Moscoe), and a future Farricker Spirit Award Winner (Moses Rifkin-bottom, 3rd from left).

WOMEN’S DIVISION 1981-1984: Suzanne Fields 1985-1988: Kathy Pufahl 1988-1991: Marcia Dutcher 1992-1994: Marie Hartley 1995-1997: Kim Forsten 1998-2000: Cindy Fisher 2001-2002: Mel Proctor 2003-current: DeAnna Ball

Early in 1981, Suzanne Fields wrote what she later referred to as a “scathing” letter to the UPA newsletter about the need for greater representation of women within the organization. Not one to rest on her laurels, she immediately got to work, pitching the idea of a womenʼs division at nationals to Tom Kennedy in August and making it happen (along with a core group of equally motivated women that included Louie Mahoney, Michelle Pezzoli and Tiina Booth) within a few short months. The womenʼs division has had its ups and downs over the past two decades, experiencing some stagnation in the late ʻ80s and then again losing some players with the formation of the co-ed division; but through it all, the women at the heart of the UPA have never sat back and waited to see what would happen next. Driving growth within their own division, they have issued challenges to their fellow players and continued to seek innovative ways to draw new players into the fold.

Former National Women’s Directors Cindy Fisher (top), Marcia Dutcher (bottom left), and Marie Hartley (bottom right)

Staffed UPA headquarters established in New York, along with a toll-free 800 number

1986-1988: Byrne Kelly 1989-1990: Neil Brown 1990-1991: Phil Vlahakis 1992-1994: Steve Courlang 1994-1995: Tim Ray 1996-1999: Dave “Mo” Moscoe 2000-2001: Michael Baccarini 2002-current: Kyle Weisbrod

1990

Ultimate players have always recognized the importance of youth to the sport—it originated with a group of high school students, after all. Funding meaningful youth development programs in elementary, middle and high school has been a different matter. A number of passionate and highly motivated individuals have devoted countless hours to the promotion of youth Ultimate over the years, but it wasnʼt until 2002 that the UPA was ready and able to make a significant financial commitment to the cause. Kyle Weisbrod was hired in June of that year and has since given shape to the ideas that had been floating around for the past 15 years: the concept of a teaching package that was first pitched in ʻ86 evolved into todayʼs Ultimate Instructional Kit; the coaching certification program Steve Courlang initiated in ʻ92 (it consisted of simply mailing in a form) has now been formalized through coaching clinics and background checks. The vision of all those early youth organizers is finally becoming reality, and the next 25 years promise to be even more exciting.

UPA calls for applications for a co-ed masters team to compete at the World Championships in 1990

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

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MIXED DIVISION At the 1997 annual meeting, newly appointed Co-ed Director Joey Gray asked the UPAʼs board of directors how many of them had ever played co-ed Ultimate. Everyone raised their hands. Then she asked what the UPA was doing for co-ed Ultimate. The answer was not much. That quickly changed with the establishment of the Celebration Series, a trial co-ed tournament series, in the summer of ʻ97. Another trial began in 1998 with the addition of a co-ed division to the UPA National Championships in the fall. This too was a success—perhaps too successful in that it lured many players away from the womenʼs division. In 2000, the board decided to move the co-ed champ series to the summer to mitigate the negative impacts the division had had on womenʼs Ultimate in certain sections, however this was somewhat controversial in light of the fact that many local Ultimate organizations already had long-running co-ed summer leagues and tourneys in place that conflicted with the new series. After giving it a try for a year, the board decided the division needed a fresh start, so they changed the name to Mixed, moved it back to the fall, and removed the “trial” status from the series. Since that time, the mixed division has grown enormously and has proven that it belongs among the ranks of truly great Ultimate. Joey Gray was the first National Co-ed Director and later became the Executive Director of the UPA.

1996-1999: Joey Grey 2000-2002: Jen Christianson 2003-current: George Cooke

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Wham-O U-Max mold is standard series tournament disc

COMPETITION/CHAMPIONSHIPS 1992-1993: Mark Licata (Dir of Competition) 1994-1995: Eric Simon (Dir of Competition) 1996-1999: Rex O’Quinn (Dir of Comp/Natl Open Dir) 2000-current: Dave Raflo (Natl Open Dir) 2001-current: Will Deaver (Dir of Championships)

The UPA has always been about the Championship Series—the Big Show. Today, the organization is extending its outreach efforts in unprecedented ways, but the championships—club, college and youth—continue to be central to who we are. In the early days, everything related to competition was managed by the Coordinating Committee, which was made up of the national directors and the regional coordinators. In 1992, a new position was established to focus exclusively on UPA series tournaments and sanctioned events. Mark Licata, Managing Director at the time, became the first Director of Competition and began administering all things related to the game: eligibility, rules, formats, observers, seedings, rosters, disciplinary action, etc. The position has evolved and divided over time (thereʼs always been plenty of work to do), and in 2001, the series was taken to a whole new level with the addition of a full-time Director of Championships, Will Deaver.

Former Director of Competition and National Open Director Rex O’Quinn (left) at the 1996 Nationals with former Executive Director Bob Byrne (middle) and Tournament Director Mike Sunderland (right).

Rauch and Pufahl indicate that they will not continue in their roles past the end of the year 1991 Neal Dambra assumes Executive Director position; Mark Licata becomes second Managing Director UPA headquarters move to Houston UPA puts out RFP for “Official Disc of the UPA;” Discraft becomes official disc of the UPA for ‘91 and ‘92 Masters Division added to Nationals Sholom (Eric) Simon initiates the Club Affiliate Program and tournament rating system Sectional Coordinator of the Year Award established UPA sanctioning program begins to offer insurance coverage as a benefit UPA tax-exempt non-profit status confirmed by the IRS

COLLEGE DIVISION 1983-1986: Mike Farnham 1986: Dee Rambeau 1987-1993: Frank Revi 1994-1996: Jay Cohen 1997-2000: Kate Bergeron 2000-2003: Lyn Debevoise 2004-current: Joshua Greenough

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When the UPA was founded, college teams made up the vast majority of the organization. Of course, there were no eligibility requirements back then—paradise indeed. With the establishment of a formal college division in 1984, however, there was a need to implement regulations to ensure that the competition was as fair as possible for all teams. Over the course of the next ten years, National College Directors Mike Farnham (possibly the first and only paid varsity Ultimate coach in the early ʻ80s) and Frank Revi would come up against many challenges as they sought to improve the division. During Reviʼs term, the Coordinating Committee faced the difficult decision of censuring Stanford over an eligibility infraction, but the situation illustrated just how far the college series had come in a relatively short amount of time. Today, the college championship series is a showcase event capturing national interest among a growing number of players and fans.

