2008 STATE YOUTH COORDINATOR PACKET
Intro and Thanks
Basic Coordinator Info
Pre-Season Tasks/Info
HS Championship Tasks
Checklists (Pre-, During-, and Post-Tournament Summary)
Thanks and Good Luck!
First off, THANK YOU for volunteering to help run a UPA sponsored High School State Championship this year and for all you do as a UPA State Youth Coordinator! This truly could not happen without you. Because of your help, the UPA Youth program will grow to be the largest network of youth events in the ultimate world. Please read through this guide to find all the info you'll need to do a great job. Have a great season!
Youth Program Organizations Structure
The organization of the UPA Youth Program is as follows:
- The High School State Championships take place in the spring and consists of up to 3 Divisions (Open, Women, and Mixed).
- The UPA High School Eastern Championships and UPA High School Western Championships take place in May and each consists of 2 Divisions (Open and Women)
- Teams that participate in their state’s UPA sanctioned or sponsored High School Championship are eligible to apply to the following years HS Easterns and Westerns.
- The Youth Club Championships are held in August of each year and consists of 3 Divisions (Open, Women and Mixed). Teams are selected based on applications from leagues.
- UPA Sanctioned Youth Leagues that occur between the fall of 2007 and the summer of 2008 will be eligible to submit applications to compete in the 2008 Youth Club Championships which will be held in August 2008.
- The Director of Youth Development oversees all aspects of the UPA Youth Program, which consists of the HS State Championships, the UPA HS Easterns and Westerns, UPA Youth Leagues, and the UPA Youth Club Championships. The Youth Director position is a full-time, paid UPA staff position located at UPA Headquarters in Colorado.
- Each state that is deemed eligible will have a volunteer State Youth Coordinator
- There are currently no intermediary administrators and State Youth Coordinators will report directly to the Director of Youth Development.
In order to function effectively and efficiently it is important that we have a communication network. Coordinators play an essential role in this network. When working perfectly the system looks like this:
Players
---->
Captains/League Organizers ---->
State Youth Coordinators (SYC) ---->
Director of Youth Development (DYD)
The system works the other way for disseminating information. Please try to stick with the communication structure. If you have a question or new information, go to the next person in the chain. It will help everyone be able to manage their time more effectively and help make sure all the right people are in the loop. If you feel like the structure is breaking down at some point, please contact the next person in the chain and let them know.
The UPA has an "alias" email system, which will be relied upon heavily for communication with you as a coordinator. The system allows us to publish a UPA-specific email address that will forward email directly to whichever personal email address you wish to use.
Your email alias is listed by state on the UPA website, at a link called "Contacts" under the "UPA" menu. Write your Youth Development Director to make sure the alias is forwarding messages to your current email account. People call us all day asking who you are and when your events are taking place. It is very important that you keep HQ informed of any changes to your contact info (email, mailing address, phone).
Please go to www.upa.org/members and use the online membership tool to make sure we have your current address in the database. We want to be able to get in touch with you when we are sending out membership information and gifts for our volunteers.
Volunteer Contact InfoYou can find other volunteer coordinator email addresses at the
Contacts page on the UPA website.
UPA Headquarters Contact Info
Director of Youth Development
Meredith Tosta
meredith@hq.upa.org800-872-4384 x115
Ultimate Players Association
4730 Table Mesa Dr.
Suite J-200
Boulder, CO 80305
There are just a few things you need to focus on through the Summer/Fall months. Below is a checklist with those items. Following the checklist there is more detailed information about each item.
- Sign and return the 2008 State High School Contract (NEW!). This contract outlines the responsibilities of both the SYC and the UPA in running a State Championship event. The Youth Director will contact you with a copy of the contract in the fall.
