USA Ultimate Board Of Directors Adds Four For 2014
Posted: November 6, 2013 12:23 PM
USA ULTIMATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADDS FOUR FOR 2014
Ball, Garcia Win Elections; Belmonte, Payne Appointed
Boulder, Colo. (November 6, 2013)—Following last month’s election and the recently completed appointment process, the composition of the 2014 USA Ultimate Board of Directors is complete, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States announced today.
DeAnna Ball (Columbus, Ohio) won the election for the available At-Large seat over candidates John Terry (Morgantown, W.V.), Louis Abramowski (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Kyle Christoph (Portland, Ore.). Ball garnered a winning total of 344 votes compared to 316 for Terry, 185 for Abramowski and 80 for Christoph.
In a second elected position, Brian Garcia (San Francisco, Calif.) ran unopposed to win the Elite Athlete election with 198 votes.
In addition to the two elected positions, the USA Ultimate Board of Directors approved the appointment of Val Belmonte (Chicago, Ill.) and Mike Payne (Oakland, Calif.).
"We are excited to work with the four newly elected and appointed members of the board," commented Mike Kinsella, member of the USA Ultimate Board of Directors and the Nominating Committee. "These representatives bring incredibly accomplished and varied skill sets to the board, which will serve the organization extremely well in the coming years. Mike is a proven and engaging organizational leader whose value to USA Ultimate cannot be overstated. Val’s resume lists more than 20 years of impressive accomplishments in the sporting and non-profit settings. DeAnna has excelled for many years as a respected athlete, coach and organizer and exemplifies a commitment to Spirit of the Game as a former Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award winner. And Brian has competed at the highest levels of ultimate and specializes in the fields of finance and management – both important and applicable areas relevant to the leadership and continued success and growth of USA Ultimate."
Belmonte fills the Independent Board Member seat and brings to USA Ultimate a wealth of leadership experience as a non-profit and sports executive in the private sector, intercollegiate athletics and with multiple national governing bodies and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
Belmonte is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Education Project, an academic organization for students with autism and related disabilities. Prior to his current position, which he assumed earlier this year, Belmonte served as the CEO for U.S. Figure Skating and USA Fencing, both members of the USOC. He also served as Vice President of Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., Director of Athletics at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and Director of Coaching at USA Hockey in Colorado Springs, Colo. Belmonte has also served on several committees for a variety of NCAA conferences, and multiple high performance, coaching and strategy committees for the USOC and USA Hockey.
Belmonte is also a founder and principal partner at Game 7 Seven, LLC – a development, design, build and management company for sports, recreational and entertainment facilities. Belmonte is a graduate of the University of Illinois-Chicago and holds a Master of Education degree from the University of North Dakota.
Mike Payne is the current USA Ultimate Board of Directors President and has been a leader in the ultimate community for 20 years as a player, coach and administrator. Payne most recently led the organization through its long-term strategic planning process and the revision and implementation of updated USA Ultimate bylaws.
At the end of the year, Payne will have completed his third term on USA Ultimate’s Board of Directors, twice serving as its president from 2006-08 and again from 2011-13.
Members whose terms expire on Dec. 31, 2013 include Greg Downey, Mandy Eckhoff and Colin McIntyre.
"I and all the members of the board and staff would like to recognize and sincerely thank these outgoing board members for all of their service, dedication and hard work during the past three years," noted Mike Payne. "The last few years were incredibly important and their work on the latest strategic plan and the revised bylaws especially helped position USA Ultimate to continue towards a bright future."
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