tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-150608642024-03-07T00:00:52.619-05:00PlayUltimate - High school ultimate news and commentaryhigh school ultimate: news and commentary.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger660125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15060864.post-70624067830462138762011-07-19T19:33:00.005-04:002011-07-19T19:33:59.606-04:00NexGen Ultimate tour - coming to your town?<span class="fullpost">The NexGen Ultimate tour is doing some amazing stuff, so much so that I am breaking an <i>extended</i> radio silence.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><br /></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">The premise for those of you who haven't checked it out yet - take the top 15 college players from around the country (world?) and face them against the top club teams in each city on a huge month-long bus tour of America.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><br /></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Results have been mixed so far in terms of wins and losses for the NexGen team, with a record standing at 2-4, but from the looks of things the crowds have been sizable - 300-400 in most cities at least. Additionally the coverage of the games has been incredible. <a href="http://nexgentour.com/">http://nexgentour.com</a> have video recaps of every game, player profiles, player interviews, highlight reels, live scoreboards, game updates on twitter - I mean really fantastic stuff.</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">Next stop is North Carolina to play Ring of Fire, then on to <a href="http://www.nexgentour.com/schedule/truckstop">DC for Truckstop</a> and Philly where <a href="http://www.nexgentour.com/schedule/southpaw">NexGen takes on Southpaw</a>.... future stops include Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Madison, and Minneapolis. </span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><br /></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">If you love ultimate, and I know you do - get to these games. Bring friends to these games - bring friends who don't already play ultimate to these games, forward the links and the schedule to your teammates and your leagues, pay for the full game coverage on <a href="http://ultivillage.com/">UltiVillage.com</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nexgentour">like them on Facebook</a>, spread the word.</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">Once you check out a game feel free to report back here and let us know how it went.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"> </span><br />
<span class="fullpost">And, finally, a question for discussion - when you are playing in college in a few years, would you spend a summer playing ultimate <a href="http://www.nexgentour.com/blogs/lessons-in-bus-travel">traveling in a bus like this</a>?</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/PlayUltimate/33608021104">Become a fan on Facebook!</a> or <a href="http://twitter.com/playult">Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt</a> - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.</i></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</span><br />
Open Tournaments: Madison MudBath, Georgia HS Championships, Middletown Invitational, St. Johnsbury, St. Cloud Faceoff.<br />
<br />
The Madison Mudbath looks to be the big Open tournament of the weekend, with Paideia heading up to face off against top local seed, Hopkins. Other big teams to look out for up there are DeSmet, Neuqua Valley, Memorial, and Denver. Both Memorial and Denver have a chance to mix up the pools and seeding, but look for Paideia to take down Hopkins in, what should be, a very good Championship Game<br />
<br />
The Georgia HS Championships won't have Paideia's varsity squad, but their JV kids are ready to put on a show. This one will come down to Collins Hill and Lakeside, with Collins Hill avoiding the upset bid. I can see Grady and Woodward giving really good games to the finalists in the semis, but it seems the match-ups favor CH and Lakeside.<br />
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Middletown features a number of northern teams, several of which are preparing for a run at Eastern's. This one is just a one day tournament, lots of games for each teams, but expect to see Amity and Hotchkiss in the top crossover, with pretty good games all day long.<br />
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St. Johnsbury has a ton of teams and should be pretty wide open. Top seeded John Jay hasn't played in a while, while Longmeadow has only 3 games on its resume. Stuyvesant has played much more, but have not faired so well. Should be a even, fun tournament, and anyone's to win.<br />
<br />
Girls Tournaments: Madison MudBath, St. Johnsbury, O'Hara Invite<br />
<br />
The MudBath has 8 teams, about half of which have yet to play a game. Look for Armstrong to pull this one out, over Southwest in the final.<br />
<br />
St. Johnsbury features Amherst JVA and Columbia, as well as host team St. Johnsbury. Amherst JVA is a force to reckon with, but Columbia should be up for the challenge. I see them falling short, but neither team should have much problems reaching the finals. A win for Amherst is in the cards<br />
<br />
