USA Ultimate's 2013 Annual Report suggests strong continued membership growth, especially at the Youth level.
September 23, 2014 by Charlie Eisenhood in News with 8 comments
USA Ultimate just released their 2013 Annual Report, breaking down membership growth, event participation, and other metrics of involvement and growth. The 62-page report is available in full online — below are some of the most notable parts of the report.
Membership Growth Staying Strong
Even though USA Ultimate changed their accounting to include event-only memberships in their total membership numbers for the first time in 2013, membership numbers are still well up from 2012.
Total membership was 47,137 this year. Not including event-only members, total membership was 40,523, up from 36,508 in 2012. That’s an 11% increase year over year.
Youth Participation Exploding
One of USA Ultimate’s main goals is to increase youth participation. The numbers from 2013 are encouraging. Youth memberships were up 13% from 2012, as USA Ultimate added 1,313 new youth members.
Participation at the team level was also way up. 72 teams participated at High School Regionals in 2012; 86 participated in 2013.
High school state championship growth was even more impressive. 7,674 athletes played in sanctioned state tournaments in 2012; 8,884 played in 2013. That’s 15.8% growth year over year.
The Youth Club Championships grew from 35 to 43 teams in 2013.
College Participation Still Growing Slowly
USA Ultimate’s most developed division of competition, College still saw some growth in 2013. Participation was up four percent over 2012.
Club Participation Down With Introduction Of TCT
The Triple Crown Tour launched for its first season in 2013. Overall club participation was down, though the Men’s Division grew slightly. In 2012, 604 teams participated in the Series; in 2013, 590 teams opted in to the postseason, a 2.3% reduction.
Coaching Memberships On The Rise
The continuing growth of coaching in both the college and club divisions has led to a steady rise in the number of coaching memberships. 2013 saw 275 coaching-specific memberships, up from 247 in 2012.
Observer Certification Program Stalling?
New observer certifications, recertifications, and observer clinics were all well down in 2013, though that could indicate that there was overall less need for new observers in 2013.
Financial Report
Though there are some financial numbers posted in the annual report, Ultiworld is waiting for the publicly available IRS Form-990 to be released before analyzing changes to the governing body’s balance sheets.
