The two-day meeting is followed by a summary of each group’s discussion.

The Beach Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Senior Manager of Events David Raflo and Regional Beach Directors Grant Boyd (Pacific), Sam Broaddus (Atlantic), Max Grove (Gulf Coast), and Hayden Weaver (Great Lakes). 

After a successful 2023 Beach Nationals, USA Ultimate saw continued growth at the 2024 Beach Championships in Virginia Beach. With eight divisions, 75 teams and 1,100+ athletes, the tournament continues to see marked improvement. The group again considered plans for a youth mixed division, looking to bring U-20 teams to the event in 2025. 

With the strategic plan in mind, youth inclusion remains a key focus for the beach group along with growth in the women’s division. 

The group also welcomed several beach tournament organizers from across the U.S. as a way to learn and communicate with key individuals in a breakout session. The larger group discussed topics like resource development, increased competitive opportunities and promotional strategies for beach-specific events. 

The group saw participation from Ocean City Beach Ultimate’s Bryant Dean, Wildwood Beach Ultimate’s Beverly Barnum and Mike Adlis, Throwback Beach Ultimate’s Louis Gosart, former regional director and current WBUC Assistant Coach for Team USA Sean McCall, and Zig Zag Ultimate’s Mike Zaagman.

Last year, the group conducted several surveys in early 2024 to learn more from the community. They intend to focus on organizer feedback with another survey in Q1 2025. 

Note: At Beach Nationals, high school athletes are encouraged to compete. The clock for college eligibility will not begin for such athletes should they compete in the event. 

The Masters Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Senior Manager of Events and Masters Competition Byron Hicks, national directors Kyle Christoph (men), Jolien Munsterhuis (mixed) and Kristi Schmeling (women), at-large masters working group representative Chris Cianfrani, and special guest regional coordinator Jeff Berget (south central). 

A major highlight for the masters working group included the age reclassification for two divisions. In an attempt to create more consistency with WFDF, the group lowered the minimum age for the great grandmasters men’s and women’s divisions. The great grandmasters men’s division’s minimum age will move from 50 to 48. The great grandmasters women’s division’s minimum age will move from 47 to 45. The change was also made with growth in mind for the great grandmasters women’s division. 

The group discussed the 2024 Masters Championships, which hosted 2,600 athletes on 109 teams in eight divisions. The discussions also included how to grow the event with limited field space. 

Bid allocations will mostly remain the same as 2024 with the exception of a few minor adjustments. The previously named “super regional” will be renamed as “super qualifiers” with no changes to the format. 

Other topics, including division title names and potential growth strategies were discussed along with other questions posed by the community. 

The Club Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Manager for Competition and National Team Programs Marc Zigterman, national directors Mia Griner (women), Genevieve Leo (mixed), and Adam Goff (men), and player-elected representatives Clare Frantz and Eli Motycka (mixed), Kristin Johnson and Tayara Romero Peña (women) and AJ Merriman (men). 

The group decided on the redrawing of sections to provide quality sectional events and promote fair competition formats given the new restrictions on the number of games per weekend. Sections with more than 16 teams have been reviewed and redrawn. Sections with two or fewer teams may be combined for regionals. The specific redraws will be available in the club guidelines. 

The club group also reworked deadlines for roster flexibility with the goal of improving the women’s division in mind. Woman-matching players will have roster flexibility until July 30, which is the Wednesday before U.S. Open. Man-matching players have roster flexibility until June 25, which is the Wednesday before the Pro-Elite Challenge.

Also on the topic of roster flexibility, the group continued discussions from 2024 on a potential “academy” model. The proposal was suggested by the community as a way to allow increased roster flexibility for teams that have a closely-related developmental team. While no decisions were made, the group will continue to work out the idea in 2025. 

For the TCT, the group discussed using a “Swiss” draw format for earlier, major TCT events. The group reviewed the format for Nationals and is not recommending any changes. 

