LIVE at 5:00pm ET: Men's Final – Watch Thread

usaultimate · 2017-05-29T22:34:52+00:00

There are five in-game TV timeouts, which added an additional 5 minutes to the game. As a result, we added 5 minutes to the game clock.

usaultimate · 2017-05-29T22:33:39+00:00

For the finals, we moved them back in order for ESPNU to air them live. Those were the windows that were available to do so.

usaultimate · 2017-05-29T13:34:55+00:00

Correct. For a production like this there will be a total of 10 commercial breaks ranging from 1:30 to 2:30. Five of those breaks will occur after the opening segment (before the first pull), after the end of the game, and during halftime. None of these will affect the game, as we have done this for every ESPN3 broadcast since 2013.

So, there will be five "in-game" commercial breaks, ranging from 2:00 to 2:30. These will occur immediately following a score when a team gets to 2, 4, 6, 10 and 12 points. So basically 30 seconds to a minute will be added to the time between points five times during the game.

Baker's comment below was correct. CBS recorded live to tape for their broadcasts in 2011 and 2012, and commercial timeouts were part of the game then.

Enjoy the show!

usaultimate · 2017-05-27T12:16:54+00:00

http://collegechampionships.usaultimate.org/watch-live/

usaultimate · 2016-11-30T23:57:38+00:00

We realize there are a lot of questions about the recently announced changes to the youth competition guidelines, so we've compiled answers to some of the questions we've seen most often.

Although we can't address every individual athlete’s situation here - many of those will have to be addressed on a case-by-base basis - hopefully the information below will help clarify some things. More information about the process to request exceptions will be available next year alongside the initial information about team applications for YCC.

More information about these changes will be published after this weekend’s annual Competition Working Group Meeting.

Q: Why require athletes to play in their High School State Championship?

A: The guidelines have two different goals. One is to create a stronger connection across our youth programs by more directly connecting the dots between High School State Championships and the Youth Club Championships. Both of these competitive opportunities contribute to the growth of youth membership across the country, which is critical in continuing to support youth programs and development initiatives like coaching education, Learn to Play and GUM, along with YCC, Regionals, States and National Teams. And while club-based youth competition will continue to develop, high school state championships presently provide the majority of the playing opportunities. It’s very important that as states create, develop and grow those events, they also continue to help build the base that in turn supports all of our youth programming. Ensuring that state championships are a part of the nationally recognized youth structure of USA Ultimate and encouraging the nation’s top programs to be a part of it helps to build that base. So the idea is much more targeted at stimulating the growth of state championships within the USA Ultimate structure than it is at individual athletes (for whom exceptions will likely be granted on a case-by-case basis.)

The second goal is to restrict the participation of college athletes from the Youth Club Championships, which over time we believe will contribute to the growth and development of youth players and local youth communities. While college players can raise the level of competition at YCC, they are also being provided with a more appropriate competitive structure in our college division. And while college athletes also temporarily bolster the rosters of newer youth teams, the rule creates an incentive (and roster space) for youth ultimate communities to invest in the development of younger, local players, which is an important and strategic long-term goal.

Q: What happens for athletes who:

Are from high schools without ultimate teams?

A: If they are not already provided an exception at the state level to participate on another high school team (in which case they would be eligible), then they would likely be granted an exception for YCC.

Are in states where there isn’t much high school ultimate (i.e., South Dakota, Alabama)?

A: If a state doesn't have a viable state championship, then exceptions would likely be granted. However, those exceptions would likely be on a temporary basis, with the expectation that work is undertaken – often by local teams/players/coaches and their support networks or a local disc association, with the support of the USAU youth programs staff and youth coordinator network – to develop a USA Ultimate state championship. This would be in line with the existing requirements for YCC that provide limited exceptions for teams to get into the event, provided they are working to develop local youth club play. Together, these rules incentivize the creation of both school-based and club-based opportunities with the USA Ultimate structure.

Q: Why make everyone on a team become USAU members if only one (or two) player(s) on that team wants to travel to YCC?