Finally, the O'Hara Invite. Having worked hard to get this tournament together, I am happy it is finally here. Amherst and Paideia roll into Philly and plan to square up in the championship game. In their way stand YHB and Watchung Hills. Paideia beat YHB a few weeks back at Paideia Cup, and Watchung hasn't played a game since early April. The local teams, Haverford, Lower Merion, O'Hara and the other Virigina team, WT Woodson, look for a chance to upset some of the best girls teams around. I don't much see that happening, but with all the talent around, it should be a good weekend in Philly. Look for Paideia to continue their recent streak of wins against Amherst in the final.<br />
<br />
Check out youthultimate.com for an edition of On The Line with me about the O'Hara Invite.<br />
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</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Paideia Cup saw both Paideia teams, Open and Girls, losing to Seattle Fryz. Seattle dispatched all challengers, impressively, only yielding an average of 8 goals against in the open Division, and only 3 goals against in the Girls division. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">In the Open Division, the top two teams will not be at Easterns' but the rest of the field gave us a look at how Easterns' might actually break down. 3rd through 6th place will all be at Eastern's, and if this tournament gives us an accurate look, that tournament will be even better at the top than I had expected!</span><br />
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</span><br />
In the Girls Division, Paideia girls did not have a problem with any team, until the ran into Fryz. While 5 of the girls teams involved with the Paideia Cup will be at Easterns', the O'Hara Invite looks to have a huge showdown of Amherst and Paideia, so I am really looking forward to that, and not just because I happen to be the coach of the host team, Cardinal O'Hara.<br />
<br />
Back on the north side, Born 2 Dive also showed some great storylines. Amherst showed they are still at the top of the pile, crusing by all competition by at least 5 goals. On the other side, Hopkins had a little more trouble getting to the final, including a close call against North Hills. Pennsbury and NH decided not to rematch their Steel City final, instead, choosing to save it for the State Championships. Radnor managed to show some chops, avenging a earlier loss to Watchung Hills to finish 5th, and Stuyvesant finished well in 9th place. <br />
<br />
All said and done, on the Open side, Easterns' look way more interesting with at least 5 teams proving they can compete for the title. The Girls' division looks like it belongs to Amherst, but an unblemished season will rest in the outcome of the O'Hara Invite.<br />
<br />
Side note, Paganello, one of the largest beach ultimate tournaments in the world, is this week. I am coaching a team of players over in Italy in the juniors division, just a handful of players from Philly, the team name is PHUEL. We are the only juniors team from the US in the competition, check out the tournament at <a href="http://www.paganello.com/">www.paganello.com</a> for updates.<br />
<span class="fullpost"><br />
</span><br />
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East Invite is the first big tournament in CO this spring, with both Open and Girls divisions. Out of the 12 teams in the Open Division, with a complete guess, I take Boulder over Cherry Creek in the championship, 15-10. In the Girls Division, I'll take Denver East, undefeated in the tournament, with an average margin of winning of at least 6 points.<br />
<br />
HipHoponPop is the largest of the tournaments this weekend, 12 Open Division 1, 4 Girls teams and 6 Division 2 teams. In Division 1, I pick Radnor winning this year, taking out Lower Merion in the final 13-10. Girls division looks a bit more hectic, but I will pick my own team, O'Hara as the eventual champions.<br />
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I won't be betting on any teams though, I'm not Pete Rose.<br />
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Let's take a look at USA Ultimate Eastern's and Western's. First off, let's not get overly excited as to what these tournaments are, invitational tournaments of teams that were in the previous year. In order words, teams that have yet to prove themselves in the current season. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Teams are invited in based on a paper application and how they finished last year at the State Championship tournament. It is rare that young teams win State Championships, so, in essence, graduating seniors win the right for the younger players to play at a tournament that confuses most other sports. Ever hear of a HS Baseball team bragging about winning a regional tournament? No? Me either. I hear tons of boasting about State Championships, but these regional tournaments really don't mean anything more than great tournaments like Amherst Invitational, Paideia Cup, Hopkins Hustle, or Madison Mudbath.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">I am not saying they are a bad thing. I am just really looking forward to the day, in about 3 years, when USA Ultimate exits the regional tournament model and fully embraces the State Championship as the end of the line for HS teams. Then, those other tournaments, like Amherst, Paideia, Hopkins, and MudBath, become even more sought after, and followed HS tournaments.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<br />
With that said, I think I should give my (way-too-early) predictions of the final standings for HS Eastern's and Western's. To save me some grief, I am only predicting top 4 finishers. <br />
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HS Eastern's Girls:<br />
