<U> UPA World Games Team
Ultimate Players Association
On behalf of the volunteer UPA World Games Selection Committee, I am very
pleased to announce the 2001 US World Games Ultimate Team. A message from
the committee spokespersons is below. Great thanks to all applicants and
their references for such excellent written reminders of why we all play -
the quality of the applicant pool was exceptional and the statements were
refreshing.
The committee members themselves deserve an enormous thank you for carrying
thick binders on vacation, responding to over 500 group emails and many more
individual emails and calls, taking time from their days, nights and play to
read and discuss, and most especially for accepting the responsibility
associated with their task. In my years of organizing, I have not witnessed
a group more focussed or serious in their mission.
While no element of the selection process was perfect, the combination of
member nominations, top team nominations, applications, recommendations,
applicant dream teams, and an average of 15 years ultimate experience among
selection committee members provided the wealth of information necessary for
fair and wise choices. It should also be made clear that no selection
committee member was allowed to apply for the team.
Hearty congratulations to the 16 players listed below. Best of luck to them
in preparation and in competition for the UPA, for the US and for Ultimate
this summer in Akita, Japan.
For more information on World Games 2001, see:
http://www.wg2001.or.jp/engimg/ea0000.htm
The next Games will be held in 4 years in, Duisburg, Germany
To contact the US team, write: upa_w...@upa.org
Sincerely,
Joey Gray
Executive Director
Ultimate Players Association
2001 US WORLD GAMES ULTIMATE TEAM
Amy Little
Billy Rodriguez
Brian Harriford
Christine Teens Dunlap
Damien Scott
Dominique Fontinette
Fortunat Mueller
Heidi Pomfret
Johanna Neumann
Steve Dugan
Alternates:
Augie Krievenas
Brian Biscuit Morris
Dana Green
Dara Bailey
Jody Dozono
Justin Safdie
Hello,
This is a joint email from Lynne Nolan and Stuart Downs. We are the
spokespersons for the UPA World Games Selection Committee (WGSC). The 8 of
us on the WGSC, with guidance and information from UPA Headquarters, have
read applications from, and recommendations on behalf of, over 90 ultimate
players from across the country. We deliberated for countless hours in great
detail and produced a group of 10 individuals of whom we feel anyone in the
UPA can be proud. We also came up with an equally impressive list of 6
alternates. These 16 players have been notified and all have accepted their
invitations.
We want to thank all applicants for applying and, more importantly, we want
you to understand some things about the process and the committee. First, we
repeat how arduous such a task is when the talent among the applicant pool
is so high. While it was enjoyable to review each contender and the elements
that showed his/her potential value to the team, it was neither simple nor
fun to make decisions that eliminated anyone. That was a drag, period. But
that was our charge, and we did it as objectively as possible, with the
Board of Director's vision statement (below) to guide us. The committee
represented the widest range of opinions present in Ultimate. We can not
imagine any relevant topic not at least brought up, or more likely, hotly
debated among us. We discussed, debated, and gathered as much information
as we could about every qualified applicant, discussed more, voted, revoted
and toughed it out so that the team would reflect the vision statement to
the best of our ability.
We understand that there are other assemblages of 10 that would do a fine
job of representing the USA this summer. The WGSC claims no monopoly on
knowledge nor does it feel its opinion is superior to that of any member of
the UPA. So, we imagine there will be questions. We, Lynne and Stu, will
gladly entertain certain inquiries on behalf of the WGSC. There are,
however, questions we will not answer for the sake of each applicant, the
committee and the process. Specifically, we will not discuss why player A
was chosen or why not player B. We have spent too much time deliberating
each individual in the large picture to isolate 1 of 90 players. Many, many
candidates are clearly qualified and deserving, but only a few can go.
While the committee members have chosen to remain anonymous, we, Stu and
Lynne, are here to answer general questions about the WGSC's work and we
welcome contact from applicants. Joey at Headquarters is available to
discuss the overall selection process, the acceptance of Ultimate & Disc
Golf in the World Games, and other questions relating to WFDF and UPA
participation in the World Games.
