The mixed team went undefeated across the eight-day tournament, becoming world champions in a 15-11 win over Canada. The open team claimed silver in a tough final against Canada, going down 15-12, their only loss of the tournament. And the women鈥檚 team won their last game over Belgium with a final score of 13-10, to finish 5th overall. 

The World Junior Ultimate Championships featured approximately 1,000 athletes competing across three divisions in the under-20 age category. The event was hosted in Logro帽o, Spain, where the U.S. teams won their way to the gold, silver and a top five finish from among a field of 47 teams who represented over 20 nations. Full are available, and many games 鈥� including the open and mixed finals featuring the U.S. National Teams 鈥� were streamed live and are from Ultiworld.

The National Youth Ultimate Giving Week is a collaborative campaign uniting local disc organizations across the country around a shared belief: that youth ultimate uniquely supports character development, social-emotional learning and a profound sense of belonging. This week creates a collective opportunity to invite the ultimate community to invest in the future of the sport.

On November 7, 1970, the first interscholastic high school ultimate game was held, marking the start of competitive youth ultimate. The first week of November has been chosen for the first Giving Week, in recognition of this milestone. Throughout this week, all donations made directly to participating 春色影视福利 affiliate organizations in support of local youth programming will be matched. While only affiliates will be eligible for the donation matching, all nonprofit organizations focused on growing youth ultimate are encouraged to use this week to inspire and amplify the importance of giving to support youth program growth. 

With nearly 20 春色影视福利 affiliate organizations already planning to participate, this campaign will empower local communities across the country to invest in the next generation of ultimate players. 

鈥淓very single ultimate community would benefit from additional funds to foster youth ultimate growth locally,鈥� says Libby Cravens, Outreach Director for Altitude Youth Ultimate, 鈥淔unds can support paying for rising field costs, paying qualified coaches to work with youth and other essential expenses.鈥� 

The following 春色影视福利 affiliate organizations have announced plans to participate:

• Albany Ultimate Disc Association
• Altitude Ultimate
• Bay Ultimate Youth Affiliate
• Bay Ultimate Youth Affiliate
• California Ultimate
• Center Grove Ultimate 春色影视福利
• Connecticut Ultimate 春色影视福利
• Delaware Valley Youth League
• Illinois Ultimate
• Neuqua Valley Ultimate
• Nickel City Ultimate
• Oak Park and River Forest Youth Ultimate Organization
• San Antonio Ultimate Community
• Southern California Youth Ultimate
• Triad Ultimate Frisbee
• Valley Ultimate
• Vermont Ultimate
• Wisconsin Ultimate

The National Youth Ultimate Giving Week campaign is made possible by the support of The Ultimate Foundation, with a leadership gift from the Michael and Laura Brader-Araje Foundation alongside Gold Champion donors. 

鈥淯ltimate delivers something truly rare in youth sports: character development, social-emotional learning and an inclusive sense of belonging. We are anchoring National Youth Ultimate Giving Week to multiply the generosity of local donors, ensuring that local grassroots programs have the resources to change young lives right in their own backyards.” – Michael & Laura Brader-Araje

The 2026 Gold Champion donors include Adam Goff, David Raflo, Ferris Zhang, John Capozzi, John Epstein in honor of Don 鈥淪auce鈥� Cain, Keven Erlenbach, Matt 鈥淪tuff鈥� Rodriguez, O鈥橫ara Family Charitable Fund, Mike Edmonds, Randy Rogers, Ted Ko, The Biehn Family, The Hamaker Family, Will Chen and Yuri Kubo whose contributions to The Ultimate Collective helped make this matching program possible.

How to Get Involved

• For Local Nonprofits & Youth Organizations: While 春色影视福利 affiliate organizations will receive additional support and donation matching, we encourage any U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing youth ultimate programs to run a National Youth Ultimate Giving Week campaign. to receive more information and access promotional toolkits.
  