Ok, this one, I think I have the best chance of predicting, because I have already seen a bunch of these teams. YHB is very good, they split their squad at their own Invite and still won, beating Columbia (after CHS beat the other half of YHB Girls) at universe despite an injury to one of their better players. Allerdice simply kicked everyone's butt last weekend at Keystone Classic, in some windy, and very uphill, conditions. But, Amherst Girls are coming, and as Larry Bird famously said "So, who's coming in second?" (Paideia has graduation this weekend, and wil end their season at the O'Hara Invite)<br />
1. Amherst<br />
2. YHB<br />
3. Allerdice<br />
4. Watchung Hills<br />
<br />
*Check out O'Hara Invite at the end of April to see Paideia match up with Amherst, Watchung Hills, YHB, and probably Allerdice, and really see how good those teams are.<br />
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HS Eastern's Open:<br />
So, keep complaining, but Pennsbury is out. USA Ultimate allowed them to put a bid in, but ultimately, they decided to keep them out. Paideia is not in for the same reason the Girls are out, graduation is that same weekend. There is still some decent competition. YHB has been whipping everyone, USN has lost only 4 games (2 to Paideia) and I have yet to see Columbia or Amherst play a game (against HS teams...) Radnor has put up some impressive wins, but I mean, really, who have they played?<br />
1. Columbia<br />
2. Amherst<br />
3. YHB<br />
4. USN<br />
<br />
*Born2Dive and Paideia Cup are on the weekend, April 16, tune in to both to see some fantastic Ultimate.<br />
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HS Western's Girls<br />
Now I really have to guess. 8 teams playing, 7 from DiscNW. I can't seem to find anything about Summit, though I have no doubt they are a worthy team. Looking at the standings for the Girls League in DiscNW, The Northwest School is simply pulverizing everyone, only giving up an average of 3 goals a game. <br />
1. Northwest School<br />
2. Seattle Academy<br />
3. Nathan Hale<br />
4. Summit (because, hey, why not?)<br />
<br />
HS Westerns' Open<br />
I read a lot of Western teams complaining that noone writes about them. Do you want to know why? Take a look at the teams that are going to Westerns' and try to find out something, anything about them. I have been searching for a while now, and I have very little. Also, Louisiana and Minnesota, I feel bad for you guys, long journey to Oregon, Philly would have been so much cooler. At least Catholic should come out with some medals, in what I am betting will be the best game of the weekend.<br />
1. Catholic<br />
2. Northwest School<br />
3. Franklin<br />
4. Summit (host team, gotta show some love)<br />
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Ok, make me look stupid, give me your predictions.<br />
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</span><br />
This year, the PHUEL Girls division has expanded to have 7 teams.<br />
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After back-to-back State Championships, Lower Merion lost Emily E. to graduation last year. Still, captains Beah J and Rebecca H, and a huge number of girls give LadyBaba a solid chance at 3-in-a-row.<br />
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Haverford graduated a number of girls last year, but the entire team is incredibly solid. While they don't play ultimate in the fall, most of the team is highly involved in other sports, making HUDA one of the most athletic teams in PHUEL.<br />
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Radnor Girls also have a substantial roster, full of girls with tremendous disc skills, and captains Amy M, Viv C, and Margie G provide awesome leadership, and Hannah H is a tremendous talent.<br />
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After a tumultuous 2010, O'Hara GirlSquad is led once again by Reg W, pound for pound, one of the best players in PHUEL. Kaitlin M and Alex D add more veteran leadership, and an influx of freshman girls will put COHS back in serious contention for a State Championship<br />
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Pennsbury PUFF is returning for their second year, lead by Lindsey M, PUFF should make some solid gains on their performance of last year.<br />
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Pennsbury DiscThrow Inferno begins play this year after an off-season split with PUFF. Led by Alyssa N, DiscThrow has yet to play a game as a team.<br />
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Central Girls also join the PHUEL ranks this year, with a great coaching staff, excited girls, and lots of passion, Central Girls are a welcome addition to the PHUEL Girls Division.<br />
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</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/PlayUltimate/33608021104">Become a fan on Facebook!</a> or <a href="http://twitter.com/playult">Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt</a> - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.</i></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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<br />
PHUEL looks more wide open than ever before, in both the Open and Girls Division. <br />
<br />
For the Open side:<br />
Haverford graduated a ton, but the coaching there is amongst the best around and Connor L. will provide some matchup problems.<br />
Radnor has a very strong core, notably Trent D., and will kick off their tournament schedule with their own Green Eggs & Spam.<br />
