James Kelly-Lieb and I will be running the show. We even have access to a scoreboard this year, so you'll never have to ask us for the score again. Barry will also be around, and being the proverbial Godfather to the Baltimore Ultimate community that he is, please do anything he tells you. And buy the man a drink if you see him out.

If you get to the fields early, please don't overwhelm the folks inside. There are probably youth programs going on up until we have our time reserved, please do not go onto the field until you are given the "All clear." Please follow all the house rules. We don't want to lose our sweet new set up. 

Now, about the teams...

There is no way to make the teams perfectly even.  We tried, but we also tried to honor most buddy requests and this tends to skew the parity.  Sorry if your buddy request didn’t make it.  We couldn't do them all.

The team size is roughly 15 players this year, which is great, and more than last year. We even had to make a waitlist, so I guess you can say Ultimate is getting pretty popular these days.  The teams have 12 guys and 4 or 5 women.  Teams can decide beforehand whether they would like to play 4/1 or 3/2. They are even able to switch between the two, but this must be agreed upon before games start.

Teams are named, this year, after the X-men. Don't worry, we picked the cool ones, no one ended up as Kitty Pride or Jubilee.

Things to keep in mind as we start league play:

 - This is not a highly competitive, super serious league.  The main reason we organize this league rather than just play pick-up all winter is to avoid having a ton of people waiting on the sideline each night.  It’s simply a way to split up the crowd into smaller groups and give them a dedicated (and somewhat exclusive) play period.  Bottom line: play hard, have fun, but don’t take it too seriously.

 - These play periods will start on time!  If you want to maximize your playing time, please arrive early and be ready to go at the start time.

 - A play period consists of a warm-up game, a water break, and a “real” game.  All league players are welcome to join in for the pickup.

 - No team captains are required, but teams do seem to have more fun when someone is making the decisions.  Think about taking a leadership role.

A volunteer MC (Master of Ceremonies) will be present each night to keep things organized.  This person is responsible for assigning sliders (defined below) and getting the games started on time.  Please treat all of your MC’s with the utmost respect and give them all the help you can.

Game Play:

We are changing things a little bit this year to fit with the new facility. The field is a little narrower and a good bit longer. There are walls around the arena, so to save lives, there is a 1 yard buffer around the field. If you or the disc touch the walls or net, you are out of bounds.

The biggest change is this, we are not playing make it take it.

Instead we are playing that you when score you immediately put the disc down where you are in the end-zone and go on defense. This allows for continuous play and easier tracking of scores since each team will only score in their very own end-zone. 

Subbing is still on the fly. Players not on the field must remain off the field. To be subbed in, you MUST be tagged in by the player who is subbing out. This is the only way to keep it fair and prevent people from "teleporting" onto the field.

For those that have not played this style of indoor before, you should know that subbing on offense is way more convenient than subbing on defense.

Official games last 30 minutes. Each team has a 1 minute time out. 

When time expires, if a team is in the lead, the game is over. If the disc is in the air when time expires, then the pass may be completed.

If scores are tied when time expires, then there is a sudden death overtime. First team to score wins.

You can call skips. (Good Luck)

Only active players (who are on the 2 teams playing) are allowed on the turf during the game. Spectate from outside the glass... like hockey.

A Short Discussion of Sliding:

Each player is scheduled for one game per week.  There are two other ways for league members to get additional playing time:

  - by showing up on time and participating in the pickup round prior to each game

  - by being assigned by an MC to be a "slider" and participate in a game in which their team is not playing

Sliding is an important part of the league due to the  obstacles that pop up in life that prevent people from making the games.  Thanks to sliders no one has to worry about letting their team down when they can’t make it.  Plus, it gives hardcore players additional court time.   On the other hand, we don’t want sliders to take away too much playing time from the players scheduled for a given hour, hence we limit the number of subs allowed. With team size being bigger this year, sliding will be harder. As always it is up to the teams themselves to decide if they want sliders.

The MC will assign sliders during the pickup round in consultation with members of both teams, and with the goal of making the game as even as possible.  We will try to reach a consensus, but decision of the MC is final. Please be nice to us.

Be advised that Sliding is risky business in that there may be no need for substitutes on a given night.  The MC is under no obligation to play you simply because you have made the trip to the gym.

It is important to remember that if you are sliding, it is not your team, so please take subs to allow the actual team members to play more than the sliders. If they really want you on the court, they'll sub to get you back in.

Schedule and Format:

Each team has one game per week.  Over the first 6 weeks of the season, every team will play all but one team team once.  I tried to make the schedule so that people with a preference between Mondays and Wednesdays would have the majority of their games on their preferred night, but every team has at least one or two games on the other night.

Playoffs will last two weeks after the regular season.  The top two teams after the regular season will be placed in the A-division semifinals, and the bottom two in the B-division semis.  The four in the middle will play a quarterfinal round, with winners moving to the A-division and losers to the B-division.

Administrative Stuff:

If you still owe money and/or a signed registration form and waiver please try to do that as soon as you get to the facility. You will not be allowed on the turf if you haven't paid your $35 dollars and filled out a GOALS waiver (remember, it's attached to this email).  We will track you down if you haven't paid, so please make it easy on us and bring money this week! 

All the information about the league, including rosters, schedule, standings, and announcements will be posted at the CMUA Website:

http://md-ultimate.org/

Thanks for reading, and See you soon.

Jon Pressimone

Here is the schedule:

Here are the teams: