AJ has played ultimate for almost 30 years, starting in Houston on her college team and playing on several club teams in Houston, Dallas and Seattle. She enjoys the sport for the spirit of the game, the athleticism it requires and the global community she has been a part of through playing. AJ is on the board of the Houston Ultimate Community and volunteers her time for youth programming and coach development. AJ has been a coach for the WUL and the UFA and coaches youth and adults in Houston at schools and through community events. She is married and has two children and spends her time between Houston and their farm in Smithville, TX.

Nolan is a lifelong Vermonter who began playing ultimate in high school in 2008. Since becoming executive director of Vermont Ultimate in April 2024, he has focused on growing the organization by expanding opportunities for youth and adults of all skill levels to play and compete. He is also committed to developing Vermont Ultimate as a mission-driven nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to the sport for communities across Vermont.

Driven by the indisputable fact that ultimate can be a powerful catalyst for creating long-lasting, healthy, and meaningful communities, Daron Byerly has led ultimate organizations since 2006. Most recently, he served for 5 years as President of the Board of Vermont Ultimate, where he still remains in active support roles and as the primary tournament director. Additionally, he is the North New England Mixed Club Sectional Coordinator and a coach in both the USAU college and club divisions. He is cautiously lowering his commitments to ultimate in order to make space for pickleball.

Serenity is a trained mediator with a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Denver. She has facilitated hundreds of mediations—from criminal and civil disputes to youth, family, and community conflicts. She is known for her calm, grounded presence and her ability to guide people toward productive dialogue even when trust is low and emotions are high.rnrnSerenity also teaches conflict-resolution skills to youth and community partners, equipping them with practical tools to communicate more effectively, de-escalate tension, and move conversations forward with purpose.rnrnShe believes that difficult conversations, when approached intentionally, can transform relationships and strengthen communities—and she is passionate about helping others build the skills to do just that.

Sam (they/them) has been part of the Boston ultimate scene for the past decade and change and BUDA’s director of operations since 2020. During their time in that role, they have run numerous major tournaments, including Mixed Easterns, Boston Invite, South New England Sectionals and New England Regionals.

Ally discovered ultimate as a sophomore at Northwestern University in 2014, but it was a study-abroad semester in London that sparked something deeper. After joining a local club team overseas, Ally experienced firsthand how ultimate can create belonging, build community, and connect people across backgrounds. That experience ignited their passion for ultimate organizing and community building.rnrnIn 2024, Ally joined Triangle Ultimate as the Marketing and Community Engagement Director, where they focus on fostering accessible, inclusive, and equitable ultimate communities throughout the Triangle. They also serve as the Executive Director of North Carolina Ultimate and as the USA Ultimate North Carolina State Representative—roles that allow them to champion statewide growth, support players and organizers, and strengthen the sport at every level.

Jack grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and fell in love with ultimate in his freshman year of high school. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill and played for UNC Darkside, as well as a variety of club teams in the area. Motivated by the culture of reciprocity in the Triangle and a desire to give people similarly great experiences as he has had in ultimate, he returned to coach his high school team, as well as YCC, summer camps, and adult club.rnrnIn 2024, Jack joined Triangle Ultimate as the coaching development associate and has worked to improve the pipeline and quality of youth coaches in Triangle Ultimate programming.

Eric is a Pacific Northwest local, hailing from Seattle before moving to Eugene in 2009 to attend the University of Oregon where he started playing ultimate on the UO B Team and never looked back. A member of the initial crew that founded Emerald Valley Ultimate in 2015, Eric has worked with the organization in various capacities for seven of the last 10 years, including the last three as its executive director. When he’s not directing EVU, Eric also plays club and coaches ultimate at all levels. Outside of ultimate, Eric loves to ski, climb, and play board games with his friends.

Andrew fell in love with ultimate the summer of 1998 and has been playing, captaining, and coaching ever since. After dabbling in the club level for a few years, he turned his efforts toward coaching, organizing summer camps, and founding the club team at Oak Park and River Forest High School. Soon after it got rolling, Andrew founded the Julian Ultimate Club – a middle school club with 100+ members on average since 2012.rnrnAndrew is passionate about youth and specifically middle school ultimate and loves to collaborate with the amazing youth coaches and organizers in Illinois! Andrew returned to the competitive scene with the 2018 version of Old Man Winter (GM) and hopes to jump back in at the GGM level in a few years. He finds time to organize, coach, and occasionally play ultimate when he’s not organizing, teaching, and occasionally performing as a vocalist and choir director.

Sarah Stokowski, PhD, currently serves as an associate professor of Athletic Leadership at Clemson University. Sarah studies college athlete development specializing in personal development literacies (e.g., career maturity, athlete identity, athlete transition). In partnership with the Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialist (PAADS), she is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Athlete Development and Experience (JADE). Throughout her tenure, Stokowski has authored or co-authored more than 100 refereed publications.rnrnAdditionally, she has secured more than $350,000 in grants and gifts, including the 2018-2021 NCAA CHOICES grant as well as funding through the United States Department of Veteran Affairs to implement adaptive sport programming. Sarah is a Robert H. Brooks Sport Science Institute Fellow, which recognizes the top sport scholars at Clemson. She is also a Renowned Research Fellow at the United States Center for Mental Health and Sport, a College Sport Research Institute (CSRI) Research Fellow, a recipient of the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) research award, and recently earned the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Early-Career Award in Education and Sport. Before joining the Athletic Leadership program at Clemson, Stokowski spent six years at the University of Arkansas, earning teaching awards at both the departmental and college levels. A proud graduate of Clemson University, Sarah resides in The Upstate with her two dogs and four cats.

Drew first wandered onto a pickup field in 2012 with no cleats, a lefty flick, and a righty backhand. While tracking stats at the U.S. Open a few months later, he witnessed elite ultimate for the first time and thought, “that doesn’t look so hard.” It was that hard. It took him nearly a decade to eventually captain a team to (Masters) Nationals, gathering a salad bar of volunteer titles along the way: sectional coordinator, league director, vice president of the Colorado Springs Ultimate Network, and multisport coach.rnrnHe currently leads the Spikes Peaked Mixed Masters team as a captain and is head coach of the COSMOS Women’s / Non-binary Club team. When not chasing plastic, Drew (MSBA, CU-Denver) is a Senior Data Scientist for a global semiconductor manufacturer, where he implements predictive modeling, machine learning, and data storytelling to drive key business decisions.

Alex has been playing or coaching ultimate for 32 years. He has played on teams such as Death or Glory, Jam, and Revolver and coached teams including Cal, Revolver, Scandal, the D.C. Breeze, and U.S.A. men’s and World Games teams. He has coached open, mixed, and women’s teams to national and international gold medals. He has won Lei-Out, Kaimana, SandBlast, Poultry Days, Fools Fest, and countless other fun tournaments. Alex lives in D.C. and has two kids. On the academic side, Alex has an engineering degree and an MBA. He still enjoys goaltimate and grandmasters ultimate (body willing).