Mastermann lost a good bit of players to graduation, but still retains some very good chemistry with Jake and Eli leading the way.<br />
Lower Merion is just tenacious, and their tournament win at KitKat in the fall proved that Tim G. can lead his team well, even in times of adversity.<br />
Cardinal O'Hara is getting their act together, and has a core of 8 juniors & seniors who have been playing together for 3 years, Zack P. and Brian O. will simply will this team to some victories. COHS starts next weekend at the YHB Invite. <br />
Pennsbury is looking strong again, after a year absence, and led by Paul K., with plenty of chances to get better, starting this weekend at Bring the Huckus.<br />
<br />
Anyone I missed?<br />
<br />
Girls next week.<br />
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<i>Quick Note: I am the coach at COHS, but have tried to remain impartial. Did I succeed?</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</div><div>At the school I coach at, we set up our year in two distinct seasons. The fall is set up like a hat league. We teach a lot. Almost the entire fall, we are teaching how to throw, catch, cut, play D, and most importantly, we are building a solid foundation of Spirit. We only play one tournament, KitKatInTheHat, and then, lots and lots of pick-up. I love the fall, I love the ability to focus on the fundamentals, and recruit.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Our veteran players love it too. Some of them love to teach, and some of them really love pickup. Others really like the chance to assemble something on their own, and this year, they put together a mixed team for Club Sectionals. Nevermind that they didn't win a game, they learned a ton.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Spring is when we break out the big guns. We talk to the new recruits from the fall, and we make it very clear, if you are not here to work, see you next fall. We don't want to chase anyone away, but, we also don't want players to get the wrong opinion of what we are doing. We workout to get better at Ultimate, so that we can play the game at a higher level, and have a great time.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Our workouts start with a captains' meeting. The team captains meet with me and set our goals. Usually 3-5 team goals. We also work out 5-10 strategies to meet these goals. I want my captains to see and experience the process of planning to win. It is crucial to actually playing good Ultimate and success. We then explain these objectives to the team, get complete buy-in, and start working out.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We have a 12 week workout that meets the players where-ever they are in their own fitness. We set realistic goals for each other and ourselves, we push each other, we encourage each other, and when necessary, we heckle each other. We workout twice a week, and we also include a classroom session every week. In the classroom, as a coach, I attempt to teach the rules more in-depth, I teach more about SOTG, and strategy. Players don't seriously touch the field without a solid foundation of practical knowledge about the game. Our favorite part is watching other games, muting the commentary, and providing our ow. YouTube and UltiVillage are AWESOME for clips, and full games.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We try to plan our workout season to end with our first tournament. I schedule our tournaments, the captains schedule all the individual games with minimal guidance from me. I just give them a calendar of other activities and limit of games.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Preparing for the season is a long process. As a coach, it is vital that I plan, or else every practice, and the entire season loses focus. I have found that my players love a solid structure, they don't want to waste their time. Neither do I.</div><div><br />
</div><div>How do you prepare for the season?</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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<br />
I have just signed on as a new contributor, hopefully getting some conversations started about Pennsylvania youth ultimate, and youth ultimate in general.<br />
<br />
First, introductions are in order:<br />
<br />
I am Tom Cook, coach at Cardinal O'Hara High School, just outside of Philadelphia. I have been coaching for about 8 years, for the past 7 I have been coaching both the Open and the Girls team, and I have one Girls State Championship (2008) under my belt. This year, an alumni came back to take the reins of the Open team, leaving me to focus on the Girls, and a few other jobs. This year, our Girls tournament, the O'Hara Invite, in in its 4th year and is shaping up to be one of the biggest and best in the country.<br />
<br />
I have been serving on the PHUEL (Philadelphia High School Ultimate Education League) Board for the past 3 years, helping to direct competition, contribute to City and State Championships, advise new and existing teams. I don't see many other leagues outside of PA, but I feel PHUEL is amongst the best in the country. <br />
<br />
I hope to bring some of the workings of PHUEL to a larger audience so that other leagues can see what we are doing, how we manage, and maybe get some ideas on how to grow other leagues. I hope to talk a bit about competition in PHUEL and hopefully PHUL (Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League), a lot about SOTG, and a bunch about organizing in general.<br />
<br />
