[Each year, the GRADA Board seeks out faces (some new, some old) to join them in working hard to improve, grow, and inspire the ultimate community. Please take the time to read a little bit about this year’s candidates!]

GRADA BOARD ELECTIONS!! [MEET THE CANDIDATES]

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GRADA BOARD ELECTIONS [MEET THE CANDIDATES]

[JOE BECKER] I have spent the better part of the past decade

participating in GRADA as a player and a member of the community. I appreciate the work all of the volunteers do to maintain all our leagues and activities. Throughout the year(s), ideas for enhancements and adjustments emerge, and we are fortunate enough to have the flexibility to experiment with those ideas within our many leagues. Obviously some ideas pan out better than others. But I think it is important to recognize how unique it is to have a board of volunteers willing to respond to the community's needs in the way that ours does.

Having been a member of the board in the past, I am aware of how many hours of conversation are necessary to arrive at some decisions. I was humbled to see how much care and concern the other volunteers have for this community. Due to a big schedule change, I could not continue as a board member two years ago. As it happens (another big schedule change), I am available to contribute the time and work necessary to continue moving GRADA forward.

Big issues for me are: Summer League - Advanced and gender/numbers for intermediate leagues (maintaining as close to 4:3 as possible), Youth Opportunities - potentially hosting a tournament and running clinics, Benefit Tournament. I know that GRADA has a history of hosting an annual benefit tournament. RUB was around before I was playing and we had the TJ Hat Tournament for a few years. I would love to see something of this nature come back. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am so grateful to be a part of such a vibrant and classy community!

[JESS BRUNNER] Hi fellow GRADA members! Many of you know me

through my decade of participation in GRADA leagues over the years. I started playing GRADA summer youth league in 2004, and have continued to play in a variety of leagues every year since. Ultimate has been such a huge part of my life, and GRADA is where I started. Since then I've played in leagues, on college teams, and on several competitive clubs, both mixed and women's. This is one of the reasons I'd like to run for board this year- I have a wide range of ties in the ultimate community, both in levels of competition, but also age. As some of you know, I

2 coach the University of Rochester women's ultimate team, and I've found that the connection between college and league has diminished over the years. This is one of the things I'd like to improve- the relationship between college players and the GRADA community. I would also like to encourage a link between college and youth ultimate, as one leads into the other. This would further strengthen our communication across the community.

GRADA has been growing and improving every year, and I think they've made some great advances, but have also grown stagnant in some areas. This is where I'd like to step in and offer my ideas for areas of improvement. I'd like to pull from my experience playing in larger ultimate communities to present some new suggestions for leagues, self-ranking systems, and community outreach.

I would also like to help put Rochester back on the map as a competitive, fun place to play. While we host Zodiac every other year, we've slowly been dropping our hosting responsibilities. I remember volunteering for my first ultimate event back in the days of RUB, and I learned SO much from this experience. It is my hope that we can improve our communication not only amongst ourselves, but also with other ultimate communities.

I hope that my experience playing, coaching, coordinating, and supporting ultimate will help me help GRADA take big steps in a fun, new direction!

Thanks so much for your consideration! [CARTER MIDDLETON]

I am running for GRADA board because I love ultimate and the GRADA community. As a board member, I hope to give back to the organization that has allowed me to meet so many great people and play so much ultimate over the past few years.

While I don't have specific plans for change as a prospective board member, I do know there are some areas that I'd like to focus on. I'd like to look at competitive balance in some BYOT leagues and also see if there is a better way to get free agents more involved. My goal here is to have Spring / Fall be potentially more inclusive leagues. Second, I thought the changes the board made for summer leagues 2016 were great, but I think

the structure of these leagues needs to be continually evaluated. And finally, while I know it is always the focus of GRADA, I'd like to continue to think of ways to attract new players in the area. There is a lot of interest in ultimate frisbee nationally right now and we should be able to bring in more new players as a result.

Ultimately, I would love to become more involved as board member with GRADA so I can contribute to the continued growth of the organization. Thank you!

[BRIANA NEWMAN]

For the past three years, I have served as a member of the

GRADA Board holding various roles including Women’s Outreach Director, and most recently your trusty GRADA Secretary. Being a part of this amazing group of individuals has been a great experience so far, providing me with the opportunity to make a difference, give back to GRADA, share concerns, learn more about different parts of GRADA, and to participate in efforts to

3 make GRADA even better than it already is. I am happy to be a serving member of this board and hope to continue to do so for another term.

