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The following post has been written by VC's CEO Adriana Withers. Over the past few months, the VC team has been sporting staff shirts that say "The Future is Female". More than a handful of times, each of us has been asked, "What's with the shirts?"... and so, please let me explain. A Team Canada player Julie Landry with Daniel Bergson, the designer of our staff shirt, at WCBU in Royan, France. Questions/Comments As we've worn our Future is Female shirts, we've heard all sorts of comments and questions, including: What does that even mean? Why does the future have to be either male or female; that's not fair. Isn't that shirt a bit aggressive? The future is MALE! (folding shirt in half, while laughing) The Future Is Female The purpose of wearing these staff shirts at events, such as the World Championships of Beach Ultimate in France, the USA Ultimate Masters Championships in Colorado and the Canadian Ultimate Championships in Ottawa, has been to start a conversation. To get people asking, talking and (hopefully) thinking about equity in ultimate. When I first came to Daniel with the design idea for the shirts, he asked me a question similar those listed above. I was proud that one of my own team members was challenging me on the idea, and, right then, I knew that this was the message I wanted to get out there and engage about with our community. It means that society, including our wonderful ultimate community, needs to be working together to discuss, understand and make progress around the problem of gender equity.  In order for female athletes to catch up in terms of opportunities available to them with comparison to those available to male athletes, there needs to be equitable action, not just equal action. As a community, we need to focus energy and resources on the development of female athletes and their competitive opportunities to make up for so much lost ground. If we only give female athletes the same support as male athletes, female athletes will never close the gap. Aggressive, no. Assertive, yes.  Thank you to the young male for illustrating exactly why we need to have these discussions. For reference, please see almost every history book, ever, and report back on who it was about. The Future is Female because the past has been Male.  The statement "The Future is Female" is one of will and purpose. It's about where we are going, the necessary journey to equality for all athletes, and what is needed to get there - a distinctive investment in supporting female athletes.  What is the story? Unless you've been hiding as of late under a rock far, far away from "mainstream" ultimate media, you know that equity is a topic demanding the attention of players around the world. It's bringing out the best of our community, and also shedding light on situations and perspectives that I believe are detrimental to the positive growth and exceptional potential of our sport. This post isn't about those examples, though... although I'm happy to discuss them with any one directly. This post is simply to explain why I felt it was important for the VC team to put this message across our chests and out in to the world. The explanation is simple: We need to talk about equity, and each and every one of us needs to find a way to spark that conversation with friends and strangers alike if we're ever going to make progress. I want to hear from one of my team members that he doesn't really fully get it. I want to hear from a masters player who wouldn't want their kid wearing this shirt. I want to hear from the female engineer who is the only female engineer in her firm who wants to wear the shirt to work. I want to hear from the boys team coach who overhears sideline stories from his players which indicate that they have a lot to learn about respecting other individuals. I want to ask the junior player who folds the shirt in half and says to his friends, "The future is male!" if he understands where we're coming from with this shirt and how he understands our message. Why If we don't listen, we don't learn. We don't bust out of our own carefully curated bubbles to more fully develop our own beliefs.  If we don't challenge ourselves to take deep breaths and listen and, then, calmly share our own perspectives, how are we to expect others to do the same for us? If we don't challenge the status quo, we won't know our own potential as a sport. Personally, I want more for ultimate. So, like'em or leave'em, I'm proud of our Future is Female shirts, and all I can ask is that you respect that. Or better yet, talk to me about it. Thanks for reading, Adriana Adriana Withersadriana@vcultimate.com Proudly wearing my staff shirt while talking about... you guessed it... women's development with WFDF's Caz Malone on the #UltiShow Interested in VC-supported equity-related organizations or initiatives? Without Limits Ultimate  Ultiworld/Media coverage: VC Ultimate To Sponsor, Help Grow Women’s College Coverage and VC Extends Women’s Coverage Sponsorship To Support Division III Nationals Reporting VC Women's Development Sponsorship WFDF Women in Sport Commission  What's Else? Let's discuss how the Future Is Transgender, The Future Is Gay, The Future is Multicultural, The Future Is (insert any other credible movement that absolutely deserves support). Let's talk about the Future Is Equality For All.

