Championship Series Info
The UPA College Championship Series, which began in 1984, is undoubtedly the largest and most prestigious collegiate Ultimate tournament series in the world. Participation in the series has grown exponentially over years, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. Today, over 250 open and 120 women's teams compete in the UPA College Series, hoping to eventually take home the title of UPA College Champions. The entire series takes place in the spring over the course of approximately six weeks.
The UPA's college division is comprised of eight geographic regions: New England, Metro East, Atlantic Coast, South, Great Lakes, Central, Southwest and Northwest. Any college team meeting the eligibility requirements may participate in their sectional tournament. The top teams at sectionals then qualify to participate in their regional championship. A maximum of 16 teams from each division may compete at each regional championship. The top finishers at regionals (depending on wildcard allocation) qualify to compete at the UPA College Championships (known informally as nationals), a three-day tournament that is held around Memorial Day weekend each year. Sixteen open and 16 women's team participate in the championships with at least one team representing each region.
Over 600 of the top college Ultimate players participated in the 2003 College Championships in Austin, TX. Teams from University of Wisconsin-Madison and Stanford were named open and women's division champions respectively. Each year, thousands of family, friends and fans attend the tournament in support of the athletes, the teams and the sport in general. All series events are free and open to the public.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many players participate in the series? In the championships?
A: Last year, over 6,000 college students participated in the college series with about 600 going on to the championships in Austin, TX.
The number of participants in the championships remains fairly consistent from year to year (due to the limit of 16 open and 16 women's teams),
however the overall number of participants in the series is expected to grow each year.
Q: How has the college series grown over the last few years?
A: The open division grew 35% from 1999-2002 while the women's division grew 30% during the same time period.
Q: What is the open division? Why isn't it called the men's division?
A: While open teams almost always consist of men only, women are allowed to compete in this division,
thus making it "open" to both men and women.
Q: When did the women's division begin?
A: 1987
Q: What's a wildcard and how do you determine who gets them?
A: The UPA provides each of the eight geographic regions with one bid to the championships. The remaining eight bids are allocated through
a wildcard system. There are two types of wildcards: strength and size. Strength wildcard allocation is based on the performance of each
region in the previous yearŐs championships. Size wildcards are determined by the number of teams that participate in each region during
the current year.
Q: How is the championship tournament structured?
A: Teams are seeded and placed into four pools of four teams each. Each team plays the others in its pool on day one. Following pool play,
the bottom team from each pool is eliminated. The remaining teams are reseeded for the single-elimination brackets. Day two consists of
single-elimination rounds in which the 12 remaining teams compete for one of two spots in the finals. The finals are held on day three.
Q: How are teams seeded?
A: Seedings are determined by sectional and regional coordinators with the approval of the national college director and the championship
director. They are based on input from the captains of participating teams, results of head-to-head match ups prior to the series, and other
applicable information. No team that finishes ahead of another team at sectionals may be seeded behind that team at regionals, and no team
that finishes ahead of another team at regionals may be seeded behind that team at the championships.
Q: What awards are given out at the championships? How do you determine who receives them?
A: The open and women's division champions and runners up each receive a team trophy as well as individual medals. One team from each
division is awarded a team Spirit of the Game™ award for sportsmanship, which is determined based on peer ratings from participating teams.
Additionally, each team selects one player from their own team to receive an individual Spirit of the Game™ award. The Callahan award
winners are announced on the night before the finals. One open player and one women's player receive this coveted award each year.
Q: How are sites chosen for the championships? How far in advance are they selected? Can I put in a bid?
A: Headquarters begins accepting bids for the site of the college championships almost two years before the event. The UPA looks at a
number of factors when determining where the championships will be held; these include: quality of the fields, proximity to a major
airport and medical services, local accommodations, weather, and the strength of the local organizing committee. A host site will be
selected one year before the series begins.
Q: How do I volunteer for the college series?
A: The UPA relies on hundreds of volunteers to pull off a successful series each year, and we can always use more help from energetic and
dedicated individuals! Volunteers help in a variety of areas: scorekeeping and reporting, observing, set up and clean up, concessions,
etc. Please contact tournament director Ray Birks if you're interested in helping out with the championships in Seattle, or contact your
Sectional or Regional coordinator if you're interested in volunteering for any other series event.
Q: Who sponsors the college series? Where do I get more information about becoming a UPA sponsor?
A: The UPA works with a number of local and national sponsors each year, including Discraft and VC Ultimate. For more information about
becoming a UPA sponsor, please contact Executive Director Sandie Hammerly at ed@upa.org.
VOLUNTEER!
The tournament can't run without your help. Learn more about how you can participate in the Championships.