Purpose of the Award

Given the seminal importance of the Spirit of the Game to our sport, the UPA Board of Directors approved the addition of a sister honor to the Farricker Spirit Award and established the Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award on January 17, 2004. This award will be made to the woman player who best exemplifies both the ethos of the SOTG, along with a personal commitment to giving back to the sport.

The Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award is given to the player(s) adjudged to have exhibited personal responsibility, integrity, and selfless contribution to Ultimate, combined with a high standard of playing ability.

For those who knew Kathy Pufahl as a player, no one better exemplified the combination of fierce, fun loving competitor, as well as, her selfless, ongoing contribution to the betterment of Ultimate. From the winter edition of the UPA Ultimate News magazine: "On the field, Kath helped build women's Ultimate and several of its early teams, setting the pace for high-quality and fair play. Off the field, she helped build the structure, and the spirit, of the game we know today. She organized tournaments, wrote and mailed newsletters, organized the women's college division, co-wrote (with Sholom "Eric" Simon) the first update to the Ninth Edition rules, and played a crucial role throughout the 1980-90s in developing and overseeing the administrative responsibilities of the UPA and served as the second women's national director from 1985 to 1988. She was the first managing director of the UPA and ran the first official UPA headquarters in an office near her home. She was relentless yet thoughtful, as she endeavored to lay the foundation of the structure of the game and the UPA."

Value to the UPA

Since the game was invented in 1968, Ultimate has proudly promoted one aspect of the game more that any other: the spirit of fair play. While some of the very first games ever played did, in fact, have referees, soon they disappeared in favored of self-officiating, something we now call The Spirit of the Game.

As Ultimate becomes more and more popular, we know that the SOTG sets us apart. With the Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award, we also want to honor the individual who gives back. Without the selfless contributions from players of all levels of play, the sport of Ultimate would not have grown throughout the years. By honoring a national caliber player who exemplifies both SOTG and individual contribution to our sport, we can elevate the core value of giving back.

With the Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award, we create an award that recognizes both competition and contribution and can help to elevate the value of giving back at the highest levels of our sport.