By Shea Morrissey
Published: May 27, 2009
Home-grown, self-officiated and comprised of some of the best athletes of our day—this is Ultimate Frisbee. Although the sport began some 40 years ago, the last six years have seen progress that is transforming the women’s game. Between 2003 and 2008, membership of the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) grew by 168%, and women’s membership, now one third of the total, nearly doubled.
This weekend served as testament to that progress. Women from 20 colleges competed in the 2009 Ultimate Players Association Championships in Columbus, Ohio. The tournament kicked off on Friday with perfect conditions for the four pools to compete for wins in their respective brackets. Throughout the course of the weekend, the number of spectators grew as the level of competition rose, bringing UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the University of Washington (UW) to the final match on Monday. UW brought a well-seasoned team to the field, while UCSB came with the confidence of three consecutive seasons of UPA College Championship finals appearances. The game stayed tight as UW managed to keep within three goals but couldn’t gain the momentum to close the gap. USCB’s Katie Barry brought down the last goal for a 15-11 win over UW.
Recent growth in the women’s game, in part, prompted the Ultimate Players Association to initiate Ultimate’s first comprehensive development strategy in 2006. The objective was clear, concise and appropriately aligned with the grassroots nature of Ultimate, in that it served to advance the sport by enhancing and promoting character, community and competition. After two years of Ultimate community forums, thousands of surveys and a collection of diverse thoughts from UPA and non-UPA members, the “Ultimate Revolution” strategy was released in 2008. Given the enormous and potential growth of the women’s game, the UPA has committed to the creation of the Women’s Masters Championship event, which will take place July 11-12 in Denver, Colo. In addition, the sport development team at UPA has created start-up kits and supported clinics to facilitate the progress for women in Ultimate.
To discover more about Ultimate and the development of the women’s game, visit www.UPA.org