- Contact teams in your state (Completion Date: Ongoing. Start Immediately)
- Set State Championship Date and Location (Completion Date 1/31/07)
- Read Rostering Instructions (as soon as you are on the job and they are available)
You will serve as the UPA's primary means of communication to and from teams who wish to participate in the State Tournaments. This is one of the most important jobs in the organization. You will be the first, and for many the only, face that teams will associate with the UPA. Please be very responsible for communicating information about the Youth Programs to teams in a thorough and timely manner. Along with setting a tournament site and date, contacting teams in your state will be your first responsibility as an SYC.
We currently do not have a complete list of youth teams, and your work as a part of the SYC program will be critical to the establishment of such a list. This list will be a starting point for contacting teams that might want to participate. Although team contacts often change, usually the previous year's contact will be able to point you in the right direction. Be sure to ask these contacts about other teams in the section. Use RSD, the Score Reporter on the UPA website, the UPA teams list on the UPA website, and other methods to find more teams interested in participating. Setting up a yahoo group for teams and players in your state to join and communicate through is a very valuable resource.
State Championships Fees and Trophies
In order to host a UPA State Tournament, each State must sign the state Championships contract and pay a fee of $150/division. The Contract and Fee are due at headquarters by January 31st. Part of this fee will go toward trophies for 1st, 2nd, and Spirit Award winners in each division.
Tournament Dates and Locations
- HS State Championships should be held during any available weekend between April 26th and June 14th
- Possible dates for State Championships are April 26-27, May 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, 30-June 1 and June 7-8, 14-15
- All State Championships should have scheduled dates by January 31st and locations by March 15th
- The 2008 UPA HS Easterns and Westerns will be held on the weekends of May 10-11th and May 17-18th.
Please email the DYD with information about your tournament dates and location. She will pass this information along so that it gets posted on the UPA HS State Championship page. It is very important that you keep everyone informed of any changes to your event dates/locations. The more we can get on the web, the easier it is for everyone. If you have a web page for your tournament, let the DYD know that too so we can make a link
Site Selection Guidelines
- Solicit bids from as many potential tournament hosts as you can, and choose the one you think will provide the best tournament. Contact teams or leagues in your state, post on RSD, or get in touch with schools or local government organizations who host sports events. Be sure to communicate what you need from the site (see Tournament Hosting, below) and take into account potential weather issues before choosing a site and date.
- If you have more than one great site to choose from, you may want to consider the past location of the tournament and consider choosing a site that equalizes travel time/expense from year to year.
- You may hold the tournaments divisions in separate locations or the same location. It doesn't matter.
- Try to take into consideration conflicts that might affect participation including the UPA HS Championships, AP Exams, SAT dates, graduations, proms, holidays, exams, or other school functions. Touch base with team captains to see if there are issues and try to work around as many as possible. However, realize that you can’t please everyone and ultimately it is up to the teams whether they choose to participate or do something else.
- See the section below on Tournament Hosting/Event Logistics for more information on selecting a tournament site.
(Logistical Guidelines and Requirements)
Organization
You are in charge (within UPA guidelines) of all aspects of competition, site selection, date selection, logistics, communication with your teams, captains' meeting, format/schedule, field setup, etc. However, this does not mean you should do all the work - in fact, you should not! Get help, you will need it and you deserve it. You should attempt to find a Tournament Director to be in charge of the site setup and tournament logistics. You may even solicit bids from various sites in your state and choose the one you think will provide the best tournament. If you have a TD handling fields/facilities, remember, you are still in charge of making sure all competition aspects are within UPA standards - it is your responsibility to make sure games are on time, played to the correct points, capped well before dark, etc. (
Sunset Times)
Finances
o You and/or your tournament director are in charge of figuring out what to charge the teams for your tournament.
o You should expect to at least break even with your event, including all peripheral costs associated with running the tournament, like mailing documents to HQ and arranging for an emergency medical plan. Try to keep the tournament affordable so that even new teams will not be discouraged from participating. And don't abuse your UPA position or the Youth Program by overcharging teams. At the same time, don't cut corners at the expense of providing the participants a satisfying experience. Remember that teams and players will be happy to pay for a quality event. If they get their money's worth in terms of amenities and organization, they are going to be happy to pay a reasonable fee for a quality weekend of Ultimate. $10-15 / person is a great deal for a weekend of organized ultimate. Don't let them tell you otherwise!
o Keep in mind that in addition to the costs of running the tournament, you will also need to recover the $150 sponsorship fee per division that is paid to the UPA in January, and this should be included in the costs of the event. It is helpful to keep a budget of year to year expenses so that you know what to expect.
