Sport | Ultimate |
---|---|
Founded | 2020 |
First season | 2022 |
No. of teams | 6 |
Country | United States |
Official website | westernultimateleague.com |
The Western Ultimate League (WUL) is a professional women's ultimate league in the Western United States. It was founded in 2020. The WUL's stated mission is to "promote visibility, opportunity, and equity within women's ultimate". [1]
The WUL was formed to parallel the Premier Ultimate League (PUL), another women's ultimate league established in 2019, with an eye toward a future merger. [2] [3] The WUL shares resources and communicates closely with the PUL. [2]
The WUL started with a 2017 and 2018 series of women's and mixed showcase games affiliated with the American Ultimate Disc League (now the Ultimate Frisbee Association), and a 2019 series of professional women's showcase games along the west coast including games between Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver-based teams and between Los Angeles and San Diego-based teams. [4] [5]
The inaugural 2020 Western Ultimate League season began with tryouts in January and February 2020 with seven teams. [6] Competition, which had been set to begin in March 2020 and continue through May, was postponed [7] and then canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [8] [9]
In January 2021, the Portland Swifts announced they were withdrawing from the WUL. [10] The six remaining WUL teams first competed in December 2021 at the Winter Cup in San Diego. [11] The Utah Wild emerged victorious, [12] [13] and two plays from the Winter Cup were featured by ESPN SportsCenter. [14] After the Winter Cup, the league announced the addition of a seventh team, the Oregon Onyx. [14]
The first regular season was conducted in 2022, with the Seattle Tempest emerging as champions. [15] In October 2022, the league announced the addition of an eighth team, the Colorado Alpenglow. [16]
The Oregon Onyx [17] and Los Angeles Astra [18] departed the league after the 2023 season.
The Oregon Soar joined the league after the 2025 season. [19]
The WUL consists of seven teams as of the 2025 season.
Team | Location | First Season |
---|---|---|
Arizona Sidewinders | Phoenix, AZ | 2021 |
Bay Area Falcons | San Francisco, CA | 2021 |
Colorado Alpenglow | Denver, CO | 2023 |
Oregon Soar | Portland, OR | 2025 |
San Diego Super Bloom | San Diego, CA | 2021 |
Seattle Tempest | Seattle, WA | 2021 |
Utah Wild | Salt Lake City, UT | 2021 |
Team | Location | First season | Last season |
---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles Astra | Los Angeles, CA | 2021 | 2023 |
Oregon Onyx | Portland, OR | 2022 | 2023 |
The Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA), formerly the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), is a professional ultimate disc league that consists of 23 teams divided between the South, Central, East, and West divisions. The UFA is located in North America. Each UFA season has 12 regular season games which run from April to July. Following the conclusion of the regular season, the top three teams from every division advance to the playoffs, a single elimination tournament that culminates in a final four style showcase known as the UFA Championship Weekend, which is contested in late August over two days.
The Philadelphia Spinners were a professional ultimate team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were founded in 2012 by Katrel Kelly and David Fitzgerald as a team in the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), but then moved to Major League Ultimate (MLU) in 2013. They played in the MLU until the league was suspended in 2016. The team played in various stadiums throughout the Greater Philadelphia region.
The Seattle Cascades are a professional ultimate team that competes in the Western Division of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) with an open roster. They also compete as a mixed squad in various exhibition games. The team is named after the mountain range that runs through the Pacific Northwest and their mascot is a sasquatch (bigfoot) named Casey. The team's stated core values are integrity, community, and athletic excellence.
The Atlanta Hustle is a professional ultimate frisbee franchise based out of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. They compete as one of 25 teams in the Ultimate Frisbee Association, playing in the league's South Division.
The Premier Ultimate League (PUL) is a professional women's ultimate league that formed in 2019. The mission of the PUL is "to achieve equity in the sport of ultimate by increasing accessibility to the sport for, and visibility of women, transgender, intersex, non-binary, genderqueer, and genderfluid people through high-quality competition, leadership experiences, and community partnerships". The league strives for gender, racial, and economic diversity in the sport of ultimate frisbee. PUL players are paid $40 per league game.
