Equity Statements

For our first statewide project GUPI worked with Minnesota club teams to draft and publish equity statements. We contacted every club team in Minnesota and worked with them to create an equity statement that would ensure equity within the team, commit to working with the Minnesota Ultimate community, and partner with GUPI to support, promote, and advocate for girls in Ultimate.

The statements were created by each team as a public commitment to promoting equity and as a resource that they can use to grow and support their own community.

This is a progressive step for Minnesota Ultimate. Our state is the first to have a community of Ultimate players who have publicly committed to taking actions steps towards making this sport more inclusive and equitable.

Use this page to read the equity statements of MN club teams, find resources for drafting your own statement and getting ideas for engaging your own ultimate community.

8/27/2017 2 Comments

Snap Ultimate Equity Statement

Snap is a women's ultimate team based in the Twin Cities. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter to stay in touch and learn more about the team!

Read their equity statement below:

SNAP Equity Statement

Snap is a regionally competitive women’s team from Minneapolis. Since Snap’s inception in 2014, the team’s culture has evolved to put an emphasis on the importance of inclusivity to all members of our team and community. Our team provides an opportunity for play that is challenging, creative, and respectful while focusing on teamwork, personal growth, and friendship. We strive to take this culture of spirited play and acceptance into the greater ultimate community.

Objective 1: Promote equity on our team

Promote an environment where everyone is welcome no matter their race, religion, or sexual orientation
Zero tolerance policy toward racist, sexist, and inappropriate language and behavior on our team
Take a stand by responding to instances of sexism, racism, and bigotry on our team and in all divisions of play
Encourage player accountability and responsibility to uphold values of respect and engage in our team equity objectives
Engage as allies with LGBTQ teammates and teammates of color (resource: http://www.guidetoallyship.com/#the-work-of-allyship)
Work to build each other up instead creating a culture of personal competition
Provide an opportunity for women with a wide range of ultimate experience to play in the women’s division at a relatively low cost
Offer flexible payment plans for teammates who do not have the financial means to pay dues in full and subsidize the cost for all players with a sponsorship

Objective 2: Hold others accountable for inequitable treatment of our team and division of play

Use our agency and experience as adults to shape the future of the sport for the next generation through advocacy and action as outlined in these objectives
Support organizations and events that provide equitable treatment
Report instances of inequity to organizers and USAU
Be mindful of the fact that our inaction harms future generations of women in ultimate
Advocate for equitable playing opportunities for our team and create event opportunities for ourselves
Reflect at the end of the season on these objectives and what we accomplished as well as what we can continue to work on in the future

Objective 3: Promote equity in the larger ultimate community

Lead by example as role models and encourage participation in the community
Coach and volunteer with local and regional organizations
Speak out against sexist language and behavior on the sidelines, at league, in social gatherings, and on social media
Promote the events, highlights, and accomplishments featuring women in ultimate
Attend USAU and similar forums on member growth, trajectory, and equity with a minimum of 2 team representatives at local meetings
Encourage women to play in the offseason in local leagues to support and promote the sport at all levels

Objective 4: Foster the growth of women playing ultimate across all divisions

Support the development of the women’s ultimate community by hosting women’s pick-up a minimum of three times over the summer/fall months
Increase the visibility of our own team in the name of women’s ultimate legitimacy through competing at out of region tournaments, social media, hosting events, and selling team apparel
Support youth and high school women’s ultimate by volunteering at tournaments, watching games, supporting the GUPI movement, and using excess team funds at the end of the season to financially support Play It Forward, GUM, and/or Without Limits
Focus on providing coaching and resources towards the women’s and mixed divisions to promote equitable resource availability across all divisions
Foster female leaders and male allies for the next generation of women in ultimate by cultivating relationships with members of other teams and developing ideas together
Develop a supportive, respectful, and competitive environment when playing with and against younger or less-experienced players

2 Comments

8/16/2017 0 Comments

Mojo Jojo Equity Statement

"Mojo Jojo is a team continually striving to compete with the high level competition in the Midwest Ultimate community, along with maintaining the fun atmosphere we've come to know and love about the game of Ultimate. We have and will continue to improve as individuals and as a collective, and we will support each other to drive this team forward."

Mojo Mojo Statement of Equity:

Mojo Jojo is made up of exceptional women and men in the Twin Cities and surrounding metro areas in Minnesota. We strive to clearly discuss and promote equity on the field, and to a larger extent off the field, by supporting, promoting, and working with other mixed, open, women’s, and youth teams. Mojo Jojo consists of many players who have developed through the youth programs in Minnesota, and many of our players currently coach and work with youth. As result, we hold ourselves to the highest standard when it comes to our position as role models for the spirited sport of Ultimate Frisbee, and we aim to have clean, spirited, friendly games when we compete within our region and as ambassadors outside of our region. We make strides to ensure that our team hears and utilizes the voices of both female and male players, captains, and friends, and we believe that our democratic mindset has helped us bring fierce competition to our region.

Check out the Mojo Jojo Facebook to stay in touch and get involved!

