Map of Top Club Ultimate Teams (2014)

The 2014 USA Ultimate National Championships for club ultimate teams are scheduled for October 16-19 in Frisco, Texas. The 48 qualifying teams from 8 geographic regions represent 20 locations (17 states, 2 provinces and 1 territory) at Nationals. Six states – California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas – have teams in each division.

States with Most Qualifying Teams 
1st: California (8 teams)
2nd: Washington (5 teams)
3rd: Massachusetts (4 teams)

TCT 2014 Postseason - Regionals Recap

The second leg of USA Ultimate's 2014 Triple Crown Tour postseason is complete. All regional bids now have been assigned to deserving club teams. Here's a visual recap of the outcomes from the past two weekends of Regionals:

Qualifying Teams by Region & Division 

Breakdown of Teams by TCT Flight
MEN: Pro = 8, Elite = 5, Select = 3, Classic = 0.
MIXED: Pro = 7, Elite = 5, Select = 3, Classic = 1.
WOMEN: Pro = 8, Elite = 5, Select = 3, Classic = 0.

[DATA SOURCE: USAU]

Player from DC Current Included on Washingtonian's Guest List

Which DC sports athlete was invited to Washingtonian magazine's Guest List in its October 2014 issue? Alan Kolick!

photo [via]

From the magazine text: "Alan Kolick. An offensive star for Washington's Ultimate Frisbee team, DC Current, the Arlington native was named Eastern Conference MVP on the Current's way to the league national championship."

Alan is shown in his DC Current #99 jersey spinning a disc with his right hand (even though he's a lefty). Alan also plays on the top-seeded DC club ultimate team, Truck Stop.

By the way, five other individuals were invited to the table, including: the DC Public Library Executive Director, a Google executive, a Kennedy, CEO of sixth&i, and a former WaPo correspondent.

[h/t ChesapeakeOpen]

AlleyCats 2015 Tryouts

The Indianapolis AlleyCats host player combine/tryout for their 2015 AUDL season on Saturday, September 27. The cost to participate in the 2015 AlleyCats Combine/Tryout is $25, $45, $50, or $75.

There are 9 listed items under Instructions (10 items, if you include the instruction to "Read and follow the instructions").

screengrab [via]

The text of the 9th item:
Cost: Pre-register $45 at the gate $75. You may Pre-register thru Sept 24, 2014 (read notes below)

Note: If you have participated in an AlleyCats Combine/ Tryout in previous years the cost is $25 Pre-register and $50 at the gate. What you recieve [sic] as a member of the AlleyCats far exceeds any fee charged. A fee does show your commitment and dedication to the team as well as the organization. As we develop as an organization and league you should expect to see this fee increase. Any fees are subject to change.

2014 Mid-Atlantic Regionals

The penultimate weekend of USA Ultimate's 2014 Triple Crown Tour happens on Saturday and Sunday in Poolesville, Maryland. All three divisions - Men, Mixed and Women - will play at the Polo Fields.  At the end of the weekend, five club ultimate teams from the MA Region will earn a bid to USA Ultimate's 2014 National Championships October 16-19, in Frisco, Texas.

Men's Division (2 bids)
Seeding:
1. Truck Stop
2. Temper
3. Patrol
4. Dire Wolf
5. Medicine Men
6. Town Hall Stars
7. Garden State Ultimate
8. John Doe
9. Possum Stompers
10. Citywide Special
11. Floodwall
12. Drago
13. RUNTIME
14. Supernova
15. Colorblind
16. DMV

Mixed Division (1 bid)
Seeding:
1. AMP
2. Ambiguous Grey
3. Ant Madness
4. Tyrannis
5. The Muff 'n Men
6. Hooray for Coed Hooray!
7. Bang!
8. Jughandle
9. American Hyperbole
10. Sparkle Ponies
11. Jagged Ice
12. Death By Jubilee
13. Throws of Passion
14. Blowin Heat
15. Clue
16. BITMAP

Women's Division (2 bids)
Seeding:
1. Scandal
2. Hot Metal
3. Green Means Go
4. Virginia Rebellion
5. Backhanded
6. Breakfast Club
7. VETO

The Mid-Atlantic region is broken down into the seven states and Washington, DC for the 2014 TCT season: (Capital Section) District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, & West Virginia, plus (Founders Section) Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia.

West Virginia is the only state not represented at 2014 Regionals.

[SOURCE: State data via team profile at USAU.]

DC Player is the Face of USA Ultimate

USA Ultimate published their Annual Report for 2013. The digital document is 64 pages long and contains text, graphics, charts (!) and action photos.

