The Ultimate Foundation envisions a world where everyone has the opportunity to experience ultimate as a sport that inspires integrity, relationships, and belonging. Our mission is to fuel a future for ultimate that is accessible to all backgrounds and identities by supporting USA Ultimate programs, partners and communities.
This story of Pittsburgh Ultimate‘s Youth Growth Grant is a powerful illustration of this vision and mission in action. It proves that the most impactful way to expand the sport is by investing in people at the local level, allowing those local experts to build the trust and partnerships that unlock sustainable community growth.
“Ultimate grows because of work done by people and local organizations. The Youth Growth Grant helps fuel that work, giving local leaders the support they need to build new partnerships, reach more kids, and strengthen the sport. Pittsburgh has already shown what’s possible when we invest in people first.” -Dan Raabe, USA Ultimate Youth Programs Director
Building Trust: The Foundation of Sustainable Growth
For many youth, access to ultimate is not a simple puzzle. The ability for a child to participate in a youth ultimate program is not just about awareness, it involves proximity, schedule, cost, and more. Pittsburgh Ultimate, led by Executive Director Christie Lawry, understood that to truly foster access to youth ultimate, they had to bring the game to where the kids already were. Their Youth Growth Grant-funded strategy centered around forging strong, trusting relationships with established youth-serving community organizations like YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Jewish Community Centers, establishing programs at 14 community sites across the greater Pittsburgh area this summer.
This approach centers on the fundamental idea that local ultimate organizations are best positioned to navigate their own communities. The Youth Growth Grant provided critical, flexible funding necessary for Pittsburgh Ultimate to focus on building trust with partners from the get-go.
With grants covering the staffing costs of the partnership programming, the organization didn’t have to worry about how the initial relationships would be funded; they could lead with a commitment to the youth.
“Pittsburgh Ultimate wants to remove every barrier it can for our partners AND we also want our coaches to be paid a meaningful wage; it’s awesome to have USA Ultimate support covering those wages in situations where our partners may not be able to.”
-Christie Lawry, Executive Director of Pittsburgh Ultimate
The result of this people-first, trust-based approach was impactful: not only did these successful programs lead to recommendations and referrals to new partners, but they also established long-term, sustainable partnership models.
The grant funding allowed Pittsburgh Ultimate to demonstrate its value, resulting in ongoing collaborations where partners have committed to fund the cost of coaches moving forward. It is incredibly exciting to see the Foundation’s investment in staff and programming result in a sustainable funding mechanism for those costs in the future.
Investing in People: The Engine of Growth
The most powerful impact of The Ultimate Foundation’s support is realized through its investment in people. The Pittsburgh Ultimate Youth Growth Grant was strategically allocated to two key areas, coaching and program coordination.
Funds were used to pay dedicated coaches, ensuring the sustainability and quality of the camps. This investment attracts highly motivated individuals, many of whom are teachers and established adults, who embody the sport’s values. These coaches are driven by a simple, powerful motive: human-connection and giving back to a sport that had made such a positive impact on their lives.
“Some of our coaches this summer took time off from their full-time jobs in order to spend time sharing our sport with local youth!” -Christie Lawry
Crucially, the grant also supported the administrative and operational staff for partnerships, specifically the Program Coordinator position filled by Julia Buss. Julia’s work in this role was the backbone of the entire initiative, managing the complex logistics of working with multiple community partners, assigning and training coaches, and ensuring equipment is distributed.
By investing in the people who manage the puzzle of growing ultimate, Pittsburgh Ultimate ensures their youth growth is sustained and scalable.
“We are lucky to have such an organized and talented leader in our community already, but being able to expand Julia’s role and fully utilize her skill set freed the rest of our staff to really focus on other programs for those months.” -Christie Lawry
Pittsburgh Ultimate’s clear commitment to funding both on-field and administrative staff serves as a powerful model for other local ultimate organizations seeking to invest in their own long-term growth and capacity, creating staffing models that their future sustainable partnerships can support.
The Ripple Effect of Trust
The initial investment in trust and people has created a lasting ripple effect in Pittsburgh, successfully investing in local communities and fostering significant growth. The programming led to hundreds of youth getting their first taste of ultimate, and Pittsburgh Ultimate often left equipment with the sites, ensuring they could continue playing in the future.
One particularly inspiring success came through a Boys & Girls Club partnership where the on-site Sports Manager was so excited by the sport, and the potential of the organization, that discussions expanded to cover additional ideas around building interest in sport for girls in the Pittsburgh area.
“We’ve been discussing ways we can support each other’s current programming and build upon current events, hoping that we can integrate in multiple ways. Having a sustainable relationship will give Pittsburgh Ultimate the opportunity to pull in our other local connections and create brand new programs focusing on building excitement for girls to engage in sports.” -Christie Lawry
Furthermore, through the trust and relationships that Pittsburgh Ultimate fostered with partners, they were able to send follow-up communications to all participating youth and their families after the summer programs concluded. This simple but critical step to continue the trust and human-connection has already led to direct conversations with new schools and groups now interested in starting their own youth ultimate teams. The Youth Growth Grant didn’t just fund summer camps; it funded the groundwork for new, independently run teams, proving the power of local investment in people to solve the puzzle of sustainable community growth.
Invest in the Future of Ultimate: Support The Ultimate Foundation
The success in Pittsburgh shows what happens when we invest in local experts and in people, we create a sustainable blueprint for growth that breaks down barriers and builds community.
The Ultimate Foundation is the philanthropic arm of USA Ultimate, dedicated to fueling the future of ultimate. Your donations directly support grants like the one provided to Pittsburgh Ultimate, empowering local organizations to:
- Foster Access by eliminating financial barriers for partners and participants.
- Grow Youth Ultimate by funding the dedicated coaches and staff who connect with young athletes.
- Invest in Local Communities by establishing sustainable programs that weave ultimate into the fabric of neighborhoods.
Help us ensure that every young person has the opportunity to experience ultimate as a sport that inspires integrity, relationships, and belonging.
Join us in investing in the next generation of ultimate players and leaders.