GUIDELINES FOR THE COMPOSITION OF TEAMS PARTICIPATING IN THE 2007 UPA HIGH SCHOOL EASTERN AND WESTERN CHAMPIONSHIPS

In 2007 the UPA is continuing its planned transition of the original “Junior Championships” from a competition for youth club teams to one for teams comprised of students from single high schools. The rationale for this transition (published with previous versions of the guidelines) is included below the guidelines.

The guidelines proposed for the Girls Division transition have been changed from the initial plan. The administration believes that the Girls Division will be able to support a full field of single-school high school teams in 2007.  

Why the move towards school-based teams?

In many youth sports, such as youth soccer, there are school teams and club teams, and the two do not play in the same tournaments or divisions. Over time, club teams are usually much more powerful than single-school teams, because club teams generally have a broader talent base from which to select team members. Currently there are ultimate tournaments throughout the country, independent of the UPA Youth Division, which are open to club teams of all ages, including youth. The UPA High School Championships team guidelines will eventually create something different: the only UPA sponsored championship for youth in which single-school teams can compete exclusively with one another. While one motivation for this change is to level the playing field amongst youth teams at this particular tournament, the other, perhaps more important motivation is to encourage growth and recruiting within schools, where there is the structure and capacity to sustain greater long-term growth for the Youth Division.

This is a tough issue, especially given the developing state of youth ultimate and the current existence of both club and school-based teams. All of the input and suggestions on this issue have been and continue to be very useful and greatly appreciated. It is clear that ultimate is developing differently throughout the country. It is important to realize that there was no UPA sponsored Juniors (Youth) Division until 1998. Growing pains are to be expected in such a young division. It is very likely that some people will be negatively affected in the short run by these changes, but we believe these guidelines will address both the immediate and long-term concerns of most players, coaches, and the UPA.

Making this change over several years should allow teams time to prepare for the future through planning and recruiting. The plan for the Girls Division is more gradual because that division has not developed to the same level as the Open Division. This change is consistent with those made for the College Division years ago, when college "club"' teams were phased out for the UPA College Series.

Addendum: Since the drafting of this plan, based on the above rationale, the UPA has invested heavily in expanding its programs for the development of Youth Ultimate. This expansion has included the addition of a full-time Youth Development Director (2002), UPA high school state championships (2003), UPA youth leagues (2004), another high school championship (2005), and a youth club championship (2005) for youth club teams.