Lastly, I hope for weekly posts. Let's see if I can hold myself to that one.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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The plan and model I propose could create active leagues in all 50 states within the next 3 years if implemented effectively. Further, It would nearly (if not entirely) pay for itself (assuming successful execution) and would provide the <a href="http://upa.org/">UPA</a> with much steadier financial standing in the years to come.<br /><br />The model is community organizing. Paid staff individuals working on the grassroots level to create and sustain leagues as an occupation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Need for Change:</span><br />Too often leagues only exist where an individual has decided to give up his or her time of their own volition. This is a model, to be sure, but it slows growth, it puts the burden on individuals who in all likelihood are not going to be able to continue doing this forever. And undeniably, someone who is able to commit to league and team creation with 100% of their time will be able to have better results than someone who can only work in the hours remaining after work and on weekends.<br /><br />States and areas without competition are essentially at the mercy of a college player who might move to town, or a retired club player who would like to start a local league. Its entirely up to chance and not sustainable - if that player burns out, or moves away it is possible for these leagues to fall apart if someone doesn't step up.<br /><br />The passive approach must go, the purpose of a national organization is to aggressively promote and expand the sport. This is how other sporting organizations work (e.g., <a href="http://www.uslacrosse.org/">lacrosse</a>, <a href="http://pba.com/">bowling</a> etc), not only as a tournament "sanctioner" but <span style="font-style: italic;">active</span> promoters of the sport. It is what is done between publishes of the newsletter and between the competition UPA series that will determine the future of this sport, whether it hangs on the fringes or whether athletes nationwide will at least have the chance and the choice to play.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Model:</span><br />Similar to union organizing, or more notably and recently the Obama presidential campaign, the UPA should begin to hire statewide organizers. They would fill the role of the already created "State Youth Coordinator" but they would be compensated based on specific and challenging goals.<br /><br />These state youth coordinators (organizers) would start in the population centers to help foster the creation of teams. Predominantly this would mean recruiting and retaining volunteer coaches and assistant coaches to help start teams at individual schools. For areas without any presence whatsoever this might mean organizing an initial pickup game, or doing demos during gym classes and school assemblies. The organizers would be required to report back daily (or weekly) on their progress - teams started, players involved, games played, next steps etc . This is important: there would be quantifiable and definite metrics to judge progress and to base goals on.<br /><br />These organizers would be directed by regional coordinators (maybe based on the new UPA competition structure) who would also in turn have specific goals and would report to the UPA headquarters.<br /><br />Salaries would have a base amount but would also have incentives built in for effective organizing - percentage increase in teams created perhaps, or games played.<br /><br />To fund these new positions the $20 UPA dues and player fee would be collected from each player on <span style="font-style: italic;">ALL </span>teams (this is already the standard charge, one could argue the cost could be raised without much detriment but we'll base our model on that number). As opposed to only the players who end up playing in state championships or other UPA sanctioned tournaments. This would make all of these leagues "UPA Sanctioned" (read: insured), and all in all just make it more professional. A $20 fee is next to nothing when it comes to youth sports. I can't ever remember playing T-Ball even for a fee like that. In the real world this level of monetary commitment is not hard to collect - especially if done in a clearly delineated manner: there are deadlines and you must pay to play <span style="font-style: italic;">before </span>the season starts... as in every other sports league ever. Contrasts with the current model which sometimes collects the $20 at the tournament site on the first day of the state champs. While this might cause some growing pains at first the benefits long term will be many times the hardship.<br /><br />Pittsburgh's PHUL is a great example of this: every individual player must register online and pay the fee before the start of the season. Sounds logical doesn't it?<br /><br />Keep in mind also that these are community organizing positions, not Wall Street jobs. What I am proposing is done under the assumption that those who would take the positions would be doing so for love of the sport and an interest in the outcome, as opposed to money. The salaries just make it financially feasible.<br /><br />We are talking in the $25-$30,000 range per organizer. The hours would be long, of course, but the work would obviously have ebbs and flows depending on the season. In the summer perhaps the best way to help spread the sport in the area is running an ultimate camp, maybe that would be another metric - at least one ultimate camp in every state (can you imagine the repercussions of something like that). In the falls it would be trying to recruit new players and new schools. Maybe winters would be discussing funding with school administrators, and springs would be more tournament organization. To be sure, this would be a year round job.