Pre-Tournanment Payment Deadline
(Note: This is different than UPA roster deadlines)
SYCs and Tournament Directors may impose a deadline by which teams must decide whether they will attend the tournament. This deadline may be associated with submission of a tournament entry fee, as determined by the coordinator and TD. Tournament Directors may keep entry fees from teams that pull out of the tournament beyond a certain date, provided that date and the fee are reasonable, were approved by the event's SYC, and were communicated by the TD or SYC to the teams ahead of time. A $50 late fee may be implemented for teams that are not registered by the early deadline (Friday two weeks prior to the state championship). This fee can be waived at the discretion of the State Youth Coordinator.
Any deadline imposed by a SYC or tournament director, that would restrict access to the tournament for teams that would otherwise be considered eligible, must be approved by the Director Youth Development.
Contracts
Please remember that although you are a valued UPA volunteer, you are not an officer or director of the UPA and therefore have no authority to bind the UPA in a corporate or other capacity. Therefore, when you execute contracts or agreements with site owners, vendors, and other parties providing services for your tournament, these must be executed in your individual capacity and not on behalf of the UPA.
This is why it is usually desirable to find a host organization who can sign contracts on behalf of the event.
UPA Insurance
As a UPA coordinator running a UPA event, you and field site are covered by default by the UPA's general liability insurance policy. Please read over the
policy description so that you know what is covered and what is not. If you need proof of general liability insurance to reserve fields or need any other organizers specifically covered, please email Meredith Tosta at UPA HQ
at least 2 weeks before your event to get a Insurance Request form.
Amenities (required and recommended)
- Your tournament is required to provide, at a minimum, safe athletic fields, a medical plan, and access to water and restrooms, along with good organization.
- Other primary considerations should include lined fields, food, shelter, programs, and discs (available at discount through UPA HQ)
- Quality is the key, so you should do your best to hold an event that participants will enjoy and want to attend again in the future. You know what makes a good tournament.
Required:
- Fields
- Medical requirements met
- Access to water
- Access to restroom facilities
Encouraged, but not required: (in order of priority)
- Lined fields
- Shelter
- Food (bagels, oranges, etc) for participants
- Tournament programs
- Other elements that add quality to the event
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Medical Plan
It is required that you have a medical plan in place for your Event as outlined below. Note for returning coordinators: the requirements are different than in previous years. For smaller events, this should save $$ by not requiring an EMT on site.
Events with fewer than 8 fields and <10 minute response time for emergency services:
- One adult with Red Cross first aid certification assigned to every four fields
- Each with cell phone with emergency number's programmed
- Provide captains with phone number and directions to the nearest hospital printed on the program or information sheet
- Notify Emergency Medical Services of event including location and times
- Incident report forms on hand
- Medical release forms for minors on site with chaperones
Events with 8 or more fields or >10 minute response time for emergency services:
- Certified EMT or more highly qualified medical staff person on duty at fields
- Provide captains with phone number and directions to the nearest hospital printed on the program or information sheet
- Notify Emergency Medical Services of event including location and times
- Incident report forms on hand
- Completed Medical release forms for minors on site with chaperone.
Discounted Merchandise
All UPA HS State Championship events are eligible for up to 100 UPA HS State Championship discs at $4/disc. Additional discs may be made available depending on demand. Contact the DYD about the State Championship disc program. You may do whatever you want with them…sell them at the tournament to supplement the budget, use them as prizes or game discs, or just give them away. It's a good opportunity, and it's up to you. An email will be sent out in February to assess demand for these discs.
