HOW TO START AN ULTIMATE TEAM

                                             by Eric Simon
                                             and Sue Wallace
                                             (c) Copyright 1987, 1992


I. INTRODUCTION

     Although starting a frisbee team can be time consuming and hard work,
the benefits are rewarding.  You'll probably get to play on the team, and
knowing that there's a frisbee team where there was once none is very
gratifying.  As long as you make sure that recruiting efforts are
continuously made, the team will perpetuate itself after a while, and if you
move away from the location, you can be secure in the knowledge that the team
will still be there years later.
     The hard part is the mental energy you must devote to the task. 
Starting a team is not a part time job.  You must be conscious of your goal
every waking moment (and probably in your sleep, too).  You must view every
incident in life with "how can this help me start a team."  When someone asks
you "what's new?" you must mention that you're starting a frisbee team.  You
can't lose opportunities like that.  At a party, if someone asks you "what do
you do?" or "what are you studying?" don't tell them what you do for a living
or what your major is, say something like, "well, I start frisbee teams in my
spare time."  Work frisbee into your conversations.  Go to parties and
mention it.  Carry a frisbee around.  Carry around handouts.  If you're in a
Conversational Spanish class, and your Spanish teacher asks you what you did
yesterday, mention the frisbee team.  Go to exercise classes, and look for
recruits.  In short, you must be thinking about it constantly.  Countless
times I've seen people start a team with a half-hearted effort and then they
can't get the team off the ground.  They become discouraged and then think
it's an impossible task.  You must become a fanatic.  If you have the mental
energy to do that, then, believe it or not, starting a team is pretty easy.

II. STARTING A TEAM AT A COLLEGE

     If you're at a college, you're in luck.  Starting a men's team is
incredibly easy; starting a women's team is probably pretty easy, too.  Let
me (Eric) give you an example:  I arrived at Michigan State as a freshman in
September of 1975.  Back then, not too many people threw frisbees around
anywhere, not even at the beach.  This was even before 165's were invented! 
Within nine days, we not only had a team, but we had played our first game! 
It's that easy!

     A.  FRESHMEN

     The entire key for successful team building at a college can be
summarized in two words: "RECRUIT FRESHMEN."  Now, I was lucky.  I didn't
know that was the key, but because I was a freshman, and I lived in a
freshmen dorm, I ended up recruiting freshmen.  Four years later, when I was
a senior and we were playing in the first UPA Nationals (1979 - we came in
3rd), I looked at the team and realized that seven of the players on the team
were players that I had recruited as freshmen (six of had them lived in the
same dorm!).
     Why is freshmen recruiting so important?  Many freshmen get into social
patterns in which they remain throughout their college life.  As freshmen,
young students are often "on their own" for the first time in their lives. 
The experiences they share together are all important and remain with them. 
Very often it's purely dumb luck what social activities a freshmen might fall
into.  But if they like it, often they'll stay with it for the rest of their
college life.
     How did I start the team?  Well, I got to school and the first thing I
did was schedule a game for nine days in the future.  Then I went up and down
my hallway telling people that I was starting a team, and we had a home game
in nine days, and I didn't have any players yet on the team.  Freshmen don't
say "I don't have the time" like older people do.  The excuse I ran into was
"I'm not good enough" or "I don't know how to play."  My answer was simply
"No one knows how to play, yet" and "We don't care how good you are, we just
need people to play."  About half the people that came out to play ended up
staying with the team for at least a semester.  Over a fourth of them stayed
with the team for years.
     We'll be repeating this theme again and again:  you have to suck the
players in.  No one is going to join an ultimate team when they know how much
time it takes.  No one makes major commitments like that before trying it
out.  But, they'll try it, they'll like it, they'll want more, and before you
know it, you'll have a bunch of frisbee fanatics on your hand.