<br /><br />To reemphasize as well, these organizers would live and work in the communities that they are trying to organize. They would attend the games and go to the PTA meetings, they would be active members of the community. Further they need not only be concerned with formation of high school teams alone, for example they could organize summer camps for middle schoolers at a local park (usually community parks are <span style="font-style: italic;">always </span>looking for activities like this to offer, $50 per week per kid and they get to learn the basics of a new sport).<br /><br />The job and challenge of these organizers would be to work with whatever infrastructure is already there to improve and connect it. For example, there are colleges nearby - recruiting these players to coach the high school teams. There is a local summer league - working in partnership to help promote the youth league and connect it with the umbrella organization. There is a club team in the area - connect high school coaches with these players to run clinics or practice demos. All of these groups have something to gain from a high school league - whether it be great new recruits in later incoming classes, or more players in the pickup and summer leagues - high school ultimate is the future of the sport. If there is a preexisting league, adapt it to fit the larger goals and expansion of the UPA model.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Concrete Dollars and Sense:</span><br />Ok, so lets put some actual numbers in, A minimalist 50 state strategy would look something like this...<ul><li>$20 income per player</li><li>Assume an average team size of roughly 12 (a better organized team would have more obviously).</li><li>Gross income is roughly $240 per team (this is of course before incomes from tournament fees, official UPA merchandise purchases - discs, sweatshirts, official gear from champs, fees from Ultimate camp dues etc; and on the other side before outflows of field reservations etc)</li></ul>To make it viable there would need to be roughly 100 teams then per organizer. With some of the more established states obviously enabling the newer, less organized states to get off the ground.<br /><br />To put this in context, Minnesota and Massachussettes both have more than 80 teams on score reporter, PA is somewhere around 75. I am sure in all of these states there are other teams that play who aren't on Score Reporter. In other words, a full time employee could very easily get these states over 100 teams in the first year. And thus a $24,000 salary.<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:78%;">A brief aside: to put these ideas in a bit of context and maye even give them some legitimacy these goals are entirely attainable, I worked for the Obama campaign during the 2008 election and we started with basically no contacts in an area and were expected to develop teams of volunteers to make phone calls and knock on doors. Within 4 months in the small town of Scranton, Pa we had dozens teams with 20 to 30 members each. My point being, working year round with local league and college team resources, using almost identical strategies one could easily make these goals and then some. Further, ultimate is fun, and damn near viral. "Go outside and play" is a much easier sell in a lot of ways than "come to our office and make hundreds of phone calls with people yelling at you".</span><br /></blockquote>Keeping the different levels of establishes leagues in mind, it might be a good idea to tier the release of this plan - first to these states which are already set up with 50 teams or more, then to states with 25 or more, then to the blank slates. On the other hand, those states with more players will probably continue to exist no matter what, whereas starting with blank slate states might yield better results in the long term.<br /><br />Even if the plan did create an initial financial output and net loss from the UPA's budget (which is entirely possible, if not likely) it would be worth it.<br /><br />There is an exponential return on recruiting athletes to a sport at a younger age - irrespective of the altruistic motives of spreading the sport. From a purely utilitarian and financial perspective if a person starts as a UPA member in college and pays an average $30 dues for the next 20 years you are gaining around $600 in fees. If you can get that same player when they are 13 or 14 that figure turns into closer to $700. Nothing to scoff at when you consider the scalability.<br /><br />It is in line with these same principles of consumer behaviors that McDonald's has play places and Happy Meals at their restaurants - if you recruit patrons or participants earlier they will have more time, money, and energy to devote to your cause.<br /><br />Further, from a financial point of view the investment in youth ultimate has a ripple effect down the line. Look at literally all of growth in ultimate so far - it all traced a single point Columbia High School's parking lot. Those students went to college and spread the sport and the rest is history. I'd wager that for every dollar invested in recruiting high school players you get it back 3-4 fold when they go to play in colleges and recruit their friends to their teams. God knows freshman year I went door to door in Pitt's dorms trying to convince my new neighbors to come out and play with us.