Q: How many players participate in the series? In the championships?
A: Last year, close to 7,000 college students participated in the college series with about 600 going on to the championships in Austin, Texas. 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 year's 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(TM) 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(TM) award. The Callahan award winners are announced on the night before the fi nals. 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. If you're interested in putting in a bid to host the championships, go to www.upa.org/events/bids/championship_bids.shtml.

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 (see www.upa.org/upa/contacts.shtml) 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.

About the UPA: The national governing body of the sport in the United States, the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) is the largest membership organization in the world devoted entirely to the sport of Ultimate Frisbee. A not-for-profit organization based in Boulder, CO, the UPA was founded in 1979 to promote and support the sport of Ultimate and its players and to increase participation at all levels. The organization is governed by a board of directors composed entirely of volunteers elected by the UPA membership, with day to day operations directed by a small professional staff.


For complete information about the series, please visit www.upa.org/college.