The Rutgers Men's Ultimate team is excited to announce their third
annual fall high school/juniors tournament, the Rutgers Grease Trucks
Classic, on the weekend of November 14-15, 2009, on Rutgers' Cook
Campus in New Brunswick, NJ.
The tournament fee will be $160 and we will be accepting between 16-20
teams, with each team expecting to see 3-4 games per day. Food and
water will be provided on site, and the tournament will include the
chance to learn about the Rutgers Mens' Ultimate team, buy discs for
sale, and watch (or possibly even participate in) the Saturday night
club showcase game, which last year featured former Nationals
qualifier teams PoNY and Pike. Some teams that attended last year
included PA, NJ, and NY state champions Pennsbury, Columbia, and
Stuyvesant High School respectively, as well as Easterns qualifier
Watchung High School (NJ) and NY States 2nd place finisher John Jay
High School.
_________BIDS__________
We hope the tournament to serve as a unique, season-finale opportunity
for those teams that attend. If interested, or possibly interested,
in attending then please send in a bid to ru(DOT)tournament(AT)gmail
(DOT)com with the following information:
1) "Rutgers Juniors 2009" and your team name in the subject line
2) your 2009 spring season results (leave blank if a first-year team)
3) number of players you graduated last spring (leave blank if a first-
year team)
4) a list of all current seniors on your team
5) a phone number by which you can be reached (please indicate whether
home or cell)
6) contact info for any other captains or coaches on your team
The bid deadline is October 31st, and PLEASE NOTE THAT all bids are
non-binding, so if in doubt, send in a bid anyways. Teams will be
notified as to whether or not accepted on November 1st, and any
subsequent teams who submit bids after the deadline will be put on a
waitlist along with the other teams not accepted into the tournament,
so it never hurts to send in a bid late.
See you all come November.....
-Machine Ultimate
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Rutgers 3rd Annual Fall Juniors Tournament: Grease Trucks Classic, Nov 14-15
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
2009 UPA HS Western Championships - SEHS (part 1)
2009 UPA HS Western Championships - SEHS (part 1) from luke johnson on Vimeo.
Option click here to download the ipod version.
Quicktime Download (720p), click here to download the ipod version.
2009 UPA HS Western Championships - SEHS (part 2)
2009 UPA HS Western Championships - SEHS (part 2) from luke johnson on Vimeo.
Option click here to download the ipod version.
Quicktime Download (720p), click here to download the ipod version.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
[Video] Sharon High Highlights - and media coverage!
^ the A team
^ the B team
From Coach Dave Christiansen - "The A-team finished third in the state tourney for Division 2 and our B-team won the D3 state championship tourney"
The team also garnered some awesome local press. Click here for the article.
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Next Level Ultimate Camp
Attention Players!
High School teams sending 4 or more players to Next Level Ultimate Camp will now earn significant reductions off all of their player's admission fees! Contact nextlevelultimate@gmail.com to get an exact quote for your team!
There is still space available for this summer! Join players from all over the country for 5 days-5 nights of advanced training from some of the top club players in the country! Each camper will receive a one-on-one assessment upon arrival and departure of the camp. We guarantee improvement in your game!
Check us out on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Madison-WI/Next-Level-Ultimate-Camp/77468191374?ref=ts
Or our website:
www.nextlevelultimate.com
The full registration form is posted on the application page, and makes registration quick and easy!
Look forward to seeing you this summer!
Next Level Ultimate Camp
July 25th-30th :: Madison, WI
Boys :: Ages 14-18 (including Fall 2009 College Freshman)
Monday, June 22, 2009
[Video] Seattle Academy at Westerns 2009
Highlights from Seattle Academy's trip to Westerns 2009
See a sick ultimate video lately? Shoot it over to playultimateblog@gmail.com and if it is in fact sick, we'll post it here. I'm going to try to post at least one video per week usually on the weekends. Or, of course you can always put it in the comments.
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
[Video] Watchung Hills 2009 highlights
Some solid stuff from Watchung Hills - a little more documentarian flair than the normal highlight videos we post but great soundtrack and great highlights as always.