All UPA HS State Championship events will receive a 1st, 2nd and Spirit Award trophy, for each division as a part of their sponsorship fee. The trophy plagues will be customized for each specific state and division.
Weather Issues
You should always be aware of and ready for the impact that bad weather might have on your event. Does your area consistently have bad weather around the time of your event? Will the fields be available if it rains/snows a lot? What will you do if the weather looks bad enough to cancel your event? How do you handle inclement weather that comes during the event? Following are some tips and important safety information regarding weather and your event.
Scheduling
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If your area consistently has bad weather that might cause you to cancel or postpone your event, it is very important that you do not schedule your event on the last possible weekend. Choose an earlier weekend so that the following weekend can be used as a backup.
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Talk to local field providers about a backup site, either for the same weekend or the following weekend. See what your options are and have a backup plan thought out before the last minute.
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Be sure to communicate about weather with your teams. Set a deadline for when you will let them know that the tournament is on or off. Keep in mind travel distances/times to your event when setting that deadline. Be sure to communicate your backup plan to team captains early so they can rearrange their schedules if necessary.
- If weather forces you to delay your event after it has started (see Lightning Guidelines below), be ready to shorten rounds if needed or extend the day slightly. Be sure to communicate any schedule chages to all captains. State championship formats are very specific, so don't depart from the UPA approved formats manual without consulting with the DYD. If you don't think you'll be able to complete the tournament format that weekend, be sure to get in touch with the DYD.
Lightning Guidelines
Lightning can be a significant threat to the safety of participants in outdoor athletic events like Ultimate. The odds of being struck by lightning are significantly reduced when proper safety precautions are taken. This link contains procedural guidelines that should be followed by UPA coordinators at their event in order to reduce the likelihood of lightning related injuries.
Different areas of the country experience a variety of weather conditions. The lightning guidelines are safety precautions meant to apply generally to all outdoor venues. If you believe these guidelines are not applicable to the area of the country where your event will be held, you must inform the UPA Director of Youth Development, supply an alternative, documented set of guidelines, and receive approval to use those standards instead of (or in addition to) the
UPA Lightning Guidelines.
This section covers how a state youth coordinator handles UPA administrative, competition, and conduct issues related to the HS Championships. The season is almost under way, and with it the excitement is building. Read on to find out about the pivotal part you get to play in making the UPA Youth Development program the strongest such program in the world.
Administrative Guidelines
You need to be familiar with, communicate, and help enforce roster deadlines. These deadlines are helping the UPA become a more effective organization and should make your job the morning of the tournament much easier by reducing the paperwork you have to deal with. Please refer to the
Youth Competition Guidelines for more details on the deadlines and other player and team requirements.
Online Rostering
Please review the online rostering section of the
Rostering 101 instructions for details on the new online rostering system. The system will allow you to check team and player registration status via the website prior to your event.
For detailed information about using the online rostering system as a coordinator, team organizer, and player, go to the
Online Rostering Help Documentation. As an event coordinator, you should login to the UPA website using your online account and password (call HQ or email
info@upa.org if you have questions). This will give you access to coordinator privileges for your event, which will allow you to check player and team status for teams registered for your event.
You will no longer be getting roster reports emailed to you from UPA HQ. Instead you will need to go online the Thursday or Friday before your event and check the status of players and teams. Use that information to figure out what is missing and what needs to be collected at your event (see What to Collect at the State HS Championships).
If you have questions about the system that you can't find the answer to in the Help Documentation, check out the Online Rostering Forum , or email online-roster-help@upa.org .
Important Documents
The following documents will be of use to you and the teams. (The
forms are all available online.) Please be familiar with all of these documents and be able to tell teams and players where to find them.
HS State Championship Roster
Waiver (good for adults and minors!)
Chaperone's Waiver
Medical Authorization Form
Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to read the PDF files (roster, registrar instructions, waivers). You may need to assist teams in getting Acrobat.
The Rostering 101 document is a useful guide for teams who need step-by-step directions for rostering manually or via the online system.
