Ultimate won't be back to normal in 2021. But we can and should still play Ultimate this year. This site aims to set out some ideas, and our plans for how we encourage and help players and volunteers like you make that happen where you live and play. It doesn't provide information about all the things that are going on in and around the sport, nor all the things we're doing, but focusses just on our expectations and hopes about how we can actually PLAY in the UK this year!
There is now good evidence that playing sport outdoors is relatively low risk in terms of transmitting the virus. But weekend tournaments have some other characteristics that are not so good...
They need shared indoor spaces: especially toilets, but also some cover from the weather.
They bring large numbers of people together from across the country.
An infected player will play against many other players from 5 or 6 other teams, and competitive play involves close face to face contact - especially between the thrower and their marker.
At any time maybe 30%-50% of teams are not playing. For the foreseeable future, clubs and organisers are expected to make sure that social distancing rules are maintained carefully for anyone that is not actively playing.
The impact on the body is higher. We are expecting many players will need time to adjust physically and mentally to playing competitively again.
You need bigger teams. We have lost players from the sport, and we want to provide competition where smaller teams can compete too.
Hopefully the situation will continue to improve. Maybe we will find ourselves trying to put together some last minute weekend tournaments in July-Sept. But for now we have decided to focus our attention on a structure for competition that we believe is most likely to continue if there are any changes to the Government's roadmap.