     B. THE BUREAUCRACY

     Besides recruiting, you need to become part of "The Bureaucracy" at your
school.  Becoming an official club, or organization, or club sport, entitles
you to tremendous benefits.  Becoming "official" is pretty easy.  With a call
to the Student Activities office or the Club Sports office, you can find out
how to do it and you can find out what the benefits are.  Usually, all it
takes is filling out a form or two.
     The benefits are great.  Club sports, typically, can reserve space in
the school.  This means gyms to practice in, places to have a party,
meetings, etc.  Official Clubs can reserve fields to practice on, fields for
a tournament, space for a tournament party, and all other kinds of
facilities.  You can probably borrow field equipment (e.g., limers to lime
fields), audio-visual equipment (to show videos at parties), and all sorts of
other things.  You may even be able to borrow vehicles for road trips!  This
is especially good if your team has a shortage of cars.  Renting a car is a
bitch for people under 25.  The Glassboro State College (NJ) frisbee team was
able to get a bus from their school to take to the 1980 Nationals in Atlanta.
     Free advertising is another benefit.  School newspapers usually offer
free space to school organizations.  You'll want to print a notice at least
once a week for the rest of your life (if it's free).  During freshmen
orientation week, there may be a special listing in the college paper.  Your
team might get into a student activities handbook that the college gives
out.  The school radio station may offer free PSA's (public service
announcements) for student organizations.
     Discounts for many of the above mentioned services may be available
through the school or through local businesses.  You might be able to get
discounts on team shirts or poster printing.
     Money may be available for you.  The Michigan State Sports Club office
had money to give away for any team that qualified for championship-type
tournaments.  (The most we ever got from them was $100; it was a small amount
but we were poor and every little bit helped.  In 1986 the Carnegie-Mellon
team was able to get $6000 for expenses to go to college nationals).  The
Student Activities Board also had money to give away for special events.  We
were able to get $400 from them once to help run a tournament.  We bought
trophies and printed programs and posters with that money.
     Student organizations also get rights from the state and even our
federal Constitution.
     In short, the college will help you more than you ever dreamed if you
become an official student organization.
     For long range plans, get elected to the student council, or get on some
of the boards that make the decisions.  If the school can send a softball
team across country, they can do something for ultimate, too.  A member of
the University of Florida ultimate team was on the Student Activities Board
and found that money was being given the University Surfing Team to enable
them to go to the beach and practice (!).  She was then able to get some
money for the ultimate team to go to the Nationals (in New Orleans) that
year.  The following year, four ultimate players were elected to the Board. 
That year the Nationals were in Santa Barbara and the team got a few thousand
dollars for travel money.

III.  STARTING FROM SCRATCH

      A.  RESERVE SOME SPACE AND RECRUIT, RECRUIT, RECRUIT

     Although you may be starting a team weeks and even months before you may
want to practice, you ought to reserve space (either fields or gyms) as early
as you can.  In DC, for example, you must get reservations in for the whole
year in February to the DC Parks Service.  Don't get caught with a bunch of
players rarin' to go and no place to play.

     B. RECRUIT THROUGH P.R. (PUBLIC RELATIONS)

     We've found that the most effective recruiting technique was putting ads
in the paper.  Probably in every major city there is some free or underground
type paper that allows free ads to organizations that aren't selling
anything.  Even major papers may have such a section.  The Washington Post,
for example, has a Weekend Section every Friday, and in that section they
print free ads about upcoming events and sports clubs.  We prepared an ad,
made about 15 copies, stuck them into envelopes, put stamps on them, and then
every Monday we took an envelope and stuck it in the mailbox.  Of the first
75 people we recruited (in the first month!) over 50 came from our ad in the
Post.  As we mentioned earlier, school papers usually offer free ads to
"official" type organizations looking for members.  You are making a huge
mistake if you pass up this opportunity.  Sure, the ads may be on the second
to last page in fine print - but somebody who finds it and calls you usually
has the interest and the time to join the team.
     Radio stations are required to air public service announcements. 
Believe it or not, some of them are looking for announcements to air.  Write
up a simple little "PSA" and send it off to the hip radio stations in town. 
Especially look for newer stations.  In DC, a brand new station was so hard
up for PSA's, that they took our ad from the paper and read it over the air,
without us ever sending them anything, and without them ever telling us!
     Plaster the area with posters.  If you're a college student, you know
where to put them: wherever students hang out.  If you're starting a club
team, put posters up in local schools if you can.  Check out your local
supermarket.  Keep a bunch of posters with you in your knapsack (along with
a roll of tape, a mini-stapler, and a package of thumbtacks), and take them
wherever you go. If you have a car, keep those items in your trunk.  The
point is, wherever you go, if you think to yourself, "this'd be a great place
to put up some posters," then you're ready to do so.  (Remember in the
introduction we talked about being a fanatic?)
     It may help you that the UPA is an "official" non-profit organization. 
Some radio stations, for example, will offer free PSA's only to non-profits. 
Use the UPA logo whenever sending written material about your team to
anybody.  If you and/or your team are UPA members, you can include something
like "affiliated with the UPA, a non-profit organization."