[CHRISTINE “KIT” PURTELL]

If you are committed to voting for the non-establishment

candidate this year, I am not your candidate. I have been a part of the GRADA community for about 15

years. I have served on the board for three two-year terms, and I have been a coach of a youth team and parent of a youth player for two years. Serving on the board has been a very valuable experience for me. I have appreciated seeing first hand the commitment it takes to run an organization that serves so many people in a variety of ways through adult and youth leagues. I

enjoy problem solving with other board members as we tackle issues and challenges. When I hear Grada members express strong opinions about specific issues or express frustration with something, I listen and bring those concerns to the board. I also have encouraged players to contact the board or attend board meetings to share their opinions or concerns. While I recognize that improvements can be made, I know that the Grada community has a mighty fine way of electing dedicated, efficient, and smart people who are committed to listening to issues and recommendations raised by members in order to improve the league experience for all players.

[MIKE RAY] To those of you who already know me, Hi! To those who

don't; I'm Mike Ray, nice to meet you. I've run for the board in the past, both successfully and less than successfully, and a few times in-between(true story), while I'd love to give back to my community, I totally get it if you choose to not support me.

If you elect me to the board, I'm looking at representing a few core goals: Lower level growth - Without new players, we're doomed to a slow death. In the past few years adult recruitment has trailed off, while I mostly blame kickball for this, I also feel that GRADA itself could be doing a better job reaching out to the rec sport 'athletes' of Rochester.

General GRADA communication - Communication from GRADA has its ups and downs, I'd like to make sure the next few years are up years.

Thankfully for me, both those points tie in nicely together. Communication outside of GRADA can help bring in new members, and communication within GRADA will keep our members happy, and keep you all coming back for many seasons to come.

To achieve this, I'd like to see league signup emails and website/Facebook posts come out earlier, and more often, and I'd like to see some base level marketing outside of GRADA, be it flyers at coffee shops before seasons or even going back to WBER/Facebook paid ads.

4 [KAITLIN SCHNEIDER]

Hey GRADA! My name is Kaitlin Schneider and I am running for the GRADA Board! I have been a member of the GRADA community for six years, participating as both a player and a captain in almost every league GRADA has to offer. I also have gained player and administrative experiences through RPS, my three years as a SPRY coach, and as a fledgling co-director of youth leagues. Participating in such a wide variety of ultimate environments gives me a wide variety of perspectives to pull from while on the board.

As a member of the GRADA Board, I hope to: • work toward the growth of women's participation at all levels of play • continue to expand and foster our youth leagues • make sure the voices of players of all levels and playing styles are heard and

appreciated I've loved being a part of the GRADA community for as long as I've been a part of it. Now I

want to serve the community that has made my ultimate experience so positive in a bigger way: as a member of the board that makes it all possible.

[BILL SMITH]

Hi GRADA! I’m Bill Smith, known to many of you as Bill Smith. Over the 10-plus years I’ve been in GRADA I’ve played in every co-ed or open league GRADA offers. I’ve been a part of the Absolute Zeros and Stealth Cannon BYOT teams for many campaigns, and have now been Co-Director of Summer Rec League for 2 seasons. I’ve played on Championship Rec Teams, and Championship Advanced teams (seriously!). I’ve seen and been a part of Ultimate in our region at every level and I think that is my strength, what I would bring to the table. I can represent everyone. I’ve played with and against the

experienced and elite players in our area, and with and against the beginners and rec leaguers. I think I can respectfully understand and discuss all of your interests. I don’t know everyone or everything, my wife can attest to that second one, but I think the years and breadth of experience I have given me a great foundation. If you’ll have me, I’d love to bring my passion for ultimate, and my connection to every level of play, to the board. Thanks!

[ED WILTSIE] Having enjoyed playing in GRADA leagues and

tournaments for many years, I'm eager to give back by serving on the board. I hope especially to be a voice for and support the growth of our youth programs. I've coached with Brighton Ultimate for the past 6 years and seen first hand both the great programs we run and the challenges they face. Also, a vote for me is a vote for cute babies.

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ELECTIONS WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE END OF THE YEAR PARTY ON

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11th

If you are not able to attend the party and would still like to vote, feel free to send an email to

president@rocultimate.org

**You can vote for up to FIVE candidates!**