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Former National College Director and current Board President Kate Bergeron (left) presents the Callahan Award to Brian Harriford (center) along with the founder of the award, Charles Kerr (right)

Rec.sport.disc is created Membership nears 7,000 1992 Permanent headquarters are established in Colorado Springs on August 3; staffed by managing director and administrative assistant Director of Competition position created; Mark Licata assumes role, and Cindy Fisher becomes Managing Director 10th Edition Rules Committee is established to begin work on the next generation of rules; committee is chaired by College Director Frank Revi UPA introduces new Conduct and Dispute Policy and establishes a Tournament Rules Group to handle disputes as they occur at UPA tournaments 1993 Roger Rains becomes Executive Director for the next nine months (Steve Goodfriend and Holly Larrison serve as interim EDs for 1993 and 1994) UPA begins trial regional restructuring plan for the western region

MASTERS DIVISION 1998-2000: Diane Pagel 2000-current: Pete Giusti

Ah, masters, masters, masters. What can one say about the division that bears the brunt of much good-natured teasing from the younger generations (and even from some who qualify for masters themselves)? The seeds of the division first came into existence in 1990 when the UPA decided to send a masters team to the World Championships in Olso, Sweden. The participants that year read like a Whoʼs Who in the UPA history book: Sholom (Eric) Simon, Kathy Pufahl, Neal Dambra, Brian Dobyns, Steve Courlang, Suzanne Fields, and Getty Freeman, to name a few. The following year, open masters and womenʼs masters divisions were added to the UPAʼs National Championships, and while womenʼs masters faded away in 1998, the division as a whole is still proving their prowess on the field. Many of the greats now play masters: Steve Mooney, Stu Downs, Mike OʼDowd, Randy Ricks, Chris Van Holmes and Getty Freeman, to name a few. Their involvement with the sport on and off the field is worthy of recognition and respect. Who knows—Will Deaver could be next. Current National Masters Director Peter Giusti

Observers are required to pass an exam in order to qualify to observe at Nationals UPA Sanctioning Program begins offering greater promotional and logistical assistance to tournament directors Discraft Ultra Star named official disc of the UPA for an additional year UPA proposes new disc approval program that will no longer designate one disc as the “official disc of the UPA,” but will approve any disc that meets the UPA’s newly defined standards; Mark Licata to act as chair of the Disc Standards Committee National Juniors Director Steve Courlang introduces the Ultimate Teaching Curriculum 1994 UPA introduces email alias system UPA adopts Consortium Policy to allow two related schools to compete as a single team under certain circumstances

—Bill Nye (the Science Guy), early UPA member and rules coordinator; written in an article on the use of referees in the June 1980 newsletter

Top 25 scores can now be submitted online; preliminary UPA website set up and hosted through the Univ of Arizona

“We will note here that it appears that much of our membership went back to college this year, with almost two-thirds of our members paying dues at the special student rate. We will be monitoring student status claims more closely in 1991.”

Bob Byrne hired as first full-time, paid Executive Director 1996 National Championships field 14 men’s and 14 women’s teams; captains vote to use red/yellow card system Player referendum passes to allow Canadian teams to fully participate in the National Series Callahan Award is established for the college division; first winners are Val Kelly and Keith Monohan Joey Gray appointed as first UPA National Co-ed Director Mattel TOOL disc is approved by UPA UPA.org domain established Membership reaches 9,700 1997 First 12-member elected Board of Directors instated; Coordinating Committee disbanded National Open Director replaces Director of Competition position Experimental Co-ed Ultimate Series initiated with the culminating Celebration tournament to be held in Naperville, IL Innovation Grants program introduced UPA joins the USOC Developing Sports Council 1998 UPA holds the first UPA High School National Invitational in Maplewood, NJ on May 23 and 24; Amherst boys and Stuyvesant girls win the national title Number of college women’s teams at nationals goes from 10 to 12

—Brian Dobyns, on observing at the 1991 Easterns final with Mark Dixon, Head of the Certified Observer Pool

—Carney Foy, UPA treasurer, 1983 to 1997; from the financial statements presented in January 1991 newsletter

“Why don’t we give our northern neighbors a break until the sport grows in Canada? Let them play in the sectional tourneys as they have been doing for the past four years. And if they qualify for regionals, they deserve to go. I’m sure that not many people are too worried that the Canadians will make it to the UPA Nationals.”

“Join me when I say vote NO to Canadians, foreigners or anyone else from the outside qualifying for fall series action. They don’t belong taking spots from hard-working US teams. They’re different, they’re troublemakers, and they refuse to toe the line.” —Rick Collins, Canadian and long-time Ultimate photographer, in a letter to the editor in July 1996 regarding the player referendum on Canadian participation in the UPA series

—Andy Borinstein, former UPA Communications Director and Director of International Affairs; writing a letter to the editor about the Canadian’s participation in the Series in April of 1988

“The UPA will update the top 20 weekly with a computer algorithm based on the United States Chess Federation’s method of ranking players worldwide. You must call in your scores in order for them to be announced. You do that by calling (703) 548-3**9 on Sunday nights only! I will turn on the answering machine and put the phone in the closet, so call any time, as long as it’s Sunday night and before Monday morning.” —Sholom (Eric) Simon, announcing the procedure for submitting scores to the Collegiate Top 20 in the March 1986 newsletter. Simon continues to administer the program to this day

A trial co-ed division is added to Fall Series First National Masters Director appointed (Diane Pagel) Henry Thorne starts the Grand Prix Series, which connects a series of existing UPA sanctioned tournaments and culminates in a Grand Finale tournament UPA’s Easterns tournament is incorporated into the Boston Invitational UPA returns to having one official disc

2nd row: (left) Buzz Hellring, one of the founders of Ultimate at Columbia High School; (right) Henry Callahan, a legendary Oregon Dark Star player who was killed in a robbery in Boulder in 1982, became the namesake for the rules used by the college division and the prestigious award given to the top college Ultimate players each year; 3rd row: The Club Open and Women’s trophy, which today sports two placards for a Canadian team, Furious George. Vancouver’s Furious won the open division title in 2002 and 2003. Photo by Grant Wise. 4th row: The Nob-o-meter? We’re not sure what it is either, but figure it is probably somehow related to the 88-page briefing books Nob Rauch used to prepare for annual Coordinating Committee meetings.

Be sure to check out www.upa.org to read more entertaining and thought-provoking articles from the UPA newsletter over the past 25 years. Stories

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Fifty-one women’s teams participate in the college series

“Mark immediately called him out, and I called him in…Mark said that if I was certain I had the better angle, then I should overrule his call. We both fell silent as we realized that we had no idea of how to accomplish this feat. It was quickly agreed that to overrule a call, I would run towards him waving my arms above my head screaming, “Stop, stop!” If he wanted to overrule my call, he would do the same. If we wanted to overrule each other, then we would run at each other, crash, explode and burn in the fire of our conviction. Not a bad solution in ten seconds time.”

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The Western region of the club division is divided into the Mountain/Beach (later named Southwest) region and the Northwest region

“To paraphrase Winston Churchill’s view of democracy, having no officials in Ultimate is the worst possible way to control the game—unless one considers any other way. Listen everybody, I am not an idealist who believes in ‘holistic perspectives’ or bemoans the rarity of holistic perceivers. The reason we can play Ultimate competitively is not because disc players are stricken with a higher consciousness, but because the nature of the game is different. The game just doesn’t need referees.”

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1995 UPA goes through another restructuring, recognizing that the workload of the Executive Director is too much for a volunteer position; UPA outlines year-long process in which a full-time ED will be hired, and the Board of Directors will be directly elected by the membership

T H E Y S A I D I T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Discraft Ultra Star named official disc of the UPA for 1994

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Sholom (Eric) Simon’s tournament formats manual is approved by the board

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after experimenting for two years with an approved disc program; enters three-year contract with Discraft 1999 College division expanded to eight regions; open division college teams elect to play by the Callahan Rules

“Ultimate players are getting older, right? I mean, they’ve got this whole Masters thing now, which is an excellent idea because it gives us an excuse to ship some dead weight to Oslo for a week so they don’t ruin summer league for the rest of us by going on endlessly about how great life was back in the days when they used to play Ultimate barefoot with a stone Frisbee on asphalt parking lots covered with melted tar and bits of broken glass.”