• For Supporters & Donors: Mark your calendars for November 1鈥�7, 2026, to double the impact of your investment in your local youth ultimate programs. To learn more about what The Ultimate Foundation supports, or to invest in the central matching pool, visit .
  Don鈥檛 see your local disc organization on the list above? Reach out and encourage them to take advantage of this opportunity to amplify the generosity of your local community.

About The Ultimate Foundation
The Ultimate Foundation fuels a future for ultimate that is accessible to all backgrounds and identities by supporting 春色影视福利 programs, partners and communities. support local community playing opportunities for youth all across the country. Thanks to the generosity of the ultimate community, more youth in local communities will experience ultimate鈥檚 ability to deliver character development, social-emotional learning and a profound sense of belonging.

As youth programs across the country began to return post-pandemic, it became clear that a high number of high school girls programs were simply not returning, although the reasons for this disparity remained unclear. In an effort to provide local disc organizations with actionable answers, the new 春色影视福利 Youth Department commissioned Athletic Leadership at Clemson University to conduct research into retention factors for women and girls within the sport of ultimate.

鈥淲hen I stepped into the role of Director of Youth Programs in the fall of 2023 I was consistently hearing from local disc organizations that despite progress in rebuilding most programs post-pandemic, many high school girls鈥� programs seemed gone for good,鈥� shared Dan Raabe, 春色影视福利 Director of Youth Programs. 鈥淚 reached out to the team at Clemson to help us understand what was going on, and how we might better support recruitment and retention for women and girls within the sport.鈥�

The study examined women’s and girls鈥� participation in ultimate through a comprehensive approach that included national participation data from 2014鈥�24, interviews with former players, focus groups with current collegiate, club, and semi-pro players, survey responses from nearly 1,800 participants and a social media analysis of online content.

First presented at the 2026 Organizer’s Convention, the study鈥檚 conclusions help to provide the sport a roadmap for post-pandemic recovery and future growth. In a clear positive take away, researchers found that women and girls are not leaving ultimate because they lack interest, motivation or enjoyment. Instead, they are leaving when participation environments fail to produce belonging, safety and sustainable pathways for success 鈥� all aspects of the sport that can be improved through intentional intervention and support. An overview of some of the significant themes and takeaways from the whitepaper is below.

Belonging and Inclusion

Survey results clearly show that women experience ultimate as inclusive in principle, but exclusionary in practice, with over half of the women surveyed reporting they feel overlooked or excluded within the sport. This is particularly applicable to mixed play, which supported retention only when women were intentionally valued. Interviews conducted revealed common sources of this disconnect within mixed play include limited touches, reduced leadership access, feeling physically mismatched and feeling undervalued. Positive mixed experiences centered women as decision makers as well as playmakers.

In addition to the challenges experienced in mixed play, pandemic shut downs intensified existing gender and youth pipeline challenges in ultimate, highlighting the need for flexible, inclusive and developmentally supportive entry pathways for girls. (This mirrors broader post-pandemic sport participation patterns.) The study found that middle school and high school are critical entry points for girls’ introduction to the sport and that girls鈥� underrepresentation reflects developmental and structural barriers, not disinterest.

Visibility and a Path to Success

The study also found that retention occurred when participation environments offered a competitive challenge with flexibility, and a visible future within the sport. The findings show that women do not disengage because they lack interest 鈥� they disengage when participation feels unsustainable. Access to women centered spaces and clear pathways for progress within the sport are necessary for retention. Lack of clear re-entry pathways following injury or life transitions was also an issue, with both visibility and access being key elements affecting whether women and girls return after disengagement.

