I have an issue with this narrative of the pul being anti-audl. Men’s pro leagues have always become the default for that sport. Example: when you think basketball, you probably think nba before wnba. The problem with that is it’s harder for EVERYONE to see representation.

My biggest issue with the audl is they didn’t want to represent everyone in ultimate. Whether a women’s league was in the works or not, we were an afterthought. Period. I don’t feel represented when I see the audl. The audl represents a portion of ultimate, men in ultimate.

As someone who stuck with a sport because I saw another black woman in that sport, I strongly believe in the importance of representation. Who does the audl represent? If visibilityof our sport is the best thing the audl offers, it’s not good enough.

Being able to say women can tryout or a few women played in the league isn’t representation. The reason I take issue with the audl is because I was/am around for the start of this league. This is my community and I care about how we promote ultimate to the public.

Pro ultimate had the opportunity to represent men, women and non-binary players from the beginning and it didn’t. There could’ve been a mixed league, there should’ve been a mixed league. But when you’re used to the default being men first, you start a men’s league first. Right?

Idk why there wasn’t full support for a mixed league. A mixed league would’ve meant less opportunities compared to an “open” or womxn’s league. Perhaps that had something to do with it. Maybe it was all funding, idk but we had a chance to do something really cool and didn’t.

The audl is great for players from smaller markets who otherwise wouldn’t have had a shot. I think about Matt Smith and how he was relatively unknown on a national ultimate scale and consistently dominates the league.

If I was a kid now watching the audl, I’d probably gravitate towards a Matt Smith. A minority player ballin out in a majority white league. Not to mention the other Black men in the league. But I would still only see men being represented and feel as if there was no place for me.

This is my issue with the audl, ultimate, sports, the way the world works in general. We always cater to men. So yes I have an issue with the audl. I’m not saying that just to be anti-audl, these are actual issues. Issues we continue to ignore.

Like I said this is a bigger issue in society and unfortunately ultimate isn’t immune to them just bc we think our community is great. The pul isn’t perfect either. We have issues with representation as well. Ultimate upholds many of the systems we’re trying to dismantle today.

The sooner we acknowledge the issues in our community, the faster we can resolve them. But we have to listen and we have to listen to those that are marginalized. It is a privilege to not have to worry about seeing representation. How do we want our community represented?

Also we can recognize progress and still hold each other accountable as we push for more. I know there are many players/organizers out there working for representation, even in the audl. I don’t have all the answers, just hoping to spark some reflection and conversation.