Home>2007 National Organizers Convention
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UPA League & Ultimate Organizer's Conference
Feb. 10-11, 2007 Philadelphia, PA
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Presentations from this event are no longer available online. Please contact sportdevelopment@usaultimate.org to obtain a copy of a presentation from this event.
Thanks to everyone who helped make this year's conference a success!
Presentations
| Youth Ultimate Development |
Presentation
"Starting a Youth League"
Additional Notes and Materials
Mark Rosser
Philadelphia HS Ultimate Education League
While each city or town may have unique characteristics, there are a number of common steps that can be taken to help create, maintain, and strengthen a youth league. Establishing systems for communication is a key step in order to create a cohesive organized group. It starts with communication, but the ultimate goal is building a community where opponents from different schools get to know and respect each other. In addition to creating a framework for the captains, coaches and players, it is also important to establish a league which is worthy of respect and credibility from school districts and the administrators whose decisions can have an impact on youth ultimate teams. There are a number of things which can be done to help school teams gain the respect they deserve. We have a great sport and a great bunch of people. As youth league organizers, we seek to establish and refine systems so that coaches, captains, and players can thrive as ultimate players and become ambassadors for the sport.
Presentation
"Middle School League Profile: A Partnership with the Seattle School District"
William Bartram
DiscNW
Looking for a new model for youth leagues? DiscNW has partnered with Seattle Public Schools to run a successful middle school league every fall for over twenty teams. This presentation will include a brief history of the league and a toolkit approach to starting this kind of league from scratch.
Presentation
"Importance of Coaching for Youth Ultimate"
William Bartram
DiscNW
Having responsible coaches for youth ultimate teams is an obvious need for all organizations. To promote a better understanding of this important issue a profile of youth coaching in Seattle will be presented. Discussion will answer the questions why coaching is valued by DiscNW, how to match coaches to teams, how to manage risk, and how to support youth coaches.
| Recruiting and Retaining Players |
Presentation
"Recruiting and Retaining Players"
Dana Gray
St. Louis Ultimate Association
St. Louis Hat Draw tournament is included in our summer league and serves as a full day of practice for new players and an avenue to meet players outside of your league team. It's a social event and prizes are awarded for the most spirited team, most spirited players, best coach, most likely to huck, etc. The event is all about building community, developing skills, building player retention, and most importantly stressing SOTG. For new players, it will be their first experience where a trophy is not awarded to the best team, instead Spirit is rewarded.
Our organization struggles with player retention, especially for new women. This event is a very social, yet intensive training, that builds new players confidence. We are much more likely to retain new players that attend the Hat Draw, than those who do not.
Panel Q & A
"Recruiting and Retaining Women"
Mandy Eckhoff, BUDA
Dana Gray, SLUA
Lindi Sabloff, PADA
Robert Sostak, SFUL
Presentation
"Running Effective Tournaments"
Will Deaver
Ultimate Players Association
An overview of how to run a successful Ultimate tournament, including an organizational timeline, promoting the event, how to work with facility providers and vendors, competition issues, social events, volunteers, and more. Based on a wealth of experience with events ranging from small league tournaments to national championships, this session will give you a framework, ideas, and tips for putting on a quality event that players and teams will enjoy and want to return to each year.
| League Policies and Procedures |
Presentation
"Handling Rule and Conduct Issues Effectively"
Additional Notes and Materials
Shiellah Quintos
Association de Ultimate de Montréal
With so many new players entering the league year after year, it is understandably difficult to educate everyone all at once to the concept of Spirit of the Game. What can we do to ensure players adhere to the same standard? This presentation will outline how the AUM deals with rule and conduct issues. Promoting Spirit of the Game and providing a safe playing environment is a fundamental priority of the AUM.
| Organizational Structures |
Presentation
"How To: Committees"
Michael Hechter
If the Board of Directors is the "brains" of the operation, committees are the central nervous system. Operated well, established committees assist in the overall effectiveness of the organization. Structured well, committee membership provides an important training ground for future leaders. Though, effective committees don't just happen; they are a combination of motivated individuals, agreed upon expectations, and good leadership.
Presentation
"Board of Directors: Helpful Hints"
Michael Hechter
As the entrusted leaders of their organization, Board of Director members have tremendous opportunity and tremendous obligation toward the organizations they serve. To have the deepest impact for your organization, a Board needs to work together. In a time when we are busier than ever, a Board needs to be efficient with their volunteers' valuable time. Supplemental resources will be presented that can directly help the Board's governance and the organization, as a whole, to achieve maximum success.
Presentation
"Volunteer Recruiting and Management"
Jonathan Francis
Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance
The work running a local Ultimate organization is mostly, if not entirely, performed by volunteers. Recruiting volunteers can be a struggle, but is vital to running leagues and tournaments. Managing volunteers may get less attention, but is extremely important; if volunteers and their jobs are managed well, events can be more successful and volunteers are more likely to keep coming back. This presentation is meant to provide some ideas for recruiting and managing volunteers and to serve as a framework for discussion among conference attendees.
