USA Ultimate

Boulder, Colo. (Nov. 4, 2014) – The USA Ultimate Youth Club Task Force, a six-month task force convened to determine best practices for developing non-school-based play, today announced its findings and recommendations for implementation. The group based their research upon interviews with ultimate organizations and other sports organizations.

The task force’s full report, including key takeaways, detailed recommendations and action items, can be downloaded here (PDF).

After six months of research, the Youth Club Task Force identified six key recommendations to help create and sustain successful youth sports organizations.

1. Create year-round playing opportunities for members.


2. Create sustainable financial structures and business models for the organization.


3. Participate in a national infrastructure for competition, education and administration.


4. Utilize strong coach education and training.


5. Create distinct seasons for school-based and non-school-based play.


6. In order to facilitate the above, USA Ultimate must create a youth club road map for developing youth club playing opportunities locally.

The recommendations were divided into two groups: recommendations numbers 1-3 for local leagues and organizations and numbers 4-6 for USA Ultimate.

Many of these recommendations are far-reaching and will take many steps and years to implement. However, the task force decided on the following action items for immediate implementation.

1. Fall Task Force – the new task force should investigate options and provide recommendations for structuring a youth club season. The task force should also develop the youth club road map to be used by future organizations to implement and refine youth programs.


2. Test a Youth Club Season – the task force recommends that USA Ultimate select one state in which to run a 2015 youth club state championship to gather valuable information and feedback for both the new task force and local organizations.


3. Coach Education and Athlete Development Model – USA Ultimate must convene a group to re-write the current USA Ultimate coaching education platform and integrate it with a comprehensive Athlete Development Model.

The Youth Club Task Force’s work should be seen as a stepping stone in the context of developing a national youth club playing structure. The task force’s goal was to learn from successful youth sports organizations and determine what could be applied to ultimate organizations. The playing structure will continue to be influenced by the ongoing work being done locally and nationally to develop youth ultimate organizations, through which youth club play will have to be administered.

Successful implementation of the recommendations will create a broad swathe of youth ultimate programming and, at the same time, help create sustainable ultimate organizations that will be the future of the sport.

Read the Youth Club Task Force’s full report and detailed recommendations here.

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.