2009 UPA College Championships ::

Updated Videos Posted

Updated videos of the 2009 UPA College Championships have been posted, complete with replays and multiple camera angles:

Top Seeds Take Home 2009 UPA College Titles

After an event that had teams seeded 1st through 20th making waves, the finals came down to the top two seeds in each division battling it out on Monday. When it all shook out, the number one seeds validated their positions at the top of each division, with California-Santa Barbara and Carleton College taking home the Women's and Open division titles respectively. Santa Barbara captured its 4th UPA College Women's title, and first since 1991, by defeating a talented University of Washington team 15-11 in the finals. Carleton captured its second UPA College Open championship by storming to a 7-0 first half lead and then holding off Colorado 15-11.

Check out the Results and Video and Photo pages for more coverage of the finals and the entire tournament. Congratulations to the 2009 champions, all of the competing teams, and a big thanks to everyone who helped make the event a huge success!

Catch the Action from Columbus Via the Web

Unable to attend the 2009 College Championships Finals? Video replays of the finals are now available on the College Championships web site. Catch all the action, play by play. Special thanks to UltiVillage for making this possible.

The UPA has teamed up with Freeheel Images and UltiVillage to bring fans, family and friends back home live and still images of the 2009 College Championships via the internet. Round by round highlight video clips, evening photo slideshows, photo downloads, and the finals will all be hosted by the UPA and available at no charge. Visit the College Championships Media page for more information!

Division reporters Michelle Ng (Women) and Chris Spittal (Open) have posted their Previews and will be posting stories each night on the Results page, as well as live action updates via Twitter (click here for open Twitter feed and women's twitter feeds).

Experimental Rules Vote

The results of the experimental rules vote are in. With 18 of 20 Open and 19 of 20 Women's teams voting, the changes that will be in effect for this year's UPA College Championships are as follow:

Open Division
- Travel Calls - Immediate Referral - Player called/contested; immediate Observer ruling if contested
- Up/Down Calls - Active - Observer called; players cannot call or contest
Women's Division
- Travel Calls - Immediate Referral - Player called/contested; immediate Observer ruling if contested
- Up/Down Calls - Immediate Referral - Player called/contested; immediate Observer ruling if contested

Detailed vote results can be reviewed here. The vote of College Championship-qualifying teams was approved by the UPA Board of Directors in January and was preceded this spring by several experimental events where these rules were tested and feedback was collected. The Experimental Rules blog is still open for review for anyone who would like to share their thoughts about these experimental changes. The UPA will continue to solicit feedback from its members as it works to further the sport.

Seedings and Schedule Set!

The seedings and Competition Schedules for the 2009 UPA College Championships are set. Check out your favorite team's path the championship, and start planning out which games you want to watch while you're in Columbus. With 20 teams in each division, there are more games than ever to check out, and with 4 days for the event, there's more time than ever to take it all in. Which pool is the "Pool of Death"? Which of the 20 Women's teams is going to be the new champ? Can Wisconsin pull off the first Open Division three-peat since Santa Barbara did it in 1998? You won't want to miss this event! But if you can't make it out, you can follow all the action here on the tournament website, where there will be live score updates, video and photo coverage, and daily write-ups.

The 2009 College Awards have been posted on the UPA website.

2009 UPA College Regionals - Week 2 Complete

With both Regionals weekends completed, the field is set for the 2009 UPA College Championships in Columbus, OH May 22-25! Find out who moved on to the big dance on the Teams page, and see how they got there by checking out the College Series Results.

New College Championships Game Schedule

2009 brings a big change to the biggest event of the College Ultimate season. For the first time ever, the tournament field will be expanded to 20 teams per division. At the same time, the event is being extended from 3 to 4 days. These two changes require that the competition format, in use since 1999, be modified. The specific schedule will not be released until seedings have been finalized (Monday, May 11th). However, you can click here for a brief outline of some of the general changes, which provide some context for the specific changes and will help players and fans prepare for the event.

Alumni All-Star Showcase Team Named

The 2009 College Alumni All-Star team has been named. With top college players from all over the country, including recently graduated standouts and some stars from back in the day, these 16 players (8 men, 8 women) are sure to provide Team USA a battle. As you take a breather between college regional tournaments and anticipate who else is going to qualify for the 2009 College Championships, check out the stellar list of players that will be on display Sunday night in Columbus. Find a team or a player to cheer for, check out the potential individual matchups, and decide which roster you think has the edge.

Regionals Week 1 in the Books!

The majority of the entire field of teams for the College Championships has now been determined.

Returning UPA College Open champs, Wisconsin, lost to Carleton College in the Central Regional final, but will still head to Boulder to defend their national title. Returning UPA College Women's champs, British Columbia, will have an opportunity to earn a spot at Northwest Regionals this weekend. Check out the College Series Results pages to see what happened in last weekend's action, and to get ready for this coming weekend's qualifying events!

2009 College Awards Voting

Awards Voting is now live for each Region's:

All-Region Team
Freshman of the Year
Coach of the Year (new this year)

Contact your Sectional or Regional Coordinator for information on how each team can vote. Voting will close on Thursday, May 7th, and the results will be posted here on Monday, May 11th.

VC Ultimate Awarded Official Merchandiser Contract

VC Ultimate has been awarded the official merchandiser contract for the 2009 UPA College Championships. The UPA and VC Ultimate are excited to be working together again to continue to promote the sport and showcase one of the most exciting Ultimate events of the year. Official tournament gear will be available during and following the event through www.vcultimate.com.

College Alumni All-Stars vs Team USA

The UPA is excited about continuing with the Alumni All-Star Game that was started in 2007 as a way to showcase the sport and entertain players and fans in conjunction with the College Championships. Following the semi-finals on Sunday, the UPA will host a showcase game between a team of former college players from throughout the country and Team USA. Are you a former college star? How'd you like to play with and against some of the greats of Ultimate and represent your region/school one more time? Click here for more info and to fill out an application (deadline 4/23)!

Website is Live!

The 2009 UPA College Championships official tournament website is live! Check here for all the official info before, during, and after the event.