Of note, one player from Washington D.C.'s elite women's ultimate team, Scandal, is seen many times in this publication. Five times to be exact, which is 10.6% out of the 47 published photographs. [See pages 7, 14, 21, 43 and 58 of the Annual Report.] That ultimate player is none other than Octavia "Opie" Payne, who represents Scandal club team and Team USA at the 2013 World Games.

Additionally, Opie's pull is the lead-in to USAU's highlight compilation.

USA Ultimate Shows Off the Sport

View the compilation of USA Ultimate highlights caught on video from the past few years. The video is capped off by ESPN personalities glowing about the athleticism of ultimate via their SportsCenter Top 10 segment.

Frisbeer Packaging

A product that makes one-handed grabs much easier.

This project which won the Prize of Slovak Design Center on Young Package Design Competition 2014 evokes the same reuse attitude as a Frisbie tin.  Frisbie's were used to carry pie and the empty tins were then tossed around.

Frisbeer packaging is made from tough and durable cardboard, which makes it easy to carry up to three cups with one hand. The slots used for grasping and positioning the cups, plus the disc shape, are also the main aerodynamic elements necessary for the Frisbee to fly.

RELATED: Disposable plates. Frisbeer game.

AUDL Growth Plan

The American Ultimate Disc League plans to announce another new franchise for the league. Already, the AUDL has added Nashville, Ottawa, Pittsburgh and teams in Texas. The AUDL Commissioner revealed the league's expansion plan of adding up to 19 more teams to its existing 17 teams for a total of 36 AUDL teams by 2018.

Screengrab [via]

For a sports league that began in 2012, this is an ambitious and accelerated growth plan. It's possible that the AUDL is seeking to add more teams in order to reduce travel costs and player time. The plan may resemble USAU's regional structure where nearby teams from a specific section of the map compete, and then the "regional" champions would meet in a championship event. With 30-something teams, this would be a much reduced (and maybe more manageable) version than the Triple Crown Tour.

Adding 19 more teams calculates to a ~112% – averaging ~5 teams every season (2015 thru 2018). A thirty-six (36) team league would be more than the current totals of any of the major sports leagues (National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Major League Soccer).

In 2014: 
AUDL = 17 teams
MLS = 19 teams
MLB = 30 teams
NBA = 30 teams
NHL = 30 teams
NFL = 32 teams

In 2018: AUDL = 36 teams

WaPo Mentions DC Current 2014 Championship

Last week, The Washington Post DC Sports Bog expanded covered on that news item about Markham Shofner in a Google ad.

Read full Sports Bog article

Scott Allen provided background to this D.C. sports figure with: "Markham Shofner had four goals and two assists in the D.C. Current's 23-17 win over the Vancouver Nighthawks in the Major League Ultimate Championship this summer."

For anyone counting...that mention about a DC sports team championship totals twenty-six (26) words. And, the mention is 55 days (nearly a full club ultimate season) after DC's MLU team won.

Hey, better late than never.

RELATED: WaPo's Sports Bog coverage of Week 2 win.

Ultimate Tournament Director Appreciation Day

Today is Ultimate Tournament Director Appreciation Day!

From local leagues to national events; from hats to Worlds, ultimate tournaments happen because of these hardworking individuals. Tournament Directors (TDs) do so much – schedule, budget, plan, setup, field lining, feeding, measuring, calling, emailing, confirming, directing, cleanup, score reporting and so much more – to organize competition for the sport of Ultimate. For these reasons, September 18th is a day to take time to appreciate Ultimate Tournament Directors.

Want to celebrate Ultimate Tournament Director Appreciation day?
Post an appreciative message on social media, and tag your TD &/or the tournament.

Use the hashtag "#ThxUTD" so everyone can follow the conversation.

Copy and post any of these UTD Appreciation Day images into your social media.

Design your own image for Ultimate Tournament Director Appreciation Day and post it somewhere online.

Hug your TD (if you see them in-person).

Why celebrate Ultimate Tournament Director Appreciation day?
Join this grassroots movement to publicly recognize these important leaders in the sport of Ultimate.

Alternate Lede for Express

Today's issue of Express (a publication of The Washington Post) covered the non-sports-related Ultimate news. While the news byte is a perfect topic for eyeopeners, the headline "Ultimate Frisbee tournaments are known havens for criminals" lacks creative punch that reads are accustomed to.

From page 2 of Express

Some alternate ledes:
Police make great catch at Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

Bank robber to get tossed into jail after tossing at Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

Handcuffs are the ultimate defense at Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

Orange is the New Stack

Really wish Ultimate would be covered this widely in the sports section instead of the police blotter. By now, you have probably heard about the bank robber/fugitive from New York who was captured at an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Eugene, Oregon.

In Ultimate Arrest": Fugitive nabbed at Frisbee tournament, CBSNews asked: "Which raises the question -- will they have an ultimate team in prison?"

