Colorado Springs, Colo. (December 1, 2021)—USA Ultimate announced today a few updates to its membership structure in conjunction with the 2022 membership cycle that begins today.

Some of the notable changes include:

Coach Memberships

  • Starting with the 2022 membership cycle, we will no longer offer a coach-specific membership. Instead, “coach credentials” are offered as an add-on to any membership. We hope this clears up some of the confusion around the difference between a coach membership and coach certification as well as some of the logistical challenges members have experienced with coordinating the two.
  • Anyone who has already fulfilled the requirements necessary to purchase a coach membership (e.g., background check, SafeSport and concussion training, videos and tests) will automatically have the new Foundational Coach qualification reflected in their member accounts.
  • All of the requirements previously needed to buy a coach membership will still be required in order to get a Foundational Coach qualification. The Foundational Coach qualification is a prerequisite to becoming certified at any level (middle school, high school, college).
  • Middle school, high school and college certifications are the other possible add-ons. Anyone who has already been certified will still have that certification reflected in their member account.
  • Anyone who currently has a multi-year coach or coach and player membership that expires after December 31, 2021, has been rolled over to a non-player (coach) or adult player (coach and player) membership with the same number of years remaining on their updated membership and has the appropriate coach qualifications reflected in their member accounts. Memberships that expire on December 31, 2021, have not changed – they remain coach or coach and player members for the rest of this year.
  • The new non-player membership (see more below) is cheaper than the previous coach membership. However, moving forward, coaches will need to pay $20 for the coach test, which was previously offered at no charge.

Non-Player Memberships

  • We are offering a new, non-player membership for $25. This new membership will replace the coach, chaperone and friends & family memberships. The non-player membership will still include all the benefits of any existing membership, except competing in a USA Ultimate-sanctioned event as a player. To compete in an event, a player membership is still required (affiliate, youth, college, adult, lifetime.)
  • Like multi-year coach and coach and player members, anyone with a multi-year friends & family membership has been rolled over to a non-player membership, with the same number of years remaining on their updated membership.
Learn more about memberships

Background Checks

  • In order to realign with USOPC background check requirements, we needed to update the criteria we’re reviewing with background checks. NCSI will still be our official provider, but the checks now include some new elements, which have increased the cost for some.
  • Starting December 1, background checks will cost $30. This fee applies to everyone, regardless of what state you reside in and how many counties need to be checked.
  • Organizations who run background checks on their own through NCSI and share the results with USA Ultimate will need to update their background checks to align with these new criteria to be valid.

December Discounts

Annual early bird discounts are available now through December 31!

  • Two-year college and adult memberships are available only in December, and you can save $10!
  • Save $5 on youth memberships in December with coupon code FiveOffYouth!Dec21.
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