What you might have missed last week in ultimate.
May 11, 2020 by in News with 0 comments
Welcome to Opening Pull, your weekly wrap-up of the previous week in ultimate. We’ve gathered the news you need to know and highlights you need to see, and we’ll let you know what’s coming up in the next week.
Live ultimate is on pause for the time being, without a clear end to the shutdown in sight, as the global community combats the spread of COVID-19. For more details, including a timeline, see The Latest on the Coronavirus Impact on Ultimate.
USAU In Midst of Membership Drive
Early last week, USA Ultimate released “A Letter to the Ultimate Community”, which kicked off and explained the details of and reasoning behind the organization’s membership drive. This excerpt captures much of the sentiment:
As long as this uncertainty persists, the sustainability of USA Ultimate and all of the amazing programs and services we provide for our members and the greater ultimate community are being threatened. Like all small, 501(c)(3) nonprofit national governing bodies of amateur sport, membership dues are critical to our existence and success – the lifeblood that supports so much of what we do. Without our members’ continued loyal and generous support, we simply would not be able to maintain the level of service and support that we’ve grown accustomed to offering.
Most of the community obtains a membership to participate in events, but with so many events canceled and future event viability uncertain, USAU could use some help from the community. Memberships — particularly multi-year options — are available at discounted rates. This promotion will continue through May 20th. Consider renewing your membership or supporting the organization if you are able!
Wildwood Opens Registration
Wildwood, the popular New Jersey beach party tournament, opened registration for their 2020 tournament. In a short announcement, organizers noted that they had approval from the proper local authorities to run the tournament, conditions permitting. The post also states that the registration numbers will be used to ‘gauge interest’ in this year’s event.
Online reaction to the announcement was quite mixed, ranging from optimistic to outraged, mostly due to the public health concerns around gathering for a tournament.
Callahan Award Voting Closes Wednesday
Voting for the 2020 Callahan Award is open until Wednesday, May 13th. If you haven’t voted, or know anyone who hasn’t but might want to, head to or direct folks towards their USAU membership page, where there is a voting tab. Exercise your right!
Social Select: Tiina Booth’s Advice on Weather and Other Uncontrollables
Legendary coach and Ultiworld contributor Tiina Booth, as part of her Tuesdays with Tiina series, shared her thoughts on how best to tackle uncontrollables, such as weather, as a team.
Today’s Tuesdays with Tiina starts off at a tournament with awful weather. It’s not bad enough to cancel but it is still is a miserable experience. How your team responds to the wind sleet heat rain or snow at this event is based on how well your team
— NUTC (@NUTC_Amherst) May 5, 2020
Ultiworld’s Top 25 D-I Players
Our annual rankings of the Top 25 players in each of D-I women’s and men’s division this season were released last week. A group of staff members came together to give their own personal rankings, with the aggregates serving as the official rankings. The discussion around the Top 10 for both men’s and women’s is open to read, while the second half of the rankings portion is available for our subscribers.