2012 Club Season Guidelines Release and Overview

The 2012 Club Season and Series Guidelines have been posted. These guidelines provide detailed information about how the 2012 Club Season and Series will work, including sectional boundaries, registration information, rostering rules, rankings and bid allocation information for the Series. A summary highlighting some of the big changes is provided below.

Additionally, USA Ultimate has posted the bid document containing information and instructions for event organizers interested in hosting an Elite Club Showcase Event as part of the inaugural Club Regular Season. USA Ultimate is planning on partnering with two events to showcase each of the Mixed, Open, and Women’s divisions at their best, by providing resources to highlight events to fans on site and through enhanced online media coverage. The bid deadline is March 23 with announcements planned for March 31.

The following information highlights some of the important areas of change in the Club Guidelines. This is information is solely meant to bring attention to a few specific changes. The Club Guidelines should always be referenced for complete, detailed information about rules and instructions for the Club Season and Series.

Geographic Changes





Regional redraw – Increased from 6 to 8 regions. Goals were to reduce travel time, create regions with multiple viable communities that could support a variety of teams and events, and increase playing opportunities by offering more Regional tournaments. Population centers were considered heavily when determining where to draw boundaries.



Sectional redraw – Many sections stayed the same, with some realignment in order to balance travel considerations with the number of teams needed for viable events. In some areas/divisions, combinations of sections may still be necessary until sufficient growth occurs for areas to be viable alone.





Regular Season Events and Registration





The Regular Season will take place between June 9 and September 3.



Regular season games, where teams’ results can count towards rankings and bid allocations to the Series, may occur at any USAU Competitive-level sanctioned event.



In order to have games count, a team must register for the regular season using the regular season online rostering system, which will be available later this spring. Rostering rules (see below) will apply to all registered regular season teams.



Only games between two registered regular season teams at a sanctioned event will count towards rankings and bid allocations.



Registration will be open throughout the spring and summer, and teams will be able to register on a rolling basis, as they prepare to attend sanctioned regular season events.



Teams that register for the regular season will be automatically registered for the series in their appropriate section.



Teams that do not participate in the regular season will be eligible to participate in the series, provided they meet the series registration deadline.

Rostering Rules for Regular Season Teams





No player may be on more than one roster at a time during the regular season, either in the same or across different divisions.



Players must be deleted from one roster before they are added to another.



A player who has been deleted from one roster may not be added back to that same team’s roster for the remainder of the regular season and series.



No more than 30 players may be on a roster at one time through July 10. This limit will decrease to 27 on July 11 and remain in effect through the series.



While a team’s regular season roster will be editable throughout the regular season, the team will be required to set an event-specific roster prior to participation in each sanctioned event.

Rankings





The USA Ultimate rankings algorithm, currently use for the College Division, will be used to determine Club Season rankings.



A minimum of 10 official games against registered club teams will be required in order to be listed in the final end of season rankings and be eligible to earn bids for a section or region for the Club Series.

Bid Allocations – Sectionals to Regionals





Regional tournament size will be scaled (8, 10, 12, 16) based on the number of teams in a region. This helps with regional event planning, creates incentives for growth, and creates a competitive environment at the sectional level even in smaller regions/divisions.



Half of the bids to Regionals will be awarded evenly to sections, with "extra" bids awarded to sections with more teams, combining elements of geographic parity and size/growth incentives.



Half of the bids to Regionals will be awarded based on the relative strength of teams in the region, according to official rankings, with bids awarded to sections with the "next best teams", creating incentives to participate in the regular season and leading to the most competitive teams attending Regionals.

Bid Allocations – Regionals to Club Championships





The size of the Club Championships will remain at 16 teams for 2012 for the Mixed, Open, and Women’s divisions.



Half (8) of the bids will be awarded through a single automatic bid awarded to each region.



Half (8) of the bids will be awarded based on the relative strength of teams in the division, according to official rankings, with bids awarded to regions with the "next best teams".

Promotion and Relegation





The performance of teams in the 2012 Series will determine the initial starting point of teams for the 2013 season.



Plans for the 2013 season and beyond will be released for discussion and feedback on March 15. They will include a description of two alternate models that will create a tiered regular season for different levels of teams. Incentives tied to the Series will exist within the tiered regular season structure. Promotion and relegation into these tiers will be determined based on Series performance.

USA Ultimate is excited to see these changes to the club competitive structure go into effect starting in 2012, with additional exciting changes in 2013. Thanks to all the players, organizers, volunteers, and fans who provided input over the last few years about what they wanted to see for the Club Division. We look forward to continued input this spring about next season’s plans and wish all the teams the best of luck in the 2012 season and series.