Moving Forward

Based on their findings, the study鈥檚 authors provided the following recommendations for engaging and retaining women and girls within the sport:

• Design playing opportunities that provide for belonging, not just participation聽
• Create women centered entry and re-entry points at every level聽
• Stop treating mixed as the default solution for girls鈥� and women鈥檚 involvement
• Build flexibility into competition structures聽
• Invest in safety and injury prevention 鈥� especially for girls聽

The study鈥檚 authors note, 鈥�Addressing these challenges represents an opportunity 鈥� not a critique 鈥� to align ultimate鈥檚 stated values with participation structures that foster belonging, safety, flexibility and longevity across the life course. By intentionally redesigning how and when women and girls are welcomed, supported and celebrated, ultimate can strengthen its youth pipeline and build a more sustainable and inclusive future for the sport.鈥�

The full text of the published whitepaper is available on 春色影视福利鈥檚 website, while additional data and resources will be made available exclusively to 春色影视福利 affiliates looking to apply the findings from this study within their local ultimate communities. 春色影视福利 continues to engage in opportunities to support and grow women鈥檚 and girls’ participation in the sport at all levels nationwide. Ongoing efforts include the refresh and relaunch of the program this year, the introduction of a pilot grant program to stimulate women鈥檚 club division growth, providing additional support to players as they reach transitions between phases of play (e.g. high school to college) and dedicating additional resources to increase the visibility of girls and women within the sport 鈥� with additional new initiatives coming in 2027.

The study鈥檚 conclusion wraps with the following observation, 鈥淲omen and girls are not leaving ultimate because they lack interest or commitment. They leave when belonging erodes, mixed play becomes exclusionary, re-entry feels risky and participation structures no longer align with their lives. Retention is not about motivating women to stay; it is about intentionally designing ultimate so women and girls can.鈥�

The two most recent additions,  (CUPA) and , represent well-established ultimate communities with a history of hosting national events as well as providing a diverse range of local playing opportunities. 春色影视福利 is pleased to partner with these robust organizations to support the work they are doing to grow the sport at the local level.

So far in 2026 春色影视福利 has welcomed five new affiliate organizations, with NWI Ultimate (Indiana), Richmond Ultimate (Virginia) and Triad Ultimate (North Carolina) also joining earlier this year. All affiliate organizations provide critical access to the sport for their communities. 春色影视福利 is proud to support local disc organizations of all sizes as they advance their missions and, simultaneously, the mission of 春色影视福利. 

Affiliation with 春色影视福利 includes many benefits, and the program is one of the key ways 春色影视福利 contributes directly to the growth of ultimate at the grassroots level. Affiliation is available at three levels to support the distinct needs of a wide variety of organizations. Tier One affiliates receive the most significant benefits, and must also meet the highest annual benchmarks for hosting events and investing in the growth of their local programs. Tiers Two and Three offer both lower levels of support and fewer requirements for sanctioned event participation based on the size and needs of the organization.

All affiliates get access to 春色影视福利 membership rebates, event insurance coverage and free event sanctioning, and receive priority in the bid selection process for championship events as well as priority consideration for grants and other programming. In addition, affiliate organizations also receive direct coaching and support from 春色影视福利 staff, free attendance to the annual Organizers Convention and have access to an ever expanding pool of resources for marketing, event programming and more. For 2025, 春色影视福利 distributed over $157,000 across 45 affiliate organizations.

Organizations interested in learning more about the 春色影视福利 affiliate program should contact Stacey Waldrup, Director of Member Services & Community Development at stacey@hq.usaultimate.org.

Coordinator of the Year is a designation given to individual sectional, regional and state coordinators across all competition divisions who have contributed at a high level. The designation recognizes volunteers in these key roles who have gone above and beyond the expectations for their role, consistently contributed season after season or who have made significant efforts toward competition program goals.