     C. PERSONAL RECRUITING

     When you try to get people to come out for the team, treat the situation
as though you're trying to get that person to go to a party with you, or to
see a concert with your favorite group.  In other words, getting somebody to
come out is no different from any other social situation.
     Make people feel good about themselves and happy to be involved.  Be
positive.  An easy mistake organizers can make is to be bitter about all the
work they have to do because no one is helping them.  (You may, at times,
feel bitter, but just don't let it show.)
     Ease people in.  Everyone we know of who has ever become involved in a
substantial way never actually intended to make a major commitment to the
organization.  They thought they were just committing themselves to a couple
of hours a month.
     Psychological research shows that people become involved in organ-
izations, and stay involved, because of the social aspects.  Sure, the health
aspects are nice, running around getting fresh air, etc.  But the reason they
keep coming out is a social reason!  This absolutely cannot be forgotten! 
After people come out, they keep coming out because they are excited about
the new people they are meeting, not because of the exercise or the thrill of
competition.  Meeting new people "out there in the real world" is very
stressful, especially for people that are out of college.  A new frisbee team
can be an easy, non-threatening way to meet people and to make new friends. 
Keep this in mind, and try to facilitate the social aspects of this new
activity.  If you do so, you will be amazed at how quickly some people forget
what life was like "before frisbee."
     The "social aspect" is probably the most important single factor in
keeping a new team together.  You can't forget that.  We can't overemphasize
this.  Ask anyone in ultimate what they like about the sport, and they'll
answer: "the people."

IV.  PLANNING AHEAD

     A.  GOALS

     You must, at all times, keep in mind the most important goal of starting
a brand new team:  survival.  You want the new players to keep coming out. 
If they don't come out, you don't have a team, and you won't be able to get
to any other goals you might have.  The new players must want to come out. 
No one can make them come out.  They have to want it all by themselves.  They
will want to come out if they are having fun, and if what they're doing is
rewarding.  Once the players start coming out, you can't forget this.  You
must constantly be asking yourself if they are having fun.  If the person
starting a new team in into a "power trip," there will be problems--that's
not very fun for the others.  People's spare time is precious, and if it
isn't fun, they'll go do something else.  Plan to go out for beers after your
first practice.  Bring a music box to practice.  Ideally, you can practice
near a team of the opposite sex.  Then you can go out for beers together.
     You must, at all costs, avoid situations in the beginning that cause any
negative reinforcement.  Practices shouldn't be scheduled when you feel that
attendance will be low.  It's far, far better to have too few practices than
too many.
     Another very common mistake is throwing new players into a scrimmage
with experienced players.  That is no fun.  The new players don't get thrown
to enough.  When they do, everyone else crowds around trying to get the
person to throw a little outlet pass while people all around are screaming
"don't rush, take your time!"  People don't like feeling inadequate and/or
incompetent.

