USA Ultimate

Boulder, Colo. (Sept. 17, 2014) – As part of ongoing efforts to increase youth and girls’ outreach efforts, USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States, is excited to announce additions and expansions to the organization’s youth volunteer structure.

After the great success of the Girls’ Ultimate Movement (GUM), a nine-month taskforce co-chaired by Heather Ann Brauer and Zara Cadoux that ran from fall 2013 through July 2014, the movement will now be solidified as a more permanent part of USA Ultimate’s volunteer structure.

Heather Ann Brauer was recently appointed National Girls Outreach Director, a new volunteer position at USA Ultimate, designed to help the organization continue efforts to increase the number of girls participating in the sport around the country. In addition to co-chairing the Girls’ Ultimate Movement, Brauer is currently the western region’s regional youth director (RYD). She will transition into the new position from her role as the western RYD and focus her efforts on increasing outreach programs across the U.S. and developing best practices for girls’ competition.

USA Ultimate also created a GUM Working Group that will serve as part of the new Education and Outreach Working Group. The GUM Working Group will develop guidance and outline next steps to help the organization implement the five action items recommended by GUM at the U.S. Open earlier this year. Zara Cadoux will serve as chair of the new working group, help recruit its members and liaise with the larger Education and Outreach Working Group.

In addition to these expansions, USA Ultimate, and Brauer in her new position, will be recruiting girls’ state youth coordinators (SYCs) in every state that currently has a boys’ state championship. Twenty-six states hosted boys’ state championship events in 2014, but there are currently only five dedicated girls’ state youth coordinators, one each in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia. The Utah and New Jersey girls’ SYCs were part of a USA Ultimate pilot program begun in 2013, while the New York, North Carolina and Virginia SYCs began work this year. In all, USA Ultimate will add 21 girls’ SYCs this fall.

Moving forward, USA Ultimate will also be recruiting a National Youth Outreach Director to focus on partnerships with youth-serving organizations as well as State Youth Outreach Coordinators to help form those partnerships in their local areas and help states move toward state championship structures. USA Ultimate will add 25 State Youth Outreach Coordinators in the coming months.

Job descriptions for the national youth outreach director position, as well as state youth coordinators and state youth outreach coordinators, are available on USA Ultimate's Get Involved page.

If you would like more information or are interested in volunteering as a girls’ state youth coordinator or getting involved with the GUM Working Group, contact USA Ultimate Manager of Education and Youth Programs Mike Lovinguth at mike@hq.usaultimate.org.

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