May 25, 2010

Dear USA Ultimate Members,

Earlier today, the Ultimate Players Association made a major announcement, rebranding itself as "USA Ultimate" and launching a new website at usaultimate.org.

We invite you to have a look at the new site and provide us with feedback so that we may continue to improve upon this exciting new project!

We also wanted to let you know that although the name of the organization has changed, your membership benefits remain the same and we will continue to provide you with the highest possible level of customer service.

Also, as you can imagine, a technical project of this scope and magnitude may bring with it several glitches. So as we refine some of the details on the new website, we ask that you bear with us and please let us know if you have trouble with any section.

The new site will help raise the profile of Ultimate in the U.S. while better serving the Ultimate community and USA Ultimate members. The new site will be the source of entertaining, engaging and informative content for Ultimate enthusiasts around the world. Some of the new features introduced upon the site's launch include photo and video galleries and a message board which will provide ultimate players and fans with a centralized hub to discuss ultimate-related topics with like-minded peers.

The new website will also introduce many more interactive features to users; including contests, polls and additional user-generated content. Additional improvements include more streamlined navigation and a much more stimulating platform on which to promote USA Ultimate's core mission components of Character, Community and Competition.

USA Ultimate's website will continue to serve as the primary resource and information hub for the Ultimate community. Athletes, coaches, volunteers, observers and event, team and league organizers, as well as parents, will notice a more user-friendly site, while all visitors will immediately be struck by a visually appealing and dynamic site consisting of up-to-date news items and features, event coverage and multimedia and social networking elements.

Together, the new website and corporate identity represent the evolution of Ultimate as a sport. They are two of several initiatives designed by USA Ultimate to effectively promote the sport to a wider audience while maintaining its fundamental focus on players, coaches, leagues and its many other constituents.

Some highlights of the new USA Ultimate website include:

NOW AVAILABLE:

·         Photo Galleries - Searchable galleries that capture great moments of our sport.

·         Videos - Watch streaming videos and rate them to keep the Ultimate community's favorite ones easy to find.

·         News - Keep up with what's happening in the sport via the category drop-down menu and RSS feeds to subscribe to certain news categories.

·         Calendar - A categorized events calendar for what events are happening near you.

·         Message Boards - Community-moderated message boards where discussion about the sport of Ultimate can take place in a positive, productive and meaningful way.

·         Social Media Connectivity - A stronger and more frequent social media presence on Twitter & Facebook, plus the ability to easily share articles with a number of social networking sites.

·         Polls - Regular data-driven features that dig into the heart of what people across the ultimate community are talking about.

COMING SOON!

·         More feature articles and columns on the topics you want to read about.

·         Enhanced resources to learn the rules, including Standing Rules Committee annotations to the rules and video demonstrations.

·         Development of a regional communications volunteer structure aimed at telling our sport's stories, building a strong, cohesive community and creating useful resources.

·         Easier to use user-generated resources to locate Ultimate in your area.

·         Helpful tutorials and guides to make organizing an Ultimate team easier.

·         Contests, interviews and other fun opportunities to contribute content.

We hope you enjoy the new site and visit us often!