Anna Nazarov is an American ultimate player, best known for playing with UCLA Bruin Ladies Ultimate, San Francisco Fury, and multiple USA National Teams. Nazarov has many on-field strengths, but particularly notable are her throwing prowess and ability to generate blocks.
Carolyn Finney, colloquially known as "Finney," is an ultimate player for San Francisco Fury and has represented the United States national team multiple times in international competition. She is known as one of the most well-rounded players in the USA Ultimate women's division.
DC Shadow is a Premier Ultimate League (PUL) professional women's ultimate team based in Washington, D.C. They joined the PUL as part of the 2020 expansion but as a result of the league's decision to cancel the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic they did not compete in a full season until 2022.
The Milwaukee Monarchs are a Premier Ultimate League (PUL) professional "womxn"'s ultimate team based in Milwaukee, WI. They joined the PUL in 2020 as part of the 2020 expansion. The Monarchs are dedicated to "growing the sport with an emphasis on creating opportunities for and raising the profiles of womxn, girls, and players of diverse identities in Wisconsin and the broader Midwest"
The New York Gridlock is a professional women's ultimate team based in New York City which competes in the Premier Ultimate League (PUL). The team joined the PUL for the league's inaugural 2019 season. Their stated mission is "to achieve competitive excellence on the field and equity in the sport of ultimate by increasing accessibility to and visibility of womxn [sic] ultimate players."
The Atlanta Soul is a professional women's ultimate frisbee team based in Atlanta which competes in the Premier Ultimate League (PUL). The team joined the PUL for the league's inaugural 2019 season. The team is also noteworthy for their sponsorship of the Color of Ultimate: ATL game, the first Color of Ultimate showcase game.
Boston Brute squad is a frisbee club ultimate team from Boston, Massachusetts that competes in the Women's Club Division of USA Ultimate (USAU). Brute Squad is a longstanding front-runner in the division, has won the USAU Club National Championships three times, and routinely wins and places highly at major regular season and post-season tournaments. The team finished tied for 3rd at the 2018 WFDF World Ultimate Club Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio. Brute Squad is particularly known for their defensive discipline and tenacity and indisputable moral superiority. There have been three winners of the Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award from Brute Squad: Leila Tunnell (2014), Amber Sinicrope (2017), and Tulsa Douglas (2020).
Denver Molly Brown is a club ultimate team from Denver, Colorado that competes in the Women's Club division of USA Ultimate (USAU). Molly Brown is a perennial contender in USAU competition, claiming, as of the 2019 season, a spot in the Women's division "Big Four." The team made its first appearance at the WFDF World Ultimate Club Championships in 2018, finishing tied for 3rd with Boston Brute Squad.
The Portland Rising is a professional ultimate team based in Portland, Maine which competes in the Premier Ultimate League (PUL). It plays at Fitzpatrick Stadium. Their stated mission is to "dream big and work in partnership with our community to RISE together."
The Medellín Revolution is a women's ultimate team based in Medellín, Colombia which competes professionally in the Premier Ultimate League (PUL) and as a club team in national and international competitions. The team has represented Colombia on the international stage numerous times. As a team, they are known for a unique free-spirited attitude and a fast-paced, relentless style of play; they are considered one of the top club teams in the world. Plays by several of their players have been selected for the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 highlights show.
The Columbus Pride is a professional women's ultimate team based in Columbus, Ohio which competes in the Premier Ultimate League (PUL). The team joined the PUL for the league's inaugural 2019 season. Their stated mission is to "increase the visibility of elite female ultimate players in Columbus and surrounding areas, provide role models to young athletes, and compete at a high, spirited level."
The Nashville Nightshade are a professional women's ultimate frisbee team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They play in the Premier Ultimate league and were one of the eight founding teams of the league. With the cancellation of the PUL's 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nightshade have only played one season. The Nightshade are a community-owned non-profit organization.
The Disc Golf Pro Tour was founded in 2016 by Steve Dodge and Nate Heinold. The DGPT is the highest level of competition in professional disc golf. The tour currently operates two tours, the Elite Series and Silver Series, both featuring men's and women's professional divisions. Through points earned by finishing at DGPT tournaments, competitors can earn berths in the final season event, the Tour Championship.
The Beaver State Fling (BSF) is an annual disc golf tournament held at Riverbend Disc Golf Course at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)