     B.  A PLAN

     1. Start your team and start your recruiting over the winter.  In that
way you can avoid having practices before you have enough players.  Andromeda
(the first women's team in DC) wasted an entire summer that way.  We
convinced a couple players to come out, but never enough for a practice.  By
the time we got other people to come out, the first bunch had already stopped
coming.  Also, if you're recruiting players to an already existing team, the
team will want to scrimmage, but you don't want to subject the new players to
this.  It's good to get all the new players started at the same time,
progressing together.  By starting over the winter, you can recruit for eight
to twelve weeks before ever having a practice.  Then, when you have your
first practices, you'll have enough people.
     2. Have a meeting before your first practice.  Start the social habits
early!  Squeeze (the second women's team in DC) reserved the upstairs of a
restaurant/bar for the meeting.  People were very excited when they saw how
many other people were there,  and made new acquaintances right off the bat. 
It filled them with anticipation, and they were "chomping at the bit" to have
a practice.
     This meeting set the tone for the entire season.  We drove home the
point that no one should feel inadequate because they didn't know how to
throw a frisbee.  We emphasized, again and again, that that's what the
practices were for - to teach.  And we stressed that we would spend many of
the first couple of practices simply teaching how to do things like throw and
catch.  We photocopied a section of Tom Kennedy's book on Ultimate (the
section about how to throw a backhand) and gave it out as a handout.  Of
course everyone wanted to learn more, but we were teasing them.  They wanted
to practice immediately!  We gave out copies of the UPA Newsletter.  We also
gave out a phone list, which gave people a sense that there already was a
team established and that they were on it.  We talked about the fun aspect of
the team, the millions of great people they could meet, what a road trip was
like, the UPA, etc. etc.  We also told them what kind of progress to expect. 
We told them that Andromeda took a full year until they won their first
game.  We warned them about losing many games 13-0, but that when they scored
their first goal they would be very proud.  We were very careful that they
wouldn't be in for a let down when they played their first game.  But we also
guaranteed them that their bodies would feel healthier within a couple of
months; that they would have a sense of accomplishment, that they would have
more fun than they could imagine, and lots of new friends.  They were very
psyched by the end of the meeting.  
     The person running this meeting must exude confidence.  It's OK if this
person doesn't know anything about frisbee.  The person starting the team
doesn't have to.  This person, the "captain" must be a good organizer and
have good social skills.  If he or she does, there is nothing to feel
insecure about.  The new players will have enough insecurities; they will be
looking for a leader that has inner confidence.  So be confident!  With this
manual, you will know what you are doing!
     Another valuable tool for this meeting, or other meetings or frisbee
parties, would be a video-tape of ultimate (if you have access to the proper
equipment).  There are several good games on tape that would give your
prospective players a flavor of what the sport is like.  Additionally, a
video can later serve as a teaching tool.  You can point out good cuts, great
dives, and classic examples of "not going to the disc."  You can purchase one
for around $35 (Renting them might be a possibility.)  See the list of
contacts at the end of this packet for more information.  
     3. Start off slowly.  Our first practices involved teaching how to throw
a backhand and forehand.  You need lots of patience and you need to give out
a lot of positive reinforcement.  We used the simple triangle drill from TK's
book.  Experienced players went around giving tips and comforting discouraged
players.  We always had little pep talks at the beginning and the end of
practices.  We harped on any visible progress that had been made.  We got
them pschyed.
     If you have any experienced players, you must be sure that they also
have a lot of patience.  They can't get frustrated.  The negativity of one
experienced player can infect a team.  The new players can be put off by such
a player.  Some will simply stop showing up for practice.  You must have
positive reinforcement only!
     Start off slowly, physically, too.  Remember, these people are probably
not in as good shape as you are.  Get them running right from the start, but
begin with small distances and work your way up.  Most importantly, warm them
up and stretch them out well.  People will think twice about coming out to
practice if their body is still sore from the last practice.  Have group
stretches at first, before and after practice, so you can ensure that
everyone stretches properly.  Stretching also prevents injuries.  Make sure
you discuss with the team the importance of stretching.
     4. Try and have a schedule ready to hand out at the meeting.  The more
written materials you can hand out, throughout the season, the better.  The
team, or at least its captain, looks organized, and it lends legitimacy to
the team and the sport.  Strategy hand-outs are a good idea, and will help
reinforce whatever points you are trying to make.  See the section below on
"Plugging in to the Network," for ideas on how to get a schedule.
     5. Be prepared to be on the phone a lot!  Players need to be called. 
Even more importantly, players need to call the captain when they can't make
it to practice or games.  Captains lose respect when they have no idea how
many of their players will show up at an event.  Although players can't be
pushed to come to practice (they have to want to come), many times, at first,
players will be a bit ambivalent or tentative.  Perhaps they are discouraged
at not learning the game or its skills fast enough.  A phone call to such a
player may get them to come out.  If you work, hopefully, you can be on the
phone.  If not, you may need to get a co-captain to handle phone calls. 
Someone must be accessible by phone at all times.  An answering machine can
come in very handy.  Often, players want to know some simple information, and
pre-recording a message ("the game will start at 10am") may save lots of
phone calls for you.

