High school and middle school players and parents,
Thank you for your interest in Copper Hills Ultimate! We are excited for the 2017 spring season. Utah has only had a high school ultimate league for about 8 years, but some schools here (Lone Peak, Sky View, others) have been ranked and respected among the top teams in the country. There are still only a relatively small number of schools that have teams, but it is constantly growing. In Salt Lake County, only Riverton, Bingham, Jordan, West, Skyline and Copper Hills currently have ultimate teams. It is Copper Hills Ultimate’s 4th year, and we are excited to be pioneers in this fast growing sport! Spring (Mar-May) is the main season for ultimate with separate boys and girls tournaments. Fall is a more relaxed boys and girls 'fall fun' mixed league. This spring we have 2 boys teams, a girls team, and a middle school team.
My name is Rich Wilcox, and I have been coaching the team since it started 3 years ago. I have been playing ultimate for well over 10 years. Unlike the coaches for your more traditional sports, I don’t work for the school. I work downtown as a software engineer, so I have to work a little harder than other coaches to get to practice and to games. But I love ultimate, and I want you to become a better ultimate player. I’ll do what I can to make you into the best player you can be. Becoming the best player you possibly can is not up to me, it’s up to you. But I’m here to do what I can to help.
1) Urgent Items
Get official! NEW players must complete these requirements before playing:
Create a free USA Ultimate account at https://play.usaultimate.org/members/register/ and check the waiver.
Each player needs to complete a Medical Authorization form with parent’s signature and turn it in to the coach.
Send me (coach) your USAU # or email so I can add you to the team.
Get official! ALL players, new and returning, must complete these requirements before playing:
Pay USAU dues ($34.50) on usaultimate.org (pays for league administration).
Pay the $15 team fee to the coach (pays for local administration and some tournaments). If you want to pay the entire $49.50 to the coach, I can pay your USAU fees.
Check the waiver on usaultimate.org. A parent needs to check the waiver too if you are under 18. Follow the instructions here.
3) Game/tourney schedule: visit www.facebook.com/chhsultimate or see our google calendar (ultimatechills.club).
A USAU membership is required to participate in the high school ultimate league, including practices, games and tournaments.
Each team pays $60-100 per tournament to cover fields, insurance, tournament food, toilets, and similar costs, covered by the $15 team fee and sponsorship money from lashbrook.com. We also have an ongoing fundraiser: I have ultimate discs for sale. I bought discs in bulk at a discount. I have misprint Ultrastar discs for $8 and Grizzly discs for $10. About $3 of each disc sold goes toward our team budget. So buy discs at a good price AND support the team! The misprint discs are NEW discs and in many cases the flaw is impossible to detect. We should set up an additional fundraiser to ensure that we can cover the cost of all of our tournaments.
8) Optional Opportunities
I highly encourage players to take advantage of any opportunity to play ultimate. It’s fun, free, and players who do so really improve their game.
The easiest way to do this is through pickup games. Any day of the week there is a pickup game going on somewhere in the valley. Here are some that I recommend: Southwood Tuesday pickup, 6:30-9:30 (park has lights). Thursday Sugarhouse pickup, 6:30-dark. Saturday Sugarhouse pickup, 11-2.
Also Salt Lake County offers an ultimate rec league each season. Spring League is Thursday nights 6-9pm at SL County Ice Center Fields in Murray. It is the same time and location as the spring middle school league.
9) Why Ultimate?
Ultimate is unique among team sports not just because it uses a disc. Ultimate teaches important life skills possibly better than any other sport. Other sports say that teamwork is important. Ultimate demands teamwork. It is impossible to score alone. The first rule in the ultimate rulebook outlines ‘Spirit of the Game’: ‘Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules, or the basic joy of play.’ As a result, ultimate is self-officiated. The rules are designed such that players resolve their disputes or they redo the play if they are unable to resolve them. No referees required. I hear horror stories from friends who coach other sports about kids and parents who are completely unruly. I have not seen that in ultimate, mainly because there are no officials, so no one to get angry at. Ultimate is designed to be highly competitive and athletic, while fairly safe. Dangerous plays such as picks, blocks, and tackles that are integral part of other sports are illegal in ultimate. This makes ultimate a ‘non-contact’ sport (although there is still plenty of contact).
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
See you on the field!
Rich Wilcox,
Coach, Copper Hills Ultimate
ultimatechills@gmail.com
4) Equipment - what to bring
Bring to practices/games: 1) water 2) cleats/knobby trainers 3) uniform or white and dark shirt. Also, to tournaments bring 4) sun protection & 5) food (snacks, lunch).
One of the great things about ultimate is its simplicity. It is very inexpensive. All you need is a disc and some open space. For a better experience, bring the above items. Some players like to play with gloves as well. I only use them in the winter. Most players use soccer cleats, although other cleats will work as well. Metal cleats are not allowed in ultimate because of the potential for injury. Walmart sometimes has cleats on clearance for under $10, although the quality is suspect. But for $10, I don’t mind my cleats lasting less than a year. Ross is also a great place to find inexpensive high-quality cleats ($30 or less). The Nike outlet in Jordan Landing usually has a few good deals ($30-40). Of course there are plenty of other good options if you're willing to pay a little more.
5) Tryouts - 2/7-9 3:30-5:30 and 2/11 9-11:30
You will be contacted by a coach or a captain within the next week after tryouts about tryout results. In order to get on a Copper Hills ultimate team roster, boys need to attend at least 1 of the days of tryouts (we are short on girls, so we welcome girls who want to play without restrictions). If you were unable to make any of the tryout days, talk to the coach and he will let you know what you need to do to make the roster.
Please do not stress about whether or not you will make the roster at tryouts. You do not need to worry about being cut from the team. Just come and give it your best shot. We have never cut a player. Players cut themselves by not coming to practice. Some players have told me after tryouts or after a few practices that they are just too busy or that ultimate is not for them. Your coach and your team appreciate honest communication. A player could be cut for being disruptive or disrespectful to others, but as a coach I’ve never had to do that. So give everything you’ve got, but don’t stress if you drop a pass or throw the disc away. Play hard and enjoy the experience. The coach or others will not decide whether you make the team or not. You will decide.
Consistency in attending practice/games and hard work are as important, if not more important, than playing ability. Tryouts give your coach and teammates a chance to become familiar with you and your skill sets. We will be forming 2 boys teams, an A team and a B team. In other sports they are referred to as ‘Varsity’ and ‘Junior Varsity’. In ultimate we call them A & B. The A team will be an advanced team, and the B team will be a development team. Both teams will compete against both A & B teams from other schools. There will be opportunities for B team players to play with the A team during the season and vice versa.
6) Spring 3000 Challenge
In order to encourage you to become a better player, each season we hold a throwing challenge. Throw 3000 throws before the state tournament May 12 and you can choose something from the prize basket - including discs, jerseys, powerade, cones and other items. More importantly, your skill level will rise significantly. Players who have fulfilled the challenge in the past have experienced big jumps in their playing ability. If you really want to improve your game, complete the challenge!
Here are a few points to remember. Record your throws on a daily basis. Guessing or estimating your total is not acceptable. Your throws need to be recorded in this spreadsheet. You’re welcome to write or record your throws somewhere else, but before you can claim a reward, you need to put your total into that spreadsheet.
7) Costs