Wanted fugitive from NY arrested at Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Oregon [KPHO]

Man Wanted For Armed Bank Robbery Arrested At Frisbee Tournament [HuffPo]

Bank Rob Fugitive From New York Nabbed at Oregon Frisbee Tourney [NBCNews]

"Oregon cops showed up at a Frisbee game and made an epic grab over the weekend, snaring a fugitive wanted for a 2010 bank robbery. Jahson Marryshow, of Woodstock, N.Y., was arrested at an "Ultimate Frisbee" tournament in Eugene, Oregon, after being on the lam for four years."

Screengrab [via]

Friction Gloves Salon-Saloon

This product from Friction Gloves will help cut down on packing time for Ultimate games, and open your schedule to hydrate.

Nail Clippers / Bottle Opener [FrictionGloves]

Info: All-in-one device to trim finger nails and to remove metal bottle caps. Attaches to most things with a silver ball keychain loop.

Price: $2.49

From Ditto's Mouth to Every Gym Teachers' Ears

The Flagstons are no strangers to ultimate; their Thanksgiving tradition is to play a game of Ultimate Frisbee!

In last Sunday's comic strip, Lois asks her family sitting at the dinner table: "How was everyone's first week at school?"

Ditto (a grade schooler) responds: "We played Ultimate Frisbee in gym."

[h/t @nicdarling]

Cleanup Ultimate Field, Or Get Fined

An Ultimate tournament threatened to fine Ultimate teams $150 if they did not have clean sidelines.

DiscNY hosted the 2014  Metro New York Sectionals tournament for seven mixed teams, 13 men's teams, and 6 women's teams on September 6-7 in Middletown, NY. In addition to the team registration fee ($350, $375), a $150 deposit for field cleanliness was also required. The mandatory deposit was meant to "encourage all (Ultimate) players to be good field citizens."

Screenrab [via]

Here are the specifics from the Sectionals info: **FIELD DEPOSIT?! - Yes, field deposit. It is not optional. Because some teams do a really crap job of cleaning up after themselves. Here's how this is going to work: Whatever field your team ends up on at the end of each day has to be spic and span. Bottle caps, fruit peels, abandoned smelly socks, wads of used athletic tape, etc... must all be picked up and thrown out. That includes the far sideline if there is no other team using it. If another team left a mess, you can report them, but you still have to clean up the sideline. If teams are sharing the sideline they are both responsible for the whole sideline. If you are worried about whether you did a good enough job and want to make sure you get your $150 deposit back, get the TD or other designated tourney staff to do a 'checkout' at the end of each day. Tourney staff will have noted which teams are using which fields and sidlelines [sic] at the end of both Saturday and Sunday. If a team leaves a mess on either day and they did not get checked out, then we keep the money and it goes toward DiscNY's youth development programs. Field deposits will be refunded by end of day the Monday after Sectionals. If another team reports that your team left a mess, your field deposit is subject to forfeit. We hope this will encourage all players to be good field citizens.

Google Ad Features D.C. Ultimate Player

This ad appeared in today's the British newspaper METRO. The Google app ad highlights the voice recognition feature asking the question: "rules of ultimate frisbee?" The pictured ultimate player was identified as Markham Shofner, who plays for the pro Ultimate team DC Current and Washington D.C.'s club team Truck Stop. Yes, Shofner was the MVP of the 2014 MLU Championship game.

Google app ad in Metro [via]

Markham may want to google how does one gain royalties if featured in a Google app ad, ya know?

So, here is Markham's twitter avatar:

Screengrab [via]

[Ad item h/t Ultiworld]

Breakdown of U.S. Rosters for Beach Ultimate

USA Ultimate announced the rosters of the seven teams to play at the 2015 World Championships of Beach Ultimate. Overall, 109 players were selected to represent the United States on the sand in Dubai.

Top Team Representation per Division:
Open: Atlanta Chain Lightning
Mixed: San Francisco Polar Bears
Women: Seattle Riot
Grandmasters: Battleboro (VT) No Country

55 club teams are represented across the 7 team rosters.

21 club teams have more than 1 players on a beach roster
34 teams have 1 player on a beach roster.

NOTES: Eight (8) teams show representation for one player not currently on a club roster, but was the players' most recent club team. [7 Figures, Darkhorse, Doublewide, LA Metro, No Country, Reckon, Slow White]
On 3/3, an updated club affiliation in the mixed roster - Jenny Fey from Scandal to Ant Madness.

[DATA SOURCE: original USAU listing] [Updated 3/3/2015]

Under Armour Sponsors Ultimate Tourney in Singapore

Disc with Under Armour sponsorship [via]

Under Armour, the No. 2 sportswear brand company in the U.S., expanded its marketing with a ballerina and Gisele Bündchenand. And, recently UA sponsored an Ultimate tournament!