While the complete TCT calendar will be announced soon, the schedule will look similar to 2024 and again feature an east and west version of the Pro-Elite Challenge and Select Flight Invite, The U.S. Open, Elite-Select Challenge and Pro Championships. Notable elements of the TCT in the soon-to-be-released competition guidelines include: 

• The Pro-Elite Challenge will continue to be split into east and west events to reduce travel costs while continuing to provide meaningful playing opportunities for more teams.
• The Select Flight Invite will again be split into east and west and will include both Select Flight teams as well as high-ranking Classic Flight teams.
• The Elite-Select Challenge will continue to be required for Elite Flight teams with an opportunity for Select Flight teams to be invited. 
• The U.S. Open will again be required for the top-four ranked Pro Flight teams, with invitations being sent to teams ranked 5-8. Invites will again be extended to international teams. Games against international teams will again count towards overall game totals, but results will again not be factored into rankings.
• The Pro Championships will be limited to eight teams per division with initial invites going to Pro Flight teams. The expansion of divisions to 12 teams will be considered, based on interest. 

The club working group met with the college and rankings working groups to discuss the possible implementation of a “probabilistic model” for Nationals bid allocation in 2026. The group will review throughout 2025. 

The group also engaged in discussions regarding growth in the women’s division. The group recommended several improvements to the division including a matching or mentoring program for women’s leaders to discuss important topics and a volunteer role focused on women’s division growth, amongst other ideas. 

Another important topic was signaling each athlete’s gender match on any given point in the mixed division. The group will add a best practice signaling suggestion to the guidelines which will require each player on the line to signal their gender match if requested by the opposing team. 

Other topics included the video review discussion, postseason registration timelines and a larger mixed club nationals format. 

The College Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Manager for Competition and National Team Programs Matthew Bourland, national director (developmental) Trois White, national directors Jeff Kula (men), Beth Nakamura (women), Grace Kiel (D-III women) and Kevin Kula (D-III men). 

While the group didn’t have many changes, the focal point of discussion was the restructuring of the developmental division. The group met with key volunteers across the country and collected feedback to discuss potential key changes to make for 2026 as the system in place isn’t meeting the needs of all and inhibits the growth of the entire division. The group intends to make structural changes to the regular season and postseason for 2026. 

The group also discussed the potential change of the D-III enrollment cutoff number but will want to evaluate further and assess how it could impact teams. 

The Youth Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Director of Youth Programs Dan Raabe, manager for youth competition Josh Murphy and regional youth directors Jack Kennedy (northeast), Joe Strong (west), Antonia Van Twisk (central) and Jamie Wolf (south).

The group’s focal point was to discuss the recent survey that sought perspective from organizers, coaches, parents and players on the future structure of the Youth Club Championships. The group discussed potentials for the improvement of YCC as the event has grown to capacity. 

The results were comprehensive and allowed for several decisions to be made and more discussions to take place. If you are interested in seeing the results of the survey, click here. 

One of the key decisions that was made is related to team participation in 2026. Divisions with more than 24 teams will be split into two different tiers (DI and DII). The two-tiered system will allow for more teams to participate and avoid turning teams away from the event.

The group also discussed other ways to include all teams at the event in addition to improving the experience and will continue to investigate potential solutions. 

One of the other decisions made was to not require summer regional event attendance for YCC teams, while still encouraging participation at such tournaments for YCC warm-up and seeding opportunities. 

More discussions are upcoming for the group as the youth guidelines are released at a different time of year, spanning from September through August. 

March 18, 2024 (Colorado Springs, Colo.)–The National Championships will return to San Diego this fall as part of a three-year deal that keeps the tournament in southern California through 2026, USA Ultimate announced today. The new agreement marks the return of the most prestigious ultimate tournament in North America to Surf Cup Sports Park in the nearby beach community of Del Mar.

The dates of the National Championships for the next three years are October 24-27, 2024; October 23-26, 2025; and October 22-25, 2026.

The USA Ultimate National Championships represent the culmination of the club ultimate season and crowns national champions in three divisions – men’s, mixed and women’s. Each year, more than 600 club teams compete in the regular season before playing in a postseason championship series of sectional and regional qualifiers. Forty-eight teams qualify for nationals (16 in each division).