See a sick ultimate video lately? Shoot it over to playultimateblog@gmail.com and if it is in fact sick, we'll post it here. I'm going to try to post at least one video per week usually on the weekends. Or, of course you can always put it in the comments
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
[Video] South Eugene @ Seattle Invite
Seattle Invite - SEHS from glossjohnson on Vimeo.
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Comment policy update and a strongly worded note
Listen up.
If you post a comment from here on out with profanity you will have your IP address blocked.
You are a reflection of this sport. This site is read not only by players on a few teams but by teachers, coaches, fans, administrators, parents, UPA officials, news media and I'm sure others. The way you act, the things you say and the things you write are a reflection of this sport.
When you play naked points
Ultimate does not have the luxury of being so widespread that individual actions do not affect it. When you play naked points you indicate that all ultimate players do not take their sport seriously and that they lack the credibility to wear appropriate uniforms. When you yell out obscenities from a sideline you show however many few fans might have graced you with your presence that you are not capable of conducting yourself in a professional manner, that you are not worthy of their time.
When you post profanity on one of the few ultimate-centric websites available you tell anyone who might come across it that there obviously is nothing constructive, or useful, or purposeful to speak of in this sport because the most you can muster are a few four letter indictments of another team.
I will not stand for it here. You have a responsibility not only to your own reputation but to the reputation of your sport. Your actions do not only reflect on your lack of vocabulary or waning moral character but of the larger community of which you are a part. You are an ambassador for this sport in every aspect of what you do, like it or not. Maybe you don't consider yourself defined by this sport, but for better and for worse you define it.
Consider this the next time you feel compelled to constrain your comments within such an embarrassingly small lexicon.
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
[Ultimate in the Papes] College decisions and state champs
Ultimate coverage from papers around the country....
- Continuing in our vein of posts from a few days ago Carl Butt out of Springfield, Il garnered some local media attention for heading to the University of Chicago after starting his high school's ultimate program.
- Elsewhere the John Jay Air Raid garnered a nice long article with a photo for their performance in the NY state champs. Even more impressive is the fact that there was NOT ONE PUN! in the entire article. It was a seriously written news piece on a local teams performance. I might suggest attaching it to press releases you send to your local paper (especially in NY) to show other local media outlets covering the sport.
- Medfield in Massachusetts grabbed some coverage for their state champs efforts as well.
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
[Video] Needham 2009 highlights
Some highlights from Needham's 2009 season
See a sick ultimate video lately? Shoot it over to playultimateblog@gmail.com and if it is in fact sick, we'll post it here. I'm going to try to post at least one video per week usually on the weekends. Or, of course you can always put it in the comments.
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Grow HS Ultimate in the US: Organize
A note: consider this my aria and culmination of more than 4 years following and reporting on high school ultimate in the United States - it's long, and wonky, but I think it could provide a decent starting base for a serious, focused, and measurable result-driven discussion on the future of high school ultimate.
The UPA has made strides in the past few years.
The maps posted the other day show that HS Ultimate in the US is indeed reaching its tentacles out into the inner reaches of the country, however, there are still communities and states that have no high school ultimate presences.
It doesn't have to be this way. 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 UPA with much steadier financial standing in the years to come.
The model is community organizing. Paid staff individuals working on the grassroots level to create and sustain leagues as an occupation.
The Need for Change:
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.
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.
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., lacrosse, bowling etc), not only as a tournament "sanctioner" but active 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.
The Model:
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.
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.
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.
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.
To fund these new positions the $20 UPA dues and player fee would be collected from each player on ALL 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 before 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.
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?
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.
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.
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 always looking for activities like this to offer, $50 per week per kid and they get to learn the basics of a new sport).
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.
The Concrete Dollars and Sense:
Ok, so lets put some actual numbers in, A minimalist 50 state strategy would look something like this...
- $20 income per player
- Assume an average team size of roughly 12 (a better organized team would have more obviously).
- 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)
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.
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".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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This expanding fund base could be used as seed money to employ these organizers to new communities. And so on.
Alternative Revenue Sources
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
The Applicant Pool:
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.
The Conclusion:
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.
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.
The UPA has as its mission to advance the sport of ultimate in the United States. It is time to start actively 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.