The Coordinator of the Year for each competition division is selected based on input from the Competition Working Group, including staff competition managers and volunteer national and regional directors. The honorees for 2025 are:

春色影视福利 Division

Regional Coordinator of the Year
Amir Kaghazwala – Northwest Mixed Regional Coordinator
Chris Novielli – Northeast Men’s Regional Coordinator
Alyssa Weatherford – Northwest Women’s Regional Coordinator

Sectional Coordinator of the Year
Anna Blasiak – South New England Women’s Sectional Coordinator
Dom Sutherland – Central Appalachia Mixed Sectional Coordinator
Jaclyn Wataoka – NorCal Men’s Sectional Coordinator

College Division

Coordinator of the Year
Shannon Temple 鈥� Southwest Women’s Regional Director

Honorable Mentions
Kevin Baker – Atlantic Coast Men’s Regional Director
Tommy Gebhardt – South Central Men’s Deputy Regional Director聽
Alyssa Weatherford – Northwest Women’s Regional Director聽

Masters Division

Coordinator of the Year
Lewis Seton – Northeast Masters Regional Coordinator

Youth Division

Central Region Coordinator of the Year
Dan Plamondon – Michigan State Youth Coordinator

Northeast Region Coordinator of the Year
Jon Egan – New Jersey State Youth Coordinator

South Region Coordinator of the Year
Will Graham – Tennessee State Youth Coordinator

West Region Coordinator of the Year
Jacob Barr – California State Youth Coordinator

Get Involved

春色影视福利 provides ongoing support and playing opportunities for athletes across a wide range of age and gender divisions. Every year more than 150 volunteer coordinators support this work, however many coordinator positions remain unfilled. Those looking to get involved and support the growth of ultimate can see open opportunities on the 春色影视福利 website and are encouraged to apply.

In addition to the many individuals who volunteer their time running and organizing playing opportunities, the sport of ultimate needs volunteers with unique skills and expertise. Several such positions have recently come available with the national governing body.

The board of directors is seeking a community member with a legal background or training (e.g., attorney, mediator, arbitrator) to fill the role of National Judicial Director. This board appointed position will chair the Judicial Committee and provide leadership and oversight for the organization鈥檚 disciplinary and grievance process. The time commitment is estimated to be 5-10 hours per month, and the position includes a yearly $1,500 honorarium.

The Disc Standards Working Group (DSWG) is currently seeking a material scientist, or similar specialist, to provide guidance on tasks related to disc standards and the disc approval process. This is an ongoing position that will participate in periodic discussions with 春色影视福利 headquarters staff and the other DSWG volunteers regarding candidate disc manufacturing questions, review existing DSWG documentation and participate in other aspects of the disc approval process.

The LGBTQ+ Advisory Council has several current members with terms ending this year, and is looking to bring in new volunteers. The council consists of three to four members of the ultimate community who represent different backgrounds, ages, gender identities and geographic locations. This group serves in an advisory capacity, not as a decision-making body, and provides input to 春色影视福利 on a variety of issues with a focus on education, divisional inclusion and alignment, and support for LGBTQ+ athletes, coaches and community members. The position includes a yearly $1,500 honorarium.

The Spirit of the Game (SOTG) Working Group is also looking to add new members. This group works to help define and educate the ultimate community about SOTG, while supporting and incorporating SOTG principles into rules, programs and events. Working group members contribute to discussion and projects across multiple areas, but may contribute more time and ideas based on their interest or experience. Areas of focus include competition, coaching, conduct, promotion and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Most roles include a free 春色影视福利 membership while serving in the position.

Full details about these positions, as well as information on other opportunities to contribute to the work of 春色影视福利 and give back to the sport, is available on the 春色影视福利 website.

Ultiworld is the premier news media site dedicated to the sport of ultimate. In addition to ongoing news, analysis and commentary, Ultiworld provides live coverage of 春色影视福利鈥檚 premier events, including the College Championships, Masters Championships, U.S. Open and National Championships, as well as all major Triple Crown Tour tournaments, postseason championship series events in the college and club division, WFDF World Championships and major international tournaments. Ultiworld subscribers also get access to exclusive editorial content and other valuable benefits. 

Interested members can head to for subscription details and additional information on this discount. Standard and All-Access annual subscriptions will include live coverage of the upcoming college series and the College National Championships next month.

