The Breakside 12/4
The fourth edition
Hello again dear reader, and thank you so much for joining me for the fourth edition of The Breakside. Unfortunately for you all, I have no guest today, but hope to make up for that with TWO next edition. For now, it’s just you and me, and I have some thoughts about an interesting idea published by my chief rival publication Ultiworld.
Ultibucks, Rehashing Earlier Editions, and Growing the Game
I don’t hate Ultibucks, just the thought of using them to keep to undervaluing our community
Earlier this week, there was an article published proposing the idea of Ultibucks, an alternative compensation (cryptocurrency?) to give volunteers to help ease the decrease in volunteers many local disc organizations have felt recently. I was initially intrigued by the idea, but the more I read and thought about it, the more I didn’t like it.
For starters, microtransactions and a weird crypto-esque system are not things I want to add to Ultimate Frisbee. It sounds too much like free-to-play mobile game currency. However, the point of this newsletter is not to take cheap shots; it’s to have meaningful dialogue. In the spirit of that meaningful dialogue, a point was raised in the published Discord Debate on the topic that caught my eye. Tim Smith, Executive Director of Washington Area Frisbee Club (WAFC), said,
Ultimate’s culture around volunteerism is not sustainable. Especially if we hope to diversify leadership within the sport…the short- to intermediate-term financial solution boils down to getting more money from the existing player community to fund better compensation for volunteers, stipend workers, and ideally more full-time organizers across the sport.
This is similar to some other points brought up by Sam Farnsworth, Director of Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance (BUDA) and featured guest of the first edition of The Breakside.
A lot of people say, ‘Wow, yeah, I would love to go help’ and the second you ask for them to do it, they don’t. What it comes down to is people are tired. We don’t exactly live in a hospitable world for volunteer time…The way that gets slightly ameliorated is throwing money at the problem and paying people for their time. It doesn’t need to be a lot of money, but if your volunteer gig suddenly becomes a side hustle, people tend to be a little bit more willing to do it.
These two community leaders are hitting on an important point: solutions are about deeper, structural changes to the Ultimate community organization from USAU down.
I want to be clear, reducing the cost of Ultimate-related expenses for volunteers is a great idea.
However, I have deep reservations about using an unregulated currency-like point system to do so. Apparently, I will be able to purchase an Ultibuck for some exchange rate from the USAU “bank” and trade it for pretty much anything between other USAU members. Here is where my reservations begin. Would I be able to cash out my Ultibucks for real money? Is that at the same or different exchange rate that I buy them? Will the exchange rate change? These are essential questions that lead me to another: would USAU need some sort of economic advisor if they are going to operate as a central bank? And why is that something we want?
Before thinking about specific solutions, I want to identify some problems. Here are some things most people seem to agree on that are issues regarding volunteers and organizational structures:
There are not enough volunteers
Current volunteers are not paid enough
Resources in the community are not being utilized in the most equitable, efficient, or practical ways
Why not expand payment or subsidy options directly rather than introduce fake virtual money? The idea of giving people discounts is a solid one. However, giving people real money is more important and practical. Looking beyond the obvious technical issues of setting up a system like Ultibucks, paying people in real money is more ethical. I don’t like the idea of paying people in what is essentially Chuck E Cheese money. Suppose we do the pure discount option in the long run. In that case, it will save USAU and disc organizations money, and gives them the flexibility to reward people helping out at events that are not USAU-sanctioned.
In regards to other solutions, here are some of my assumptions I’m operating with as widely held beliefs about the goals of USAU and local disc organizations in Ultimate.
They want to bring the game to a broader group of players at all levels
They want there to be more events that are better staffed, funded and organized
Numerous successful ways exist to compensate people for their time. One great example of what can bring the game to more players while cutting costs was brought to us just a couple of weeks ago by Coach Garrett Taylor of Oklahoma Christian University. Coach Taylor laid out a compelling case to help make scholarship programs available at different universities across the country. The OC program has been a success, both on and off the field. Why is there not a concerted effort to work with small colleges and universities in a similar spot as OC to help make this a reality at more locations? This is one of the only outside investments in Ultimate that guarantees positive financial returns for all players, disc organizations, and the outside investor (the school). Why is this not priority number one to expand these kinds of programs?
If we are worried about the financial feasibility of this, why not start meaningful reevaluating our current budget and priorities. The current state of Ultimate organizing generally speaking is this: We are not in the Olympics. We don’t have enough people volunteering, and community organizers are tired. USAU spent an absurd amount of money doing whatever the hell Beach of Dreams was. Let’s change things up. The USAU elite club season and large portion of our dues going towards Triple Crown Tour events have been a source of discussion for a while. If we shift our goals from using an ESPN contract with C+ production and only six or seven streamed games per year to creating self-sustaining, accessible, and community-centric infrastructure, any goals to “legitimize” will happen. Reallocating funds to grow the game at youth and college levels will build Ultimate players for life. Tinkering with the elite club season can make elite club teams more involved in their communities. Who knows when or if Ultimate will ever arrive as a “legitimate” sport. Who cares. Let’s become a community that takes care of its own, and provides meaningful and equitable opportunities to its players, organizers, and volunteers. If we become that community, we won’t have as many issues finding volunteers. If we create a national network of observers like Colton Green and I discussed (see the second edition of The Breakside), we open up more spots at leagues, generate new revenue, and send it back to the community. We can create a path to college for students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to attend a four-year university through the game we love.
All of these ideas are things that bring us towards the kind of legitimacy that major American sports have. These sports are popular not because of the pro leagues that generate all the revenue, but because of the accessibility to people of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds across the country. If we invest in an infrastructure that works towards making that a reality for Ultimate, if “legitimacy” does happen, it will be organic and earned. And one way that starts is by giving people what they deserve for their time, to keep the most important members in our community doing good work.
Next Edition…
The two greatest players to ever suit up for Chapel Hill High School! They won multiple YCC Championships as a part legendary Triangle Ultimate Warhawks, and between them have multiple College Championships, and a 2022 USAU Club National Title. Not to mention being the inaugural captains of Chapel Hill Ember. It’s Grace Conerly and Clil Phillips! Send in or comment any questions you want answered.
About The Breakside
The goal of this newsletter is to tackle what I see as a gap in the present coverage of Ultimate as a sport. I hope that this newsletter will provide an outlet for important, yet overlooked people and stories to receive the coverage they deserve.
About the Author
My name is Noam Gumerman (he/him), and I am a senior at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. I am from Chapel Hill, NC, and am currently studying Journalism and American Studies at Brandeis University. I am one of the current captains of Brandeis TRON, our open division team. My claim to fame within the Ultimate community is running the @being_ulti account during the week of the 2022 WUCC tournament. Contact me for discussions, feedback, story suggestions and more on Twitter at @noamgum, or via email at ngumerman@brandeis.edu.