Open Division College Championship Trophy renamed the Eric Simon Trophy UPA increases number of open and women’s teams at the UPA Club Championships to 16 UPA board approves sponsorship contract with Sports Illustrated/Jockey that will make Jockey the title sponsor for the 1999 College and Club National Championships

—Scott Gurst, creator of RUFUS; letter to the editor in the June 1990 newsletter regarding the UPA’s formation of a masters team for the World Championships in Oslo. (Read the rest of Scott’s letter, plus the ‘90 masters team’s response online)

Dues are increased to $30 for regular members and $20 for students “ULTIMATE IS DEAD! The Ultimate invented seventeen years ago passed away today, and after a long illness at that. The cancer that killed our “spirit” (the foundation of Ultimate) began to rear its ugly head years ago. This year, at Nationals in Texas, the tournament directors and the UPA had the guts to bury our beloved sport with the introduction of yellow and red cards for flagrant fouls against Spirit of the Game. The history of Spirit of the Game was shattered once and for all when Windy City spiked and smashed their victory trophy. Goodbye Ultimate and long live Uglimate, the fast paced, exciting new sport disc game.”

“Ever since Steve Mooney coined the phrase ‘Uglimate’ in his sour appraisal of Windy City’s performance at Nationals in ‘86, the ghost of the beast has haunted us. During the reign of Gary McGivney, the newsletter was filled with railings against the competitiveness that threatened to damn the soul of our sport…I never really understood what Gary and Steve were talking about. It always seemed to me that the beauty of Ultimate is that it permits individuals to demonstrate their own nature in a clear light. With no coaches to squelch the natural charisma of the on-field leaders, no referees to police the morally deficient, and no media to inflate the contributions of individuals, each player is given free reign to be as dynamic, deceitful or anonymous as he or she is by nature.” —Pat King, New York New York player, in a letter to the editor in the November 1991 newsletter

—Steve Mooney, in a letter to the editor in the January 1987 newslett newsletter

Membership reaches 11,000 2000 Joey Gray becomes Executive Director Membership cycle goes to calendar year Co-ed champ series moves to Labor Day weekend and is incorporated into the Celebration Series for a one-year trial period Number of women’s teams at College Nationals increased to 16 2001 Will Deaver hired to manage championship series UPA Co-ed Division becomes the Mixed Division

“We’d like to make apologies for the fact that this issue of the UPA Newsletter is so late. If we had known ahead of time that the service that does our typesetting was going to burn down, we’d have made other plans.”

Mixed Division Championships move back to Fall Series UPA sends co-ed US Ultimate team to the World Games in Akita, Japan; USA wins the silver medal 10th edition rules are passed by membership 2002

—Tom Kennedy in the October 1981 issue of the newsletter

UPA offers online membership registration Full-time, paid Director of Youth Development and Director of Media and Communications are hired

“A lot of inmates are interested in Frisbee now… Stamps are hard to come by in here (almost worth their weight in Frisbees), so we are requesting that you please forward our address to as many other Frisbee organizations as possible. We are hungry for all available Frisbee literature!” off his feet

—William H. Rivers (inmate C-72059) and Peter Guarisco (inmate Cat th 78720) writing to the UPA e 19 83 for more information Ap ril on Ultimate in the Fo spring of 1984 o

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“Phoenix disc jockey and celebrity Bruce Kelly, broadcasting live from the site of College Nationals, was injured while trying to throw a fastback in the distance competition sponsored by radio station Y95. He threw out his back and was taken from the scene on a body board with an oxygen tube and IV. Local Ultimate players have developed a new style of pull (and disco move) in his honor called “The Bruce.”

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—Sidebar in the coverage about the 1990 College Nationals

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Top row: (right) Scott Gurst serves as broadcaster at the 1990 Nationals; 2nd row: Big Brother’s Steve Mooney is marked by a NYNY player during the 1991 final. 3rd row: We’re not entirely sure, but we believe that the players in these photos may be lamenting their overdue newsletters. One of the most commonly heard complaints at the UPA over the past 25 years has been late and/or missing newsletters. Usually there was a good reason, such as the typesetter’s building burning down. 4th row: (photo) You pick the caption: “Disappointed by the lack of response from the UPA, inmates C-72059 and C-78720 sought revenge upon their release,” or “The investigation continues in the Bruce Kelly incident.” (Actually, this photograph won the humor category in a UPA contest in 1990.)

UPA moves headquarters to Boulder in August Peter Farricker Spirit Award introduced UPA membership surpasses 15,000 2003 Sandie Hammerly hired as Executive Director 2003 UPA College Championships are featured on College Sports Television Updated tournament formats manual presented to membership UPA creates full-time position for Director of Outreach and Membership UPA membership reaches 17,500 2004

Dues are increased to $40 ($30 for college/ $20 for youth)

about the referee debate, Spirit of the Game, Canadian participation in the Series, the evolution of the rules, & more are being added weekly!

Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award approved by Board of Directors UPA hires part-time Program Assistant and begins search for part-time Web Tech Administrator

SECTIONAL Every year the UPA takes this opportunity to recognize some outstanding individuals who have served the Championship Series, the UPA, and the sport. This short article can’t do justice to the time and effort these people put towards helping the UPA meet its goals and serving you, the members. And while it’s also important to take every opportunity to thank all the volunteers who give their time to the UPA and to Ultimate, we’d like to focus on a special few who went above and beyond in their efforts this past year. Sectional Coordinators are the primary link between the UPA and Ultimate players, including both those who are UPA members and those who might become members. Their job primarily revolves around organizing Sectionals, the first qualifying stage in the Championship Series. This job entails not only running a fun, quality event, but also includes helping teams get information about how to participate and helping the UPA keep track of everyone who does. For the first time we are also recognizing outstanding Regional Coordinators in each division. These volunteers work almost year round, recruiting and managing Sectional Coordinators, as well as organizing Regional Championships, some of the most exciting events of the Ultimate year. --Will Deaver

“Valley has proven to be an invaluable leader in his section. His organization and commitment have helped the Ozarks Section grow to the largest and most organized it has ever been. Valley has shown the passion and drive that embodies everything that I would look for in a Sectional Coordinator.” —Jon Woolley, South College Open RC Honorable Mention: Ross Loomis (South New England)

Valley Renshaw College Open - Ozarks

“Ashley was a first-year SC and ably oversaw a very large section. She dealt with questions, cancellations, and all sorts of problems with a calm and collected head. And she always read my emails (usually within five minutes of sending them) and let me know if I ever made a mistake.” —Jin Ding, Atlantic Coast College Women’s RC Honorable Mention: Gretchen Sponburgh (Bay Area)

Ashley Craver

Club Women - Michigan

Miriam Allersma

Club Open - S California

Alex Korb

Club Mixed - N California

College Women - Carolina

Robert Sostak

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“Robert took over one of the biggest sections in the country and put together a great sectionals tournament. Not only was there so much interest that he had to turn teams away after the deadline, but he had to come up with a fair and equitable format for the 20 teams attending. ALL 20 teams had their rosters in on time. Robert also gave a tremendous amount of his own time and effort at Northwest regionals, securing fields, working at disc central, and coordinating things down in Santa Cruz.” —Ray Birks, Northwest Mixed RC

“Alex Korb did a great job in his first year as SC for S California. Proactive from the start, he scouted multiple tournament locations before choosing a very practical site. Alex did an excellent job as an administrator, quickly and responsibly reacting to situations before and during the tournament. Alex endeavored to make sectionals appeal to the largest number of teams possible, and in doing so raised the number of sectionals attendees to 16, up from 12 last year.” —Brian Bogle, Southwest Open RC