“We are excited to have Nationals back for the next three years after five successful years of the event at Surf Cup Sports Park,” commented Mark Neville, CEO of Sports San Diego.  “We recognize the positive impact that events like Nationals can have on our local economy, tourism industry and community spirit.”

San Diego first hosted the National Championships in 2018 against the backdrop of the sport’s 50th anniversary celebration. Since then, it’s hosted the last four editions. The National Championships also serve as the third leg of ultimate’s Triple Crown, along with the U.S. Open (Aurora, CO; August 2-4) and the Pro Championships (Rock Hill, SC; August 31 – Sept. 2).

The TCT calendar features all the major regular season tournaments in the club division and represents the highest level of competitive ultimate in the United States with more that 600 men’s, mixed and women’s teams competing each year.

The final list of 208 athletes was selected from a pool of applicants that expressed their interest in competing for Team USA.

Scheduled for August 31 – September 7 in Gold Coast, Australia, the World Championships will be contested for the first time since 2016 following the cancellation of the 2020 edition.

USA Ultimate will host a pair of tryouts over the winter where national team coaches will evaluate players before determining rosters for three separate teams – mixed, open and women’s – all three of which will enter the 2024 tournament as defending world champions.

The two-day meeting is followed by a summary of each group’s discussion. Following the release of USA Ultimate’s Strategic Plan earlier this year, a special emphasis was put on the four major strategic priorities: elevate youth and grassroots ultimate, enhance local disc organization success, promote excitement for ultimate and fuel the future. 

The Youth Working Group consists of recently hired USA Ultimate Director of Youth Programs Dan Raabe, manager for youth competition Dana Jefferson, regional youth directors Jack Kennedy, Joe Strong, Antonia Van Twisk and Jamie Wolf and guests from Denver-based Altitude Ultimate, Libby Cravens and Justin Salvia, who provided additional perspective, ideas and content to the discussion. 

USA Ultimate’s strategic plan, which was influenced by input from the ultimate community’s many stakeholders, is strongly focused on advancing and growing youth and grassroots ultimate, particularly at the local level. The youth working group had lengthy, complex discussions regarding how to best attack the goals outlined in the plan. 

As the group discussed how to proceed, it concluded that significant growth would require decisive changes to USA Ultimate’s competition structure over the course of the next several years. It plans to begin with widespread data collection and community discussions with youth leaders across the country. The development of a youth department and addition of Raabe to the newly created, director-level position at headquarters was the first major step of many towards building a more complete, connected and cohesive youth ultimate scene. 

The group discussed several aspects of the Youth Club Championships (YCC), including the bid acceptance process, priority structure and equity across divisions. The promotion of girls’ ultimate continues to be a top priority of the group. 

The eligibility rules for YCC were further developed to best fit the players that YCC is intended for and took into account situations like dual-enrollment, early graduation, gap years and more in the process. 

As part of the eligibility discussion, the group explored exceptions and clarifications, including a new rule that will shift the responsibility for exception requests to the local disc organizations and away from individual players.  

Another major point of conversation was the youth volunteer structure. The group discussed a potential restructuring in upcoming years with greater collaboration between youth outreach volunteers and youth competition volunteers in the near term.

The College Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Manager for Competition and National Team Programs Matthew Bourland, national developmental college coordinator Amy Hudson, national directors Jeff Kula (men)  Beth Nakamura (women), Grace Kiel (D-III women) and Kevin Kula (D-III men). 

The group used a thorough analysis of participation data from the last several college seasons to discuss several points of emphasis for the upcoming year.

Rankings were a focal point following the 2023 season and the group addressed multiple concerns, including the ranking algorithm, roster validation and forfeits. The upcoming competition guidelines will reflect a change to the algorithm that removes any benefit for teams that had results invalidated due to issues of athlete eligibility. (Invalidated results will only be included if they lower a team’s ranking.) 