What to Collect at the HS State Championships
Many teams will have turned in complete rosters, waivers and dues directly to HQ or via the online rostering system and will be done with paperwork by the time they get to the HS State Championships. This will help both you and them concentrate on the fun, competitive aspects of the tournament. Immediately after the late pre-registration deadline (Wednesday before your state championship) you should access the online rostering system to get information about the teams registered for your event, including which rosters have been certified by HQ, who is on each team, whether they are eligible to play, whether they are current members, and whether they have a valid waiver on file.
New rosters and roster additions MAY be turned in at the tournament. However, your job will be much easier if you get teams to turn in their paperwork prior to pre-registration deadline.
Ideally, everyone will take care of this stuff before the roster deadline, but realistically we know that you will need to collect some or all of the following items at HS State Championships before players are allowed to play:
- HS State Championship Rosters
- Individual waiver/release form signed by the player and dated.
Minor waivers (for under 18 year old players) must also be signed by a guardian. (The adult and minor waivers have been combined into one form.) Note that it might be impossible for a minor to sign a waiver at the event without a guardian present. In this case, the minor should not be permitted to play. A copy of the chaperone form must be included with the roster. The medical release form is the responsibility of the chaperone; it must be brought to each Series event and kept on hand by the chaperone. This form will allow medical pesonnel to treat an injured minor without a parent/guardian having to be present. (Without this form a doctor might not treat an injured minor.).
- Dues for all players who are not current UPA members. Checks should be made out to the UPA.
- $50 late fee for teams that are not registered by the early deadline (Friday two weeks prior to the state championship). This fee can be waived at the discretion of the State Youth Coordinator.
Remember these helpful hints:
Schedule a “Registration Time” into the morning of your tournament. Have it lead into the captain’s meeting and require all teams to check in with you during registration. This helps you determine if any teams are missing and gives you a set time to handle administrative issues. You should probably schedule at least 30 minutes for this, or longer if you have a lot of teams with problems. If you can get a volunteer or two to help with this, it will make life much easier. You should be able to print out all the teams’ rosters and a list of issues to deal with, so you can have all of the “problems” right at your fingertips. And be sure captains understand ahead of time that any player who hasn’t paid dues or submitted a waiver is ineligible to play until they have done so.
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All teams matter (not just the established ones)!!! The players are UPA members and those players expect newsletters, a membership card, etc., so get everyone's complete information.
Checking UPA Memberships and Waiver
Any player that is not indicated on the roster report as being a current UPA member must pay dues before playing or prove they are current with one of the following. This includes all players on rosters being submitted the day of the tournament!:
- current UPA ID card
- printout of their online account status showing they are current
- printout of the PayPal online screen showing they have paid
- printout of their email receipt showing they have paid
If a player can't prove via the roster report or one of the above methods, s/he must pay dues. We will issue refunds if necessary. Have the player contact HQ after the event.
Note that only the roster report and printout of the online account information will indicate whether a waiver is on file. If a player cannot prove they have a waiver through either of these methods, they will need to fill out another.
What to mail to HQ
You will need to send all information that you do collect at the tournament to HQ the day after your tournament. (This means MONDAY!) Tournament fees should be used to cover costs of mailing post-tournament information. Any problems with players' status after the event will be dealt with primarily by HQ, but you may be asked to help track down teams or players.
Reporting Results
The UPA Score Reporter is a great online event/score reporting tool. It’s a multi-purpose tool that can be used to communicate pre-event info, set up your event format and schedule, report game scores, and post event write-ups after your tournament is over. It’s also tied directly into the UPA Ranking system, so you don’t have to enter scores anywhere twice. If you have a tournament web site, you can link directly to your UPA Series event on the Score Reporter instead of creating a separate schedule for teams. You can even print out formats and schedules. (Many thanks to Rodney Jacobson for developing this tool and helping integrate it into the UPA system!)
