Holiday gift ideas for ultimate players?

Need holiday gift ideas for the ultimate players in your life?

Want to make sure mom and dad don't end up getting you a dog frisbee or something similar?

Direct them here - the PlayUltimate store powered by Amazon

there is also a link at the top of every page of the site.

Consider this an open thread - what are you asking for this christmas, Hanukkah, holiday?

The UltiVerse Episode 13: Brian, Jumpi, and Mike

In this episode I talk to Brian Calle, Jumpi, and Mike Adlis, the tournament directors for Lei Out, Paganello, and Wildwood. We talk about what it's like to run three of the largest beach Ultimate tournaments in the world, who they are, the history of their events, and the future of their tournaments.

www.theultiverse.com

Enjoy!

2009 SJA Invitational

I am happy to announce that the date for the 2009 St. Johnsbury Academy Invitational has been set and bids are now being accepted!

The tournament will take place on May 16th and 17th at St. Johnsbury Academy and Lyndon Institute. There will be 16 girls teams and 24 open teams. The tournament will be UPA sanctioned, cost $325, and all teams will be guaranteed at least 6 games. There will be a dinner/dance/trade night on Saturday evening, lots of gear for sale, and lined fields.

For complete tournament information please visit the website located at www.sjainvite.org.

The UltiVerse Episode 12: Andrew, Zahlen, and Edward -- Plus my Board of Directors Endorsements

In this episode I talk to Andrew Shen in Beijing, Zahlen Titcomb in Seattle, and Edward Wong in Tian Jin about the Chinese Ultimate community. We talk about the history of the sport in China, why it’s gaining popularity, the Chinese style of play, and their thoughts on the future of the sport.

www.theultiverse.com

A short note about two upcoming elections:

If you’re an American citizen aged 18 or over, make sure you get out and vote in the presidential election. In most states you can vote right now. The polls close on Tuesday night, November 4th. Don’t miss your chance. Vote now.

If you’re a UPA member or any age or nationality, make sure you vote in the Board of Directors elections. You can vote right now by logging into your upa.org account. The UPA polls close at 3pm US mountain time on Monday, November 3. Again, don’t miss your chance. Go vote now.

Of all the people running for the UPA Board, two candidates stand out for me: Henry Thorne and Catherine Greenwald. Both candidates have a brilliant track record inside the world of Ultimate and they know how to get things done. They are fantastic leaders and like everyone else running for the board, are passionate about the sport. What sets them apart for me is their deep connection to youth Ultimate. They both have children who play the sport and they have proven time and again their commitment to the advancement of youth Ultimate. In my time working with Henry on the Board, and with Catherine inside the Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance, I have come to respect them as two of the most professional Ultimate leaders I have ever met. They are the kind of people you want representing you on the UPA’s Board of Directors.


Upcoming Interview: Ultimate in Tibet


While tracking down people to talk to about Ultimate in China, I connected with someone who is working with Ultimate teams inside Tibet. I wasn’t able to patch him into this most recent interview, but hope to be able to catch up with him soon. In the mean time, if you’re interested in sponsoring an Ultimate team in Tibet, contact Happyrat at fly335cm at hotmail dot com.


- Josh

Cultimate Conference1

For anyone who has not seen the limited information released so far, here's the Conference1 website.

As many of you may know, Cultimate just proposed a new separate elite division for 25 teams split into several regional divisions. Teams would play games at tournaments across the country that would count towards their overall season record, not any individual tournament victory. At the end of the season, the top 13 C1 teams and a play-in qualifier would play a national championship tournament to determine the college champion.

Schedules would be set months in advance, teams would get sponsored jerseys and pay no tournament entry fees, and more authoritative observers would be present and paid at each C1 game. There would also be a 64-team tournament for non-C1 schools to determine a lower division champion.

If this proposal went through, what would that mean for you, as high school players? Would it change your thoughts about where you went to school? What about the plan excites you as a player? What reservations do you have? The opinions of current high school players are often overlooked, but they have a lot to benefit from this - or lose.

Sound off!

Rutgers 2nd Annual Juniors Invite: Grease Trucks Classic

Dear PlayUltimate Community,

The Rutgers Men's Ultimate team is again hosting a fall juniors tournament this year with the intention of furthering the cause of high school ultimate in the greater Jersey area and spreading awareness of our program to current juniors players. We are asking if playultimate.blogspot.com could once again help us in our cause and in spreading the word of our tournament by posting the following information found at the bottom of this email on your blog and in directing any questions, comments, concerns, or bids to this email address. We believe that last year's post of our tournament helped immensely in getting teams to submit bids and in sparking discussion on the high school ultimate scene in and around New Jersey. Thank you for your time.