<br /><br />On an entirely different thought track, investing in these organizers also gives the local leagues an incentive to pair up with the UPA. As of right now large leagues like PADA, DiscNW don't have much incentive to partner or be member entities with the UPA, which in turn takes away from the UPA's credibility and weakens their standing. If each league could see that for a $2-3 per person fee in their summer league dues they would not only receive UPA field insurance but also a paid employee that would be working to expand youth ultimate in their area and in turn strengthen and grow their local league it would provide them much more incentive to become affiliated. This in turn would increase the UPAs total membership outside of purely those who play in the series and the ones who pay for the magazine and recruit the more casual or recreational player - the types of individuals that make up the vast majority of ultimate's player base.<br /><br />This expanding fund base could be used as seed money to employ these organizers to new communities. And so on.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Alternative Revenue Sources</span><br />The above so far has strictly relied on player funding, which while very pure might only be part of the solution. Assuming the UPA were able to implement this plan (which they are) instead of having loosely affiliated leagues which come together for a tournament or two a year they will have hundreds to thousands of teams that are playing under their umbrella on a daily basis during the season.<br /><br />This allows a change in the advertising pitch from "Would you like to sponsor or advertise at our tournament - there are 16 teams per division and two divisions?" To.. "Would you like to advertise on our national official youth disc - it will be printed more than 10,000 times and be in the hands of a target demographic of 14-19 year olds with some level of disposable income."<br /><br />Also with advertising, you could have a subset of the Ultimate News email newsletter geared specifically towards the youth scene - especially given the thousands of new email addresses you are recruiting with the organizers. This could easily include an ad with identifiable statistics for an advertiser - clicks etc. If you are sending this email out to 10,000+ kids you can suddenly start to generate some revenue and attract larger advertiser range - instead of Discraft or VC Ultimate for a few hundred dollars you could lock in a Powerade or other lower level sports equipment or fitness corporation looking for better brand awareness.<br /><br />Assuming the level of competition is expanded to this level (hundreds of high school teams in every state) the sport becomes more attractive for media coverage - hell sport stacking gets coverage on ESPN 2, gotta think with 5000 high school teams in the country and growing you could convince the VS network to slide over the 2 am on Sunday morning slot.<br /><br />My only point with this is that with the growth there are opportunities for even more rapid acceleration - if it is managed proactively and efficiently. It can't be an additional responsibility thrown on an existing staffer you need to bring in an Ad rep or sales representative to market Ultimate to these companies.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Applicant Pool</span>:<br />But could you find 50 individuals willing to prolong more lucrative careers to teach and expand ultimate? If only there were close to 800 college ultimate programs graduating students every year... Oh wait! There are. Assuming each school graduates on the low side around 3 seniors, that would mean you would have a pool of roughly 2400 to recruit from per year. Not a bad place to start and certainly not the only pool to draw from, as I'm sure at a least a few of the current SYC, coaches or league organizers might be interested.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Conclusion</span>:<br />The point of all this is the following: ultimate is a great game, and there are a ton of people already playing, but it deserves the widespread recognition and access that any other major sport has. It is a great activity for high school students to get involved in, for all the reasons you all already know. Kids everywhere should have an opportunity to play in an organized league, and it shouldn't be fate or someone else's work schedule that decides if they ever get that chance.<br /><br />To be sure the organic grassroots growth of the sport will continue, every time an errant disc is thrown in a park and lands at the feet of a spectator ultimate reaches out to another potential player and possibility. But there is so much more that could be done.<br /><br />The UPA has as its mission to advance the sport of ultimate in the United States. It is time to start <span style="font-style: italic;">actively</span> doing this. It is time to set up a network and support structure of paid personnel around the country to advance the sport of ultimate at a grassroots level. The UPA has this capacity right now, and within 3 to 4 years organized high school ultimate leagues with more than 100 teams in all 50 states can become a reality.<br /><br /><br />Have different ideas? Put 'em in the comments.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/PlayUltimate/33608021104">Become a fan on Facebook!</a> - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.</i></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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