Beyond their on-field performance, the FlameThrowers were an exemplary franchise. Let their stated values and mission live on as the benchmark for all current and future AUDL teams.
OUR VALUES: Passion, Excellence & Improvement
Passion
We are passionate about the sport of Ultimate. A team sport played with a flying disc instead of a ball. A team sport played by athletes of all kinds, across gender formats. We love playing it, and we love watching it. And we are equally passionate about creating opportunities for the sport of Ultimate to have a positive impact on society by promoting teamwork, "Spirit of The Game", equity, and conflict resolution.
Excellence
We believe in striving for excellence on and off the field. On the field, we will strive to win through the effort of our players, the intelligence of our strategies, the energy from our fans, and the sheer joy of play embodied in the Spirit Of The Game. Off the field, members of the Flamethrowers organization strive for the same levels of excellence across all areas of our lives. We believe that the pursuit of excellence, in and of itself, is at the core of success, and that all associated with the team will be proud to be a part of that pursuit.
Improvement
We acknowledge that the sport of Ultimate reflects the imperfections in society at large. Male participation is significantly higher than female participation, and there is a severe lack of racial and economic diversity. We believe that striving for gender, racial, and economic diversity is critical to making the sport of Ultimate the best that it can be. We intend to play a positive role in helping to improve access to opportunities for everyone to play at the highest level and showcase their talents to the world.
OUR MISSION: Grow, Unite & Sustain
Grow The Sport
We believe that growing participation in the sport will increase the positive impact of Ultimate, and we believe that showcasing the best athletes, competing at the highest level, will inspire new participation. We want to grow the sport of Ultimate at all levels and across every division (open, mixed, and women). We also believe that spectators and sponsors can provide the support to fund the growth of the sport at all levels, and in all communities, and we intend to continue and increase our efforts to bring new players and fans to the sport.
Unite With Others
We cannot grow the sport alone. You can't play a team sport without teammates and a team can't play a game without an opponent. To accomplish the first part of our mission we must work with others. This means supporting organizations like the Bay Area Disc Association (BADA). It means participating in a professional league, the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL). Working with others inevitably involves compromise, but it also allows us to achieve more than we could alone. We look forward to expanding our partnerships with Ultimate organizations whose mission and values align with ours. It also means working with the Ultimate community, particularly the youth in our community. We are committed to the SOTG and we insist that our players, coaches, and staff model that behavior on and off the field.
Sustain Progress
We want to bring our sport to hundreds of millions of new players, and it is simply not possible to do that in a few short years. It is the Ultimate community that will sustain us over the course of this long journey, and it is the participation and support of the players, coaches, parents, fans, and countless others that will enable us to succeed. All of the owners of our organization have been members of the Ultimate community for decades, and it is an integral part of our passion for the sport. We cherish the opportunity to give back to the sport of Ultimate, and we are always searching for new partnerships and creative new solutions that will help us to bring Ultimate to as many people as possible.
In a parting email, the FlameThrowers continued their graciousness. Their email text in full:
Dear Friends of the FlameThrowers and the Bay Area Disc Community,
When we contacted Josh Moore over 6 years ago and began our journey with the FlameThrowers, we had a vision of professional ultimate taking its place alongside the great spectator sports. While we always knew there would be challenges along the way, the FlameThrowers ownership group believes that those challenges warrant a pause.
We are incredibly proud to have represented San Francisco ultimate and the Bay Area in the AUDL and to the world at large. We are delighted to have been at the forefront of providing women opportunities to play on the same field as men. We are thrilled to have won the 2017 AUDL Championship and seen our players featured on ESPN’s Top 10 as well as receive numerous AUDL accolades. And we consider ourselves fortunate to have given those amazing players an opportunity to showcase the joy of the sport.
Our hopes for the future include continued involvement in spectator/fan-focused ultimate, particularly in a more gender-equitable format. We have advocated for more local flexibility in game formats and believe that experimentation at this stage of spectator Ultimate’s development is critical. And we have long hoped for coordination between the AUDL and the USAU to ensure player safety and reasonable workloads over the season.
We wish all those competing, producing, and otherwise involved in the AUDL all the best in 2019 and beyond. And we again thank all the players, partners, youth groups, Laney College, Bay Area Disc Association and countless others for supporting us along the way and helping make the FlameThrowers a reality.
The FlameThrowers sign off with "Flame On!"