Have different ideas? Put 'em in the comments.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A notice: things might slow down again
Later this week I will move to Chicago, Illinois to start my training with Teach For America, its intensive 12-14 hour a day sessions 6 days a week for the duration of the summer, and then in August I will start as an elementary school teacher in one of Chicago's most under performing schools working to hopefully reduce the achievement gap in America. So, unfortunately, the likelihood of me being able to post as much as I would like will be extremely diminished.
I hope to still check in, but I wanted to warn you that if things get slow, there is good reason.
If you are interested in joining the site as a contributor please email me at playultimateblog@gmail.com - we have an incredible list of people who currently contribute or have contributed in the past (you can view them by scrolling down on the right hand side) - if you are a long time reader and are in touch with a local league or team we would love to add your voice to the chorus.
I just want to say that it has been a pleasure writing here for the past 4+ years, I hope you have enjoyed some of what we have been able to put together, there certainly has been some lively discussion in the past. More than 206,000 visitors viewed the more than 675 posts on PlayUltimate nearly half a million times - all to tune in for some high school ultimate news and commentary. I am extremely proud of what we have built here together, and I hope you have enjoyed the site over the years.
I encourage you to continue to visit and comment and spread the word about high school ultimate. Also, search through the archives if you ever have a question about something ultimate related, chances are it has been discussed here at some point or another.
Tomorrow I'll post my plan to grow high school ultimate in the US in an active and immediate way, it will be long but I hope you'll read it.
Thanks for stopping by, and as always...
Play Ultimate.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
[Open Thread] Suggest a "Best Practices" topic
Every now and again we run a feature on the site called "Best Practices" where we solicit opinions and advice from the community on a particular topic relevant to high school ultimate players - running practices, drills etc. What would you like to hear about for the next best practices?
Throw it in the comments. (remember you can use your Facebook profiles to comment now, or anonymously if you aren't proud of what you are writing)
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Friday, June 12, 2009
[Site Update] You can now post comments using your Facebook profile
PlayUltimate has teamed up with Facebook to enable posting comments here using your normal profile. So you dont have to worry about signing in and creating a login or anything like that.
Test it out in the comments below, it's a pretty snazzy little setup.
This is just one of the many updates we've unveiled recently -
- you can now post youtube videos directly into your comments
- expanded smileys allow you to really capture your particular brand of snark
- post rating - give a thumbs up or thumbs down to any post on the site, users who get more thumbs up gain credibility, those who get thumbs down repeatedly lose it. you can check out anyone's credibility by looking to the number next to their name.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
[Site update] Support PlayUltimate by buying stuff from the Store
Bored? Have a few bucks lying around? Want a new book or DVD on ultimate? Hit up the PlayUltimate store any time to check out ultimate-related products.
The link is always at the top of the page and if you scroll down a few featured items from the store appear in the sidebar.
Also a great link to send to your parents when they ask you what you want for your birthday or a holiday. PlayUltimate receives a commission on each purchase, nothing big - believe me, I'm not getting rich on this one, but it would help defray the costs of hosting and domain name fees, plus you get ultimate schwag, everyone wins right?
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
[Site Updates] Help promote ultimate news around the web
[edit] - so the last attempt at posting the code didn't work, post updated to reflect this reality.
Do you have a blog, MySpace, xanga etc? Want to help spread ultimate news and content (in addition to adding a sweet feature to your website)?
You can add a headline animator like the one you see on the upper right hand corner of the page. It will continuously scroll headlines from ultimate sites from around the web c/o PlayUltimate.us
Just click "grab this headline animator" to get started. It is VERY easy to add.
Thanks for helping to spread the news about ultimate
[Video] SA Ultimate Commercial
From Alex Smith at Seattle Academy...
See a sick ultimate video lately? Shoot it over to playultimateblog@gmail.com and if it is in fact sick, we'll post it here. I'm going to try to post at least one video per week usually on the weekends. Or, of course you can always put it in the comments.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
[Throwback Post] How to get local media attention for your high school team
wrote this a while ago (also 2006) - but I think it is as important now as ever. Ultimate's continued growth and publicity will continue to depend on grassroots efforts like high school teams pressuring local papers to cover them until/if/and when the UPA develops a comprehensive PR and marketing strategy for the future of the sport. And even then it is doubtful that their strategy could be so comprehensive as to extend to local leagues (though if I were developing it, it would do exactly that).
