The ‘Color of Ultimate’ showcase game taking place in Atlanta, Georgia next month aims to clear the stage for top athletes in the sport who identify as people of color.

Manuela Cardenas, Byron Liu, Gabe Hernandez, Delrico Johnson, Allysha Dixon, and more will be among internationally recognized players taking part in the exhibition game on June 22, as well as participating in discussions about steps the sport can take towards solving a lack of diversity.

“A main goal for this game is to raise awareness within the community that there is a huge racial and socioeconomic disparity among the participants that are currently involved in ultimate,” said Josh Feng, head of the Atlanta Flying Disc Club’s Project Diversity initiative.

“Speaking in American terms, most of [the players in our community] are white, most of them are upper middle class. Just to put it bluntly, that’s something we realize is not okay.”

The game – which will be streamed online and is being put on in partnership with the Atlanta Hustle and Atlanta Soul – will uniquely feature almost 50 athletes who identify as people of color.

“We want to show that the players of color in our sport are complete ballers. We have very high level ultimate players [at this game] that are some of the best players in the world, not just of color, but period,” Feng said.

The Atlanta Hustle’s Kelvin Williams will be among local players suiting up for the exhibition game. Ryan Cameron Photography.

For Feng, bringing together top-tier players from a wide range of communities for a weekend will hopefully be a catalyst for change.

“It will be a gathering of talented, committed and passionate ultimate players sharing their feelings and thoughts on how we can improve our community,” he said.

Feng – who teaches and coaches ultimate at a predominantly black middle school in Atlanta – sees firsthand the importance of more diverse racial representation when it comes to growing the sport.

“People, particularly youth, are more likely to buy into a game if they see someone that looks like them playing,” he said.

“If I show an ultimate highlight video to a bunch of black kids in inner-city Atlanta and it’s all white people playing, it is less likely that they’ll think it’s a sport for them. But show them a video with a bunch of different races, or predominantly black people playing, they’ll be more likely to think ‘oh that’s really cool, that’s something I can do.’”

“You need a field and a disc. Bam. That’s it. There’s no reason for ultimate to not be accessible.” -Josh Feng, organizer, Color of Ultimate showcase

Feng cited the low cost of entry to start playing ultimate – unlike some sports like lacrosse or hockey – as a big reason why we should see a player pool more aligned with racial and socioeconomic demographics in different communities, and is pushing for more work to be done to reach the less-represented demographics.

“Ultimate has brought us so much joy, so much fun and so many character benefits – whether it’s spirit of the game, or teamwork, or overcoming adversity – that our goal is to make ultimate and those joys and those benefits more accessible to people of all backgrounds,” Feng added.

The AFDC opened up player applications this month for players across the country who wished to participate, and created rosters from the pool of applicants. A sponsorship program has been launched to help players raise funds to cover travel costs.

Yina Cartagena will be one of four teammates from the Medellin Revolution making the trip to Atlanta for the game

In addition to the game, the players will engage in a roundtable discussion about their experiences as a minority in ultimate and ways they can impact change in their communities.

“We’re looking at the applications from players who are out of town, and we ask them ‘why do you want to play in this game?’, and they say things like ‘I’m the only person of color that plays at this level in my community’, and that’s a problem,” Feng said.

“Or, for example, we have someone saying they can count on a single hand how many other Hispanics they’ve played against.

“This sport should be more representative of our country and our racial and socioeconomic demographics.”

Admission to the game will be free but carry a suggested donation of $15, said Feng, explaining that they don’t want price to be a barrier to younger fans or others who would be turned away by the admission cost.

For more information on the game, as well as full player rosters, visit: http://www.afdc.com/the-color-of-ultimate-atl/

To buy tickets or sponsor a player, visit: https://atlanta-flying-disc-club.square.site/tix-and-donations



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