For over 30 years, the Callahan has been awarded annually to recognize the most valuable players in college ultimate. Award nominees display not only superior skill and athleticism 鈥� making difficult plays look easy 鈥� they also demonstrate outstanding sportsmanship, leadership and dedication to the sport of ultimate.

by their teams or by 春色影视福利 college regional directors through May 1. Nominee videos and biographies will be available at as nominations are accepted, beginning May 5. Current collegiate players will be able to cast their votes for student-athletes in their division 鈥� men鈥檚 or women鈥檚 鈥� though May 12. One winner from each division will be announced live during a ceremony on Sunday, May 24th at the D-I National College Championships in Rockford, Ill.

Founded by Charles Kerr in 1996, the award is named for Henry Callahan, an ultimate player and one of the sport鈥檚 original organizers. Last year鈥檚 Callahan recipients were Dexter Clyburn of California and Laura Blume of UC Santa Barbara. A list of all past winners and 2026 award information can be found at . 

2026 Callahan Award Timeline

Tuesday, March 31: Nominations Open
Friday, May 1: Nominations Close
Tuesday, May 5: Voting Opens
Tuesday, May 12: Voting Closes
Sunday, May 24: Winners Announced 

GUM is a 春色影视福利 program that provides resources and funding to drive girls鈥� participation in the sport, develop leaders and inspire female athletes. Originally co-founded in 2014 by Zara Cadoux, Heather Ann Brauer and 春色影视福利 Manager of Youth & Educational Programs Mike Lovinguth, the program has been carried on through the role of state based Girls鈥� Outreach Coordinator volunteers.

Despite the initial success of this program, GUM has struggled to come back to full programming following the pandemic shut-down of events, and the corresponding loss of 春色影视福利 staff and staff transitions. While local organizers continue to run GUM clinics and events, the outreach coordinator model has not been as effective as needed in rebuilding successful programs since the return to play in 2021. 

Advisory councils have been successful in supporting both the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC ultimate communities, so the decision was made to follow that model for GUM as well. Interviews for council positions were conducted earlier this year, with the goal of building a capable and diverse group that represents the community. Offers to candidates were made in February, and the first council meeting took place at the beginning of March.

Goals for the new council will be to provide top level support and a unifying messaging around GUM programming and events. Over the next year the council will assist 春色影视福利 staff to:

• Introduce refreshed branding and marketing support for the GUM program to increase visibility and engagement.
• Launch a series of community virtual meetings to share insights and collaborate across local efforts.
• Increase the amount of GUM clinics, leagues and women coaches in local communities nationwide.

2026 will also see the return of the GUM Ball at the Youth 春色影视福利 Championships in July, and the launch of new GUM merchandise from Spin Ultimate. 

Meet the GUM Council

Isa Brady (she/her) began playing ultimate as a freshman in high school, and has competed in the Youth 春色影视福利 Championship series with the Colorado Cutthroat U20 girls team since 2021. Isa is currently a freshman at DePaul University in Chicago where she plays with the Laser Chains. 

鈥淚 played ultimate for four years in high school and am excited to continue playing throughout my college career. My time playing in high school gave me many opportunities to grow both as a player and as a teammate. Through these experiences, I became increasingly aware of the need for more girls in ultimate. Since starting college, that motivation has only grown stronger, and I am passionate about helping expand opportunities and encouraging more girls to get involved in the sport.鈥�

Ally Fion (they/them) started playing ultimate in college at Northwestern University in 2014 and continued playing with the Imperial College of London while studying abroad in 2015. Experiencing how global and tight-knit the ultimate community was, Ally became passionate about fostering and building community within the sport, and has been deeply ingrained in ultimate ever since. Upon moving back home to North Carolina in 2019, Ally helped develop an LGBTQ frisbee league and joined the Triangle Ultimate staff as the Director of Marketing and Community Engagement. Ally also serves as the USAU State Representative for North Carolina and is the Executive Director of North Carolina Ultimate. When not working in ultimate, Ally does more ultimate. Ally plays mixed masters and women’s club in the area and coaches women’s college and middle school. Occasionally, they’re joined by their frisbee dogs, Koda and River. 

