Colorado Springs, Colo. (February 19, 2024)—USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States and member of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, announced today the addition of two new members to its board of directors, along with the return of two incumbents, following its annual election and appointment process.

USA Ultimate members elected Alexia McCaskill (Boulder, Colo.) to an at-large seat and reelected Ben Van Heuvelen (New York, N.Y.) to a second term as an elite athlete representative.

The board of directors also appointed Terry Kalna (Pittsburgh, Pa.) as an independent member and reconfirmed current board president Dave Klink (Minneapolis, Minn.) as an appointed member. All four individuals will serve a term that runs from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2027.

Kalna replaces outgoing independent member, Leslie Gamez (Leadville, Colo.), who served two consecutive three-year terms, while McCaskill fills the at-large slot vacated by Chris Novielli (Westchester, N.Y). McCaskill won the at-large election ahead of Novielli and Joe Strong (Salt Lake City, Utah).

As an appointed member, Kalna possesses a 26-year history of revenue-generation experience in the areas of corporate partnerships, ticket sales, broadcast agreements, venue naming rights and endemic brand sponsorships. His sports business acumen is further complemented by significant experience in strategic planning, culture building and other marketing initiatives.

Most recently, Kalna served as the chief revenue officer for Canucks Sports & Entertainment where he led the revenue-producing team that oversees partnerships, ticketing and business intelligence for the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, The Rogers Arena and professional eSports teams, the Vancouver Titans and Seattle Surge.

Prior to his time in Vancouver, Kalna served in a similar capacity for his hometown Pittsburgh Penguins where he spent two years as chief revenue officer, focusing primarily on consumer sales, corporate partnership sales and service, and radio and television. Before that, he was the Penguins’ senior vice president of sales and broadcasting for five years.

Before transitioning to the hockey world, Kalna spent 14 years at NASCAR, most recently as its managing director of partnership sales and marketing where he led a 26-person team in partner sales, marketing and activation, media sales, and insights and innovation for the organization’s 13 racetracks and various business units.  

As a volunteer, Kalna has sat on USA Hockey’s marketing committee since 2011 and currently serves as its chair. He also served on the board of directors at VisitPittsburgh and the National Aviary.

With nearly 30 years of experience in the sport of ultimate and a professional background in law and higher education, McCaskill brings a plethora of knowledge and perspective to the board. Currently supporting students and alumni as a career adviser, McCaskill serves as senior director for professional development at the University of Colorado Law School where she works as a program manager and policymaker. Earlier in her 15-year tenure at the university, McCaskill served as director for government and public interest careers, leading the department in support of students pursing careers in public service.  

Before transitioning to a career in higher education, McCaskill practiced law as in-house counsel for labor unions, including Communications Workers of America, International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers and the American Federation of Government Employees.

In addition to her career as an ultimate player in the women’s and mixed club divisions, McCaskill is also a longtime coach at both the youth and club level, most notably coaching Denver Molly Brown to a national title in 2022. Her introduction to ultimate came as a local league player in Washington, D.C. and continues today, playing in local leagues in Boulder. McCaskill has coached in the girls’ and mixed divisions at the high school level and has filled a variety of key roles in the sport, including volunteer positions as USA Ultimate’s girls’ outreach coordinator and serving on its BIPOC Advisory Council. She has also served as a selection assistant for the U.S. National Team and volunteered on subcommittees for Altitude Ultimate.

Complementing the addition of two new members is the return of incumbents Dave Klink and Ben Van Heuvelen.

Klink was previously appointed to a three-year term (2022-24) after previously serving on the board as an elected elite athlete member (2016-18). He was elected president in 2023.