How do we know whether to apply for Easterns or Westerns? The dividing line is the Mississippi River. If you live west of the Mississippi River, then you would apply for Westerns, if you live east, then you would apply for Easterns.
Why Easterns and Westerns instead of Nationals?
There are multiple reasons the UPA has made the decision to move to two regional championships instead of one national championship. First, a national championship for high school teams is very difficult for many teams to attend. As Ultimate makes its way into schools with fewer resources, we want our highest level of high school competition to be accessible to all schools. Easterns and Westerns will reduce travel expenses for many teams.
Second, due to site limitations we only have room for 16 open and 16 girls teams in a tournament. By replacing nationals with Easterns and Westerns we are adding an additional 16 open and 16 girls spots in UPA championship tournaments. By providing more opportunities we hope to encourage growth.
Third, the selection process for nationals is a difficult one. Since we cannot have qualifiers (see #2) we must rely on an application process. While it is difficult to choose the 16 most qualified teams from applications, it is the best process that is available to us. This process will only become more difficult as more teams apply. Easterns and Westerns will have this same process, however, the move to these regional tournaments is a step towards placing more emphasis on state tournaments and less on national level HS tournaments. The eventual goal is the removal of regional tournaments and a complete focus on state tournaments for high school teams when there is an adequate level of competition in states.
Why doesn’t the UPA have qualifiers for Easterns and Westerns?
The option of qualifiers for either Nationals or Easterns and Westerns was discussed thoroughly and found to be logistically impossible. In order for teams to make travel plans to the championship tournament the qualifying tournament would have to be held 4-6 weeks prior to the championship. Since most teams would not qualify for the championship the qualifying tournament would be the event that most teams look at as the peak of their season. From here we had two options.
First, we could keep the championship event in mid-late May and require the qualifiers to be held in early-mid April. Since there are many regions of the country that do not get on to the fields until the end of March or the beginning of April, holding the qualifiers only a couple of weeks into their season seemed unreasonable and unfair. For most teams in those regions it would effectively reduce their Ultimate season to four weeks or less.
Second, we could move the championship to mid June and require the qualifiers to be held in early-mid May. This would present difficulties for many teams including boarding schools, whose students return home for the summer, and teams with varsity status, whose schools do not permit them to compete after a specific date. In addition, most schools would be faced with the problem of players making other summer plans. Due to all of these issues it was determined that moving the championship date back to permit qualifiers would hurt many more teams than it would benefit.
Why are the State Championships tied to Easterns and Westerns?
The key to growing High School Ultimate is increasing the events at the local level. The UPA is a national organization with limited resources and is unable to travel around hosting state tournaments. What we can do is host national level tournaments and create incentives and a support structure for teams and their supporters to organize locally. State tournaments are a big step towards increasing legitimacy at the high school level. Even if only two or three teams attend, it allows one team to call itself the state champions, gives all the teams a goal for the next year, and sets a precedent for the event for future years.
Why does it matter whether a team attended last year’s State Championships?
At this point in the growth of Ultimate it is very possible for a team that did not exist in an organized fashion one year to be a very good team the following year. The UPA recognizes this, but wants to encourage growth in the sport. We believe this will be best achieved by rewarding teams that have shown consistent organization over multiple years.
We hope to encourage the team that just became organized this year to attend the state tournament this year so that next year they can put in an application for the regional championship tournament.
Why do the State Championships have to be UPA sanctioned?
To begin with, sanctioning is a great benefit not only to the UPA, but also to the players and the tournament organizers. Tournament organizers receive event insurance through the UPA as well as access to the forms that every youth participating in an event should fill out. Players receive the benefits of UPA membership including the UPA newsletter, access to other UPA sanctioned events, and other benefits.
The UPA is an organization dedicated to spreading Ultimate and the Spirit of the Game. In addition, the UPA has chosen to focus on growing the Youth/ High School division in the coming years. Our income is primarily from player dues. Being a youth member of the UPA is a way to support the work that the UPA has done and continues to do.
Lastly, while there is no direct connection between the state tournaments and the regional level tournaments, these events are part of the UPA Championship structure and comparable to our fall series sectionals. As part of the UPA Championship structure the events must be UPA sanctioned.
Why isn’t there a Central Championship?
The UPA recognizes the rapid growth in the mid-west. Currently there are not enough high school teams in the country to expand to three regional championships (Easterns, Westerns, and Centrals). Easterns and Westerns can certainly be held in central areas of the country. For example Easterns can be held in Minneapolis and Westerns can be held in Colorado. As soon as there are enough state tournaments and an adequate number of teams throughout the country we will add a UPA Central High School Championships.
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