But I digress, if you are interested in getting your team some coverage here are a few tips for you...
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Hampton High school featured in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
very cool for Hampton and the Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League.
Read more at www.post-gazette.com/pg...
im not sure exactly how they went about garnering this coverage, but may i present this advice to anyone out there who is looking for some recognition for all the hard work they do for their respective team - press releases.
news organizations rely on press releases in a very big way to report the news. how is a newspaper supposed to know you are having a game, tournament or otherwise without you telling them? the news industry doesn't work through magic, nor esp, nor mindreading. and many many many times papers and magazines are looking for something new, fresh, interesting and exciting to print - and if you think like me, ultimate is all of those.
never written a press release before? fear not, they are extremely easy.
heres a little tutorial to get you started - http://www.stetson.edu/~rhansen/prguide.html
basically what you want to remember though is to make it sound as much like an actual news story as possible. you want to make the story appealing and easy to read, and make sure to include easily accesibly contact information.
writing a poor press release - with spelling or simple grammer mistakes can often have the opposite effect, turning an editor or reporter off to the idea of covering your event because it is so frustrating to read.
also, concrete things are always better. if you can hand your release over personally to someone in the office (or fax it) it is always better than sending an email which can easily be removed with the click of a button.
the more professional things look the better your chances.one final note - if you are interested in this type of stuff, start out small, no doubt you have a high school newspaper, talk to the guys on their staff, give them a press release, and then move up from there.
good luck, and if (when) you have any success feel free to email the site - playultimateblog@gmail.com to let us know and we can feature the news on the site.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
We're getting there, slowly but surely
For those of you who might not already know PlayUltimate.us collects ultimate related content from around the web and publishes it in a Digg-like platform (you see a ultimate article in your local paper? post it there. blog about a tournament? post it there.)
But, for much of its existence there have been major lulls in posting activities. Usually centered around those months where ultimate itself lies dormant, but recently this hasn't been the case. There has been a fairly steady and continuous stream of ultimate related content.
Especially content created by the ultimate community has found some benchmarks of production regularity -
- The Huddle has proven to be a consistently published magazine with relevant topics
- Match Diesel and Spin Ultimate have been contributing commentary to the college scene
- UltiTraining has thrown out tips to the more competitive and fitness-minded ultimate player
- YouthUltimate has picked up the slack where we may have fallen behind on the youth scene.
- The Cultimate Opinion regularly checks in (multiple times a week) on club and random ultimate topics.
- UltiVillage posts clips of the day
- and the UPA finally found a way to bring the College Championships to the masses with narrated video highlights at the end of each day and streaming finals.
And these are just a few of the many sites. My point being there was a time not so long ago (read: the foundation of this site) where ultimate content was hard to come by. RSD was your best shot and what you found there was name calling, trolls, spam and hate spew. While RSD is still all of those things there are now viable and productive alternatives, and they are in my mind proving a more verdent incubator of the sport. There is more published ultimate knowledge available to young players than ever before.
Sure - the sport doesn't have the comprehensive coverage of the NFL. Certainly though, slowly but surely, we're getting there.
[edit] - an update by PJ at cultimate looks at the different types of articles in the ultimate blogosphere.
Become a fan on Facebook! or Follow us on Twitter @PlayUlt - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
The State of HS Ultimate in the US
I was poking around score reporter and i figured it would be interesting to look at a map of the current state of high school ultimate in the US.
The result if the follow. All the states in blue have a UPA sanctioned state championship taking place this season, the red on the other hand, do not.
What then, about the states where we know ultimate exists but there is no state championship yet? That's the map you see below you here - those states are highlighted in a beige.
A few observations:
- Some of the states without championships have had high school ultimate rocking for a while - Texas and Connecticut for example.
- Some of the states with Champs surprised me a lot, because I hadnt even heard of teams before - Indiana, Utah and Idaho - huge props go out to whoever is organizing things in these places - making it happen in a big way.
Overall this is a significant expansion over the past few years of course - right now there are 24 states with championships 26 without.
