Skyd is excited to present a new initiative from Colonial Development Conference coordinator and ultimate organizer Mike Malloy, who has developed two documents to encourage college teams to contact each other and share their schedule for the 2013 college ultimate season. Data shared in these documents will not only allow teams to align to create strength bids for their regions, but also provide interesting analysis opportunities as teams shed light on exactly which tournaments they will be attending. Here’s what we received from Mike:
As the 2013 college season ramps up, the elite college teams will be boarding planes to fly across the country to compete against top out-of-region competition in hopes of earning a coveted strength bid for their respective regions. Teams without frequent flyer miles will be loading into cars to drive to tournaments all over the country, especially to warmer climates in the south. Regardless of your team’s skill level and season goals, there is a lot of planning to be done for the 2013 college season.
With the sport of ultimate rapidly growing at the college level, it can be difficult for younger (Developmental, DIII, etc) teams to know who to contact about tournaments in their region, or who to reach out to at local schools to schedule scrimmages or round robin events. As the Colonial Developmental Conference Coordinator, I have been working with teams in our area to assist in planning for this season. In an attempt to facilitate conversations across team captains, coaches, and tournament organizers, we have put together a couple simple google docs to help college teams plan for the upcoming season.
The first google doc, [PACME] 2013 College Ultimate Contacts, contains all the existing contact info for teams that we pulled from score reporter. We got as many teams as we could before they changed the calendar to 2013 and archived last year’s tournament results. Please make sure that your team is listed on there and add/update info as needed. This document will serve as a primary directory of contacts for everyone involved with the 2013 college ultimate season.
The second google doc, [PACME] 2013 College Ultimate Schedule, is for posting your teams (tentative) tournament schedule. We all know how long it can take for TDs to post relevant tournament info on score reporter, so this easy to edit google doc will allow teams to share their full season schedule with the rest of the country right now. By having more teams post their schedules here, players, coaches, family members, fans, and sponsors will get a more holistic view of what the 2013 college ultimate season will look like.
This open communication will allow teams to play the best (out of region) competition and work to earn strength bids for their respective regions. It will also allow you to find out about other tournaments that your team can potentially attend. Instead of blindly wondering what tournaments your conference/regional rivals will be attending, you can just check out the schedule. In addition to helping captains/coaches, it will also help tournament directors to know exactly who the primary point of contact is for each team to recruit them to attend their tournament. I encourage you to share this article and the two docs with any college players across the country. Clear communication and transparency from leadership are vital to the success of every ultimate team. Best of luck to all of you during the 2013 college ultimate season!
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