鈥淣ow more than ever, people are paying attention to girls鈥� and women鈥檚 sports. We鈥檙e in an exciting moment where new digital platforms like TikTok, alongside outspoken champions and investors in women鈥檚 sports such as Billie Jean King with the Professional Women’s Hockey League, and Michele Kang with women’s pro soccer, have expanded visibility and access to these spaces. As such, there’s been an exciting momentum shift with more people than ever motivated to support opportunities for girls and women in sport. I鈥檓 excited for GUM to tap into that energy. Ultimate has always been a community-driven sport, and I look forward to our community coming together, fired up to expand access, visibility, and opportunities for Girl-Matching-Players in ultimate.鈥�

Libby Cravens (she/her) lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband Michael, a fellow ultimate player. Libby is a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist, proficient American Sign Language user, enthusiastic hiker, and mediocre gardener. She runs a local MS and HS ultimate program, is a U-20 Girls’ Division YCC coach, serves as the Outreach Director for Altitude Ultimate and on the Fort Collins Ultimate Board, and has been playing, coaching, and organizing ultimate for 20 years. She started playing in Houston as a high schooler, played and coached for many years at the University of Texas at Austin before her time in Philadelphia/New Jersey. Libby moved to Colorado in 2021, and is officially Grand Masters eligible. She has been involved with GUM since the Best Practices panel when it was first being created. She owes much of the love in her life to the sport of ultimate, and the communities that have shaped her.

鈥淚 want EVERY ultimate player to know what GUM stands for and to be doing their part to get more girl-matching players (GMPs) playing ultimate! I want to see communities all across the country celebrating our talented girl-matching and women-matching players, encouraging more women-matching players to coach, and showing girls that our sport is a space for them. People can’t support the important work that GUM is doing if they do not know GUM exists. Eventually, every single adult community will benefit from having supported the growth of the number of GMPs. Increasing GUM’s visibility will allow us to have a bigger impact. I hope every player that sees this will support GUM’s growth and truly make this an unstoppable movement. 鈥�

For 2025 affiliates, 春色影视福利 recently distributed $157,466.57 to 45 LDOs comprised of:

• USAU Membership 鈥淩ebates鈥�: $131,266.57聽
• Outreach Program Bonuses: $7,200聽
• Professional Services Grants: $19,000

In addition to these annual cash contributions, 春色影视福利 offers affiliates year-round support through direct staff engagement, quarterly promotional emails, access to affiliate-only online resources and opportunities to connect and share best practices with other affiliates. 

2025 marked the first year of the restructured 春色影视福利 affiliate program. This evolution from the previous state-based model was made in order to better align with 春色影视福利鈥檚 strategic priority to enhance LDO success. Among the goals in restructuring the program were increased flexibility in supporting LDOs and new and enhanced benefits for participating affiliates, including more financial incentives.

Under the new tier-based system, top-level affiliates receive higher levels of financial incentives for providing local programs that support the growth of ultimate and align with 春色影视福利鈥檚 strategic goals. In addition to the membership-based financial assistance, key benefits of the program available to affiliates at all levels include priority consideration for event bids, free access to general liability coverage for events, and priority access to 春色影视福利 grant programs. 

“The financial investment from 春色影视福利 through the Affiliate Program is a game-changer for DEVYL,鈥� shared Ryan Belline, Executive Director of DEVYL Ultimate, a Tier 1 affiliate. 鈥淭his additional support is vital for our rising costs especially in the areas of facility rentals, insurance and busing. This support will help keep costs to our local community at a reasonable level.” 

春色影视福利 remains committed to supporting ultimate at the grassroots level, with plans to continue expanding the benefits available to affiliates throughout 2026. Learn more, including how to apply to become an affiliate, on the 春色影视福利 Website.