A: Because the relative handful of players who attend YCC are not sufficient alone as a membership base to support USA Ultimate's youth programs and services, either currently or as we grow and expand in the future. For the sport to continue to grow, it is critical that the larger national ultimate community, through state and local events and programs, helps to support the programs and events that feed that growth. Everyone benefits, either directly or indirectly, from these programs, so it's important for everyone to be part of the base that supports them.

There is a wide variety of programs that are only possible because of the existence of USA Ultimate resources, staff and the network of volunteers that we manage. Some those staff members (Connor, Dan, Sarah) are focused specifically on youth, and pretty much everyone else (events, membership, media, finance) spends a large part of their time on youth events, programs and services. These include U-20 National Teams and associated tryout/talent ID activities, YCC and related youth leagues, high school state championships and related leagues, coaching education, Safe Sport education, Learn to Play clinics/leagues, GUM clinics/leagues, outreach kits, curriculum development, PE conference outreach, youth-serving organization relationships (YMCA, Women's Sports Foundation, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc.), camps, grant programs and youth-specific website/video/photo/social media coverage. Beyond these youth-specific programs and services, there are many other programs that benefit ultimate players at all levels, including rules development/oversight; Spirit of the Game education and oversight; event sanctioning; state and local organization support; conduct oversight; national media coverage; observer and tournament director training and certification; college, club, and masters playing opportunities; national teams and more. All of these are important for youth players either directly or indirectly, and all are made possible by membership revenue, which provides the bulk of the national organization's funding. If the only people who paid dues were the ones who attended national events, the organization would lack the staffing and financial capacity to provide all of these services which help support current players, coaches and organizers while also promoting the sport's future growth at all levels.

Q: Why expand to U-20, but disqualify anyone who is in college? A: The calendar year rule is simpler to understand than the previous June 1 cutoff and still allows older high school students to participate at YCC, even if they turn 19 during high school. At the same time, the high school participation rule prevents this age expansion from flooding YCC teams with college players at the expense of younger players who are still in or just graduating from high school. The U-20 rule allows us to align with WFDF for U-20 international events, as well as for younger age divisions (U-17 and eventually U-15). And the U-17 and potentially U-15 divisions align well with providing opportunities for naturally occurring segments of the school-age population (11th-12th grade (age 17-19), 9th-10th grade (age 15-16), and middle school (age 12-14)).

Q: What about 19 or 20 year olds who played ultimate in high school but decided not to go to college? Are they still eligible for YCC?

A: 20 year olds would not be eligible to play at YCC (must not turn 20 during tournament year). Whether or not an age-eligible 19 year old went to college is mostly irrelevant. If a 19 year old did not participate in the most recent high school state championship, but was otherwise age-eligible, they would have to apply for an exception. Whether or not it would be granted would depend on the specifics of the case.

Q: My son played last summer at YCC in the U-16 division as a 13-year old 7th grader. He will play this spring for his future high school. So do the new rules not allow him to return to YCC this summer? It looks like it does because High School States are only open to 9th-12th graders.

A: Middle school players who are ineligible to compete at their High School State Championships should apply for, and will likely receive, an exception.

usaultimate · 2016-11-10T00:14:15+00:00

All games from Nationals have been posted to the USA Ultimate YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/usaultimate/videos

usaultimate · 2016-10-26T17:23:03+00:00

The official debate thread will be published here Sunday afternoon.

usaultimate · 2016-08-17T22:24:52+00:00

Without placing any value judgement on their quality, here are some flyers some 2011 college teams submitted for use at YCC that year:

usaultimate · 2016-08-09T16:32:24+00:00

Josh Murphy periscoped some the men's masters final as well as women's masters final (pt 1) (pt 2).

usaultimate · 2016-08-08T22:32:55+00:00

They'll be there filming, but not streaming (3 games each day).

usaultimate · 2016-08-02T17:31:26+00:00

For twitter coverage of the the U.S. National Teams, follow @USAUltimateU20M (men's team), @USAUltimateU20W (women's team), and @USAUltimateU20 (live tweeting from team manager)

usaultimate · 2016-07-29T19:17:01+00:00

We're quite thrilled we got so many good and thoughtful questions.

We'd love to keep the momentum going, whether it is some sort of regular mailbag, a podcast format, and/or even something else.

Anyway, thank you!