You will need to set up your event on the Score Reporter before your tournament. And you will need to report your scores by the Monday immediately following your event. Once you get the event set up in the reporting tool, entering game scores is easy. You will also need to provide a Final Rankings list, and if you want, you can add a write-up for the fans!
Competition Guidelines
You are responsible for knowing and communicating UPA competition guidelines for your Event. Much of this information is available in the Youth Competition Guidelines. Additional information and clarification on competition issues can be found in the following sections.
State Crossovers and Boundary Issues
States are defined by state boundaries except where exception have been granted.
- Teams may participate in another state's championship as long as all in-state teams that meet the SYC's deadlines are permitted to play
- There must be a minimum of two teams in a state in order to hold a State Championship event. If there is only one team in a state, that team should discuss options with the Director of Youth Development.
- The Director of Youth Development must approve any state split or combination.
- If a state is allowed to split, each sub-state will be treated as its own state when allocating bids to HS Easterns and HS Westerns.
Division II
Refer to the Youth Competition Guidelines for more competition details on Division II events.
Why would you want to consider holding a Division II State Championship in addition to or in conjunction with your Div I State Championship?
- Do you anticipate too many teams for the available fields and/or format?
- Are there wide competitive/skill-level differences between groups of teams in your section?
- Do teams in your state have distinctly different goals, in terms of competition, etc.?
How should you go about holding a Div II tournament?
- Consider Div II early in the season when communicating with teams IF:
- There has been a history of Div II in your state
- There has been interest or discussion about Div II in your section
- You anticipate any of the issues in the “Why hold Div II?” section above
- Provide CLEAR communication with teams about the differences between Div I and II
- See Youth Competition Guidelines
- Remind them that it is optional
- When setting up the event(s), try to integrate Div I and II to enhance the spirit of the event and to foster development of the sport and a greater sense of the Ultimate community. (In other words, even through they aren’t playing the Div I teams, don’t stick them off in a cow pasture with no water.)
Formats
The Director of Youth Development must approve State Championship formats that depart from the Approved Formats in the Champ Series Tournament Formats Manual (PDF). This is partly to make sure an approved format is used, and partly to protect coordinators from accusations of, or the appearance of, bias. The formats in the manual are well laid out and thought out. All you have to do is fill in the blanks. If you wish to use a format not in the manual, you must get approval from the Director of Youth Development at least 10 days before the tournament.
Placement games must be scheduled for teams that are eliminated from contention for the State Championship.
Capping Games
Game caps may be implemented by the Event Organizer (UPA coordinator) in accordance with the 11th Edition Rules, based on tournament logistical requirements. Here are some guidelines for how to implement game caps at your event.
- Pre-competition communication
- Use and communicate cap definitions available in the 11th Edition Rules
- Clarify definition and communication process at captain’s meeting
- If possible, print cap definition and process in program, website, or other written materials
- Clarify who is going to be in charge of announcing the caps (may be coordinator, TD, other). Make sure everyone understands that person or people are the only ones who can implement the cap.
- Clarify how the cap is going to be communicated (horn, PA, verbal, etc.).
- Communicating caps for competition
- Someone once said all you need is a schedule, a watch, and a horn. That’s pretty much right on.
- You should be able to communicate the cap to all relevant parties simultaneously.
- Timeout clarification for caps
- According to the 11th Edition Rules—timeouts are not affected by the cap
- Event Organizers clause in the 11th allows for variations on rules like timeouts and caps
- Any changes to the 11th Edition regarding timeouts after cap must be communicated to teams before the start of competition
Bid Allocation to HS Easterns and Westerns
Refer to the Youth Competition Guidelines for this information.
Seeding
Seeding for the State Championships should be done by the coordinator using the following information: input solicited from all the captains of participating teams, results of head to head match-ups prior to the championships, results of last year’s championships, and other applicable information such as team composition during or prior to the Series. (Team captain input may be in the form of a vote, ranking, or general discussion. Voting is a fair method and if utilized should be adhered to, except where there is obvious strategic maneuvering taking place or a contradiction to obvious differences in strength. The coordinator has the authority to adjust rankings according to the best information available.)
