On Monday the UPA, along with head coach Greg Connelly, announced the 20 person roster for the 2009 IWGA World Games in Tapei this summer. Of the 20, thirteen will be named to the full squad and seven will remain as alternates. The squad is as follows:

USA
Gwen Ambler
Sam Chatterton-Kirchmeier
Cara Crouch
Deb Cussen
Jolian Dahl
Kathy Dobson
Liz Duffy
Cate Foster
Cree Howard
Jared Inselman
Beau Kittredge
Chelsea Putnam
Jonathan Remucal
Steven Rouisse
Gabe Saunkeah
Adam Simon
Dylan Tunnell
Bart Watson
Alicia White
Seth Wiggins

Congratulations to all that made the team, and to all who tried-out.

In recent days both the Canadian and Australian Ultimate governing bodies have announced their World Games teams for this summer’s events in Tapei.

AUSTRALIA
Diana Worman
Liz Edye
Keah Molomby
Lauren Brown
Katie Bradstock
Ash Martens
Jonathan Holmes
Matthew Dowle
Anthony Dowle
Pete Gardner
Mike Neild
Tim Lavis
Peter Blakeley

Alternates: Lisi Jarrott, Fiona Macrae, Megan Gamble, Gavin Moore, Owen Shepherd, Jonathan Tatham

The biggest absence from this list is stalwart Jonathan Potts, but this team is absolutely stacked, top to bottom. Healthy Dowles and Neild are possibly tougher matchups than Rogacki was.

CANADA
Alex Hughes
Andy Ouchterlony
Derek Alexander
John Hassell
Kirk Savage
Oscar Pottinger
Sam Kennedy
Alex Snyder
Alyson Walker
Anne Mercier
Genevieve Dufresne
Kira Frew
Vicky Chow

Alternates: Jeff Lindquist, Morgan Hibbert, Nick Menzies, Jenn Kwok, Kate Crump, Val Dion

No Andrew Lugsdin, no Mike Grant. It’ll be interesting to see the squad Greg Connelly and the UPA pick to match up against these contenders.

Jan 17th, Boulder, CO—This past Sunday I headed off to the annual Member’s Meeting. I had been warned that might be the only member there. The predictions were correct. I was the only UPA member there. In front of a horseshoe-shaped tabled lined with Board Members and UPA Staff I faced over a dozen set of eyes focused singularly on me. After the meeting I was told that I was the first member to show up to the meeting in two or three years.

I found the experience both productive and educational—maybe because I was the only member there and commanded the attention of the Board for the entire hour. In-depth we explored topics ranging from communication, the Strategic Plan, College Ultimate restructuring, and a few other odds and ends.

We began by talking about communication between the UPA and the membership. I contended that the inner-workings of the UPA, the status of projects, and rationale for major decisions are largely a mystery, and that the UPA should provide a more transparent and open approach to communication.

After much debate about the level and amount of status updates and the types of decisions that rationale may or may not be needed for, we came to understanding that perhaps it would be a good idea if on a monthly or quarterly basis, the UPA would update a page on their website that details what each department of the administration would be working on, what committees and task-forces would be meeting, and what the business of the Board of Directors would be.

To me, this sounds like a great idea and I hope it happens, but there was concern over the mandate for such a proposal. It was mentioned that if it was an idea that 10-20% of the membership was interested in pursuing, they would be enthusiastic about making that happen. You can contact your Board representative and let them know what you think.

We moved on, discussing the status of the Strategic Plan that the Board adopted last year. A full report is due out in the next two weeks, but Henry Thorne mentioned that 90% of the Year 1 objectives were met. I think this is an astounding update, and is made even more so by the fact that most, if not all, of that work was done exclusively between July and December, as the UPA was working on hiring staff in the first half of 2008. I applaud their work and look forward to seeing exactly what was accomplished in the upcoming report.

Pivoting from what had been already accomplished to what is planned on being accomplished, we had an interesting discussion about what the future priorities of the Strategic Plan are and what the possibilities for releasing a timeline are. Up to this point, the UPA has been hesitant to set member expectations then be unable to meet them. I told the Board that I thought it was unfair to accept that they release a plan with 47 tactics and that they would all be completed by 2012 and leave it at that. Without any sort of expectations for what is being planned or worked on currently, it can look like nothing is happening. Which is in fact untrue, but that can be the perception.

We debated how far off into the future and to the extent of which a report would outline the upcoming actions on the Strategic Plan. Melanie Byrd, Membership and Outreach Manager, suggested that along with publishing a yearly report on the preceding year that the UPA produce a document outlining the following year’s goals. I think this is an excellent idea, one that I hope is adopted soon. We’ll have to wait and see though.

Our attention shifted to the College Restructuring Plan. I asked about the immediate changes for the 2009 Series, and the Board informed me that they would be issuing a press release in two days (not yet published as of press-time) outlining the 2009 changes. Peri also mentioned that over the next few months the UPA would be making announcements regarding the more long term changes to the College Series.

Our final topic of discussion concerned the Club strength bid rules and if anything had been acted upon or changed since last October. The Board informed me that nothing had and that nothing likely would unless there was a feasible solution that could be acted upon quickly. The plans for Club Series reform are further down the road and this issue will surely be addressed then, but if anyone had an idea or solution that could be implemented within the existing framework, then the UPA would be able to act immediately.

So if anyone has a solution to offer for the way regions with three teams and strength bids are dealt with, they should contact Championship Director Will Deaver. You can find out more about the issue in a report the Competition Committee published earlier this month.

The entire Board was gracious and receptive. They made note that they are enacting policies for Board Members to communicate directly with their constituents more, but encouraged members to directly contact them with any questions or comments they had.

If I’m still in the area, or if I have the means to make it back, I’ll surely be at 2010’s Member’s Meeting. It was a tremendous opportunity to meet these people who have volunteered their time and dedicated their efforts to ensure Ultimate is on the right track. I think it is important that the membership be more active and more vocal about their needs and desires, because without our opinions and ideas they have little to work from. After all, it is the Ultimate Players Association.

In the next weeks we can look forward to reports on the Strategic Plan and College Restructuring, as well as the minutes of the weekend’s meetings. Also of note, along with Peri Kurshan assuming the Presidency of the Board, David Lionetti is the new Vice President, Seth Grossinger is the new Treasurer, and Joshua Seamon is the new Secretary.

· The New York Times does a story on the current state of things at Columbia High School, the birthplace of Ultimate.

· ABC News has the usual rundown from Joel Silver on his involvement with the sport.

· Matt Mackey: If you haven’t strolled past his blog yet, go ahead take a gander.

· Greg Husak reflects on Jam’s victory at this year’s Club Championships.

· Flickr: Ultimate in HDR, from Matt Benson.

Recently I bought a Kodak Zi6 pocket video camera. My intentions are to take it with me to Sarasota and grab a couple of action shots and maybe a few interviews.

I took it with me to Southwest Regionals in Denver a few weeks ago. During the Bravo/Condors Final I took this video of the Condors’ Danny Karlinksky throwing a I/O forehand huck which is intercepted by Bravo’s Andrew Mangan (not Clark Bishop as previously reported. Sorry Clark).

Sorry Danny, don’t mean to pick on you.