“Miriam was always on top of things—from the SC quiz all the way through helping with seedings at regionals. I always knew I could count on her for a quick response to emails I had sent, and her responses were thoughtful and thorough. Her sectional date, location and format were secured early, and she provided team contact info over a month before the tournament. Miriam took care of the gals in her section—inquiring about college eligibility and the club series. As a rookie RC, it was great to have a helpful veteran SC like Miriam.” —Becky LeDonne, Central Women’s RC

Honorable Mention: Ali Walton, Chris Turner

Honorable Mention: Michael Navarro (Capital)

Honorable mention: Kim Krietner (Capital)

ULTIMATE NEWS

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Club Mixed - MidAtlantic

Jin Ding

Jon Woolley

College Open - South

College Women - Atlantic

COORDINATORS

Honorable Mention: Tim Murray (Central)

Honorable Mention: Theresa Weber (Central)

Honorable Mention: Ray Birks (Northwest)

Club Masters - Central

Val Kelly

Adam Goff

Alexander Dee

“2003 was Nikky’s first year as an RC. She demonstrated great resolve and confidence in her planning one of the few stand-alone regional tournaments in a region that is known for lack of field space. Nikky took bids from several sites, evaluated those sites, made a decision, hired a TD, and ran a very successful tournament in the fall. Nikky is a good communicator, easy to work with, and was very helpful to the SCs who were affected by a hurricane postponing their tournaments. Nikky also demonstrated her pro-active attitude by sending out a request for bids for her 2004 tournament in December of 2003.” —George Cooke, National Mixed Director

Club Women - MidAtlantic

“Jin once again did an outstanding job in her second year as an RC for one of the division’s largest and most competitive regions. She always communicated well, accomplished coordinating tasks on schedule, and worked well with players, teams, and other organizers. Jin was selected as SC of the Year for the 2000 season and made the transition to RC very smoothly. She recently moved to New England where she has taken over as RC for that region. It’s great to have a long-time volunteer like Jin in the UPA ranks. Her experience and dedication go a long way towards improving the College Series.” —Will Deaver, Championship Director

Club Open - Central

“Jon took a region that has traditionally struggled with participation and growth and helped it achieve new heights in numbers of teams and organization. In fact, by getting almost all of their rosters in on time, Jon helped his sectional coordinators and teams put the South in contention for a size wildcard despite being the smallest region in the country. He was in great communication with his coordinators, national director, and UPA HQ, and helped put on a wellrun, exciting Southern Regional Championship.” —Will Deaver, Championship Director

“Adam Goff continues to do a great job as open RC for the Central region. Even before he took on the position a few years ago, Adam understood the yearround nature of the position. Adam’s commitment means that planning never stops in the Central region. I know that he began considering the 2004 season even while 2003 sectionals were under way. With five active sections—more than in any other region—Adam has his hands full. This past year he had to deal with a wide variety of issues: coordinator turnover, rostering questions, tournament format matters, and seeding controversies, to name a few. Adam did a great job for the open players of the Central region.” —David Raflo, National Open Director

“Val has a tremendous amount of heart and passion for Ultimate, but this passion goes well beyond what she does on the field. She maintained a high level of communication with the SCs and the National Director. Her region held the largest women’s regional with 14 teams. Val worked hard, encouraging college teams to commit to regionals, while dealing with ever-changing formats to accommodate the number of teams attending. Her enthusiasm showed through any frustration she may have experienced, and her insight and problem-solving ability was amazing. Even though she is no longer able to serve as RC for the coming year, she has continued to pursue her own replacement. Val’s talents as a Regional Coordinator will be missed.” —DeAnna Ball, National Women’s Director

“Al put on a well-run regionals with no notable complaints. He got his paperwork in on time and without screw-ups, and he got a perfect score on the coordinator exam. Al is very prompt with his responses to me and to the players in his region. He simply does a really good job without needing to be badgered, and has been doing so for a few years now. Thank you, Al, for your help.” —Pete Giusti, National Masters Director

Honorable Mention: Brian Bogle, Eric Prange

Honorable Mention: Becky LeDonne (Central)

Honorable Mention: Randy Ricks (Southwest) SPRING 2004

by Tiina Booth

Youth Ultimate

Every May we host the Amherst Invitational, the oldest high school tournament in the country; every year we have to turn away teams. Part of our criteria for inviting teams is the answer to the question, “How has your team contributed to the growth of Ultimate?” The responses are as varied as they are inspiring. These organizers are doing much more than putting up posters and holding bake sales. They have taken on the growth of Ultimate as a personal challenge, and the results are quite amazing. Please read on:

BEACON SCHOOL: New York City Coach Abby Lublin Imagine this . . . Twenty-seven girls arrive at 7 a.m., sneakers on, ready to jog, sprint, and quad-stretch their way down the narrow hallways of our school. (We have no real gym, nor fields.) They donʼt change after a sweaty practice; they wear their participation as a badge of honor.

At Amherst last year, three girls began a journey. They played on a mish-mash team who vowed to go back to their respective schools to start girlsʼ teams. Empowered, determined and hooked, they succeeded. Since last spring, these three have recruited 24 more students (the number grows weekly!) who have participated in womenʼs Frisbee clinics in the far reaches of Brooklyn, scheduled scrimmages during vacations, run during free periods, and watched every Ultimate video that has ever been produced and distributed. As I write this testimonial to my playersʼ devotion to the sport, they are playing “Snowltimate” and practicing laying out on a dirt-patch-of-afield on 54th Street and 10th Avenue in Manhattan. Enough said.

BETHEL PARK HIGH SCHOOL: Pennsylvania Player Nick Kaczmarek Our team has made significant strides in spreading the awareness of Ultimate in Bethel Park and even on the greater scale of Pittsburgh. Our major contribution of 2003 was our world-record-breaking effort of 50 hours and 3 minutes of consecutive Ultimate played. We also raised over $400 in donations and were able to bring Ultimate into the spotlight (four stories in local papers and coverage on local newscasts). As one player said, “Sure, a world recordʼs great, but we really hope to raise awareness of Ultimate in our area.”

HOTCHKISS SCHOOL:: Connecticut Coach David Thompson With regard to our contribution to the growth of Ultimate, this year marks the fifth year of the 10-team Hotchkiss Invitational and the second year of the New England Prep School Ultimate League (NEPSUL). NEPSUL was founded last year with Bob Sidorsky of NMH, and the hope is to raise the visibility level of Ultimate throughout New England. We began with a questionnaire sent to the athletic directors at all the independent schools in our region. Since last spring, we have heard from schools that are starting teams for ULTIMATE NEWS

WESTON HIGH SCHOOL: Massachusetts Player Luke Taylor With little funding from our school and limited practice time, we have not been able to be very active in the Ultimate community in the past. However this year, with funding from the school and new varsity status, we will have a structured spring season, scheduled field space, regular practices, and a paid coach. We hold a yearly intramural tournament in June, which has drawn more than 10 teams. The faculty is yet undefeated, but we hope to change that this year. With the help of our coach, Mr. Michael Kelley, and parental support, we have received the respect and acknowledgment of the schoolʼs athletic community. Over 30 players regularly attend pickup games, and we hope to continue to thrive and grow as a team as well as propagate the greatness of Ultimate.

