Record College Season in 2013
Posted: April 11, 2013 10:43 AM
2013 Sets College Season Records for Team Participation and Sanctioned Events
Boulder, Colo. (April 11, 2013) – 2013 has been USA Ultimate’s busiest college season to date. This spring alone, the national governing body sanctioned 88 events for inclusion in the college regular season. Those 88 events saw more than 1800 teams compete against one another in the Open and Women’s Divisions. Fifty-six of the college regular season events took place just in the month of March.
USA Ultimate created the Event Sanctioning Program in an effort to encourage and support the growth of ultimate at all levels by assisting event organizers in providing high-quality, well-organized playing opportunities in their communities. Event sanctioning offers additional resources and provides event organizers access to USA Ultimate’s insurance coverage, opening up many more options for field rentals, decreasing risk and ensuring the protection of all participants.
The Event Sanctioning Program has grown each year since its inception in 2004 – starting with 106 events in 2004 and reaching 336 events across all divisions in 2012. Already in 2013, 156 tournaments, leagues and practices have been sanctioned, nearly half of last year’s total.
The 2013 College Championship Series kicks off this weekend with 90 conference championship tournaments across the country. Fifteen events will follow on the weekend of April 19-20. This weekend’s 90 events will play host to over 600 teams, 396 from the Open Division and 239 from the Women’s Division, and establish who moves on to the regional championship tournaments to fight for a bid to the College Championships.
By the time the Championships arrive, the competition field will have been whittled from more than 700 registered teams to just 72. Twenty squads in each of the D-I Open and Women’s Divisions and 16 in each of the D-III Open and Women’s Divisions will be left to face off for national titles.
As of the March 8 roster deadline, 15,331 college athletes were members of USA Ultimate: 9,802 men and 5,529 women. Those athletes are divided amongst 470 Open teams and 294 Women’s teams. Team participation in each division has increased year over year: expected growth in 2013 is greater than 10 percent in the Women’s Division and nearly 6 percent overall. The Women’s Division growth is the largest increase in the past three years.
The 2013 Division III College Championships will take place in Milwaukee, Wis., May 18-19. The 2013 Division I College Championships will transpire the following weekend, May 24-27, 75 miles due west in Madison, Wis.
For more information on USA Ultimate’s event sanctioning program or to request sanctioning for your event, contact sanctioning@usaultimate.org.
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