     C. KEEP RECRUITING

     A common mistake is to stop recruiting after a solid core has been
formed.  The experienced players get tired of having to teach people about
pivoting week after week.  Do not fall into this trap!  It's very sad (and a
statement about poor planning) that places like Glassboro State College,
whose men's team once had over 30 players and who were US champs two years in
a row, and whose women's team was among the best in the country, has no team
at all anymore.  They are not the only example.  Squeeze started with over 35
players that were coming to practice in March; by the time regionals rolled
around in November, only 13 healthy players could make it (several were
injured).
     If you feel there are too many players, start a second team, or  have a
summer league.  People will get injured, lose interest, and move away.  Don't
turn away people who want to play.  It will haunt you in the end.

     D. PLAY GAMES (AND BE PREPARED TO LOSE MOST OF THEM)

     Schedule games.  Only you can determine how often your team may want to
travel.  If you're in the East, you're in luck because you can schedule
tournaments virtually any weekend, and not have to travel too far.
     Squeeze's first game was against a team of equal caliber (i.e., pretty
new).  This is a good thing to do.  You will get beat 13-0 and 15-2 enough
times by more experienced teams later.  Again, following the principle of
"breaking them in slowly," you want the conditions for your first game to be
ideal (just like you want a "first date" to be perfect).  You want to play a
team about your level, and a team that is very fun.  Squeeze's first game was
ideal.  It was a close game, only two hours away, and after the game we had
a barbecue at someone's home.
     If you are not near other teams, try to schedule your first game to be
at a "fun" tournament (not regionals or sectionals!).  A tourney with lots of
teams, and one where you know there will be a party and lots of opportunity
for social interaction with other teams.
     A beginning team is going to lose lots of games.  Andromeda, a team that
twice went to nationals, played for an entire year before winning their first
game.  It is extremely important to prepare your team for this; it's also
very important to deal with the losses correctly.  If the leader of the team
gets frustrated at these losses, the team will not have very much fun.  And
a team that has little fun will not be a team for long.
     The captain must keep the team focused.  The team should be focusing on
fundamentals, on learning, and on the few positive things that may be going
well.  Remember, there are two aspects to the game:  mental and physical.  If
you can teach the mental parts (knowing how to cut, etc.), and the team is
doing that correctly, compliments are in order.  Harp on the positive. 
Physical mistakes are made by even the best teams.  New teams will make a lot
of them.  A bad throw, a dropped pass, that will always happen.  And that's
why you need your team to throw a lot during practice.  But mental mistakes
should get fewer and fewer each game.  Those can be learned quickly.
     That doesn't mean your team will understand all the subtleties of
playing against a zone or executing a sideline defense right away.  The
captain should introduce certain concepts on a weekly basis in a logical
order (not overloading the team), and stick with trying to do those things
during the games.  We remember coaching Squeeze when they were brand new, and
some guy came up to us and started talking to us about having Squeeze make
reverse cuts because the other team was overplaying the swing.  That was a
good point, except that our team had just learned the concept of the swing. 
We simply said, "we're not up to that, yet."  You can't move on to the next
lesson when the team is still learning the first one.
     More importantly, when they're doing the right things, and still losing
11-0, impress upon the team that they are doing the right thing; that they're
just getting beat by a better team.  The team has to be focused on what they
are doing on the field.  They absolutely can not be focused on the score.  We
remember losing a game 13-1 against a good team and feeling good about it! 
Why?  Because we were executing the right cuts at the right time.  Our
players weren't good enough yet to throw and catch, but we all knew how to
cut, and we were doing it well.  This is exactly the point of focusing on
what's happening on the field and not on the score.
     Another common mistake that new captains make is in substitutions. 
Everyone has to play in each half.  Practices are good for players, but games
are better.  Game experience is unique.  No one chokes or gets nervous in a
practice.  It sure will happen in games, though.  Playing the game is what
this whole thing is about, and when players travel to a game and don't play
they may not keep coming out.  Playing time is the best way to impart a
lesson about showing up and trying hard at practice.  A good player may have
no incentive to come to practice if s/he knows that s/he'll get lots of
playing time anyway.  It's very hard not to play a good player who hasn't
been practicing, but it has to be done.  It's very, very bad for morale for
a player to just show up at games and to get a lot of playing time.  Again,
you have to remember what your goal is.  In the first season or two, your
goal is survival.  Not winning.  Even if your goal is to make the nationals,
you can do it without winning many games.  Remember that concept.  You can
lose every game from March to September and still win the Nationals.  Let's
draw an analogy to college basketball, where the championship is decided by
a year-end tournament.  The good coaches play all their players the first
half of the year, even if it costs them some games.  At the end of the year,
those teams have the best bench strength, the most experienced second string. 
Then the team can go all out on defense, playing hard, and subbing players in
and out frequently.  And this strategy is done by coaches with experienced
players!  On a team where almost everybody is inexperienced, each player
needs as much playing time as they can get.
     Each of your players needs to play all of the positions.  A new player
who is forced to "go long" all the time can't be expected to learn how to
throw too well if they're never in that position during a game.  Mix it up. 
Let's say your offense is divided up into handlers, middles, and longs.  Play
some of your newer players at middle.  Put some of your middles at handler. 
Sometimes a great handler makes an even better middle.  New players aren't
stupid.  When they're told to "go long" all the time, and the disc is hardly
ever thrown to them, it doesn't take them long to figure out how much
confidence you have in them.  Never underestimate the power of confidence, on
a team level and on an individual level.  Never forget, too, that even the
best player on the team needs compliments and their confidence built up.


