Recognizing the top performer of the 2026 season.
November 10, 2026 by Aidan Thomas in Awards
Ultiworld is pleased to announce our annual Club Awards, continuing with the Club Player of the Year in each division. While we consider both regular season and postseason performance, because of the nature of the Club division, we weight success in the Series and at Nationals above all else. The Club Awards are voted on by Ultiworld reporters, contributors, and editors.
Player of the Year is our most prestigious award. Our Player of the Year winner is the best performer of the club season, and the highest vote-getter for All-Club honors. The winner is not eligible for consideration in any of our other individual awards.
All-Club First Team
Player of the Year Award
All-Club Second Team
Offensive Player of the Year Award
Defensive Player of the Year Award
Breakout Player of the Year Award
Coach(es) of the Year Award
Club Awards Voting Breakdown
Snubs and Superlatives
2026 Men’s Division Club Player Of The Year
Daan De Marrée (Chicago Machine)
In the 2026 Club National Championship, Daan De Marrée took a rare point off in the second half. Within a few throws, a Chicago Machine player needed to come off with injury, and De Marrée promptly jogged back on. It was one of his 21 points played in the tournament finale, six more points than any other player in the game.
It was a simple illustration of what is in an unarguable truth – De Marrée is the engine of Chicago Machine, will barely, if ever, leave the field in a close game, and he will be asked to do the most of any player in the men’s division. And De Marrée will deliver. For his relentless motor, heavy workload and elite production in high pressure situations, De Marrée, at just 25 year sold, has earned a never-before given honor in the Men’s Division – a second consecutive Club Player of the Year Award. It’s also his third straight season on the POTY-um after finishing third in voting in 2024. He joins Jimmy Mickle (2016, 2018) as the only two-time men’s winner of the Award since Ultiworld started giving the nod in 2015.
Pick any tournament, and De Marrée is at or near the top of the statistical leaderboard in some category. At U.S. Open, De Marrée led Machine with 12 goals. At WUCC, playing for his European squad, Mooncatchers, De Marrée was again one of the highest-impact players at the complex, posting a 24G/22A statline, one of two players to reach at least 20 goals and 20 assists in the tournament, while leading Mooncatchers to a third-place finish.
Then De Marrée took on Club Nationals, and for the third straight season, he was one of the tournament’s biggest stars, and for the second straight year, he was deemed the best player in the men’s division. It was a near impossible ask to follow up last years 20G/24A, zero turnover statline, but De Marrée still outclassed the field with his production. His 16 goals tied for second in the men’s division, his 20 assists tied for fifth, and his seven blocks were tied for the most. He did all of it while committing just eight turnovers, good for the second-highest plus-minus in the division.
De Marrée saved his best for the biggest moments. In Machine’s final three bracket games, which included two comeback universe-point victories, he posted six goals, 10 assists, and five blocks. He turned the disc just three times (and two came on one point). He fired the game-winning assist in the quarterfinal against PoNY, and he notched the block in the deep space against Raphy Hayes that sparked Machine’s first break in a three-break comeback against Rhino Slam! Later in that game, De Marrée denied Dylan Freechild’s inside shot for Mica Glass via a layout block on universe point to prevent Rhino’s first break chance of the point. Even in a valiant effort that fell short in the final, De Marrée was a handful to deal with, scoring once, dishing two assists and earning two blocks, the second of which was a heads-up poach block that pulled Machine within 13-11.
Dylan Hawkins, a Ring of Fire cutter who dealt with the oft-crossing over De Marrée in the final, summed up what likely the whole division would agree with: “Daan is a problem,” Hawkins said. “Understatement of the year.”
Indeed, it’s hard to overstate how impactful De Marrée is. The international superstar now brings home a fifth Player of the Year award1, as he has clearly entered the conversation as one of the all-time greats at just the age of 25.
Player of the Year Runners-Up:
- Mica Glass (Rhino Slam!)
- Matt Gouchoe-Hanas (Ring of Fire)
Including European honors ↩