As the discussions around Gender Equity in ultimate continue to be so prevalent in our community, we feel as though it's our responsibility to contribute.  First, it's important that our community knows where VC stands: We respect all people and believe that all people should be treated equally and fairly. We believe that there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done around gender equality in both sport and the world at large.  We will work with you, our community, to help promote the values of equality and equity as best we can, in everything we do. In 2017, we put all of our online advertising partnership dollars in one basket: Exclusively supporting Ultiworld's coverage of the women's division, which allowed for more division-specific coverage than ever before. We checked in with Ultiworld on the effects of more women's coverage: There was a 2% increase in overall female viewers from October 2015-August 2016 to October 2016-August 2017. That's truly great when you are looking at over 2MM pageviews.  For new entrances to the site, we are tracking at 24.71% increase in the female category! This means that of the total females that go to Ultiworld each day, 25% are first time visitors! VC will continue to work with Ultiworld on this initiative for the 2017-2018 season, and share more effects/stats as available. VC Women's Development Sponsorship This past spring, we connected with a number of women's club teams and offered them a no-obligations sponsorship discount on their uniforms. This offer helped us to get to know a number of awesome women's teams that we hadn't worked with in the past and helped the teams get great gear while saving funds to be able to put them in to what matters most - tournament fees, travel, etc. Given the success of our trial run, we want to go bigger with this idea of a Women's Development Sponsorship. So here we go... For the 2017-2018 season, VC will offer all women's college teams a 20% no-obligations sponsorship discount on their team uniform orders, world-wide.  If your team has a coach, VC will also offset a small part of that investment for you and add a no-charge coach jersey to your order. What's more, if you're an open or mixed team actively working towards promoting equity at your school and in your community, we want to hear about what you're doing and help share your success. You will also be eligible to receive a Women's Development Sponsorship if your actions are tangibly making a difference in the support of female athletes in your area. How does it work? It's really quite simple. We'll ask you to tell us a bit about your team in this form and we'll be in touch to follow up within 1-2 business days. You can also drop us a line any time to get more information. Here is our contact info. A 20% discount will be added to any estimates we send you for your team uniforms and we'll walk you through the order process from start to finish. Other benefits: Free professional design help (up to 3 hours per team) if you submit your requests by December 1st. Individual team and player direct online ordering - check out our current system here, with a new and improved version launching by the end of August 2017! That's it, unless you want more... What more can VC do for your team? We are committed to working every day to be the best we can be, and that includes supporting the initiatives and values of our community. Some examples of what else we can do are: Promote your team and its initiatives via our wide-reaching social media channels Share your success stories and the successes of other teams to help learn from each other and inspire our community Offer your team Discs for Development, which allows us to offer Discraft practice discs for as low as US$5.50 / CA$6.91 per disc Most importantly, we'll continue to stand up and speak out for what's right and do our best to support and promote equity in ultimate through our actions, investments and our partnerships.  Here's that "application" form again, or drop us a line to hear more at info@vcultimate.com - Thank you!    

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This statement has been modified from it's original version to reflect VC Ultimate's on going position on Gender Equity, as opposed to the situation-specific statement that was originally made July 7, 2017. For the original version, please contact us. Statement on Gender Equity It is essential that our community know where VC Ultimate stands on issues of equity and equality. As VC's leader, it is an issue I am passionate about and work very hard to promote in a positive way.  The voices representing our company must be united. We respect all people and believe that all people should be treated equally and fairly. There is still a tremendous amount of work to be done around gender equality in both sport and the world at large.   Adriana Withers Founding Partner & CEOVC Ultimate Inc. For more of our views on gender equity in ultimate, specifically with regards to media coverage, please visit this Ultiworld article. For any questions, comments or concerns, please contact us at info@vcultimate.com at any time. For more about VC Ultimate, please visit our About VC page.