Singapore's ultimate frisbee scene gets boost from sportswear giant Under Armour [Yahoo!]

(below text from article)

High-performance sports apparel brand Under Armour launched its first title-sponsored event in Singapore and Southeast Asia over the weekend when the American company lent its name to the 2014 Singapore Ultimate (frisbee) Open.

Ultimate frisbee might come as a surprising pick for a well-known brand like Under Armour to get behind, given the sport’s relatively low profile here. But Michael Binger, CEO of Triple Pte. Ltd., believes otherwise.

The retailer holds exclusive distribution rights for Under Armour across Southeast Asia, with the first outlets opening May in Singapore and the Philippines. With Under Armour seeking to further expand in the region, Binger says ultimate frisbee is a sport that fits their profile "quite nicely".

"Ultimate Frisbee is a very engaging, very young sport; it's an emerging sport, so it’s really right up our alley in those criteria," he told Yahoo...

VC to Close AUDL Online Store

A late Friday posting from VC Ultimate announced: "The American Ultimate Disc League Store is closing its doors this month, which means some insane deals for fans!"

The American Ultimate Disc League Store is closing its doors this month, which means some insane deals for fans!... http://t.co/2IE7H5oZnv
— VC Ultimate (@vcultimate) September 5, 2014

VC's web store repeats the news with: "This online store will soon be no longer..."

The timing does not exactly match up with their 2 year agreement with AUDL. Back in February 2013, AUDL issued a press release touting a "two-year agreement...to be the exclusive provider of...an online store that will serve all AUDL teams."

The 2013 press release ends with: "We are looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship for both parties."

One of the problems is that there are some pro Ultimate teams in the AUDL that currently sell merchandise outside of the VC online store (i.e. Spiders, Empire).  Plus, the AlleyCats are the one team that has eschewed VC completely and setup their own online store via their team website and outfitted their team in NIKE uniforms.

UPDATED [09/10/2014]:

The answer to my "Why?" question was provided by Ultiworld.

"The decision to part ways was mutual, as VC is eager to focus more on the US college market and the AUDL is looking for a new deal with a bigger apparel company."


Let the speculation begin as to which "bigger apparel company" AUDL will deal with for the 2015 season.

Regional Distribution of TCT Prize Money

Nearly $20,000 has been won by club ultimate teams at the completion of the 2014 Triple Crown Tour regular season.

The Southwest region - represented by Polar Bears, Revolver and 7 Figures - has won $9500 -- over 50% of prize the money.

The Mid-Atlantic is the only region to not win any TCT prize money during the regular season. Every other region had at least 1 TCT win with prize money.

Top teams per division:
Men: Revolver (SW; $4000)
Mixed: Polar Bears (SW, $5000)
Women: Brute Squad (NE, $3,750)

[SOURCE: Prize Money]

Breakdown of USAU Triple Crown Tour Bid Allocations

The 48 total bids were allocated to the 8 geographic regions - Great Lakes (3), South East (5), South Central (5), North Central (5), Mid-Atlantic (5), Northeast (7), Southwest (8), and Northwest (10).

RELATED: 2013 Bids.

[DATA SOURCE: USAU]

Cake Chart: Bids by Region

The bid allocation for regions was released by USA Ultimate today. Encouraged by twitter, I present you...a cake chart!

Pro Flight Finale / Emerald City Classic Results

The Triple Crown Tour's Pro Flight Finale at Emerald City Classic was completed this past weekend. Not only did none of the #1-seeded teams win, but none of the recent World Championship teams finished first. Check out the visuals comparing team seeds and their tournament results.

Mixed Division Results

Polar Bears (#2 seed) finished in 1st place.
The top-seeded Drag'n Thrust dropped 5 places to 6th place.
4 mixed teams broke seed.
Slow White was the only mixed team to hold seed (#5).

Women's Division Results

The 2nd-seeded team (Boston Brute Squad) finished in 1st place, similar to the Mixed division's results.
3 women's teams broke seed; 5 teams finished below their tournament seed.

Men's Division Results

The 5th-seeded team (Chicago Machine) finished in 1st place.
4 teams broke seed; 3 teams finished below their tournament seed.
Doublewide was the only men's team to hold seed (#7).
Denver's Johnny Bravo finished in 8th, dropping 5 places from their seed.


[ECC image via NGN]

Do Over: August 2014

Catch up on last month's noteworthy posts you may have missed...

[Long Read] Ultimate Frisbee Survey Results

Ultimate Security: "Double" Verification

WUCC: Countries in WUCC Playoffs [visual]; WFDF Champions

Coverage at World Ultimate Club Championships