USA Ultimate

Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 29, 2016) – USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States and member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is excited to announce the launch of its newest initiative: the Achieving College Excellence (ACE) Program, presented by Breakmark. The program was created to help recognize and incentivize growth and sustainability of college ultimate programs based on team development and alignment with the three Cs of USA Ultimate’s mission: Character, Community and Competition.

The ACE Program includes recognition at four different levels: Five Star, Four Star, Three Star and Honorable Mention. Each level aligns with a unique set of benefits from Breakmark and USA Ultimate, including merchandise discounts, swag, public recognition and more.

In addition to the more tangible benefits, teams earning recognition through the ACE Program will also be more able to generate additional support and acknowledgment from their school administrations.

Any college program, which includes all men’s teams or all women’s teams at a given college or university, is eligible to apply for the ACE Program. In its pilot year, the exact criteria for each recognition level is still being developed, but teams selected will:

   • Embody the three Cs of USA Ultimate’s mission: Character, Community and Competition. 
   • Participate in USA Ultimate events.
   • Be involved with promotion the sport. 
   • Achieve competitive excellence. 
   • Empower young leadership to help sustain and pass down information year after year.
   • Maintain strong team leadership, including coaching at all team levels. 

Program characteristics such as sustainable leadership, community outreach, relationships with opposite gender teams as well as other club sports at their universities, and continued competitive excellence will all be taken into account when selecting the 2016 ACE Program teams. 

The ACE Program was developed after reviewing similar incentive programs administered by successful national governing bodies like USA Swimming and USA Volleyball. 

The 2016 application window will be open from May 15-June 15 with accepted teams to be announced in early July. 

For more information about the ACE Program and to view the application documents, visit usaultimate.org/college/ace.aspx. 

Have any questions or comments? We welcome community feedback and discussion made in a respectful manner. Please refrain from profanity or personal attacks, as such public comments negatively reflect on our sport and community.