Forfeit Rule
Please refer to the forfeit rule in the Youth Competition Guidelines. There are three primary reasons for this rule. One is to reduce the likelihood of competitive advantages being gained or lost due to teams not playing scheduled games. Second is to reduce the likelihood of a team backing out of a game when the opponent wants to play. Third is to encourage more Ultimate within the UPA Youth Development championship structure, which creates excitement and further enhances the legitimacy of the competition.
You will be the person responsible for communicating and enforcing these rules at the event, and the person who may grant exceptions in cases where you feel a team's actions were beyond their control. Please keep in mind the ramifications of any forfeits in the context of the reasons listed above. Encourage teams to play all scheduled games. Keep in mind that you do have the leeway to allow forfeits if the competition is not adversely affected and if you feel that circumstances are beyond the control of the forfeiting team. This is most likely to happen early in the tournament due to travel difficulties, or late in the tournament during placement games. Use your best judgment and be prepared to defend your decision to the Director of Youth Development.
Suspended Games
If a game has to be suspended because of weather, lack of light, or other issues, use the following guidelines for resuming play at a later time.
- Communicate clearly to the captains of both teams, as early as possible, that the game is going to be suspended.
- Communicate clearly to the captains of both teams, as early as possible, when and where the game is to be resumed. Take the captains’ input into consideration when rescheduling the game.
- Treat the suspended game as if it is an official “timeout”—
- Same players are on the field.
- Players may reset position on the field.
- Disc should be in same place as when game was suspended.
- Players who were on the field that are unable to participate in the make-up game should be treated as injury subs, with the other team getting a matched number of substitutes.
- Coordinators should try to replicate field conditions (e.g., wind advantage) as much as is possible and practial before restarting play.
Official Rules
Refer to the Rules section in the Youth Competition Guidelines.
Observers
Refer to the Observers and Rules Sections in the Youth Competition Guidelines. If teams want observers they must give you adequate advance notice (2 weeks). You should contact the Director of Youth Development for more information about how to use the UPA Observers Program to help you find qualified observers for your event.
Tie-Break Guidelines
These are available in the Champ Series Tournament Formats Manual (PDF) under the section titled Basic Theories of Tournament Scheduling.
Handling Issues and Incidents
You are the UPA authority at your event and as such have the responsibility for handling issues in a professional manner consistent with UPA policy. These guidelines should help you achieve positive resolutions to problems that may come you way and will help the UPA continue to be a responsible and responsive organization.
Administrative Issues
If a team or player is guilty of a roster violation (e.g., participation of ineligible players, roster fraud, etc.), that player and/or team may be disqualified at the discretion of the event's UPA coordinator. The coordinator, team, or player should take appeals for further action in these circumstances to the Director of Youth Development. Prior to disqualifying a player or team, it would be advisable to contact the next coordinator up the chain to get additional input.
(The word "may" is used here instead of "must" to give leeway, in the event that a player or team is unaware that they are breaking the rules. Note: This does not mean ignorant of the rule. That is not an excuse. Rather it means that perhaps the captain was genuinely unaware that one of their players was ineligible, although that should be made clear through the rostering process. In such a case, it may be appropriate to disqualify only a player rather than a full team. In some cases, no leniency should be given and the team should be disqualified from the competition.)
Conduct Issues
You should read and be familiar with the
Conduct Policy of the UPA and the
Code of Conduct expected for UPA events. As your event’s UPA Coordinator, you are an Acting Disciplinary Authority for your event. This role is defined in the Conduct Policy and is summarized below.