-Dan Johnson, Rutgers Ultimate VP and Juniors Invite TD


The Rutgers Men's Ultimate team is excited to announce their second
annual high school/juniors fall tournament, the Grease Trucks Classic,
on the weekend of November 15-16, 2008, on the Cook Campus in New
Brunswick, NJ.
The tournament fee will be $160 and we will be accepting between 12-16
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 and buy discs
for sale, with the possibility of a college/club showcase game too.
Some teams that attended last year included PA, NJ, and NY state
champions Pennsbury, Columbia, and John Jay High School
respectively.
If you are interested, or think you might be interested, in attending
then please send in bids to ru(DOT)tournament(AT)gmail(DOT)com with
the following information:
1) "Rutgers Juniors 2008" and your team name in the subject line
2) your 2008 spring season results
3) number of players you graduated last spring
4) a list of all current seniors on your team
5) contact info for any other team captains or coaches
The bid deadline is October 31st and all teams will be notified as to
whether or not accepted on November 1st. 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 doesn't hurt
to send in bids late.
Payments must be submitted NO LATER THAN Tuesday, Nov 11th.
Unfortunately we will not be able to provide free housing for the
first two teams that apply like we did last year, but will gladly help
facilitate any team in finding suitable housing accommodations. We
look forward to seeing you all next month at the birthplace of college
ultimate.....
-Machine Ultimate

Columbia HS 2008 Highlights

Highlights from the 2008 Easterns Champions Columbia High School.


CHS Ultimate 2008 Highlight Reel from Jonah Sprung on Vimeo.

Announcing the second season of the Delaware Valley Youth League!

New Jersey and Philadelphia area readers, please sign up and forward this to your teams.

The second season of the league will take place this fall, and any and all youth ultimate players are encouraged to participate! Play with new players and learn different strategies on your way to a league championship!

Registration: http://scorereport.net/ultimate/devyl08/instructions.html

In order to strengthen the region's representation on a national scale (at the summer Youth Club Championships) and provide more opportunities for players and teams to play and recruit in the fall, this league is open to anyone born in 1990 or later. Any league participant is eligible to represent the region in either the Open, Girls, or Mixed divisions at the 2009 YCC's, provided they are born a fter May 31st, 1990.

Unlike last year, we cannot have high school-based teams in the league, as the UPA will not consider this a youth league. Everyone must register individually, and 4 to 8 teams will be assigned, depending on numbers.

Our potential field locations are Edgely in Philadelphia, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, and Washington Road in Princeton. Our fall schedule will begin on September 27th or 28th and conclude on November 8th. Games will be scheduled to avoid conflicts with popular high school fall tournaments. This will be a UPA-sanctioned league.

The cost of the league is $20.00, which includes UPA sanctioning and UPA event fees. All overage will go towards the Youth Club Championship team for summer 2009. This year we're accepting online payment after registration as well.

If you have questions or want to register without paying online, please contact me by email at thompsor@stanford.edu.

Easterns & Westerns 2009 Announced!

The UPA is excited to announce the dates and locations for the following Youth and High School championship events.
- 2009 High School Eastern Championships - May 9-10 - Lebanon, OH
- 2009 High School Westerns Championships - May 16-17 - Blaine, MN
- 2009 Youth Club Championships - August 8-9 - Blaine, MN
- 2010 Youth Club Championships - August 14-15 - Blaine, MN

For more information about these decisions, check out the press releases for each event (2009 HS Easterns, 2009 HS Westerns, 2009-10 YCC).

YCC 2008 Eugene Mixed Video...

After some technical issues were resolved, here is the video again...

YCC 2008 Highlight Video:
(ipod - .m4v - 640x360) - 135MB
(iphone - .m4v - 480x270) - 76MB
(SD quicktime - 640x360) - 131MB (now up)
(HD quicktime - 1280x720) - 295MB (now up)
Vimeo Stream (now up)

Photographs:
Flickr Site

3 Years... Where do we go from here?

So the question is simple. With a new season approaching, and change in the water with the UPA and specifically the youth division... What do you want to see change?

What do you see taking place in the youth division?

What will be the biggest changes?

What could be the best and worst changes made?

happy birthday and a thank you

August 2nd marked the 3rd anniversary of the beginning of this site. We are into our 4th year here.

And so i just wanted to extend a thank you. Three years of discussion of high school ultimate, three years of scores, rundowns, tournament recaps, college decisions, highlight reel competitions and more.

It's all made possible and pertinent by you the visitors, the ones who post comments, the players, the fans and the coaches. Three years ago there was nowhere to discuss high school ultimate online - you all have built something special here. It is a great resource for new players, and an outlet for more experienced players to strategize, predict and just talk.

So thank you, all of you reading this, for making playultimate the place for high school ultimate news and commentary. Here's to another three years and beyond.

Post YCC

I'm curious now that the event is more than 24 hours over, what are your thoughts on this last weekend's UPA Youth Club Championships?

Top Topics (but not limited to these if you got more)
1: results
2: field food and dinner
3: spirit and level of play
4: location and weather
5: future of YCC

YCC Mixed Division Standings

YCC Open Division Standings

Again, only the first two rounds are done.