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Des joueurs élites d'un bout à l'autre du Canada se rendront à Wroclaw en Pologne du 20 au 30 juillet prochain pour compétitionner aux côtes d'athlètes de 27 disciplines officielles et 4 disciplines invitées aux Jeux Mondiaux 2017. VC est fier commanditaire de l'équipe canadienne et enthousiaste de partager leurs récits d'aventures portant sur leur cheminement vers la Pologne.  Author: Audrey St-Arnaud Le voyage en Colombie a été une superbe opportunité pour les 20 athlètes de l'équipe de se prépare pour un niveau élevé de compétition. Entre autres, nous nous sommes mesurés aux équipes des États-Unis et de la Colombie qui participeront également aux Jeux mondiaux. En plus de cette préparation sur le terrain, nous avons dû faire face à plusieurs situations qui ont fait appel à notre capacité d'adaptation. Bref, une belle opportunité de travailler notre preparation mentale. L'aventure a également été parsemée d'anecdotes et de plusieurs moments forts, qui ont permis de souder l'équipe. Voici donc un résumé de notre périple en quelques lignes. Journées de voyagement - 27 avril La plupart des gens sont arrivés tard. On nous a appris la journée même que nous allions jouer le lendemain alors que nous étions sensés avoir au moins une journée d'acclimatation. Il nous manquait 3 personnes dont notre entraîneur qui voyageait avec un horaire plus serré. Une belle manière de tester notre force mentale en équipe que de faire face à cet imprévu ! Jour 1 - 28 avril Nous avons joué un premier match contre une équipe de la Colombie que nous avons remporté. Déjà là, on a pu goûter à leur style de jeu rapide. Le reste de notre équipe est arrivé directement de l'aéroport pour le Showcase game contre les États-Unis. Première défaite en équipe ce soir-là, mais dont nous avons énormément appris. En soirée, nois avons découvert comment les Colombiens mangent leur poulet. Avec des gants! #meatgloves   Jour 2 - 29 avril Trois parties nous attendaient lors de cette deuxième journée, dont une contre l'équipe de la Colombie qui s'était divisée en deux puisqu'ils étaient encore en processus de selection. Après un match très serrés, nous avons remporté cette première bataille de justesse et nos deux autres parties avec une avance respectable. Clou de la soirée, Colle a poussé Kev dans la piscine. Après avoir tenté sa revanche, Colle a su le déjouer avec un acte de maître #fakekneepain #hideandseek Author: Jessie Grignon Tomas Jour 3 - 30 avril Plusieurs match nous attendait dont un contre l'équipe U24 mixte de la Colombie. Beaucoup de potentiel, mais c'est une autre victoire facile pour le Canada. Plus tard dans la journée nous étions supposés affronter en demi-finale une équipe classé plus bas, mais ce jour la, les équipes nationales des USA et de la Colombie jouaient une partie d'exhibition sur le terrain principal. L'organisation nous a demandé de jouer notre demi-finale contre l'équipe nationale colombienne afin d'éviter que USA et COL joue 2 fois de suite. L'autre demi-finale devait être USA vs COL. Défi accepté! Un début de match plus difficile pour le Canada donne l'avance à la Colombie de quelques bris. Après la 2e demie, nous avons fait 5 points consécutif dont un fameux ''Callahan'' fait part nul autre que notre Andrew Carroll qui nous amène à 11-11, dernier point du match à venir. La Colombie marque le dernier point sans erreur, 12-11 COL. Défaite difficile certes, mais beaucoup de leçon à tirer de cette partie. Nous devons débuter nos matchs fort, surtout lors des Jeux Mondiaux, puisque les parties seront seulement de 13 points. Malgré la défaite, nous avions le coeur à la danse. Plusieurs membre de l'équipe se rendre au centre-ville, dans le but d'apprendre la Salsa. Jour 4 - 1 mai Jour des finales! Nous avions l'opportunité de plus de jouer devant une foule pour notre match de 3e place. Le canada termine au 3e rang avec un score de 15-5. Le plan du reste de la journée était d'aller se reposer dans notre magnifique Casa et de revenir pour la finale opposant la Colombie au USA. Surprise! La COL remporte les grands honneurs à la maison. La compétition sera féroce en Pologne. Après un souper d'équipe dans un des restaurants branchés de la place, c'est déjà le temps pour plusieurs de retourner à la maison. La moitié de l'équipe quitta pour l'aéroport de Medellin. Jour 5 - 2 mai L'autre moitié a pu profiter de la ville un peu plus en cette dernière journée. Marchés, montagnes, bouffe et l'Atletico National étaient à l'agenda. Après une victoire du Verde, une dizaine d'autres filaient vers l'aéroport pour une escale de 10h à Mexico City. #countonme