Peer Consultation
Michael Hechter
| Creating Balanced Teams/Drafting |
Presentation
"The Art of the Draft"
Alex Pozzy
Portland Summer League
Our draft in Portland accomplishes two major goals: creating balanced teams, and generating excitement for the upcoming season for players and captains alike. Using a mixture of high-tech gadgetry and a mind-numbingly complex set of drafting rules, over 75 captains draft 32 teams in 5 hours of pure madness, while the rest of the league watches the action live on giant video screens. With a few simple clicks of the mouse in the morning, everything is uploaded to the web for all to see, and the season long heckle-fest begins. The fun and excitement generated before the season has even begun is a motivating factor for captains and players alike.
Presentation
"Creating Balanced Teams: AFDC's Core Plus Draft System"
Edward Schaffer
Atlanta Flying Disc Club
The Atlanta Flying Disc Club's biggest league of the year is the weeknight Summer League. Over time, the AFDC has developed a unique system for team creation involving cores of players starting a team and then drafting individuals to complete the roster. This system intends for friends and perennial teammates to continue playing together while still allowing players to sign up as individuals.
Modified over many years, the system has created balance in team strength across the league, shortened the draft process, and kept players coming back year after year!
Presentation
"Securing Fields: It's All About Relationships"
Additional Notes and Materials
Chris Hulett
Washington Area Frisbee Club
Strategies WAFC uses to secure fields for leagues and tournaments in the Washington Metro area in spite of increased competition for limited field resources.
Presentation
"Ultimate Revolution: It All Comes Back to Your Members"
Sandie Hammerly and Will Deaver
Ultimate Players Association
A strategic discussion among conference participants about where Ultimate is and where we might want it to go.
Presentation
"Managing Organizational Growth"
Jonathan Francis
Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance
A local Ultimate organization may want to grow both the number of players it serves and the number of leagues and tournaments it offers. Managing this growth is an important but challenging task for those leading the organization. This presentation illustrates experiences with growth and offers tips to consider. An important goal is to stimulate discussion among attendees about successes and failures involving organizational growth.
Presentation
"Strategic Management Plan: Why You Need One"
Michael Hechter
Much like an architect who uses a blueprint as an executable plan, organizations need their own blueprint. This detailed plan reviews strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities and may contain a series of statements relating to the vision, mission, values and objectives; and sets out its proposed strategies and goals. Organizations must rely on the input of their members or stakeholders to participate in the development process. The rewards for this effort are long-term continuity, set expectations, and understood goals. Strengthen your organization's infrastructure with your own formative Strategic Plan.
| Organize Your League as a Business |
Presentation
"Advantages of Incorporation and Gaining Tax Exempt Status"
Dana Gray
St. Louis Ultimate Association
The St. Louis Ultimate Association started like many do - one person paid for the expenses from their personal checking account. After league fees were collected, that person was repaid. After several years, the league grew and the league fees became more than this individual wanted to claim on their tax return. A business needed to be established. Learn more from Dana Gray, of SLUA, a 501c(4) corporation.
Presentation
"Importance of Financial Management for Your Organization"
Unified Chart of Accounts
Benjamin Emery
San Francisco Ultimate League
Presentation
"Risk Management: Not Losing the Forest for the Trees"
Additional Notes and Materials
Marc Davies
The risk management issues involved with running an Ultimate organization are myriad and can threaten to engulf a board, unduly restricting its decision-making process and the natural flow of the organization. Yet without some prudent planning, unwelcome events can also threaten the very integrity of an organization. This program identifies some of the larger issues and looks at some examples of the mechanisms involved with coming to some resolution of the ever present risk.
| Marketing and Sponsorship |
Presentation
"Building an Online Presence for Your Organization"
Additional Notes and Materials
Josh Seamon
Vermont Youth Ultimate League
St. Johnsbury Ultimate
As Ultimate teams and programs grow, so do their website needs. At first a basic page seems to do the job, but soon you're trying to figure out how to add a calendar, forums, or a gallery. After a while that free web host you've been relying on becomes way too confining and you become sick of looking at the ads they place on your page. Then all of a sudden that one 'web guy' leaves the area and you’re stuck with a system that's undocumented, unstable, and unscalable. A CMS may be just the thing you didn't know you were looking for.
Presentation:
"Sponsorship: Why and How"
Alex Pozzy
Portland Ultimate League
We have 32 teams in Portland - each with a corporate sponsor - and a waiting list of companies who want to give us their money. The "why" is pretty obvious - an extra $7,000+ pumped into the budget is a big boost. But more importantly, most of our sponsors are bars and restaurants, and we've taken the post-game party scene to another level. More important than the money generated is the karma, friendship, and love of summer league that arises when you spend so much time eating and drinking with so many great people in so many great places.