Recognizing the next top seven performers of the 2026 season.
November 11, 2026 by Alex Rubin, Laura Osterlund, Josh Katz and TJ Lee in Awards
Ultiworld is pleased to announce our annual Club Awards, continuing with the All-Club Second Team. 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.
Our All-Club teams recognize the top performers across the division. Our First Team and Second Team display the top seven and next seven players who had the best seasons. The Club Awards are voted on by Ultiworld reporters, contributors, and editors.
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
All-Club 2026 Second Team
Ben Whitenack (Scorch)
Ben Whitenack put his name on the map when he led Oregon Scorch to their first ever Nationals appearance, but he didn’t stop at just making it to the dance. Whitenack’s plus/minus of +25 (12G/13A/6B/6T) is tied for the 15th best Nationals performance. He did this while pulling off an upset over Tower to get Scorch into bracket play, a second upset over shame. to make quarters, and was two points away from a third after giving New York XIST a run for their money. From leading a team to leading the stat lines, Whitenack did it all.
Chagall Gelfand (Polar Bears)
As she worked her way back from injury, Chagall Gelfand had a quieter than expected regular season for a college star. She was just building momentum for a big finish. At Nationals, Gelfand returned to the heights of prior seasons and helped Polar Bears reach the final. Her offensive versatility was on full display with complete mastery of the variety of throws needed to succeed in the elite club game and a healthy springiness to get open to make those throws in flow. This is the first All-Club selection for Gelfand, and it almost certainly won’t be the last.
Claire Bidigare-Curtis (Toro)
Some teams form their systems around meticulous strategies, while others appear to revolve around a system-player. Durham Toro are the latter. All season long, one of their strategies was to put up a prayer into the deep space, saying, “Eff it, CBC (aka Claire Bidigare-Curtis) is down there somewhere.” And most of the time, she was, as she easily collected it to help her team get the score. Bidigare-Curtis isn’t one of the top players in the mixed division for her deep cuts alone; her constant ability to cut up the field with decisiveness allowed the offense to run through her when needed and gave Toro the edge they needed this season.
Khalif El-Salaam (California Burrito)
Although it was California Burrito’s first time at Nationals, Khalif El-Salaam is hardly new to the scene. Playing with less pomp and flash than his Seattle Mixtape years, El-Salaam has become one of the quieter, but still impactful, motors to the Burrito machine. His veteran experience brought versatility on every side of the disc. Spending more time on the pitch than off, he had no problem doing it all: O-line, D-line, consistently making cuts to receive the disc, and constantly serving as a distributor with brilliantly placed throws.
Lili Hobday (Hybrid)
To be the top team, having teammates who make big plays is nice, but what’s even better is players who can both be playmakers and play with such consistency that you need not worry when they get remotely near the disc. Players like Lili Hobday. Just last season, she won the Mixed WMP Breakout Player of the Year, and her impact on the game has only grown. Even in the biggest moments of the championship games, she stayed steady and dependable as she confidently moved the disc down the field and threw the game-winning assist to clinch the double-peak.
“She was always there. This whole season, she’s stepped up,” said 2025 POTY Rachel Mast. “Seeing her growth has been incredible. And her making great plays, both on defense and then when we get a turnover; she plays very well, working in front of the stack, and always being reliable. She’s stepped up a lot, and I think she deserves MVP for sure.”
Nathan Champoux (Hybrid)
Hybrid’s romp to a threepeat has been defined by their swarming, suffocating defense, and no player is more central to that defense than Nathan Champoux. The world’s most instinctive defender spent the season doing what he does best, stalking around the downfield space and leaping past unsuspecting receivers en route to a division-leading nine blocks at Nationals1, punctuated by a layout block in the title game to set up a lead Hybrid would never relinquish.
Zeppelin Raunig (Mixtape)
Starting his career as an athletic receiver and strong defender, Zeppelin Raunig has rounded out his game and become a multi-dimensional threat to any defense trying to stop him. Carrying Mixtape to another Nationals appearance, Raunig elevated his game to match the best of the best. He is open even when he’s blanketed by a defender, bailing out the Mixtape offense time and time again to continue scoring drives. As he continues to improve, Raunig has a good chance to make his name a fixture on these lists
the second time in three years he’s done so ↩
