New Contributor - Tom Cook

It has been a while since PlayUltimate was updated, but, I hope to start changing that.

I have just signed on as a new contributor, hopefully getting some conversations started about Pennsylvania youth ultimate, and youth ultimate in general.

First, introductions are in order:

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.

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.

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.

Lastly, I hope for weekly posts.  Let's see if I can hold myself to that one.