But the question is how do you start leagues in those states and cities that don't have them yet. Usually it falls on a willing and motivated individual who already lives in the city and wants to see something happen.
But what if there were another, more effective, already practiced way that the UPA could expand the sport into the remaining 18 states and create lasting leagues within 3 years.
I have the brief outlines of such a plan that I'll post later in the week.
It's possible to do this, it is entirely feasible, the question is does the UPA have the drive to make such a plan happen? I hope so.
Check back in and post your feedback.
PS - ignore the numbers in the maps, those are electoral votes (i cheated and made the map with an election calculator - in case anyone is wondering the current state of high school ultimate championships garners 311 electoral votes. aka the oval office and bragging rights)
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Did we mention we're on Twitter?
Tweet.
Stay in the loop, get updated instantly. http://twitter.com/playult
Click on over and give us a follow.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Monday, June 08, 2009
HS Ultimate Players going to college - More press!
Andover High School's Kayla Walsh gets some love from the local paper. She will be heading to Gonzaga to play in the fall.
If you want to see the PlayUltimate Signing Day list you can always click back to here.
Check back on wednesday for tips on how to get your team local news coverage.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Minnesota State HS Tournament Updates
Check out updates on twitter for Sunday, June 7 at the Minnesota State HS Tournament:
http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23upastate
http://twitter.com/joesbrother
And for your own updates, use the hashtag: #upastate
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
[Video] Seattle Academy Highlights 2009
See a sick ultimate video lately? Shoot it over to playultimateblog@gmail.com and if it is in fact sick, we'll post it here. I'm going to try to post at least one video per week usually on the weekends. Or, of course you can always put it in the comments.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
2009 UPA HS Western OPEN Championship - Churchill HS Highlight
05.16/17 - 2009 UPA Westerns - Churchill Open HL from luke johnson on Vimeo.
You can also download this as an ipod video format here (option click on this to download it): http://glossarchitecture.net/video/WesternsCHS09HL(ipod).m4v
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Best Practices: Planning and playing a game
Editor's note: this is a piece in an occasional series where we ask the community to submit their ideas and thoughts on a given topic and then report back. There is a ton of knowledge out there and we'd like to consolidate it and make it accessible for newer teams and players. This is based off of the Lifehacker feature "Hive Five".
Many (most?) high school ultimate teams are player run, sometimes this translates to teams not showing up on time, games starting late, unconfirmed field space, non-regulation fields, or a lack of spectators (to name a few issues).
What are the best ways your team has found to make games go off without a hitch? Or better yet, what about a game that went really well - big crowd, planned well in advance etc?
Can ultimate be run smoothly with player captains, or is it necessary to shift over to a fully coach and team oriented system?
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
[Throwback Post] History of WJUC performances
Originally posted waaay back in April of 2006, here's a rundown of the history of WJUC (World Juniors Ultimate Championship) performances...
WJUC Historical Rundown: Swedish Dominance
so while looking for the rosters of the other nations competing in WJUC this year i came upon this page from the UK Ultimate Association website, and also this page on the WFDF website.
there are a few very interesting things about the WJUC that you might want to know, and thus the following is a brief historical rundown of the Wordl Juniors Ultimate Championships. (feel free to add your own accounts in the comments)
from what i can gather the Juniors division of the World Ultimate Championships has been in existence since 1983
Finland won the first Championship (source), after that the championships switched to a two year format.
Sweden won the next 4 Championships according to the WFDF site - '84, '86, '88, and '90.
In 1992 there were only two Juniors teams competing, the games which were held in Japan only drew Chinese Taipei who won, and the host team Japan.
1994 saw an increase in competition with 5 teams competing in the games, held in Colchester, UK. 1994 also saw Sweden reclaim their title, which led to back to back championships in '94, and '96.
This brought the Swedes' total tally up to 6 out of the 8 world championships, quite a statement.
In 1998, though USA answered. The americans, who could have been consistently found within the top 3 for 4 of the previous championships, were now in the championship game against Sweden, a rematch of the 1994 world champs title game. The boys from the land of Lincoln came out on top.
However, the unseating was short lived, again in 2000 Sweden reclaimed their title against Canada in the finals.
