Elections for 2016 Board of Directors Now Open
Posted: November 8, 2015 05:15 PM
Colorado Springs, Colo. (November 8, 2015)—The election window for the 2016 USA Ultimate Board of Directors is now open through 5:00 p.m. MT, Wednesday, Nov. 18.
There are currently two elected seats available, both of which are expected to be filled by candidates who are running unopposed.
David Klink (Minneapolis, Minn.), is the lone Elite Athlete candidate. Henry Thorne (Pittsburgh, Pa.) is the only candidate running for the At Large seat.
To cast your vote, visit the voting section of your USA Ultimate account (login required).
Any eligible USA Ultimate member in good standing may vote for the At Large seat.
Only eligible elite athletes (as described by USA Ultimate bylaws, Section 5.7-5.9) may vote for the Elite Athlete seat. Elite athletes are defined as being active members of USA Ultimate in good standing who:
• Within the 10 years preceding the election, represented the United States in a world championship event recognized by WFDF with a competitive selection process that was administered by USA Ultimate, or
• Within the last 24 months prior to the election finished in the top half of a national championship or team selection competition for an international competition recognized by WFDF, or
• Within the last 24 months prior to the election has been a member of the USA Ultimate National Team.
USA Ultimate will also appoint two additional representatives to the 2016 Board of Directors. The full composition of the 2016 board will be announced following the completion of the election, verification of results and acceptance of appointments.
Continue below to learn more about the candidates for the 2016 USA Ultimate Board of Directors:
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At-Large Candidates
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Elite Athlete Candidates
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Henry Thorne (At-Large)
Candidate Statement
My family is an ultimate family with 10 National and World titles between us so I care. A lot. I grow great businesses for a living as an entrepreneur, most recently "4Moms", so I’m very good at growing things. Those come together in my work at growing ultimate through my 17 years of stewardship at USAU during which we’ve doubled the size of the organization on every metric roughly every four years and had an exponential impact on the sport taking it from a cult of 10,000 people to a game played by millions and recognition from the US Olympic Committee. It’s been fun, I’ve been good at it, and I want to keep doing it, so please vote for me.
In depth opinions are contained in the podcast interviews but I’ll drill down into one of them here to save you time. How about those pro leagues.
They’ve really done some great things. And they’ve done some harm. Let’s find a way to get the best of what they’re doing and team up.
The great things the pro leagues have done? They bring a huge energy into the sport in the cities they’re successful. I have not seen Pittsburgh so excited about ultimate since we put our summer league together at a single site on weekends. Hundreds if not thousands of people are seeing high level ultimate in Pittsburgh for the first time and that’s spreading the word that this is a real sport and kids in school will now pick up ultimate instead of the traditional sports at a much younger age than ever before. We’ll be a better ultimate town than ever in ten years as a result. And the sport is definitely getting a shot in the arm nationally through their efforts.
The harm? The gap between the women and men is being pushed wider. We can help counteract that by pushing GUM and other programs through our USAU Foundation, and we are, but we should be doing that and not having the gap pushed by this other force. And the loss of our carefully nurtured, highly novel, and very promising officiating system is just a damn shame. For all those kids to be getting exposed to the sport without the honor inspired by "Spirit of the Game" is just a lost opportunity.
The ultimate way for this to all come together into a positive result is to team up and make a mixed pro league that competes both in the match play format and the tournament format using the existing mixed teams in our existing Triple Crown. We need to focus more on these teams anyway because they are our ticket into the Olympics. This would be an ideal way to do that. Food for thought.
David Klink (Elite Athlete)
Occupation
Attorney in Minneapolis practicing primarily in business litigation, real estate, and banking law.
Relevant Experience
I caught ultimate fever playing barefoot pickup in high school. At St. John’s University I was lucky to find great mentors to help me nurture my obsession. I went on to captain the SJU team and serve as club president. I continued to play ultimate wherever and however I could. A friend from summer league invited me to join a mixed club team called Flaming Moe. I liked it so much that I have now competed in fourteen consecutive mixed club seasons, often serving as a captain/organizer as well. After some heart-breaking games to go, Flaming Moe finally made it to Sarasota in 2006, finishing ninth. In 2009, I helped form Drag’n Thrust. Since 2010, we’ve been to nationals each season, including two semifinal runs, three consecutive national titles (‘13-‘15), and one world title (WUCC 2014). For 2015, I also aged into masters, joining Surly.
I’ve been organizing ultimate almost as long as I’ve been playing it. I was on the Board of Directors of the Twin Cities Ultimate League for eight years, where I helped to revamp the draft system to add more parity to the draft leagues. I’m currently the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Minnesota Youth Ultimate, and I also serve as State Tournament Competition Director and on the Executive, Conduct, Personnel, and Competition Committees. I volunteered as Northwest Plains Mixed Sectional Coordinator (’08-’09), Central/North Central Mixed Regional Coordinator (’10-’12), and National Mixed Director ("NXD") (‘13-’15). I became NXD after the initial plan for the TCT had been developed but before it had been implemented. As NXD I communicated extensively with the mixed captains across all flights in the first three years of the TCT, fielding concerns and working hard to manage and modify the system with the Club Working Group. I also served on the World Games selection committee for Team USA in 2013. And I’ve coached three Youth Club Championship teams in the open and mixed divisions as well as the Cretin-Derham Hall High School team in the girl's division.
Why I am Running for the Board of Directors
I strongly support the goals and values of the USA Ultimate strategic plan for 2013-2018, and I am excited for the opportunity to serve during a board term which will finish out the current plan and help develop the next one. As a mixed ultimate athlete and enthusiast, I hope to be elected to this elite athlete position to bring additional mixed division experience to the board. I believe I am particularly well suited to this task because of my unique combination of competitive and organizing experiences and the direct contact I've enjoyed with team captains in the division. I'd also like to add my perspective as a leader of Minnesota Youth Ultimate, which organizes Minnesota's fast-growing youth ultimate scene, currently boasting the most USA Ultimate youth members in the country. I am particularly fired up to promote the sport in ways which will lead to more equity and diversity in the growth of ultimate. I believe that my enthusiasm, judgment, and experiences as an athlete, organizer, coach, and attorney will add value to the board as it continues its important mission to advance the best sport in the world.
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