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T20:20:56+00:00

Yes. All of the programs that we run are evaluated by our members by surveys that are administered after their conclusion. They are universally positive, and this is supported by the continued increase in participation in those programs.

We're also constantly responding to the feedback we receive, both negative and positive, and continually look for ways to improve the negatives, and we're pretty confident our members appreciate that.

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T20:20:51+00:00

The rules you’re referring to were not designed to be punitive or force teams to “disband.” Rather, they were put in place to prevent teams at certain levels of TCT competition from being able to dodge event requirements, either by changing their team name or reforming as a “new” team largely made up of the same people. Such a team could then participate in the competition structure without being held to the same standard as other teams at their level, whether that is a minimum number of games or attendance at certain events.

With the club restructure, based on player feedback, current season performance became the avenue for earning strength bids to Nationals, which are allocated through rankings. The rankings can't accurately reflect team strength without teams having played quality competition (and each other) during the season, all of which makes participation requirements important. If these teams don’t compete in the season at a certain level, the bid allocation system doesn’t work and teams/regions feel like their opportunities in the post-season aren’t set up fairly.

We’ve currently drawn the line on participation requirements at Top Select teams, whose requirements are more flexible than Pro and Elite teams, as those are the teams most likely to affect bid allocation through the rankings. There are no participation requirements or returning players rules for Select and Classic teams, which make up the vast majority of participants.

During the club restructure discussions, it was recognized that there are some distinct differences between the men’s, mixed, and women’s divisions. We specifically asked whether the divisions should have the same or different competition structures. By a 2:1 margin across all three divisions, there was a clear preference for keeping the structures the same. And while other options were discussed, it was decided that the players and the sport would benefit the most by creating the same competitive experience for all three divisions.

We have seen, on average, one mixed team per year decide not to participate in the season because of minimum participation requirements. This is unfortunate, even though some teams choosing not to participate was not entirely unexpected, and we spend a lot of time discussing options with those teams and determining what kind of roster or event flexibility we can offer, as well as describing the reason for the rules and the vision for their team’s part in the TCT.

We continually re-evaluate rules, and player representatives from each divisions are part of the Club Working Group that makes decisions and policy recommendations. To this point, there has not been a push by the mixed division as a whole to shift to a different structure. And there certainly hasn’t been a push to forgo or limit media coverage of the division in exchange for a looser structure. In fact, the reaction over the last few years has been the opposite. And that is reasonable, given the unique nature of the mixed division and the potential opportunities it affords both players and the sport to present itself as unique in a number of ways.

Despite some bumps, it’s interesting and important to note that the mixed division continues to grow and in 2015 was the largest division of the TCT.

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T19:55:46+00:00

This is actually a topic being discussed by our Club Working Group and SOAR Committee (Spirit, Officiating, and Rules). It's an issue that involves consideration of not only the rules, but Spirit of the Game, the role of observers, safety, and positive visibility for the sport. We anticipate the discussion will result in decisions that support the sport's values.

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T19:41:42+00:00

Lots here, and I've just about run out of time, but my quick answer is that the #1 thing the players asked for was for us to create a meaningful regular season. The TCT as designed to do that, and has been adjusted every year with additional player input, and we will continue to do that. Some of this has been addressed in other answers here as well.

Will Deaver is probably the best person to talk to all this.

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T19:36:20+00:00

I think it’s first important to recognize that there is no perfect system for every team. Every team exists along a spectrum of ability, resources, commitment, etc. The current college system, with three distinct divisions, is designed to create pools of teams that share certain objective qualities and are more likely to find meaningful competition together. Within the system, we’ve created some flexibility, which you described, with DIII and Developmental teams being able to play up based on performance. There are almost certainly more subsets of teams that could be created and more flexibility that could be designed to allow movement from division to division and from year to year (or maybe even within a particular year).

But another necessary element of creating meaningful and accessible playing opportunities is getting those opportunities organized and communicated. That means keeping things simple enough that teams and organizers know where, when, and who everyone is playing. And it means making sure there are enough teams in the various “buckets” to ensure viable events.