In 2002 it was a grudge match - Canada vs. Sweden - again in the finals. This time Canada came out on top, remaining undefeated in the entire tournament - finishing 8-0.
The last games on record, 2004 in Turku, Finland witnessed the drop off of the Swedish dynasty. USA claimed victory in an all North American championship game, defeating Canada.
Final tallies tell a very interesting story: of the 12 world juniors ultimate championships Sweden has won 7, USA 2, Canada 1, Finland 1, Chinese Taipei 1.
Will Sweden return to dominance this year on american soil? Will Canada upset their North American rivals? Or will one of the other teams come from anonymity to infamy unseating all of the "favorites"?
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Open Thread: your team's plans for the summer
Most / all teams are finishing up their seasons at this point so what are you / your team planning on doing for the summer in regards to ultimate?
Summer league? Club team? Air alert?
Throw it in the comments... or whatever else you feel like talking about
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
HS Ultimate Players getting press on college decisions
Hats off to some positive press coverage from around the country for ultimate players graduating...
Colorado Academy's captain Connor Abernathy will attend Bates
His athletic involvement at CA has included lacrosse, tennis, and Ultimate Frisbee. Connor has played on CA's tennis team for three years, earning a varsity letter and played lacrosse for two years. CA's Ultimate Frisbee team was the state champion in 2008, his junior year. In his senior year, he served as a team captain.
Erika Allen of Temple High School (Texas) will attend Texas Tech
Friday was “kind of a sad day,” said Ms. Allen, who is a member of the school’s diving, cross country, volleyball and track teams, and is also a member of the Polyfoniks show choir and Ultimate Frisbee Club.
No ultimate puns in either article just a matter of fact statement that these accomplished grads are going to college, and this was one of their activities. We aren't there yet, but we're making progress. Check back later in the week for tips on getting local news coverage...
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
[Video] 2007 Club Nationals Remix
Hadn't seen this one before, uses a personal favorite song though (remix by Ratatat)
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
2009 NCUSD: Which team had the best recruiting class? You decide
Earlier today of course we released the 2009 list, now you decide - which team made out the best?
Care to share why you made your choice? Throw it in the comments! (A reminder you can sign in using any OpenID account and also link your account to Twitter and help make high school ultimate more visible!)
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
The 2009 National College Ultimate Signing Day: THE List
It is with great pride that I present the 2009 National College Ultimate Signing Day recruiting class...
you can find lists from past years on the right hand side of the page, or by clicking here - 2008, 2007, 2006
Tune in later this week for posts breaking down and grading the recruiting classes and looking at trends from past years. Let's hear something in the comments though, what teams are looking good off the bat for next year?
[EDIT / UPDATE] - Here is another link in case something happens to the embedded version. [Edit 2] And another mirror here
also, i turned on anonymous commenting again, though users are encouraged to sign in so you can gain credibility (anonymous usernames are fine, but this was it cuts down on the impersonation of other users) - that being said - LET'S SEE SOME CHATTER
If you like the NCUSD and features like that please Become a fan on Facebook and help spread the word about high school ultimate.
And the incoming class is....
Coming in just a few minutes....
tell your friends to come online now. Feel free to spread speculation in the comments, will traditional ultimate powerhouses pick up more recruits? Is it all big schools and no love for the small liberal arts?
Tune in in the hours after the list is released for the best in high school ultimate news and commentary, and then in the weeks and months ahead comprehensive coverage of YCCs and the rest of the summer competition.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
[Site Updates] PlayUltimate on Twitter
PlayUltimate is on Twitter! Follow us @PlayUlt
The site updates the Twitter feed automatically, so if you want to make sure you know exactly when we post the 2009 NCUSD List hit follow now!
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Last chance to NCUSD 2009 - Sign up now!
The list will be saved tomorrow morning then published at 5pm tomorrow night, if you still want to get on the list you had better submit your info quick.
Sign up for the facebook event and come out tomorrow to see what schools are picking up the top recruits in the country.
See you tomorrow.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Monday, May 25, 2009
National College Ultimate Signing Day 2009 - You want to be on this list.
Only a few hours left...