Elite players from across Canada are heading to Wroclaw, Poland from July 20 – July 30 to compete along side athletes from the 27 official sports and 4 invitational sports featured in the 2017 World Games. VC is a proud sponsor of Team Canada and is excited to share stories about the path to Poland. Author: Morgan Hibbert Over the June 10//11 weekend, Team Canada headed out of town for a training camp. We chose a kids camp out of town so that we could all spend time close together without the distractions of home life creeping in. The focus on this camp really was team bonding and team communication with exercises all throughout the weekend designed to bring us together. One of the benefits of this particular camp was its custom built challenge course located in the nearby forest. It included a series of challenges designed to make you work together as a team. There were roughly 5 unique challenges in total, ranging from climbing over a giant wall, to swinging across a lava pit to land on a small platform (Survivor fans out there would have gotten a kick out of this!) to building a bridge over an alligator infested swamp Indiana Jones style to passing teammates through a laser fence that made me feel like Catherine Zeta Jones in Entrapment! Each of these challenges were unique and all required every member from the team to complete. Tall, small, strong, nimble, each skill set was required at different parts of the challenges. The most fascinating part was how traditional leaders or leadership structure didn't really apply. In each challenge a different person stepped up and very organically became the leader for that challenge formulating a confident plan and directing the team as needed. Whoever it was in challenge 1, it was someone completely different for challenge 2, except we never planned this or even talked about it. I think the organic nature with which it transpired showed up much everyone already trusted all of their teammates and the unique dynamic that a team like this has. It was really special to see everyone so easily working together towards a common goal. The 2nd fascinating thing was the desire to complete the challenge at all costs. Personal boundaries did not exist whether you were being passed through the electric fence with hands all over your bathing suit area or holding onto each other for dear life. That was the longest and closest I have ever hugged Toly as the two of us tried to put all our weight on a 4 inch wide platform in order to support our fellow teammates. Fun fact, he's a great hugger and I felt very safe in his arms. Learning to work together as a team outside of our normal frisbee world is so vitally important. It allows everyone to display their hidden talents and it breaks down any previous judgement of what people can or can't do or what someone would be good or not good at. Everyone starts from scratch with a new challenge that no one has done before, and it really forces you to rely on one another in order to survive the perils or alligators or lasers or lava. I felt much closer to my teammates and respected their unique talents even more after this training camp. For locals of Vancouver, the camp was called Charis camp and I highly recommend it. The author, Morgan Hibbbert, in his VC Ultimate Team Canada uniform. Support the Team Canada program by sporting the gear from our TC collection here.  

Elite players from across Canada are heading to Wroclaw, Poland from July 20 – July 30 to compete along side athletes from the 27 official sports and 4 invitational sports featured in the 2017 World Games. VC is a proud sponsor of Team Canada and is excited to share stories about the path to Poland. Author: Brendan WongOver the weekend of June 9-10, the Team Canada World Games squad had a training camp in Chiliwack, BC. Against a backdrop of trees and mountains, Team Canada spent the weekend playing frisbee, challenging a ropes course, eating meals together, and sharing lots of laughs. Any time that we get to spend together is important for helping players gel as a team and for getting to know each others' tendencies and preferences both on and off the field. Apart from just playing ultimate frisbee, we spent time together doing other things which further adds to making the team a more cohesive group. For example, when we all sit down for lunch as a big group, it's a great time for teammates to get to know each other in a more relaxed and casual setting. Ultimate frisbee is not just about playing a sport that we love but also has a huge social impact on all players. Personally, I have met countless people from around the world though playing this sport. Having the opportunity to play with friends locally or internationally is such a privilege and such a joy. For many of us, I imagine ultimate frisbee has had such a huge impact on our lives that it is hard to imagine life without it. When we're on the field, we want to look like a team. Team Canada is graciously sponsored by VC Ultimate who have provided us with hats, jerseys, shorts, and a warm-up shirt. All of us are proud to wear the red and white gear that represents our nation. ****** Follow the Team Canada World Games squad on Facebook here!

In the following article, TCWG player Laura Mason discusses mental toughness and its importance in training.