The group also reinforced the need for teams to play all of its scheduled games via the addition of a new forfeit deterrent. The rule was inspired by community feedback that forfeited games take away playing opportunities and that teams intentionally avoided opponents they believed could hurt their ranking. By default a 60-point power rating penalty will now be assessed to forfeiting teams, which will be applied to their final regular season ranking. An appeal process will be instituted for legitimate circumstances, including health and safety risks and other verifiable logistical challenges. 

The group also decided that an institution’s second/third team, etc. (i.e. developmental teams) at D-III programs will compete in the D-III division during the postseason. 

Another key decision was made on the topic of conference “all-advance” events. While these events remain important to properly evaluate and seed teams at regionals, conferences with up to six teams will now use a one-day tournament format. This decision was made to increase the likelihood that events can still be completed in a weekend in the event that inclement weather occurs. 

Another major topic of discussion for the group was regional event scaling as it worked to balance the growth of meaningful competition with the growth of the number of teams competing in the college division. A decision was made to specify how many bids would be given to regionals based on team count, gender division and competition division. The scaling determination recognized that D-I and D-III women’s conferences are at a different growth stage, but also aligned with input received to make postseason events more meaningful.  

The Club Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Manager for Competition and National Team Programs Marc Zigterman, national directors Carolina Gonzalez-Llanos (women), Genevieve Leo (mixed), and Adam Goff (men), and player-elected representatives Clare Frantz and Eli Motycka (mixed), Kristin Johnson and Tayara Romero Peña (women) and Pawel Janas and AJ Merriman (men). 

A primary point of discussion for the working group was the Triple Crown Tour (TCT) and how to best continue providing meaningful playing opportunities to club players of all levels. Per the group’s analysis of the EOY player and team surveys, there was a significant rise in satisfaction from the women’s division, which was a specific point of emphasis from the previous year’s meeting. The group also spoke about how to best continue supporting all divisions while specifically pushing for continued advancements in equity for the women’s division. 

While the complete TCT calendar will be announced after the new year, the schedule will look similar to 2023 and again feature an east and west version of the Pro-Elite Challenge and Select Flight Invite, The U.S. Open, Elite-Select Challenge and Pro Championships. Notable elements of the TCT in the soon-to-be-released competition guidelines include: 

• The Pro-Elite Challenge will continue to be split into east and west events to reduce travel costs while continuing to provide meaningful playing opportunities for more teams.
• The Select Flight Invite will again be split into east and west and will include both Select Flight teams as well as high-ranking Classic Flight teams. 
• The Elite-Select Challenge will continue to be required for Elite Flight teams with an opportunity for Select Flight teams to be invited. The group reiterated the importance of this structure to achieve connectivity in the rankings and earning bids to regionals.
• The U.S. Open will again be required for the top-four ranked Pro Flight teams, with invitations being sent to teams ranked 5-8. Invites will again be extended to international teams. Games against international teams will again count towards overall game totals, but results will again not be factored into rankings. 
• The Pro Championships will be limited to eight teams per division with initial invites going to Pro Flight teams.  

The group also evaluated several notable ideas that came out of the survey data, including a potential “preseason” that would introduce club tournaments with no impact on rankings, as well as more inclusive high-level events later in the season. Time was also spent discussing the viability of a late-season, second-tier national tournament (similar to the NCAA’s NIT basketball tournament). While no decisions were made, the group acknowledged the challenges with planning such an event but is committed to gathering additional input from the community throughout the year. 

Discussions also took place around rosters with regards to injury deadlines, late-season roster extensions and roster mobility. 

With the success of local disc organizations being a significant goal of the new strategic plan, the group also explored ways for club teams and local organizations to build or enhance mutually beneficial relationships, connecting the groups through coaching, clinics, events and more. 

The “World Cup-style” draw will be used again for the National Championships with minor modifications. 

Other topics of discussion included National Championship costs, bid “theft”, registration deadlines, mixed division personnel ratio and majority pull rule, the redrawing of sections to address limitations caused by new competition formats, Classic tournament quality and language around suspended games. 