The 2009 National championships just wrapped up, with Carleton taking the prize 15-11 over Colorado on the open side and UCSB winning over University of Washington on the ladies end.
Now you can start looking forward to next season!!
A brief preview of the list: the following nationals qualifying schools have players signing on Wednesday...
- Carleton
- Pittsburgh
- Colorado
- Virginia
- Illinois
- Stanford
- Tufts
Remember to tune in, and tell your friends to tune in on Wednesday at 5pm to see the list released.
Some Background:
For the past three years (2008, 2007, 2006) PlayUltimate has compiled a list of high school seniors and their college choices. It has grown into the National College Ultimate Signing Day. Now everyone will be able to see which colleges have the best recruiting classes and maybe even begin to look into the crystal ball a bit.
This year we will announce the list on Wednesday, May 27th, at 5 p.m. so the deadline to submit college choices will be May 26th. The form is a little bit more detailed and in depth, but it will provide a very interesting picture of the coming college season.
Please forward the link to friends, fellow teammates, your league message boards etc. Post it on facebook (link below every post) or MySpace or whatever you use.
I know many (most, if not all) have not finished applying for school at this point, let alone heard back or picked one. But we want to get an early start this year and have a very comprehensive list.
So, without further ado, you can start submitting information here.
If you have any suggestions on other information we should gather leave it in the comments.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Throwback Post: Role models for young players?
Originally posted a tad over 3 years ago, wonder if anything's changed?
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Role Models for "Young" Players
So this issue has bugged me for a little bit, and since it is the "off-season" for most high school ultimate players, i figured i would bring it up.
first off a little exercise...
1. name five nba players
2. name five nfl players
3. name your top 5 sports role models from any sport
not too hard eh? ok now try this -
name five upa club players
name your top five ultimate role models
for most high school players, this is where the difficulty comes in. as a sport, we dont have, at least as far as i can see, those players that are universal. everyone that plays basketball has heard of michael jordan. everyone that plays soccer has heard of pele, for cycling - lance, etc.
as a sport i think this is something perhaps we are lacking. we have the local role models, the coaches, the alumni of your teams, perhaps local college players you've seen play, etc. but what we lack is the nearly idolized distant role model. the one you watch from afar, perhaps send for an autograph.
so - to the point of this long rambling post. if you disagree with me, who are the universal role models for ultimate? (name names) and if not, have you seen any players (lets keep it in club, which is undeniably the closest thing to pro for ultimate right now) who are worthy of such acolades?
i wanna hear names here. and if you cant answer either of the above questions, how about this one - do you think ultimate needs or wants a michael jordan?
Maybe even more interesting from that post was the discussion it engendered in the comments. - Check it out for yourself.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
2009 National Ultimate Signing Day: Only 8 DAYS LEFT!!!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
If you are reading this please forward the message to your entire team and league. We are on pace to break the record of 119 students from 45 high schools announcing their intent. Please help us get the word out! We have only 8 days left!
For the past three years (2008, 2007, 2006) PlayUltimate has compiled a list of high school seniors and their college choices. It has grown into the National College Ultimate Signing Day. Now everyone will be able to see which colleges have the best recruiting classes and maybe even begin to look into the crystal ball a bit.
This year we will announce the list on Wednesday, May 27th, at 5 p.m. so the deadline to submit college choices will be May 26th. The form is a little bit more detailed and in depth, but it will provide a very interesting picture of the coming college season.
Please forward the link to friends, fellow teammates, your league message boards etc. Post it on facebook (link below every post) or MySpace or whatever you use.
I know many (most, if not all) have not finished applying for school at this point, let alone heard back or picked one. But we want to get an early start this year and have a very comprehensive list.
So, without further ado, you can start submitting information here.
If you have any suggestions on other information we should gather leave it in the comments.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Open Thread: Westerns and State Champs
Thoughts on this weekend's state championship tournaments? Westerns? Easterns?
A rundown of the state championship winners...