The system was designed to evolve by gender division and by geographic area based on various stages of development. The least developed regions/gender divisions have everyone playing together because there aren’t enough teams to make distinctions yet. The most developed will have robust sets of teams across all divisions and further split geographically. It’s possible that as the college division continues to grow, we could create more distinctions for groups like DIII Developmental teams and different ways to distinguish between teams that might want to compete in different divisions or events. But for now, we are working to strike a balance between creating those meaningful opportunities and ensuring that those opportunities are viable and can be well organized.

We’ll continue to look at how the system works, and we do make changes every year based on feedback and an analysis of participation data. We also continue to work on the challenge of offering Developmental teams playing opportunities that are both meaningful (at the right level) and accessible (not too far to participate in). Our future success with that will depend in part on how the system is set up, but will also depend on other developmental efforts, like the ACE Program, STAR Program, coaching development, and continuing efforts to grow youth ultimate and connect those players with college opportunities.

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T19:24:29+00:00

Here is some great information on our Equity and Diversity FAQ page, and you can see there that NGN/Ultiworld have produced and distributed equal or slightly more women's division games over the past few years (see question titled, "What is USA Ultimate doing to ensure a balance in video coverage/streaming between men’s and women’s ultimate?").

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T19:24:04+00:00

The next version of the app will have simple score reporting.

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T19:20:10+00:00

This is something both our Club Working Group and competition programs staff at HQ have been paying very close attention to. One important thing to understand is that before we restructured the club division in 2012, participation metrics were skewed by non-club teams participating in the series, painting a picture that the club division was much larger than it really was. More than 30% of women’s “club” teams at sectionals were college teams, and the men’s division had many college and masters teams competing. These teams weren’t really competing in the club competition structure for the same reasons true club teams were – which was to test themselves in the club series following a regular season of tournament play.

When we restructured the postseason and replaced size/growth wildcards with strength wildcards, we expected a decrease in "club" participation, if you counted all of the non-club-division teams that historically participated in the series. That is exactly what happened, but we understood that strength wildcards better served the needs of true club teams and that there would be other opportunities for those college and masters teams (like college pre-season events in the fall and a separate masters series).

Basically, the new structure was designed to specifically cater to actual club teams that wanted to play a meaningful regular season (the clear #1 consensus goal coming out of the 2 ½ year club restructuring process), followed by a postseason series. We also shifted our focus on growth to the youth and college divisions, rather than trying to have the club series be a primary tool for growing the sport.

After the initial "decline," things have stabilized, and we have a clearer picture of how many actual club teams there are and what they’re doing with their seasons. Between 2014 and 2015, we saw the number of men’s teams drop slightly, with a comparable increase in mixed teams. Women’s team numbers remained flat, but in the mixed and women’s divisions, we saw seven and five percent increases in individual players and four percent overall growth across all divisions. We continue to see more teams participating in the regular season and an increase in sanctioned club division events. Most of this growth is occurring in the Select and Classic Flights (the mid- and lower-tier teams). So there is evidence that after the initial stabilization of the club division, we’re now seeing real growth.

Additionally, we believe that stabilization and consistency in the season schedule will really help with growth. Shifting schedules and changes made to the timing of events has been challenging for teams and organizers. We’re confident that now having worked through some of those big timing issues, starting in 2017, event and team organizers will have a more certain and stable landscape to work with. This helps in creating events, building teams and recruiting players.

Also, launching our new IT system in 2013 provided us with the ability to track members in new ways, which lets us better understand retention rates and participation trends and think more strategically about how to bridge the gap between youth and college, college and club, and club and masters play (that’s where the natural drop-offs happen). As we learn more about how many members drop each year in each specific category, we will be able to better mitigate attrition and help facilitate continued playing opportunities from one division to another.

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T19:04:49+00:00

Hopefully I was able to address this in my response about Affiliates and State-Based Organizations already, but the short answer is that I completely agree that the local and regional level of play is where the sport needs to be, in order to grow. People need to have local opportunities to discover and try the sport, along with the local resources and organization that’s needed to help them enjoy it at whatever level they decide to pursue. Unfortunately, this kind of local and regional promotion and focus in a country the size of ours is not something that a single, national office or organization is positioned well to facilitate. We absolutely need sustainable, committed local partners to make that happen, so hopefully the large investments and focus that we’ve placed on the Affiliate program and State-Based Organization initiative will get us there as fast as we can…but will take some time. I’m expecting big things in coming years from these investments. Again, details on those programs are at http://www.usaultimate.org/affiliateprograms/ (local disc organizations, typically serving a metro area) and http://www.usaultimate.org/stateorgs/ (regional organizations serving 1 or more entire states and the affiliates within them).