The Masters Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Manager of Events and Masters Competition Byron Hicks, national directors Kyle Christoph (men), Jolien Munsterhuis (mixed) and Kristi Schmeling (women), at-large masters working group representative Chris Cianfrani, regional coordinator Jeff Berget (south central) and special guest Charles Cooper. 

A major focal point for the group was improved communication across the board from USA Ultimate, national directors, regional coordinators and more. The group is working immediately to put together a toolbox of useful communication documents and examples for volunteers, organizers and more. 

The group also discussed the 2023 Masters Championships, which hosted 2,500 players on 108 teams across eight divisions. The group elected to scale back the number of teams in 2024 to 100. 

At last year’s working group meetings, the masters team worked to form “Super Regionals”, which will continue in 2024 after discussion by the group. 

Other topics, including age reclassification and longer national events were also discussed along with additional ideas posed by members of the community. 

The Beach Working Group consists of USA Ultimate Manager of Events David Raflo and regional beach directors Sam Broaddus (east coast), Grant Boyd (west coast), Max Grove (Gulf Coast), Alex Jacoski (Florida) and Hayden Weaver (Great Lakes). 

Looking to improve on a successful national event, which was USA Ultimate’s largest ever with eight divisions, 68 teams and 1,000+ athletes, the tournament will include a youth mixed division beginning in 2024. It will be contested as a 4 vs. 4 competition with a 2:2 gender ratio.

The group also intends to build on the successes of 2023 by conducting player, team and organizer surveys in Q1 2024 and create a database of resources for beach event organizers.

“We are absolutely thrilled that USA Ultimate has again chosen Aurora as its home for the U.S. Open in 2024,” said Visit Aurora CEO Bruce Dalton. “We will be fortunate to witness the best ultimate players in the world compete at the highest level with the majestic Rocky Mountains as their backdrop. I’ve even gotten into the spirit by perfecting my huck in the backyard! We invite competitors and fans alike to explore our diverse and dynamic community by enjoying our 300+ international eateries, world-class craft breweries, and so much more. May the spirit of competition unite us all in Aurora in 2024!”

For club teams, the tournament will run from August 2-4 and feature a field of 36 teams (12 each in the men’s, mixed and women’s divisions) from across the United States and around the world.

For youth teams, the Youth Club Championships will again run from Saturday through Monday, August 3-5, and include U-17 and U-20 boys and girls divisions and a U-20 mixed division.

All totaled, the event is expected to host more than 3,000 athletes.  

Aurora hosted its first U.S. Open last year but has a long history of hosting major ultimate events over the years, including six iterations of the Pro-Elite Challenge (2015-17, 2019, 2021-22) and the 2021 Pro Championships.

Altitude Ultimate will again serve as the local organizing committee.

“Altitude is excited to have the U.S. Open return to Colorado in 2024,” commented Altitude Ultimate’s Operations Manager Mike Richard. “Hosting this past summer was an amazing experience and we’re ready to again bring together our fantastic community in support of the highest level of ultimate for both youth and adult athletes.”

The 2024 edition again provides an opportunity for some of the nation’s top elite ultimate teams to compete in front of local fans in their home state. Reigning national champions in the mixed division, Fort Collins shame., and third-place finishers in the men’s and women’s divisions, Johnny Bravo and Molly Brown from Denver.

All totaled, up to 200 athletes will be offered an invitation to attend one of two tryouts this winter before coaches choose a total of 72 players – 24 each for the mixed, open and women’s teams.

The 2024 World Ultimate Championships will take place August 31 – September 7 in Gold Coast, Australia, eight years since the last edition was held.

Interested athletes must complete the application by Sunday, November 26th.

The deal, which extends the relationship between USA Ultimate and ESPN to an 11th year, is highlighted by both an increased amount of television coverage and a shift of digital programming to ESPN+.

The agreement includes live coverage of 24 games from USA Ultimate’s four flagship events – the College Championships, U.S. Open, Pro Championships and National Championships.

Beginning with the College Championships this weekend in Mason, Ohio, ESPN will stream all four men’s and women’s division semifinals on ESPN+ and air both championship games on ESPNU.

