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.