The Acting Disciplinary Authority may be a tournament director, a Tournament Rules Group ("TRG"), a certified Observer, a Sectional or Regional Coordinator, a National Director, a member of Administration performing his/her duties in some specific capacity, an officer or agent of the UPA, or some other UPA-appointed individual or group. An Acting Disciplinary Authority may, as necessary, impose sanctions or penalties for violations of the
Code of Conduct. For example, a tournament director has the authority to eject a violent player from a tournament. More than one Acting Disciplinary Authority may have jurisdiction over an event. If there is more than one Acting Disciplinary Authority, it is advisable to form a Tournament Rules Group comprised of those individuals and possibly including a player representative.
An Acting Disciplinary Authority may impose sanctions as necessary to run the event in accordance with UPA policies. Such sanctions may include, but are not limited to, ejection of a team or player from a game or tournament or assessment of points against a team.
Accident and Injury Reporting
All UPA State Championship events are covered by the UPA's general liability insurance policy. This covers the organization and you as a UPA coordinator. You must print out several copies of the Incident Report Form and Instructions and bring them to the tournament.
Please read the instruction sheet so that you will know what to do in case of "an event that has or may result in property damage or traumatically induced bodily injury". In layman's terms, this is what you do if there's a chance someone could file an insurance claim because the fields or other property is damaged, or because someone gets hurt on or off the field. You will need to report the incident directly to the insurance company, as outlined in the instructions. Please mail a copy of any incident reports to UPA HQ as well. (You can include them with the other materials you mail to HQ.)
Checklists
Pre-Season responsibilities
Pre-tournament responsibilities
- Read online coordinator packet regarding administrative, competition, and incident issues.
- Inform teams of the roster deadlines and other Youth Development Program Guidelines.
- Set up the tournament. Find a tournament director to run the logistics of the event. You will still be responsible for all of the UPA/competition related issues (formats, teams, etc.), but finding someone else to deal with water, food, and tournament logistics will generally make everyone's experience better.
- Find observers (if needed/required). Contact the Director of Youth Development about this.
- Format – Based on the number of teams attending and UPA guidelines determine a format for the tournament and communicate the format to the teams.
- Seeding – Based on UPA seeding guidelines, get input from teams, determine seeding for the tournament and communicate seeding to teams.
- Send out a game schedule to attending teams and communicate schedule details including game caps.
- The week of the tournament check the UPA website for the status of players and teams at your event. You will need to review these rosters and note which players/teams owe additional dues and/or waivers.
- E-mail teams to let them know what they are missing and need to bring to the tournament.
- Make copies of all necessary documents including waivers, incident report forms, lightning guidelines, and tie-break guidelines.
Tournament Responsibilities
- You need to be at your tournament to deal with administrative and competition-related issues. If for some unanticipated reason you cannot be at your tournament please let HQ know at least two weeks ahead of time. Work out with them a back-up plan for taking care of tournament issues.
- Bring all necessary documents including waivers, incident report forms, lightning guidelines, copy of the 11th edition of the rules and tie-break guidelines.
- Collect additional waivers and dues from teams. DO NOT allow players to play until they have turned in their dues and waivers.
- Remind team captains that chaperones are responsible for minors and for having medical release forms on hand throughout the event.
- Form Tournament Rules Group (see Conduct Issues). This can actually be done on email before the event if desired, but should be done at the Captain's Meeting before the competition at the very latest.
- Keep records of ALL game scores for reporting.
- Enjoy the tournament!
After the tournament
- Report results to the UPA website via the Score Reporter, indicating teams that earned bids to Regionals.
- Send any roster materials that you have collected to HQ. Please budget this money into the tournament budget.
- Make sure everything in the envelope is labeled so we can tell what goes with what.
- Please DO NOT send cash. If you get cash, please deposit and write a check for that amount to the UPA (specifying what the money is for).
- Report any incidents to the appropriate UPA personnel, as outlined in your coordinator packet.
- Kick back and enjoy all the thanks that you're sure to receive for a job well done!
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THANKS AND GOOD LUCK!
Thanks again for volunteering for the UPA and the sport of Ultimate! The UPA Youth Development program couldn't happen without you. Good luck with the season. Please work with the Director of Youth Development to resolve any questions/issues with your event or teams.
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