What G rassro ots Lo oks Like

Most of them have never seen nor played a real game of Ultimate. But nobody can doubt their devotion. They carry discs at all times, schedule running and throwing practices during vacations, and generally live, breathe and sleep Ultimate.

the first time, as well as coaches and players at schools who are seeking varsity status for their existing teams. At present, there are 19 schools in the league that play interscholastically. NEPSUL will host its first tournament this May 2nd at Phillips Andover Academy. More info is available at www.nepsul.org

WATCHUNG HILL REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL: New Jersey Player Dan Baik We believe our biggest contribution was lobbying for varsity status at our school and achieving it. We were the first team in NJ to get this kind of recognition, along with buses, field space, and most importantly, legitimacy. This past fall was wonderful. People were asking questions about us, and a buzz was going around the school. Many of our fellow state teams are trying the same push for varsity status and funding, attempting to mold their programs after ours. Just seeing how much weʼve grown in these three years makes us anticipate the future even more to see how far we can take this team. It will be very rewarding if we can come back in three years and find a varsity squad, two JV squads, and a girlsʼ team. We once thought it would be impossible . . . but we donʼt think that any longer.

ST. JOHNSBURY ACADEMY: ACADEMY Vermont Player Josh Sophrin The main focus of St. Johnsbury Academy Ultimate is team unity and Spirit of the Game. We take pride in what we have created here at the Academy—the first organized Ultimate team the town has ever known. Our strongest motivation comes from our Amherst trip last year to observe and cheer on other teams. We were so impressed by what we saw that when we returned home, we doubled our efforts. This season we have greatly increased our membership. We also have a strong core of a womenʼs team, which we hope to have running in full force very soon. This season we have also started a winter indoor intramural league and hope to start one at the middle school as well. We believe in playing fair, giving all we have to give, then giving some more.

Player Profile

by Stacy Hubbard

CURRENT TEAM: The Big Unit

Harriford, Robbye Brooks, AJ Tiarsmith, Damien Scott, Sean McCall and others compete at the highest levels with fairness and poise.

LIVES IN: Atlanta, GA NUMBER OF YEARS PLAYING ULTIMATE: 24 LEARNED TO PLAY AT: Dartmouth TITLES/TOURNEYS WON: The big wins would be Kaimana, Worlds, four UPA Regionals, Poultry Days, Frostbreaker, DC Fools and MGus victories in the Cuervo era. The most unlikely tournament victory was a nineperson mixed (5 guys, 4 gals) win over a 14-man Chain/Birmingham combo team at Huntsville Huckfest.

BEST TOURNEY MOMENT SO FAR: Competitively it has to be defeating NYNY at Worlds in 1993 when they dominated the universe, and we were “some southern team.” Iʼve played better in other games, but Iʼve never battled harder or focused as well. Also, going to Japan with Mike OʼDowdʼs crew in 1993. That was my highlight experience as a player. We taught clinics and scrimmaged several local teams and experienced some of the culture. And despite our success as educators, their dedication to the basics of throwing and commitment to possessing the disc taught me plenty and foretold of future success for Japan on the international stage.

STU DOWNS

PREVIOUS TEAMS: HeeHaw, Chain Lightning for 16 years or so, Southern Discomfort (Kaimana since 1998), Pangaea (4th of July and Frostbreaker, 1991 thru 1993), Big Sak (fall Masters 2002), Kegworkers (Masters Worlds 2003), Seven Sages (Mars 2002), Chicks with Dicks (Fools Fest 1992 & 1993), Dixie Chickens (Poultry Days 1991 thru 2003), MGus (Money Grubbing Ultimate Scum - played for them when Cuervo sponsored some money tournaments in 1990 and 1991), Boston Massacre (Worlds 1989), Collared Greens (Paganello 2002 & 2003), Bears (1984), Boneheads (1986), Screaming Advil Pudsuckers (1986), Vicious Cycle (Worlds 1993) WHY DO YOU PLAY ULTIMATE? Because it is the most pleasurable way on earth to spend extended time with folks. From on-field battling to post-game antics to mealtime laughter to late night tubbing, the experience never stops. OTHER SPORTS PLAYED: Goaltimate (sport of the next millennium?), basketball, Ping-Pong HOBBIES BESIDES ULTIMATE: Piano, singing, beading, comic book collecting, spending quality time with people FAVORITE TOURNAMENTS: Kaimana and Paganello SPORTS ROLE MODEL: Larry Bird. Anyone who has seen him compete oughta know why. I have several Frisbee role models, and I steal what I can from them. ULTIMATE PLAYERS WHO HAVE INFLUENCED YOU OVER THE YEARS: Not to be rude, but no single player has influenced me much. However many have influenced me a little. Observing Augie Krevanis as an all around offensive threat has been educational; or watching Jim Parinella cut, Jon Gewirtz play man D, Greg Allpow anticipate where a throw will go and lay for the block, Rich Hollingsworth shred with short creative throws, Jeff Schultz get to everything hanging whether on O or D; and listening to Steve Mooney or Pat King speak to players to get them ready. I played with many guys in Atlanta less known nationally who did great, quiet things I picked up on. Notably, Charlie Bliss, Ross Snyder, Fred Perivier, Nick Josties, Mike White, Laird Williams, Parker Gillum and Alan Reeves to name a few. But no single player do I emulate. I need stuff from all of them. In fact, I still learn from todayʼs stars. Most impressive is watching hard working players like Brian

WORST LOSS IN A ROSHAM (and what you had to do as a result): The Kid, historically Atlantaʼs worst rosher, came from behind to defeat me by crushing my scissors, and I had to eat pork brains and drink the pork brain juice! I can still taste that loss.... WHAT ARE SOME POSITIVE CHANGES YOU HAVE SEEN IN ULTIMATE OVER THE YEARS? As our sport grows in Photo by Scobel Wiggins popularity and athleticism, nothing has been more important than retention of the Spirit of the Game at all levels. After a surge to add refs to our game, the great change has been in the natural way players adapt to this pressure and remain bound by honor. While observers may help solve certain issues at times, the basis of the sport, which sets us apart and above others, is the honor with which we play it. I am impressed with the honesty most elite players carry in the face of competition and in the face of criticism of the elite division itself. Such moments define our Ultimate men and women as strong, secure and valuable people in sport and society. ONE THING YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT THE GAME IF YOU COULD: I would reduce the impact of the Callahan rules—it takes the power from each player and gives it to someone else. It might be hurting the game. Also, Iʼd get rid of the MVP award. I have never thought one player stood above all others in our sport. Ever. Even for a season. YOU ARE ALWAYS A BIG STAR AT PAGANELLO. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BEACH ULTIMATE? Well, the beach itself is tough for me, and although I did well two years ago, I am a bad beach player. It kills some of my quickness and ALL of my speed. I think I love Paganello because of the giant spectacle it is. And Europeans are such fun Frisbee folks with fewer inhibitions than we Americans have. Somehow that puts us at ease. The beach game is easier to manage mentally and seemingly gentler on the body (although calves and feet work hard). And even competitive people never lose sight of where they are by the ocean. Itʼs hard to be agro while splashing in sand and sea. “Stuʼs knack for creatively making the inconceivable play at critical times of a game is often overshadowed by his gamesmanship and his respect for other players regardless of their skill level—from absolute beginners to seasoned elite club players. (For the record, I didnʼt play in the 1970s, so I have never actually seen him make a really good play!)” –Mike ʻPumaʼ Weems SPRING 2004

ULTIMATE TECHNIQUES AND TACTICS:

Switching Great defensive teams are better than the sum of their parts. One player can front her offender heavily if she knows she has a backup deep. A defender playing the middle-middle zone position can take a calculated risk, with others picking up the slack if her attempt doesnʼt pan out. Critical to team unity is that some players have an awareness of regions outside their immediate vicinity and are responsive to this periphery. Switching, or swapping offenders with a defensive teammate, is a reassignment of defensive roles to take advantage of the defendersʼ field positions. Poaching, or leaving your offender in an attempt to thwart an offensive play, is a gamble that exploits the element of surprise and offensive confusion. Both switching and poaching allow defenders to work with each other to cover the field better, but they present considerable risks if done improperly or at the wrong time. Clear communication, whether explicit or implicit, is the key to making these maneuvers low on risk and high on reward.