     E. BE A LEADER

     If you're the captain, then, like it or not, you're the role model.  If
you don't run hard at practice, you can't expect your team to do so.  If you
get frustrated during games, and let it show, then they will.  If it's hard
for you to run hard during practice because you're already the best player,
have some other enthusiastic player be the "drills coach" so that they can
get on your case if you're not running hard.  You have to be into what you
are doing, and you have to set an example.  You have to believe that you have
a "master plan" and that things are progressing well.  You have to be
confident in yourself, you have to be confident about the team, and you have
to be confident about what the future holds.  Be positive.  Never let another
team put your team down.  If other teams treat your team in a condescending
manner, and, unfortunately, it will happen occasionally, talk to the other
captain about it.  Even the newest team should get respect.  Don't let your
team get the short end of the stick just because they are new.  Be proud of
what you are doing.  Because what you are doing is something that everyone
connected to ultimate should be happy about:  promoting the growth of
ultimate.

V. PLUGGING INTO A NETWORK

     A. JOIN THE UPA (ULTIMATE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION)

     There are lots of reasons to join the UPA.  Supporting your sport, etc. 
But the most practical reason for an organizer of a new team to join the UPA
is so you can find out what's going on.  In other words, the UPA is the
"network" you want to plug into.  The country is divided into five regions,
and each region is divided into four to six sections.  You'll want to know
who the other teams in your area are.  You'll want to know where the
tournaments are, and how to get your team in them.  You'll want to know your
sectional and regional coordinator.  They are valuable resources who can help
you with various problems.   For information about the UPA call 1-800-UPA-
GetH (as in "Get Horizontal!").  A membership costs $25 ($15 for students). 
Mail it to UPA, P.O. Box 2331, Silver City, NM 88062.  Included in that
membership are a bunch of benefits, a copy of the rules, and a valuable,
information-packed UPA Newsletter.
     At the end of the season (around October and November) the UPA has it's
"championship series."  Each section in the country has a tournament.  The
top teams at sectionals qualify for the regionals championships.  Those top
teams qualify for the Nationals.  There is also a Collegiate Championship
Series held in April and May.  Both series have an "open" and "women's"
division.  In the East, there is also another "UPA Series" (which includes
sectionals, regionals, and Easterns) in the spring (April and May).  Every
team that meets the "eligibility" requirements of their series is eligible to
compete in the series.  Every person on the team must be a UPA member.  For
the college series, the players all must be students.  There are a few other
technical requirements.  They are listed every year in the UPA Newsletter.
     

     B. THE NETWORK
     
     There are five regions in the UPA (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South,
Central, and West).  Each region has a regional coordinator, and a special
women's regional coordinator and a college regional coordinator.  Each
section has a coordinator (some sections also have coordinators for women and
colleges).  Of course there is also a national director, and women's national