In early August, ESPN’s coverage of the U.S. Open will include three semifinals and all three championship games (men’s, mixed, women’s) on ESPN+, with re-airings on ESPN2 and ESPNU.

In the fall, ESPN+ will stream three semifinals and three championship games from both the Pro Championships and National Championships.

“We are thrilled and grateful to continue our longstanding association with ESPN,” commented Andy Lee, USA Ultimate Managing Director of Marketing, Communications and Brand. “After more than a decade of world-class coverage, it’s exciting to see our relationship evolve and advance as the landscape of sports media continues to change. From more accessible digital content on ESPN+ to added television programming, this agreement is a huge win for ultimate fans and provides enormous value for our sponsors and advertisers while showcasing our top teams and athletes on an unparalleled stage.”

The 2023 College Championships take place Memorial Day weekend at Heritage Oak Park and King’s High School in Mason, Ohio, May 26-29. Featuring 40 teams, the tournament marks the culmination of the college ultimate season after more than 800 teams across North America compete to qualify through a series of postseason conference and regional events. ESPN+ will stream all four semifinal matchups on Sunday, May 28. The men’s title game will air on ESPNU at 1:30 p.m. ET on Monday, May 29, followed by the women’s championship at 4 p.m.

Scheduled for August 4-6 in Denver, Colo., the 2023 U.S. Open is the only major international event in the U.S. and showcases both American teams and clubs from around the globe. Hosted at Aurora Sports Park, the tournament features 36 teams across the men’s, mixed and women’s divisions. ESPN+ will stream three semifinals and all three championship games on Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6, followed by re-airings on ESPN2 and ESPNU.

The USA Ultimate Pro Championships is the club division’s regular season finale and one of the most competitive tournaments on U.S. soil. Scheduled for September 2-4 at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee, Wis., the Pro Championships will feature 36 teams across three divisions. ESPN+ will stream three semifinals and three championship games.

Regarded as one of – if not the most – prestigious events in ultimate, the USA Ultimate National Championships will take place October 19-22. Forty-eight teams from a pool of more than 600, qualify each year to compete for a national title in men’s, mixed and women’s divisions. Like the Pro Championships, ESPN+ will stream three semifinals and three championship games on ESPN+.

About ESPN+ 
ESPN+ is the industry-leading sports streaming service that offers fans in the U.S. thousands of live sports events, original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks and exclusive editorial content from dozens of ESPN writers and reporters. Launched in April 2018, ESPN+ has grown to more than 25.3 million subscribers. Fans sign up to ESPN+ for just $9.99 a month (or $99.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com or on the ESPN App (mobile and connected devices).  

The policy, which passed by a 10-0-2 vote at a March 9th board meeting, will remain in effect through 2024 and applies to states with laws that restrict participation of transgender athletes to the division that matches their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity.

The long-term status of the policy is subject to further evaluation as USA Ultimate gathers more information from the ultimate community as part of its upcoming strategic planning process this spring.

The policy affects USA Ultimate’s six major championship tournaments: the Beach Championships, College Championships (Division I & III), U.S. Open, Masters Championships and National Championships.

Prior to board discussion and vote, USA Ultimate staff consulted with, and solicited input from, transgender and non-binary players and organizers in the ultimate community, as well as organizers in the states where these prohibitive laws exist.

While these laws do not specifically apply to USA Ultimate events, or otherwise prohibit the application of USA Ultimate’s policies regarding the participation of transgender athletes, the feedback provided to USA Ultimate indicated that transgender and other gender nonconforming athletes in the ultimate community may not feel safe traveling to states with restrictive sports laws. This new policy signifies another step towards cultivating a more inclusive and safer environment at major championship events.

As a leader among national governing bodies of amateur sport in considering anti-transgender legislation as a factor in determining championship event locations, USA Ultimate is believed to be the only NGB that currently has such a policy in place.

In 2020, USA Ultimate introduced a revised Gender Inclusion Policy – widely considered to be one of the most inclusive in all of sport – which advocates for the ability of all athletes to participate in the division in which they feel most comfortable and safe based on their gender identity.