It was a pleasure to read each application, and a greater pleasure to review
the recommendations of your peers. As challenging as it was to select only a
handful, it was thoroughly exciting to be reminded of the quality of player
and person that regularly hits the ultimate field.
yours ultimately,
Lynne Nolan, Chicago lynne...@aol.com
Stuart Downs, Atlanta stub...@aol.com
* Board of Directors' Vision Statement: "The UPA 2001 World Games players
should represent the best of US Ultimate in play and in sportsmanship.
Players will be chosen with high skill as a prerequisite, with service to
the sport, championship experience, ambassadorial qualities, and ability to
fit into the team all valued highly in the selection process".
Mike Gerics
> Brian Harriford
> Fortunat Mueller
> Justin Safdie
and here is the list of athletes invited to move to Wilmington to become
members of the WUFF Warriors.
Penny Harriford is also invited to come here and join up with the Wahini.
Garrett Dyer
My bad on the previous prognostication...
Mike rebounds with a "normal" post to put our minds at ease as to
whether or not the end of humanity is soon near. This is clearly an
indication that the world is back at its usual tilt...or slant, as the
case may be here.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program...
Geeman
TB
to make, and also thank them for their candor regarding the fact that there
could be many combinations of 10 players that would be excellent
representives of USA Ultimate at the World Games. I am proud that one of my
teammates and good friends, Augie Krievenas, was picked as an alternate for
the team. He deserves it as much as anyone could. The good feelings I had
about Augie's selection, however, were tempered by some glaring omissions.
I saw (and filled out) the recommendation forms, which asked the individuals
providing references to discuss ability, contribution to the game, and
fitness to represent the US on a world stage. I think the people chosen
will do fine, but i think there were inexcusable absences from the roster if
you look at the criteria that was supposed to be used to determine the spots
on the team.
First, on the women's side, not including Mel Ditz on the team is beyond
reason. Mel has been one of the best women's players in the game for some
time. Her dedication to the game, as witnessed by her tournament
coordination and work for the UPA, measures up to anyone. In addition, she
has proven she can excel at the Mixed game, as she was a major factor in
Spear winning the UPA championship last year in Minnesota. If the selection
committee feared accusations that might occur if they selected a UPA
insider, then they may have accomplished their goal of avoiding trouble but
they did a great disservice to a well-deserving ulimate competitor.
The other glaring omission was Sandy Hartwiger, from Ring of Fire and Spear.
Sandy also has incredibly strong credentials in all of the components that
were supposed to be used by the selection committee. He has used ultimate
as part of an international peace process, he has contributed to the growth
of ultimate in rural North Carolina-reaching out to a population outside of
the traditional base of ultimate players. And probably most importantly, he
was (along with Augie) the best male player on the Spear, the UPA Coed
Champions (Worlds is a COED event), and the only person who consistently
played both offense and defense for Ring of Fire. I can think of no other
male more deserving of the Worlds team than Sandy.
The selection committee should have given more consideration to these two
players, and they and the UPA should have put more emphasis on playing Coed.
It is a different game than Open or Womens and demands a different
temperment to excel. Why pick people who have not proven that they can play
coed on a national level?
The UPA seems like they were never sure exactly what they wanted for this
team-except that they wanted to avoid offending anybody. That is a horrible
way to make decisions. Again, all of the players chosen are deserving, but
i am not at all sure we picked the 10 coed players who best represent the
values that the UPA said they were looking for in filling out this sqaud.
Leaving out Mel Ditz and Sandy Hartwiger is evidence of that.
Tim Brooks
captain, Spear
Ring of Fire
Mike Gerics
> First, on the women's side, not including Mel Ditz on the team is beyond
alright. that's a good one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> played both offense and defense for Ring of Fire. I can think of no other
> male more deserving of the Worlds team than Sandy.
no offense...because I like Sandy...but come on now....
You're saying he should be on the ALL U.S. team because he plays O and D for
WHO?????? Ring of Fire? come on now.....
There are kids on the WUFF Warriors that play O and D that could have been
selected over him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and...if you had included that these folks were members of the WUFF Coed
National Championships team Spear...folks might actually pay attention to
the pleas......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> The UPA seems like they were never sure exactly what they wanted for this
> team-except that they wanted to avoid offending anybody
come on now....any bad assed mother furcker who never made one of those
POLITAL All State teams and could have waxed the ass of those that
did...know that selection to them teams ain't got anything to do with who
ought to have been on the team.