Switching Youʼre fronting your offender, and he goes deep—no chance to cover him. What if the thrower makes a nice pass? As long as you have a fellow defender further downfield (and on the same side), you should be able to get help from her. She can come off her offender

and pick up yours. In the process, you must find and cover her offender as quickly as you can. Youʼll be temporarily out of position, so you need to get on your new offender before the offense can find him. Youʼre shading sideline, and your offender cuts breakside. Just at that point, the disc is swung to the opposite side of the field, and your offender is in a position to initiate an offensive assault down the breakside. You should look for a fellow defender in the stack to pick up your offender—and you should cover hers. Youʼre trailing your offender on a cutback, while your teammate is trailing her offender on a cutout on the same side (figure 8.1). The two of you should lock eyes and signal, call, or simply know to do a switch. You should fade back and pick up the receiver cutting long. Your teammate should stay shallow and pick up the offender you were trailing. Do this before itʼs too late for you to shift your momentum. Youʼre getting ready to play defense as the disc is checked into play in the red zone. The offense lines up in a stack. You stand on one side of the stack, a teammate on the other (figure 8.2). You signal to her before the tap-in that youʼll pick up whichever of your two offenders comes your way, and sheʼll pick up whoever goes her way. If they both go the same way, one of you covers the redundant two until the other

defender c o m e s . ( S i m i l a r considerations apply to a front/back switch against offenders oriented vertically.) Youʼre near the back of the stack. Your offender begins to cut in hard, and you go in with him. He turns and heads deep immediately, and the last player in the stack switches onto him. Meanwhile, the last cutter in the stack cuts in on the breakside and is picked up by the next defender. This playerʼs offender is now open, so you switch onto him. A multiple switch can involve more than two players. Each of these situations turns a weakness into a strength. One player (you) is out of position on her assigned offender but finds another defender on the field who is already in position for coverage. You are then typically in a decent position to pick up the offender your teammate left (even if youʼre not in great position, it might take the offender a bit of time to realize the defensive lapse—long enough for you to recover). The offense watches as its hard work is matched by a quick-thinking defense.

Figure 8.1 Player A is trailing her offender deep, while player B is

Figure 8.2 A two-man clam is signaled by a back-and-forth motion

trailing her offender coming back. A front-back switch results in good coverage of both cuts. Note that the switch must be recognized in time for player B to shift her momentum to pick up the long cut.

of the hand. If the offenders split, the defenders can cover both threats. If both offenders cut in the same direction, there won’t be space to take advantage of the momentary positional disadvantage of one of the defenders.

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What makes a switch possible is the synchrony between you and your fellow switcher. As you might expect, synchrony comes through communication. New teammates will probably have to rely on the spoken word— “Switch!”—as well as eye contact or pointing to ensure that the call was received. Over time, you and your teammates will come to recognize certain situations and understand each other—then youʼll be ready for the “switch” call before it comes. At this point, a simple shout of “Hey!” or even just a glance might be enough to communicate that a switch should occur. The

Poaching by James Parinella & Eric Zaslow

transition from spoken word to tacit understanding takes time to develop. Sometimes itʼs not clear what to do in a situation, or your teammate might feel she has the situation under control and doesnʼt want the switch. This too must be communicated. She should say, “I go!” or “I got it!” or simply “No!” Avoid the word “stay” because it could mean either “stay on your defender” (no switch) or “stay where you are” (and switch). After the point, discuss switches that were made and opportunities that were not taken. Find out what your teammates prefer. Eventually, you and your teammates might establish such a rapport that most switches occur automatically and instantaneously (as in a great clam defense), thwarting the undertakings of an unsuspecting offense.

Poaching Certain situations require unilateral action. You might be defending in the middle of the stack when you see an open offender making a big comeback cut down the strong alley (figure 8.3). The disc is on the sideline, and youʼre in a trap formation. At this point, you have the opportunity to flare out to stymie the large sideline gainer. You might not have made eye contact with your teammate, and the two of you might not be in a great position to switch. Still, you have the chance to help her out and eliminate a big offensive threat. In the process, you create a minor threat—the offender you were covering is uncovered, but still in the stack, away from the strong sideline. Another poaching opportunity can arise when you have just covered a cutter on the strong side who is returning to the stack. If you trail this offender a bit on his return, you might be able to linger in the alley, getting in the way of any strong-side developments (keep your arms out). Such a poach might last only a second or two but could be enough to discourage a throw. If your offender is not aware of his periphery, he will continue toward the stack at a slow pace and miss the opportunity to beat you. The timing of a poach is geared to its purpose. If youʼre poaching to make a block, you want to hesitate as long as possible so you donʼt tip

the offense. If your poach is to prevent a play from ever occurring, show it early to discourage the development. Beware of “poaching by the numbers.” Any defense that repeatedly makes obvious poaches will suffer the consequences—a good offense will anticipate the poaches and burn them, perhaps even calling a play designed to run off a poach. You should also beware of the lazy defender who uses poaches as an excuse for being off her offender. Poaching might lead to easy blocks, but these happen only occasionally. More often, youʼll have to hustle back to your offender, so thereʼs nothing lazy about a proper poach. When you poach, do it suddenly and forcefully. Donʼt do half a poach. Half a poach leaves you out of position on Figure 8.3 Defender A, who flares out in the alley as her player sits two offenders. A forceful poach leaves in the stack, poaches off offender A to prevent offender B from receivyou in a position to stop a play or get ing a gaining pass with the force down the strong-side alley. a block. It also leaves an offender temporarily uncovered. At this point, position while playing. For example, you assuming the throw was not thrown or the might be in a situation where a poach could be block did not happen, itʼs up to the defense as a good gambit, but you might be focusing on a whole to recover from the risk. You might your balance or position, counting the number be able to hop back to your offender before of passes, or trying to remember to glance back he realizes what has happened. The defender at the disc. Thatʼs why these important but you helped out by poaching might find your routine aspects of defense must be ingrained offender and pick him up, turning the poach through hours of practice, leaving you free to into a switch. Or another defender might have consider higher-order skills, such as poaching been in a position to leave her own and pick up and switching, which enable the seven on-field the offender you abandoned, creating an even defenders to function as a potent unit. smaller threat in the process (say someone far on the weak side returning to the stack), so that Switching and poaching are high-level you or the defender you helped have time to maneuvers demanding an awareness of the find the open player. In any case, a deliberate field around you. As your one-on-one defense and unambiguous poach is easily read by the improves, so does your vision of the field, and these maneuvers allow you to use your vision teammates who will help you to recover. to help your team respond to imminent threats The cardinal rule of poaching is, donʼt create and to receive help from your teammates. a bigger threat! You donʼt want to leave Smart play requires that you donʼt create bigger someone open on the strong side to pick up an threats in the process. Good communication offender who has gotten open in the middle of makes for smooth execution of switches and the field. You donʼt want to help out covering proper recovery from poaches. a dump and leave your offender free for a long gainer. You can poach to quell a threat, but From Ultimate Techniques & Tactics by James Parinella and Eric Zaslow. Copydonʼt create a bigger threat in the process. right 2004. Excerpted by permission of Note on Recognition Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. Available In this book, we often present a situation in April by calling 1-800-747-4457 or visitor create a scenario and suggest possible ing www.HumanKinetics.com. $19.95 plus responses. Most of the time, the difficulty is shipping/handling. not in making an analysis of a scenario but in recognizing the relevant aspects of a field SPRING 2004

San Francisco Ultimate League Hosts GAM

ltimate embodies the words “game of love” for many, but this expression took on a whole new meaning in San Francisco on the last Tuesday afternoon of October.