- Maryland Mixed: Magruder 13-10 over Paint Branch
- Maryland Open: Urbana 15-2 over Mt. Hebron
- Ohio Open: Holy Family Catholic 14-10 over St. Xavier
- Virginia Open: LC Bird 14-12 over HB Woodlawn
- Virginia Girls': Woodlawn 12-6 over LC Bird
Other tournies this weekend:
- PHUEL Girls' Championship: Lower Merion 13-6 over Haverford (PlayUltimate writeup)
- St. Johnsbury Invite - Girls: Longmeadow 15-7 over SJA
- St. J Invite - NEPSUL: Hotchkiss 13-12 over Philips
- St. J Invite - Open: Watchung Hills 15-8 over Amherst JV
- Thrillito: Apple Valley High School 8-7 over Como Park
Anything on your mind? Have a recap? A link to some video or pictures?
Throw it in the comments, let's get some discussion burnin.
Psst - only 9 days left until 2009 National Ultimate College Signing Day
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Westerns: We have winners: Nathan Hale (Girls) and Hopkins (Boys)
Hopkins took the open crown 15-9 over South Eugene
Nathan Hale over Northwest 12-11 on the girls side.
Congrats to all, if you were there let's hear some color commentary in the comments...
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
Westerns: finals happening now
On the open side its a pool B final with South Eugene facing off against Hopkins - Hopkins is up 11-8 right now.
For the girls' : the top seeds are battling now with Nathan Hale up 7-3 on The Northwest School.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
PHUEL Girls Championship Writeup
Girls high school ultimate is still growing in the Philadelphia area, but this year they had a city championship of their own, with all four teams playing at Edgely Field this Saturday, opening straight into the semifinals.
Top seeded Lower Merion met Radnor on one field. Radnor is in their first year of existence, and I can attest that over the course of this year, they have significantly improved. They've gone from bagels to fighting for every point, and hopefully Lindi Sabloff can continue their rise. However, they were no match for LM's Lady Babaganouj today, with a callahan on the first point by LM's Hannah Garfield starting the scoring -- a couple early points went long and were hard fought, but LM came up with them and never let up.
On the other field, defending champion Cardinal O'Hara had their hands full with Haverford High. Both schools had their proms last night, and multiple members of both teams were either missing or not at 100%. Despite this, the action was intense, but HUDA seemed to come up with every swilly throw from either team, and managed to cut way down on the turnovers, and took at 7-5 halftime lead. O'Hara fought back to tie it up at 9-9 and force a universe point, but HUDA fought through and scored a large upset over O'Hara to earn their spot in the finals.
The finals would then pit two Central League foes, LM and Haverford, in their fourth matchup of the season, with at least one more to follow under the lights at a nice little event hosted by Haverford this Thursday (featuring both school's JV, boys, and girls teams), and certainly allowing for the possibility of tangling once more at states next weekend.
But no other games, past or future, mattered today. Both teams came out fired up, and Haverford's energy from their previous win certainly poured onto the field. Impressive cuts by Natalie Nunez and impressive catches all around kept the teams close early, but a mid-game run by Lower Merion was able to put Haverford away, highlighted near the end by a beautiful 70-yard huck from Emily Eisner, followed up by a deep cut of her own to seal the game winning point, giving Lower Merion's Lady Babaganouj their first ever PHUEL City Championship, and putting them in a strong position to make a run for the state title next week.
Full results here:
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=33&id=6462
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Westerns: Upsets in pools play
The action has just gotten started in Blaine, but already there has been an upset Minneapolis South over Lakeside 10-9 in the second round of play. There is a point by point recap of that game on Twitter c/o NextLevelUltimate
As mentioned in a previous post you can watch for live updates from the field from these three links...
- http://twitter.com/NextLevelUlti
- http://twitter.com/hotlou
- http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23upawesterns
In pool A Hopkins upset South HS 8-7, Lakeside upsets Lakewood, and Lakewood upset Hopkins. Oi vey, so so far only the Northwest School has kept their seed in pool A.
If you have score updates or more info, post it here. Or if you see something particularly interesting from the Twitter accounts.
Side note: no scores in yet from any of the state championships this weekend, we'll update when we have something.
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
UPA Westerns on Twitter
Catch the latest UPA Westerns tweets:
- http://twitter.com/NextLevelUlti
- http://twitter.com/hotlou
- http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23upawesterns
The UPA Score Reporter for Westerns
Become a fan on Facebook! - Help spread the word about high school ultimate.