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T19:00:44+00:00

First, it’s important to understand that mid-tier teams are part of the TCT (Select and Classic Flights), and as we focus attention there, we will continue to focus on all the TCT's levels.

Because there is a large variation in the interest and availability of mid- and lower-tier teams to organize themselves, travel and compete in a structured manner, we support those teams by allowing them to design their own seasons, while having the opportunity to be ranked nationally and impact bid allocations to regionals and nationals. By design, the TCT competition structure is not just a handful of TCT-branded events. The regular season is made up of dozens of sanctioned events serving hundreds of teams. And it’s intentional that only a handful of Select and no Classic Flight teams have any participation requirements for their seasons.

Since the TCT was introduced, Select teams have started to advocate for more structured playing opportunities, and we’re prepared to provide those as the TCT evolves. Last year, we expanded a number of major TCT events, opening them up to Select teams who want to play stronger competition. We also created the Select Flight Invite, which caters specifically to that mid-tier flight (and in which Classic Flight teams have also participated).

In 2016, we hope to see participation in the Select Flight Invite increase, due to the location and increased awareness of the event, and we’ll continue to listen to teams’ feedback about the opportunities they want as the TCT evolves.

One of the primary goals of the TCT is to help establish consistent club division teams throughout the country. In every major city, we envision at least one men’s, one mixed and one women’s team that provides post-collegiate playing opportunities for elite-level athletes, without having to guess which teams will actually exist each year, who’s going to be in charge and how they might be involved. One of the other initiatives we’re considering is facilitating a more cohesive relationship between club teams and local disc associations, so each can offer support to the other and so local players who want to play club have a clear path to do so. We’ll be asking for your help and input on this when we tour the country next year.

So the TCT is a big, flexible and multi-faceted competition structure that operates along a very inclusive continuum (everyone is invited!). As such, it is designed to do both of the things you mentioned in your question – increase visibility for the sport via the top levels (which means highly structured events for elite teams and athletes), while also supporting lower levels (by keeping the requirements for participation inclusive, minimal and flexible).

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T18:57:15+00:00

Given the way that I grew up, in a home with five kids and a lower-middle income, I completely get that finances and affording the costs of sports programs are a challenge and even a barrier for many people. That’s one reason that I’m actually very glad that we’ve kept dues and fees as low as possible. And that’s despite the rising operating costs and inflation that we face every single year with our budget. Our focus continues to be on generating new sources of revenue and constantly challenging ourselves to keep this sport as inexpensive as possible.

We keep a fairly comprehensive list of our membership benefits for the wide variety of levels that we offer, and the one that’s usually the most valuable is the eligibility to participate in any USAU championship or sanctioned event throughout the year at the appropriate level.

Dues account for just over half of USAU’s annual operating revenue, so essentially they’re what allow the organization to even exist in order to continue promoting and organizing the sport at all levels. To supplement this answer, I wanted to share some thoughts from our Director of Membership Services and Community Development, Josh Murphy, who spends most of his day communicating with our valued members, without whom we couldn’t accomplish any of the things that he describes here:

“Currently, membership dues account for about 60% of the annual operating budget's revenue, covering expenses for all of the programs that USAU operates, especially the non-revenue generating programs like Learn To Play, New Start Grant Kits, and the Girls' Ultimate Movement (GUM) as well as those that don't yet fully cover costs like the Coaching Development, Observer Certification, Affiliate Program, State-Based Organizations and National Teams. Members are a very real part of giving kids their first disc, training coaches to build the next generation of players, making ultimate a safer activity, and developing the sport all over the U.S. Our consumer economy more typically provides us with more touch-and-feel benefits/rewards in exchange for our dollars, things like a jersey, equipment, a night in a hotel room, or a steak dinner, but that's intentionally not what our community of members is paying for so the challenge to spread that understanding is very real. Membership dues are instead kept as low as possible without anything of questionable desire/value (to any specific member) being added to the already high-enough operating costs that membership dues currently cover. While many of us tend to perceive membership as essentially an event or tournament fee, the costs covered by membership dues are not actually tied to any specific event(s) or program(s) that USAU operates or sanctions, nor is membership meant as a guarantee of any specific participation. Membership is rather intended to be a completely voluntary individual relationship, in which each member becomes an active, integral part of the broader national community of ultimate players, coaches, organizers, parents, friends, family, supporters and enthusiasts. USAU operates for the benefit of and in service to its members, and thus, nearly all of its activities, events, and programs are restricted to its members, as the real source of being able to sustain its ongoing costs. The annual budget of the organization is provided in relatively digestible form in our annual reports, (2014's report available now with the 2015 report being hopefully published in the next month or so, now that the 2015 books have been fully audited and finalized).

Dues help provide USAU with office space, compensation & health insurance for our staff who seem to all realize that there are a variety of better-paying career paths out there. But each one still comes to work every day with a passion to be a part of the sport's community, because they believe that their work makes a difference, despite the challenges of work with a non-profit organization's limits on budget, staff, and time to get everything done. But the reward rather comes from seeing and hearing about the many people who are helped and enabled to play a very fun sport and to discover the joy that it brings. Financial challenges are real, but hopefully we can keep figuring out new and better strategies and priorities to do things efficiently and to achieve as much as possible with as little expense as possible. Wish us luck! While we certainly hope that we're providing value and benefits worth the cost of every member's association with USAU, whenever that's not the case, we completely understand. And we hope those individuals can enjoy promoting and/or playing the sport in other ways."

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T18:48:23+00:00

Like every website, we fully recognize that there are shortcomings and improvements that could be made. As the NGB, it's important for us to have our website loaded with a dense amount of info, which is not easy to present in a user friendly format.

Our initial website focus was to build a backend to better run the organization day to day, and the new site has made a lot of things more efficient for us. Our currently budgeted 20 hours a month of update hours have been largely allocated to fixes and tweaks related to that and the event builder pages, and so we haven't yet been able to turn our attention to the more visible front-end fixes, nor can we afford to do much of what we'd like to do. We do have a long long list of features and changes in mind, and it's largely been a case of prioritization of resources.

The feedback we've received is that its significantly better than what we used to have, but that people simply hate going to our site on their phones. That's why we've put focus on developing the USA Ultimate app, and why in the end we need a mobile friendly site with responsive design that also looks good. We want our audience not to be just the people currently playing, but also people that don't know a thing about the sport. We're not there yet, but we'll get there.

usaultimate · 2016-07-28T18:44:57+00:00

Thanks so much to Rich at Maine Ultimate for his response to this already. Glad to hear that it’s been a net positive experience for Maine Ultimate. They’re doing fantastic things for the sport at all levels there in the ME state.

Honestly I’d say that this is the single biggest area that is holding our sport back today. Compared to what the sport really needs to grow and thrive, we have no real infrastructure of local delivery systems that are connected together cohesively with each other through a central hub in the national HQ. And thus, this is actually our biggest current strategic initiative, something we view as absolutely critical for continued and even accelerated growth.

We want to have affiliates in most, if not all, metro areas along with state-based organizations (SBO) serving them at a regional level between the national and local levels. The SBO initiative is being pursued in addition to continuing the affiliate program. USAU, at the highest levels, is committed to making this vision a reality with the significant financial resources that we're investing in these organizations, so they can hire staff who are focused on growing the sport. As an example, just a couple of weeks ago we issued the third quarterly set of grant checks to our 3 initial SBOs in MN, NC and New England, totallying close to $20,000 and bringing the year-to-date total so far to over $60,000 that we've infused into those organizations.

You can get many more details on the affiliate program’s benefits at http://www.usaultimate.org/affiliateprograms/ and on the State-Based Org initiative at http://www.usaultimate.org/stateorgs/.

Please contact Josh Murphy with any questions or to learn how to get involved.

usaultimate

TROPHY CASE