Dressed in amorous red vs. white t-shirts, more than fourteen San Francisco Ultimate League (SFUL) members staged a full game of 7ʼs at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park in front of a film crew from The Learning Channel (TLC). The occasion? Yvonne Fong, a threeyear SFUL member, had been selected to appear on the cable channel series A Dating Story,, which airs weekdays on TLC. Asked to lead the crew through a day in her life, Yvonne put the word out to the local Ultimate community that an opportunity to showcase the game on a nationally televised series was available. “I wrote about Ultimate in the online profile the production company saw,” explained Yvonne. “We thought that it would be something new that maybe a lot of people hadnʼt heard about but would find interesting.” While most appearances on TV result from some sort of audition, Yvonneʼs A Dating Story experience was different from the start in that they approached her.

A MATCH for you, which in essence is a good thing,” they chirped to Yvonne. “We ran through a bunch of questions about me and who Iʼm looking for,” she said. At the end of our conversation, the talent booker said ʻIʼm on a mission to find you someone.ʼ At this point I was still very skeptical that anything would come of it. I mean, what were the chances that this person whoʼd only talked to me on the phone for an hour would know enough about me to pick me a suitable match?” Using match.com and other means, the talent booker set about her task of lining up multiple date prospects for Yvonne, “just in case something happens and the first candidate(s) canʼt do it for some reason or another.” “I just let the ball keep rolling until the day when I got a call back that said they found someone and asked was I still interested. Having never seen the show but having confidence in the tastefulness of The Learning Channelʼs programming and looking for a fun experience, I thought ʻWell, why not!ʼ” To fit A Dating Storyʼs “day in the life” narrative style, the film crew spent a day and a half in San Francisco filming Yvonne at work, out shopping, at a fundraising event for the Arthritis Foundation where she volunteers occasionally, at home doing some remodeling, and in training for her next triathlon. Somewhere during that time, they made time for some Ultimate.

“I have a profile on match.com floating around in the abyss otherwise known as the online dating community. One day I got an email message from cantbereal@ta lkmatch.com. (Get it? Canʼt be real.) And even though it went against my normal practices, I decided to go Yvonne and friend Akemi Tom (left, wearing cap) await further instructions while Akemi At this point, enter San ahead and read this message gets outfitted with a wireless microphone. Photo by Edwin Yang. Francisco Ultimate League, from a person who didnʼt in which Yvonne has played have a picture posted. (Always post a picture!) The message turned out since 2001. In a city where the shortage of precious field space affects to be from a ʻtalent bookerʼ who wrote, ʻA Dating Story will be shooting every person who owns a pair of cleats, whether they be used for in San Francisco Oct. 22-31, and we are interviewing candidates for our Ultimate, soccer, rugby, baseball, or football, Yvonne needed a little show. I love your profile and think you would be great!ʼ” help setting up a location for the film shoot, not to mention rounding up Until then, Yvonne had hardly been the type to put her personal life in enough willing participants to stage a game in the middle of a workday. the hands of others. “Iʼve never been on a blind date where I was set up SFUL League Director Elizabeth Murray secured both, leaning on the by someone I know,” she says. Even her profile on match.com had not good relationship she has fostered on behalf of the league with the cityʼs led to anything more unusual than a slightly embarrassing encounter. Recreation and Parks department over the years, and using email to “I randomly ran into a guy I was emailing for awhile at a bar at San tap into the communityʼs vast network of self-, flexibly-, or otherwise Francisco Airport. We had never met in person before our emailing under-employed Ultimate players, and their universal appetite for a fun time and additional playing time. ended, so that was a little awkward.” Yvonne next proceeded as many others would. “I quickly checked out the production companyʼs website to make sure it was legit and decided to call the talent booker to at least find out a little more. The talent booker and I then talked for about an hour.” Unlike other dating shows in the ever-ubiquitous reality-based TV genre, A Dating Story strives for a certain amount of legitimacy, if there is such a thing. “We donʼt set you up with someone unless we FIND 28

ULTIMATE NEWS

Among those who turned up at the Polo Field were Spencer Lipp and Cameron Geiser, both SFUL team captains who have played in the league every year since its inception in 1999. The unusual occasion called for a moment to reflect on the various forces of nature, namely the dating game, the mass media, and the sport of Ultimate itself, which all collided and brought everyone together that day. Said Spencer about some of A Dating Storyʼs more notorious competition (The Bachelor, Joe Millionaire, Elimidate, etc.), “I love

ME OF LOVE for The Learning Channel

by Edwin Yang

these shows. They crack me up! They cater to our needs to publicly humiliate people and show how some people are just complete asses. They are the ultimate for anybody that loves to people watch.” As for how his own dating experiences would compare with Yvonneʼs foray into reality-based TV, he said, “Just going on a date with some people in San Francisco can be even more frightening then going on A Dating Story.” Cameron chimed in, saying, “I donʼt really like those dating shows. The whole point is to get people getting kind of psycho on each other for the comedy effect. Of course, theyʼve got some hot chicks on those shows, which I just cannot argue with. And actually, some of them are pretty damn funny, like Cheaters. (Donʼt tell anybody that I watch Cheaters.) So in a nutshell—they all suck, even the ones that I watch.” Yvonne herself is not a huge fan of the popular genre, although she admits to taking in an occasional episode of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette as a guilty pleasure or cure for insomnia. “They never really seem to favorably represent people. And I certainly never imagined that there was any real possibility of finding my heartʼs content either in a person or in a prize as the result of being on one of them. My friends are having a fun time with it, teasing me, and giving me a hard time. I havenʼt told my parents, but theyʼd probably think Iʼd suffered a head injury if they knew Iʼd be appearing on a dating show.” No gathering for an Ultimate game in front of rolling cameras would be complete without rearing the head of an age-old debate among Ultimate players; that is, whether the sport needs more media coverage. Said Spencer, “Some people want to see it grow to a sport in the Olympics, get a national league and TV coverage. I think thatʼs fine as long as it doesnʼt change the ʻspiritʼ component at the lower levels.” Cameron felt differently, proclaiming that, “Compared to Ultimate, even the Olympics is just another jaded, steroid-infested professional league where the big payoff is huge amounts of cash. Everyone plays Ultimate because they love it, nobody plays it to make money, and that is the way it should be.” Nevertheless, the cheap thrill of being on TV made for an interesting excuse to play some disc on a Tuesday afternoon. While everybody got what they came for, basking in the warm glow of a sparkling Indian Summer afternoon rather than the warm glow of their office lights and computer screens, the disc players in attendance unwittingly gave something back to our heroine, Yvonne, in return. “I was actually really relieved to see everyone out on the field. After filming with the crew for most of the morning, getting out to the field felt like I had a little bit of a support group. Everyone was eager to have SFUL team captain Cameron Geiser a fun time with it and that put counts himself among those who feel me back in the right mindset additional media coverage or inclusion to continue with the taping. It in the Olympic Games wouldn’t neces- sounds kind of sappy, but I was sarily be good for Ultimate. Photo by genuinely touched. Edwin Yang.

