Professional ultimate frisbee is on the rise in 2017, and the Seattle Cascades and San Francisco Flamethrowers are creating opportunities to promote both men's and women's ultimate.

The West Division of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) will soon release its schedule, with seven home games and seven away games for each team. The regular season spans from April to July and culminates with West Division Playoffs and then Championship Weekend.

In addition to seven regular season AUDL home games, the Seattle Cascades are planning to host The "Cascades Cup," an exhibition game featuring a team of ten women plus ten men representing the Seattle Cascades on the field. Seattle will play against ten women and ten men from San Francisco, who will travel to Seattle on the weekend of either April 15-16 or May 26-27. All expenses for the game, including travel, will be covered by the Seattle Cascades and San Francisco Flamethrowers franchises.

Since their founding, the Seattle Cascades have stated explicit goals around gender equity in sports: “it is our responsibility to be advocates and action takers for the mixed and women's divisions so that our sport grows sustainably for all individuals over the long-run.” With this game, the owners of the Seattle Cascades (Seattle based siblings: Qxhna, Rohre, Vehro, Xtehn, and Zahlen Titcomb), are excited to put actions behind their words.

The Flamethrowers are also working to move gender equity forward by "committing to advocate for the growth of women’s and mixed ultimate, to showcase the extraordinary female talent in the club game, and to vocalize our support for women’s professional ultimate. We intend to honor these commitments in ways that are both visible and meaningful." (source)

AUDL Commissioner Steve Gordon fully supports these kinds of showcase events because they move the sport forward as a whole and bring the ultimate community together. The Titcombs and Steve Gordon share the common goal of growing the sport while respecting the attributes which make it unique. "The Titcomb family have been pioneers in advancing Ultimate in so many ways and this is just another example of their passion to advance it for everyone. I would encourage all to come out to support their efforts and enjoy what is sure to be a fun and exciting evening", said Steve.

According to Cascades owner and General Manager Xtehn Titcomb, “There are female athletes in our city who deserve equal playing opportunities to their male counterparts. This game, we hope, will be the catalyst for a broader sequence of actions within our sport to provide greater playing opportunities for women.”

While this game is an exhibition, the Seattle Cascades view it as an important aspect of their season. The Seattle women will be selected during tryouts in February, and will practice together with the men before the game. Both Seattle and San Francisco intend to bring 110% on the field. In fact, there will be a cash prize for the winning team.

Tickets for the Cascades Cup will be for sale at SeattleCascades.com once the schedule is announced in February.

The Seattle Cascades owners are available for questions. Comment below or contact us to get connected directly.