USA Ultimate

Boulder, Colo. (May 4, 2010)—The Ultimate Players Association, the National Governing Body for the sport of Ultimate in the United States, today announced unprecedented first quarter performance for 2010, including 16% growth in its’ women’s collegiate division. Membership and sanctioned events doubled compared to a year ago, and the sport is set to be broadcast to a wider audience by CBS and its college sports network, CBSC.

At the end of the first quarter, year to date (YTD) growth saw a 101% increase in member registrations.  In addition, the UPA experienced a 157% YTD increase in sanctioned events from January 1 to March 31.  “The introduction of our new college regular season had a lot to do with this growth”, noted Dr. Tom Crawford, UPA Chief Executive Officer. “We hope to continue to drive growth with similar initiatives in the Club division in the future, as well as partnering with leagues, associations and established youth sport organizations to really invest in promoting and recruiting new young athletes to experience our exciting sport through our youth division.”

In addition to the significant membership and event spikes, Ultimate will be included in the broadcast of CBS College Sport’s extensive coverage of the 2010 Alt Games. Television coverage of the 2010 Alt Games kicked off last month with a preview show that featured a historical look at the sport of Ultimate, including an interview between Crawford and host Jonny Moseley. The preview show launched 10 weeks of sports-specific programming on the network, including coverage of the 2010 UPA College Championships in Madison, Wis. The championships will air on CBSC on Sunday, June 20, Thursday June 24, and Sunday, June 27 – all at 8:00 p.m. ET. Action from the college championships will also air in a special one-hour recap show, airing on CBS on Saturday, June 19 at 5:00 p.m. E.T.

While overall participation and competitions grew, the UPA realized strong growth in its college ranks following the completion of its regular season last month. For the 2010 regular season, 460 teams competed throughout the season in the Open division, while 249 teams competed in the Women’s Division. Those numbers represent 5% and 16% growth respectively compared to 2009. Collectively, there were over 700 college ultimate teams nationwide competing to make the national tournament – an 8.5% jump from 654 in 2009. “The 16% growth in women’s teams is a really exciting outcome, and a testament to some great efforts by our staff and some super creative and committed volunteers who continually promote our sport to women nationwide,” said Crawford.

UPA’s 2010 1st Qtr at a Glance
• Membership – 18,655 (2009 – 9,279) +101%
• Sanctioned Events – 103 (2009 – 40) +157%
• College Teams – 249 Women’s Teams, 460 Open Teams (2009 – 215 and 439 teams respectively) +16%, +5%
• Total College Teams – 709 (2009 – 654) + 8.5%

About the Ultimate Players Association
The Ultimate Players Association (UPA) serves as the National Governing Body for the sport of Ultimate in the United States. The UPA is a non-profit organization with national office headquarters based in Boulder, Colo., and focuses foremost on the needs of its athletes while improving access to the sport and enhancing members’ overall experience. Founded in 1979, the UPA is one of the first flying disc sport organizations in the world and is also the largest, with more than 30,000 members and an extensive national volunteer network. Last year the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) named Ultimate the fastestgrowing team sport in the nation.

 The UPA is also a member of the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF), which is a member of the General Association of International Sport Federations (GAISF) and the International World Games Association (IWGA). The UPA annually sends multiple National Teams to represent the United States at a variety of international events, including the World Games, which operates under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).