“The day and a half of filming were so much more completely physically and emotionally draining than I could have ever imagined. You end up talking about some pretty personal subjects, and I didnʼt know how difficult a time I would have with that. The small group from the production company and the crew were all great though, and also really helped me through it.” By the time she arrived in Golden Gate Park with the film crew in tow, Yvonne was able to set aside the fatigue to share a common thought with all her fellow SFUL members: “LETʼS PLAY.” From afar, the game played by Yvonne and her fellow SFUL members, with a 4:3 gender ratio no less, resembled any other SFUL league game that you might see at the Polo Field on weekends this fall, or on weeknights during spring and summer. Soaring hucks, roaring cuts, and a surprising amount of game-level intensity filled the camera lenses, as players acted on their natural instincts to look good for audiences at home. In one case, the instincts might have been too good. A disc intended for Yvonne, the only player on the field who really mattered in the eyes of the TLC crew as evidenced by the wireless microphone with which they had outfitted her, never arrived at its target. Instead, it met the hands of her defender, who macked it cleanly with that distinct hollow thud that only a 175g Ultrastar can make. “Let her catch it at least!” bellowed Elizabeth to a chorus of laughs from the sidelines, as the crew, armed with only a single film camera, struggled to get footage of Yvonne making a clean catch and throw. Anybody who has ever tried to film or photograph live-action Ultimate (“Hey sweetie, just get a shot of me scoring, then we can go, okay?”) understands the challenge they faced. Nobody wanted to resort to a totally staged shot of Yvonne making her one play, but it took a few calls of “force camera,” isolation calls by Yvonneʼs team, and the lone cameraman standing hazardously in the middle of the field with his film director to finally get a “real” shot of Yvonne in the flow. As they whisked Yvonne away to film their next segment, thanking all the players with an appreciative wave, the remaining SFUL players...well, what do you think they did? With a regulation field set up on the best terrain in the city and bathed in uncharacteristic tropical heat under gorgeous blue skies, they played on, calling game to five. Any fourteen Ultimate players in the world (who didnʼt have to rush back to work, as some did) would have continued the game as well, but in the hidden subtext, the simple shrug of the shoulders by which those remaining agreed to keep playing as the TLC crew left to resume their duties filming for reality-based television exemplified the Spirit of the Game that binds all Ultimate players together. Cameras rolling or not, itʼs a game of love, indeed. While the details of her actual date will not be revealed until the airdate of the show, which is yet to be announced, Yvonneʼs TV appearance gave her another unique experience as an SFUL Ultimate player in the big city. “San Francisco is a great place to be a single woman. There are so many things to occupy your time with and grow your body/mind while doing them. Playing Ultimate is the best. The other players in SFUL are awesome and put up with people like me who choose not to live, breathe, and bleed frisbee. Mostly I find that everyone who plays is just super friendly and fun which makes it easy to find some really good friends.” (As of March 1, the airdate for Yvonneʼs dating story had not yet been announced. Please check www.sful.org for more information.)

SPRING 2004

An excerpt from

ULTIMATE GLORY: A Frisbee Memoir by David Gessner “Youʼre playing what?”

my father asked when I first told him what I was doing. If he still held any illusions that his son would evolve into the reincarnation of Frank Meriwhether, this did them in. Frisbee of all things. Clearly a sport for long-hairs and druggies. But as well as laughing at Frisbee, my father would feel its sting. During my senior year he drove to Cambridge to tailgate at a football game. The Ultimate team was playing in a tournament on a nearby field, and so he decided to drop by to take a look at his sonʼs eccentric preoccupation. I can see him chortling with the friends he dragged along, amused that such a foolish game existed (as he waited to get into a stadium where he could watch a sport played with an oblong ball made from a pig), while concerned that the wayward son sounded a wee bit too passionate about his strange new obsession. It was nice of my father to come watch, but he was standing too close to the field, sipping drinks with his friends, and not really paying attention. He should have been paying attention, if for no other reason than Nathan Salwen was roaming the field. With Nathan around, there was always potential for danger. Nate was a physics genius who dropped in and out of Harvard, taking a half-dozen years to get his degree. But while Nathanʼs mind could soar and play subtly among quasars and string theory, he played Ultimate like the classic wild man. He had thick-veined plowmanʼs legs, a squat powerful torso, and wore his wild red hair long, with a frayed red beard and moustache. When he tore around the field, you could squint and imagine, without much of a stretch, that this was how Neanderthals looked chasing after deer. Nathan was an “impact player”; he played passionate defense and dove at the slightest provocation and could run all day, but he also could make an impact in a less positive way. His throws werenʼt quite as developed or accurate as he imagined they were. And his first instinct was to make the most difficult and, if possible, longest throw. This instinct to punt the disc deep, an instinct that apparently could not be controlled, would cause his teammates to sometimes cringe and mutter when Nathan got the disc. “No, Nate, no...,” they would plead. But the answer was always yes. Nathan saw things that were sometimes there, sometimes not, and then he wound up and let ʻer rip. As Simon liked to say, Nathan “had a notion.” Nathanʼs forehand flew like a dying quail. Sometimes when he launched it, Simon would look at me and say “duck full of buckshot,” and then, after mimicking the motion of pumping a shotgun, would pretend to point his imaginary gun and shoot the wavering disc out of the air. But Nateʼs backhand was raw 30

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power. He would curl around the disc and then uncoil, launching it with a fury, sometimes heaving it right out of the end zone. When he caught the disc around half-field, on the sideline where my father stood, his defender left Nateʼs ferocious backhand open. Someone was streaking deep and Nateʼs eyes lit up and we all knew what would happen next. Nate had a notion and if my father had been paying closer attention, and had noted Nathanʼs tendencies, he would have had a notion, too. Something, some atavistic, primal instinct would have tingled and warned him that this was a dangerous man nearby, a hunter from another clan, a clan not like his own. But at that moment my father, inebriated, oblivious, imagining himself safe watching a mere “Frisbee” game, foolishly ignored whatever subtle signals his brain or body was sending. He stood there smiling, barely an armʼs length away from this wild red-headed troglodyte, as Nathan wound up, virtually coiling around his backhand, and then, his eyes glinting with notions, unwound himself in a violent, powerful jerk. The disc traveled barely two feet. It “This instinct to punt the caught my father on disc deep, an instinct that the side of the head and knocked him to apparently could not be the ground. The game controlled, would cause stopped. My father instantly went from his teammates to someone of the spectators the main attraction. times cringe and mutter, to A crowd gathered round him. “Are “No, Nate, No...” you all right, man?” Nathan asked. There was a cut and some blood, but my father was just dazed. An old athlete himself, he tried to make light of what had happened and, after gathering himself for a minute, gamely climbed to his feet. My father and I would joke about it later. As would my teammates. And it was funny, a comic moment. But there was something else there, too. Looking back, my symbol-making imagination canʼt help but mold the incident into personal myth. If I had more Robert Bly in me, I might be inclined to explore the idea of my father, authority figure and businessman, knocked to the ground by the teamʼs wildman, Id flooring Superego. Which, as it would play out over the next decade, was pretty much what Ultimate would do to any traditional career plans or hopes of financial success. It would be easy to say and not entirely untrue, that the wildman in me, in coming years, would beat the stuffings out of the businessman within. David Gessner is the author of four books, the latest being Sick of Nature, which contains the essay “Ultimate Glory,” detailing his years lost in Ultimate. From 1979 to 1986, he played in Boston and later in Boulder. Last year he taught creative writing at Harvard and is currently teaching at UNC-Wilmington. His book will be available in June 2004.