USA Ultimate

U.S. National Ultimate Team Recognized by IWGA as "Team of the Year"

 

Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 27, 2014)—The International World Games Association (IWGA) formally recognized the U.S. National Ultimate Team as the 2013 "Team of the Year" during a special ceremony Thursday at the El Pomar Foundation headquarters in Colorado Springs. IWGA President Ron Froehlich and El Pomar Foundation President and CEO and President Emeritus of the United States Olympic Committee William Hybl presented team member Ryan Farrell (Boulder, Colo./Johnny Bravo), Team Leader Byron Hicks (Parker, Colo.) and USA Ultimate Chief Executive Officer Tom Crawford (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with the award.
 

The U.S. National Team posted a perfect 6-0 record at the World Games in Cali, Colombia last July, capturing the gold medal with a 13-6 win over Australia in the championship game. It was the third-consecutive gold-medal performance, following victories by the United States in 2009 (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) and 2005 (Duisburg, Germany).
 

Following the conclusion of the World Games, the international sporting community elected the U.S. National Ultimate Team as the "Team of the Year" with 16,744 votes over the women’s Tug-of-War team from Chinese Taipei (13,945) and the Netherlands’ mixed Korfball team (3,574).
 

"It’s amazing how well we were supported by the entire ultimate community and USA Ultimate," said Farrell after accepting the award on behalf of his teammates. "Since the award was determined by a public vote, it really puts into perspective how much support we received from the community. I am proud to be here on behalf of my teammates to accept this honor. Playing in the World Games, in a stadium full of 15,000 people, at a high level and respectfully, was really a life-changing experience." 
 

The gold medal at the World Games – the sport of ultimate’s highest achievement – was brought home by a 13-member mixed team which included Farrell and a dozen of the nation’s top ultimate athletes: Georgia Bosscher (Madison, Wis./Heist), Cara Crouch (Austin, Texas/Showdown), Sarah Griffith (Seattle, Wash./Riot), Cree Howard (Oakland, Calif./Fury), Ashlin Joye (San Francisco, Calif./Revolver), Beau Kittredge (San Francisco, Calif./Revolver), Mike Natenberg (Austin, Texas/Doublewide), Octavia Payne (Washington, D.C./Scandal), Alex Snyder (Madison, Wis./Fury), George Stubbs (Somerville, Mass./Ironside), Mac Taylor (San Francisco, Calif./Revolver) and Dylan Tunnell (Atlanta, Ga./Chain Lightning). The team was led by head coach Alex Ghesquiere (Washington, D.C.) and assistant coach Matt Tsang (Oakland, Calif.).
 

Occurring every four years, the next World Games take place in 2017 in Warsaw, Poland.
 

Ultimate fans can catch all of these athletes in action in 2014 on USA Ultimate’s Triple Crown Tour on ESPN and the NexGen Network.
 

Farrell will return to the international stage later this summer with his Colorado-based club team, Johnny Bravo, at the World Flying Disc Federation World Ultimate Club Championships in Italy.