BECAUSE........this is who the team should have been.
Amy Seagroves-former UNCW and current Wahini...umph...BackHoe.
Tracey Saterfield-former UNCW and current Schwa
Brian Linkfield-former UNCW and current FBI
Andrew Zeldin-former UNCW and current Warrior
Rhett Russ-current College Player of the Year-UNCW&Warrior
etc
Elliot Fu
pomenade. spear it award for the first juan to carry the message through the
united consciousness frontal lobe, past the blank and almighty carapactic
bonewall, into the egalitarian orgazmic pyscho-bliss of commercial sales
opportunism and packagable dollar signoff recognito in cog o'wheel. er, uh,
we're all counting on you, in it together, powah2ya!
yers tru lee (H)
Oz-walled
Guy In Cog, Neat-o!
Hicks
Byron
Ultimate Players Association <upa...@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:Q%kB6.2455$497.2...@news.uswest.net...
Larry D. Hols
> > the UPA. So, we imagine there will be questions. We, Lynne and Stu, will
> > gladly entertain certain inquiries on behalf of the WGSC. There are,
> > however, questions we will not answer for the sake of each applicant, the
> > committee and the process. Specifically, we will not discuss why player A
> > was chosen or why not player B. We have spent too much time deliberating
> > each individual in the large picture to isolate 1 of 90 players. Many,
Um, does this set off alarm bells for anyone else? "We won't tell you
why we chose any particular player, or why that player was deemed better
than somebody else. In short, you'll never know what the criteria are
for getting on the team! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
> > While the committee members have chosen to remain anonymous, we, Stu and
Damn, those alarm bells are getting louder. "Not only can you never
know what the criteria are, it's all decided by our Men in Black and
you'll never know who they are!"
This tells me that nobody plays their way onto the team. It's all a
political process, and you simply have to cultivate as many contacts as
possible to help ensure you've got the right contacts with the Men in
Black to have any chance of making the team.
But it's for a WFDF event, it appears, so who really cares?
Larry
dancing through the minefield
Brian P. Canniff
Garrett Dyer
>You had me with Mel, lost me with Sandy.
Any guesses why?
Fellow Phillyphuck, maybe?
Geeman
TB
overly flashy (which i guess costs him the notoriety that would have helped
him get selected), just plays amazingly steady o and great d against the
other team's best player. He is the quintessential team player, and it
seems like that wasn't factored in as much as it should have been by the
selection committee. i think he would be ideal for the team, particularly
because of the 6 on 6 format. He also has a lot of great experience playing
coed, would be a great ambassador for the game, and could be a
representative from the current American coed national champions. I may not
have made a very good argument in my email, but I stand by my intent, which
was to make a statement saying that we could have done a better job of
selecting the team. I think Thuy Boyd, Beth Cates, Brian Lang, and others
from Spear would have also been good selections for the team.
I am glad that Augie made it as an alternate.
Brian P. Canniff wrote in message ...
JL
someone who was NOT picked for the team (you can spare me the heckling; I heckle
myself better than anyone..! :) ), I'd like to state how impressed I am with
the team that the selection committee picked. I don't know exactly what criteria
were used, but it seems to me that they came up with a really fantastic group of
players (both the 10-member team and the alternates). Clearly great in skill
level, but ALSO (based on what I know of these players) great in terms of spirit
- and that's really nice to see.
Looking at the list of people who were nominated (in the latest UPA newsletter),
all I can think is that it must have been a bear to pick 10, plus 6 alternates.
Also looking at that list, it's clear that there are plenty of other players who
would have been great on this Worlds team...I guess you could argue until the
cows come home why a certain player should have made it (and you could make good
arguments for nearly anyone on that list!), or what strategies/combinations/etc
would be best for the "best" mixed team...but the committee still had to come up
with just 10.
So...at the risk of sounding ridiculously warm-and-fuzzy: thanks for doing that
killer job, whomever did it. And good luck at Worlds! (hope they'll show some
of the ultimate on ESPN2 or something...)
Juliet Lamont