0 Comments

8/11/2017 1 Comment

Drag'n Thrust Equity Statement

Minneapolis Drag'n Thrust is the 2013, 2014, & 2015 USA Ultimate National Champions and 2014 WFDF World Ultimate Club Champions. Check out their website to stay up to date on all things Dragn!

Drag'n Thrust Statement of Equity:

Drag’n Thrust is committed to practicing hard, showcasing the abilities of all athletes, community involvement, and spirit of the game. Equitable opportunities for all genders is something we value as a representative of the mixed division and as a member of the Minnesota ultimate community. We believe gender equity is critical to strengthening and growing the community, while also ensuring the sport of ultimate remains an inclusive and welcoming sport for female athletes. We support gender equity across all age ranges and divisions and are committed to growing ultimate in ways that continue to value equity and fair play by:

Promoting youth events (particularly girls events) while also being proactive in seeking opportunities to volunteer at, partner with, participate at, and schedule around those events.
Instilling our stance on equity and setting expectations within the team early each season, and addressing change throughout each season to support the direction of equity movements
Adding our stance and expectations of gender equity to our existing internal team values
Continuing to implement on-field strategies that are inclusive of women to help drive the team’s success
Enacting a no-tolerance policy for any inappropriate/sexist language and behavior
Communicating the expectation that as a member of Drag’n Thrust, these values will be practiced not only at regular team activities but within the ultimate community (i.e. coaching, league play, volunteering, clinic participation, other teams, etc.)

1 Comment

8/8/2017 2 Comments

Spirit Fowl Equity Statement

"A mixed club Ultimate team based out of the Twin Cities. The George Costanza of the Mixed division."

Spirit Fowl Gender Equity Statement
Throughout the 2017 club season, Spirit Fowl has made adjustments to team culture and vernacular in an attempt to sustain a more inclusive and equitable team environment. These adjustments include the following:

Using the pronouns “they, them, and their” rather than gendered pronouns when describing drills and strategy and addressing the team.
Playing “person defense” instead of “man defense”.
Emphasizing trust in all teammates and always finding and taking the open throw
Having players from all genders demonstrate drills.
Running drills without splitting up based on gender.
Addressing and confronting sexist language and behavior and holding ourselves and our teammates to a higher standard in using inclusive language.
Providing high-level and high-spirited practice, scrimmage, and game opportunities to both rostered and practice players.
Celebrating successes and sympathizing failures without using gendered, hurtful, or harmful language.

In the process of drafting this statement, we have confronted certain personal limitations in our efforts that must be acknowledged. We have made efforts to create equitable standards on our team, but we can do more to highlight and support women in ultimate. This also serves as a list of goals to reach or issues to address for the future of our team. We recognize that we have not met these standards at this time and hope, with the inclusion of perspectives from everyone on our team, to attain them in the future.

Advocate, celebrate, and support women in ultimate through social media, wearing apparel of women’s teams, and attending women’s ultimate games.
Having an equal number of women to men on the roster and in leadership positions.
Advocating for a more equitable standard in playing time on our team and in the rulebook for mixed ultimate. For example, running more lines with 4 women and 3 men and advocating that USA Ultimate adjust rules to endzone dictates (like the World Games just did) or 6v6 games for mixed ultimate.
Include more team discussion on the topic of gender equity in ultimate and draft team principles or a team constitution to serve as standards that we abide by. Put it on paper to hold us accountable.
Work more closely with GUPI to support and highlight girls and women in ultimate in Minnesota and ask how we can help further their mission.

2 Comments

8/8/2017 2 Comments

Subzero Equity Statement

Subzero Ultimate Statement of Equity

July 19th 2017

This statement represents Minneapolis Subzero’s team goals with regards to equity.

As a team we commit to upholding and working towards the following objectives at every possible opportunity including, but not limited to, practice, competition, social media, and community interaction.

Objective 1: Create a team culture and environment within Subzero that promotes equity:
- Form a Gender Equity Committee tasked with creating educational opportunities for the team to discuss issues of gender identity/allyship/equity/privilege to create a thoughtful, respectful, and progressive environment.
- Create a clear and realistic protocol for responding to instances of sexism.
- Demand player accountability in response to disrespectful language/sexism and behavior.

Objective 2: Encourage community engagement and the growth of ultimate across all levels and divisions, particularly women’s ultimate:
- Publicly support MN women’s team during competition, at events, and on social media.
- Host and/or participate in events that encourage the growth of ultimate.
- Seize opportunities to speak up about inequity.
- Maintain open and honest communication with GUPI

Objective 3: Work to promote girl’s ultimate in Minnesota
- Support the GUPI movement by providing time, resources, and/or monetary contributions
- Attend HS women’s games
- Provide coaching for GUPI run clinics or other youth clinics
- Publicly support GUPI and girl’s ultimate

Check out the Sub Zero website for more information about their team!

2 Comments

7/21/2017 1 Comment

Climax Ultimate Equity Statement

Climax is a high-level open club ultimate team from the Twin Cities. Below is a copy of their 2017 Gender Equity Statement:

We are excited to work with GUPI and motivated to be a part of building unity and growth in the community. We believe that no athlete is inherently less valuable and that, historically, female athletes have not been equally valued. We believe that as a club team representing our community we have a duty to act equitably in an aim to reverse gender-biases in our sport. We believe that the long term success of our team depends on the strength of our community and that our community is strengthened by promoting girls and women in ultimate.