director, and a collegiate national director.  There is also a High School
national director, who can put you in touch with other high school teams.


     C. CONTACT YOUR COORDINATOR

     Let someone know that you exist!  (Whether or not you have a team yet.) 
That way you can get on mailing lists, and get lists of other teams.  Call
your sectional and regional coordinator immediately!  They will be able to
help you out.  At the least they will offer you moral support when you need
it.  If you don't know who your regional coordinator is, (or if the phone
number is not listed in the "UPA contact list") call the national
coordinator.  The thing a UPA official likes to hear the most is that a new
team is starting, so don't feel shy about calling.  You will get a lot of
encouragement when you call.
     Many players are trying to start teams and because they are on lists,
they have received this manual in the mail.  Don't miss out on opportunities
like that.
     Many regions have captains meetings.  Find out about them and meet other
captains.  You will also be able to find out when the other tournaments are. 
Some regions (the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast) have two meetings per year
(in February, and around Labor Day) to set the spring and fall schedules. 
All it takes to get into most of the tournaments is a phone call to the
person running the tournament.  Your regional coordinator ought to have a
list of tournaments to send to you.  If you are in the Mid-Atlantic or
Northeast regions, you will find that there are more than one tournament
every weekend during the height of the spring and fall seasons.

     D. COLLEGIATE TOP 25

     All college teams are ranked by the UPA, provided someone calls in the
results to the college games.  Sports information directors love things like
this.  For your team to get ranked, call your scores into 1-800-UPA-Get-H
before 1pm Monday, or e-mail them to "70540.1522@compuserve.com".

     E. PLUGGING INTO THE ULTIMATE ELECTRONIC COMMUNITY

     And, in our high tech world, there is an international computer network
that has an area devoted to disc sports.  If you have a computer and a modem,
you can literally "plug in."  There are UPA announcements made on the board
(like Top 25, team lists, tournament notices), as well as discussions on
rules, strategies, and other interesting topics.  It is available 24 hrs per
day.  If you have access to the Internet (and just about EVERY university, and
most large companies and government agencies do), the Usenet newsgroup area
is called rec.sports.disc.  If you do not have access to usenet, you can hook up
to
it by calling a bulletin board in the D.C. area.  The phone number is: 703-
765-0822.  The 'message area' is called 'rsd', and the sysop is Dave
Aronson.

     Additionally, many UPA Officials have Compuserve accounts.  Check the
latest UPA Newsletter for the addresses.  It is thus possible to e-mail
articles directly to the UPA Newsletter Editor.


HEY - we're not done yet, but this partially done manual ought to help you a
little bit.  If you have any comments, suggestions, anecdotes, etc., you'd
like to add, or if you have any questions, etc., drop us a note.  In
addition, we have many drills and strategy handouts that are beneficial to
new and old teams that we would be happy to share with you.  Just call or
write to us.  In the meantime, good luck with your team and have fun!

Eric Simon and Sue Wallace
3116 S. 12th St.
Arlington, VA 22204