USA Ultimate reiterates its unwavering support of the transgender community, strives to create a welcoming and inclusive environment and believes an individual’s gender identity should be recognized, respected and included at all levels of sport.

Currently, 19 states have laws that restrict participation in inter- and/or intra-scholastic sports based on sex assigned at birth. As a result, the following states are ineligible to host any of the six aforementioned championship events at this time due to the corresponding legislation cited below.

In consideration of today’s announcement, Dave Klink, USA Ultimate Board of Directors President, issued the following statement:

USA Ultimate’s position on inclusion, as stated in our Gender Inclusion Policy, is not complicated:  We value inclusion.  The development of a policy regarding event hosting in light of a growing number of transphobic state laws, however, is a complex undertaking, and the legal and political landscapes are changing rapidly. USA Ultimate staff brought a detailed presentation to the board to help inform our decision, but all involved also recognize that this is a challenging issue, and the decision was motivated by at least as many questions as answers. Ultimate is played in all 50 states, and USA Ultimate’s involvement with the sport in the United States is not, and cannot, be limited to states whose legislatures share our values. Even as we temporarily institute this policy for the protection of our athletes at our highest profile events (where safety concerns are arguably more pronounced), we acknowledge that this is an imperfect policy.  We recognize that local ultimate communities often do not agree with their state legislatures, nor are values within ultimate communities homogeneous. As such, our new policy is both over-inclusive and under-inclusive. Though we do not feel comfortable hosting our highest profile national championship events within their borders at this time, there will still be a great deal of ultimate being played in states where the legislatures have passed anti-transgender laws, and we intend to continue to have a presence in those states and to partner with their local ultimate organizations. I sincerely hope that the safety concerns which have influenced this policy will be temporary. Because of the many competing considerations in developing this policy, we believe it is very important to involve the ultimate community in further depth to consider it on an ongoing basis. We are excited to see how our new strategic planning process over the next two months can provide an immediate opportunity to engage with the entire ultimate community on how this policy could be continued, refined, or modified.

As usual, the guidelines were discussed by and crafted alongside USA Ultimate’s club division working group. The working group consists of player-elected athlete representatives, community volunteers and USA Ultimate staff members. The group most recently met at USA Ultimate’s competition working group meeting last December in Denver where many of the updates were evaluated and implemented.

Following three seasons of significant disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the club season is expected to return in full force this summer with the guidelines more closely mirroring pre-pandemic versions.

Once again, both the regular season and postseason championship series promises to showcase exciting competition and storylines as the nation’s top ultimate teams and players pursue an invitation to the National Championships this fall.

While teams are encouraged to thoroughly review the guidelines in their entirety, notable updates have been made to several sections, including the TCT calendar, mixed division gender ratio, nationals seeding, team uniforms, coaching requirements, event participation and more.

• The Pro-Elite Challenge has been divided into East and West versions.

• Pro and Elite Flight teams may once again earn a bye to Regionals for meeting TCT participation requirements (one required event + one optional event for men’s and mixed teams; one required event for women’s teams.)

• For all mixed division regular season and postseason events, USA Ultimate will utilize WFDF’s Ratio Rule A for on-field personnel ratios.

• Games against international opponents at the U.S. Open will count towards a team’s 10-game minimum in order for that team to be included in the final regular season rankings, however the results of those games will not be factored into the rankings.
• Waitlists for TCT events are based on 2022 season finish and rankings only. Waitlists can be found here.

• Seeding for the National Championships will be conducted via a draw similar to the FIFA World Cup. Qualifying teams will be placed into pots based on post-regional rankings. Seeds 1-4 will be determined using those rankings, while other teams will be drawn randomly based on which pot they are in.

• USA Ultimate event sanctioning fees will be waived for all women’s division match play events.
• Prize money will no longer be offered at Triple Crown Tour events. Resources are instead being reallocated within the TCT to better support teams and the mission of USA Ultimate.
• Coaching requirements have been updated.

• Team name, logo and uniform guidelines have been updated and are outlined in a new document.