We commit to a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate/sexist language and behavior. We have established a gender equity committee within our team who will identify any inappropriate/sexist language and behavior, and address these comments at the individual and team levels. We plan to address gender equity in team meetings and actively create an environment that is progressive and reflective.

We commit to supporting MN women's teams during women's games and tournaments. We are proud of our teammates who currently coach youth women's ultimate. We commit to supporting them and to actively look for opportunities to connect teams in need of coaches with quality candidates.

We believe that by advancing its stance on gender equity throughout our community, GUPI is displaying great leadership, making a strong commitment to ending gender-bias, and elevating the status of ultimate as a sport that challenges historic boundaries of exclusion. We hope to work with GUPI towards achieving this goal.

1 Comment

7/7/2017 1 Comment

Minnesota Star Power Equity Statement

"MSP is a mixed Ultimate team from the Twin Cities. Our team is built on strong friendships, talent, and a healthy dose of rambunctious energy. This season, we will focus on accountability and commitment to our teammates, on purpose and intention in our practices, and on equitable and selfless play on the field.

Since its inception in 2011, MSP has struck the balance between having a super great time with our friends and playing competitive flatball. While this may be the goal of every mixed team that’s never been to nationals, MSP has got the results to back it up. In the last four seasons, MSP has finished 5th and 6th at regionals, 2nd at MUDI, 5th at the Select Flight Invite, and ended the season ranked 35th in the nation, all while maintaining our good looks, killer dance moves, and tireless sense of humor. Off the field, we also spent (an arguably unhealthy amount of) time together; attending the State Fair, running a 5K, throwing a Disney-themed sleepover, and surviving a marathon end-of-season awards ceremony.

In 2017 (in addition to the shenanigans), we plan to up the competitiveness and continue building the personal bonds outside of practice that make us strong on the field. With the addition of a coach, our practices will be focused and productive. We’re looking for players who are ready to care deeply about their teammates and tap those connections to work on their individual skills and athleticism. Ready to Power Up? See you at tryouts!"

To read more about their website click here!

Below is the MSP press release including their statement of equity:

This summer, MSP is excited to announce that we will be partnering with GUPI to help promote gender equity in the Minnesota ultimate community. GUPI (Girl Ultimate Players Initiative) is a player and student run organization with the goal of promoting youth women’s ultimate within the state of Minnesota. The mission of GUPI is to support Minnesota high school women’s teams, increase the amount of youth women players in the state of Minnesota and advocate for gender equity initiatives and policies.
By partnering with GUPI and wearing their logo on our jersey, we are committing to a promise that we will:

Ensure equity within the team and work to create a team culture and environment that is inclusive, respectful and equitable.
Show equity off the field by avoiding inappropriate/sexist language and behavior, encouraging player accountability in response to disrespectful language/sexism and behavior, having a clear and realistic protocol for responding to instances of sexism, and actively creating opportunities for the team to discuss issues of allyship/equity/privilege to create an environment that is progressive and reflective
Show equity on the field by committing to avoiding dangerous plays and creating specific ways that MSP will highlight the women on the field
Work to promote girl’s ultimate in Minnesota by providing time, resources, coaching clinics, and being there to cheer on high school women during their games.

Thanks Minnesota Star Power!

1 Comment

7/6/2017 1 Comment

Pop Ultimate Equity Statement

"Pop has been Minnesota’s premier women’s club team since it began in 2008. Historically Pop has been made up of women with a ton of ultimate experience who work very hard to be involved in and support the Twin Cities ultimate community through coaching at all levels, running clinics, and captaining their college teams. We compete nationally and are in the Top Select Flight. Over the past few seasons our roster has continued to grow and our tryouts have become more and more competitive - this season we have over 70 women interested in trying out for Pop, whereas three years ago we had a 17-person roster."

Check out the Pop website for more information about their 2017 club season!

Read the Pop Ultimate equity statement here!

1 Comment

7/5/2017 0 Comments

GUPI Statement Resources

Open Resource Sheet

Mixed Resource Sheet

Link to Gender Equity Belief Statement: http://skydmagazine.com/2016/09/gender-equity-belief-statement/

National Ultimate League: https://www.thenationalultimateleague.com/
Equity In Mixed Ultimate: https://equityinmixedultimate.wordpress.com/

0 Comments

7/5/2017 1 Comment

Minneapolis Bird Equity Statement

"Bird Ultimate is a competitive mixed club team from Minnesota. Founded in 2012, we thrive in the competitive North Central Region and we’re always looking for the next challenge. We love to travel to other states and regions and bring tough competition to their best teams.

We’re a team committed to equity, democracy, and sustained development of each person on our team. All voices and experiences of our team contribute to our success and frame our work as community members. These beliefs direct the vision of our team on and off the field, helping us fly higher together."

https://www.birdultimate.com

Read The Bird Equity Statement

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