Strategy: Make Significant Changes to the Championship Series that Provide Increased Playing Opportunities and Exciting Events to Showcase the Sport

The potential benefits of creating more opportunities to play and showcasing the sport are clear. Making some changes over the next five years, and exploring other more fundamental changes in detail, are critical for the continued growth of the Series and success of the UPA and the sport.

Tactic: Plan and implement Division II College Series. Where does Division II split? Should it be based on performance or choice? How should the Series culminate and when and where should it be held? More than 650 teams created rosters for the 2008 College Series – how can the UPA increase the satisfaction level for all those participate?

Tactic: Explore implementation of UPA College Pre-Series (Regular Season) Competition program. More meaningful, standardized playing opportunities in the winter and early spring can establish clear criteria for College Series seeding and help to increase legitimacy and excitement for the sport.

Tactic: Create UPA Grand Masters (40 and over) and Women’s Masters (30 and over) Experimental Championship Event. To assess the interest in these new competition levels, an experimental event will be hosted with benchmarks for participation serving as indicators for future events.

Tactic: Redraw Sectional/Regional Boundary and adjust Bid Allocation system to support competition and organizational goals. Included in goals for redraw are enhanced opportunities for players to participate due to more optimal travel scenarios as well as increased opportunities for partnership with local and regional disc organizations.

Tactic: Support Growth and Expansion of Masters Division of Club Series. Anti-wildcard requirements will be adjusted; changes in age requirements explored. Anti-wildcard system will incorporate incentives to host Master-specific, non-Series, UPA sanctioned events.  

Tactic: Implement Roster Limits in the Club Series. Desired outcomes include increased standardization and fairness for Series events and increased number of teams on which players can participate.

Tactic: Plan and pilot UPA Club Pre-Series (Regular Season) Competition Program. Efforts will include showcase events focused on top tier teams where high-level Ultimate is made more accessible to fans as well as the creation of more meaningful, standardized opportunities to compete in the summer leading up to the Club Series.

Tactic: Create detailed plan to implement Division II Club Series. Among the questions to be explored: At what level should the split occur? How is the split determined? How will the new division name a champion(s)?