Dear CUPA Community, 

Happy Friday again! By now, the uncertainty and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have simply become the new normal, but we know that doesn’t make things any easier. We continue to send our support and wish safety and good health for all of you and your families.

The CUPA Board actually had a chance to meet last night via video conference to discuss our approach to the coming months (as best we can with so much being unknown). I am lucky to work alongside such a dedicated group who continues to put the energy into the organization even during this period of inactivity on the playing fields. So thanks to all of them! Out of that meeting, I wanted to share a few key takeaways:

• Desire to Play vs Priority of Safety: I want to take a moment to reiterate the overarching theme behind any decisions that we make and the intended tone for every one of these communications. We completely understand (and share) your desire to get back on the field and play ultimate. That is why we are doing everything we can from a planning standpoint to return as soon as safely possible. The reason that I highlight safely is because paramount to any desire to play is our priority to provide a safe playing environment for our participants. We will continue to leverage the resources that we’ve referenced previously to ensure that any transition back outside will be managed appropriately.

• YUC: This remains the only Spring season activity that is still suspended (as opposed to cancelled). A final determination will likely come after we have further information about the current Ohio Director’s Stay at Home Order through May 1, whether it ends at that time or extends any further. The YUC Directors will be communicating some more specifics directly with the coaches shortly.

• Summer Leagues: Planning is underway for our Summer season (as much as we can), but all of that will remain flexible as we learn more about the future trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will be communicating more details about this soon, but know that we’re taking every decision one day at a time for now.

Thanks as always to our community for remaining patient and understanding through all of this. I wanted to take a moment to share a couple celebratory updates today as well, since I believe we can all benefit from good news these days:

• Earlier this Spring, two local teams were honored by USA Ultimate and the Girls’ Ultimate Movement as recipients of the 2020 Girls’ Team Startup Project grants: Wyoming High School and St. Ursula Academy/Ursuline Academy! You can see full details about the story here. Huge congratulations to the players, coaches, and parents associated with those programs to achieve this recognition and to represent the CUPA community!

• Announced earlier this week, Liz Anderson has been hired as CUPA’s new Director of Operations and our first ever employee for the organization! We are extremely excited to have Liz help support CUPA’s objectives and look forward to the energy that she’ll bring to the role.

I hope that we’ll have more good news to share in the coming weeks, but until then, I encourage everyone to stay positive and remain engaged as best you can. If there’s anything that we can do to help, let us know. Thanks to everyone for supporting each other so far and I can’t wait to see you all again soon!

Thanks, 

Ryan Gorman

President, CUPA Board of Directors

president@cincyultimate.org

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The Cincinnati Ultimate Players Association (CUPA)'s mission is to serve as a regional resource, promoting growth in the sport of ultimate and instilling Spirit of the Game™ at all levels of play. CUPA is an Ohio non-profit corporation run solely by volunteers. CUPA is tax-exempt under IRS section 501(c)(4). To see how CUPA can help you or your organization at any level of ultimate, please visit the website or contact the Board of Directors.