Sunday, May 16, 2010

The UPA Unofficial Ombudsman

I'm starting a new recurring "feature" where I talk about timely UPA issues and give my opinion and, where appropriate, offer suggestions. I know there will be some that say "Oh that Kyle Weisbrod, he IS the UPA." Yeah, I spent 4 1/2 years employed there and another 3 years on the Board. I still occasionally contribute to the magazine. But I work with the UPA because I care about the sport of Ultimate and felt the UPA was (and still believe it is) the best way for players to effect change in the sport. There are plenty of times when I've been frustrated by the UPA - both Board and Staff decisions and policies. There are also times when I've been proud of the UPA and what they are doing for the sport.

I also still have plenty of connections to the UPA - people on both board and staff, so hopefully I can actually get some of the inside reasoning behind some of the UPA's less popular decisions and give my subjective opinion on it.

So, here goes. The Ombudsman is open for business. What do you want me to opine on?

8 comments:

AJ said...

How about the UPA's penalty of Mike G? He gets banned from observing natties...but is allowed to observe Great Lakes regionals?

just generally the UPA's response to the UOA.

J. Becker said...

How about charging coach/players more than either coaches or players?

A small issue, I admit, but shouldn't there be some small reward (or, at least, not a punishment) for the many hours we dedicate to the sport as a coach?

Baer said...

I would like to know more about what the UPA employees do with their days and weeks, year-round. The membership really has no clue what goes on inside UPA HQ and don't see much from them.

Unknown said...

I would love to get some information or your opinion on what club restructuring will look like and when it will happen. Will there be any changes this year?

Daniel H. said...

I'm looking forward to this series of articles, Kyle.

Here's a second vote for your thoughts on club restructuring. Will the sections and regions be redrawn? Will open and women be expanded to 20 teams each? Will masters or mixed get moved to a different time of year?

Mccants said...

This sounds awesome and an area I would not mind actually chirping in for once. Lindsey Hack

Tom Cook said...

I would love to hear your thoughts on the youth division. It is a very different division from either college or club, in that it has many more beginners and very young players. It seems the UPA treats it exactly the same as college/club, where it might be better served with differentiated structure to account for the greater level of young/new/inexperienced players.

Unknown said...

so how bout that new website?