The 2008 UPA BoD Election

Posted October 8th, 2008 by Mackey and filed in Stories, commentary
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Check out the candidate statements, audio interviews (after you log in–though I had technical difficulty accessing them. Perhaps because I’m in Japan right now?), and the Huddle’s coverage, too.

Who am I voting for? First, a few impressions:

  • I have a huuuge bias for Gwen Ambler, from agreeing with her articles on the Huddle on a regular basis to seeing her efforts to give women’s college ultimate some press on icultimate. Finding out that her commitment to the sport extends in a very broad capacity to most all levels is only icing on the cake. I have to agree with the Huddle on this one. I particularly agree with her thoughts on re-structuring the series to make it more enticing for more teams to play. Really, this sort of adjustment is long overdo, and incorporating a “season” into the series is exactly the sort of thing the UPA can and should be working on.

  • I really like what Catherine Hartley Gweenwald talks up in her interview with the Huddle. Tapping into the volunteer bases of the parents in particular is, I think, an as-yet unexplored component of youth ultimate in a lot of places that has huge potential. And getting the website in order is definitely a big plus–with her PR experience I think she has a lot to offer the board.

  • Finally, Henry Thorne brings a voice of experience and apparently has a pretty broad-minded approach, which means he’ll be useful to the board in all facets.

In my voting, these three were the ones who really stood out. It’s really hard for me to choose against Henry, and similarly I feel like Gwen simply HAS to be on the board with her broad experience and what she wants to do with the sport. Additionaly, while I really like Catherine’s ideas, I also have a feeling that a lot of what she will do is either possible outside of board involvement or can still be submitted to the board whether or not she’s on it.

So, I’m going with the two people I think most likely to make a difference in what the board DOES, not simply bringing ideas to the mix–Gwen Ambler and Henry Thorne. How about you?

Sign in to your account and vote.

Honorable mentions (in my book) go to Todd Leber, who has some great, revolutionary ideas, but whose platform has little else of relevance to UPA members (nothing in his experience or his numerous RSD writings suggest he has an interest in anything short of semi-pro ultimate–making him better suited as, for instance, the president of Major League Ultimate rather than a board member of the Ultimate Player’s Association), and Jamie Nuwer, whose interests are very much after my own heart (Sports Medicine and ultimate and where the two meet), and who has done some great things with the Injury Timeout website (PLEASE look at this site! Be a resource for your teammates. The value of somebody with even a halfway informed idea of how to take care of an injured person is invaluable at practices and tournaments alike!)…hopefully she runs again in the next election.

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