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Community Newsletter

April/May, 2012 

Greetings! 

Spring is in full bloom, which means the best seasons for Ultimate are coming up!  Please enjoy this issue of the Pittsburgh Ultimate Newsletter.  If you ever have stories that you would like to be included in an upcoming newsletter, please email newsletter@pittsburgh-ultimate.org.  Also, always feel free to reply to this email with any questions.
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In This Issue
Leagues and Events
CPU Board Updates
Behind the Scenes
Ultimate Around the Web
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Leagues and Events
Summer League 2012    
Summer League 2012 registration opens on April 9, 2012 and will remain open until May 16, 2012.  Summer League will have three distinct divisions this year, and players may register and play in multiple divisions!
  • Monday Division - This division will compete on Monday Nights, and will be located primarily in the North Suburbs of Pittsburgh.  Most games will be played at North Park Soccer Complex
  • Wednesday Division - This division will compete on Wednesday Nights, and will be located primarily in the City of Pittsburgh or in locations easily accessed from the East End.
  • Saturday Division - This division will compete on Saturday Afternoons, and will be located in the East Suburbs of Pittsburgh.  Most games will played at the Turner Valley Soccer Complex.
Mars 2012
Mars 2012 has been announced, and will be played on June 29-July 1 at the Turner Valley Soccer Complex.  Mars will feature a new lower price of $475 per team, and includes three days of Ultimate, FREE dinner both nights, FREE Rita's Italian Ice, and an awesome party on Saturday night!  Head over to the Mars Website to register your team for Mars 2012.   

Winter League 2012 Recap

Congratulations to Alpaca Bowl, the 2012 CPU Winter League Champions!  Alpaca Bowl finished the season with a 14-2 record, defeating Harmar Globetrotters in the championship game with a score of 15-14.

2012 brought one of the most competive seasons to date, with several top contenders for the championship title. 

Final Standings:

1. Alpaca Bowl 2. Harmar Globetrotters 3. Brutal Sensation 4. Couples Counseling 5T. Rolling Probable Cause 5T. Soft But Deep 7. Poor Decision 8. Blackout 9. The A-Team 10. Otter Devastation


The Carnegie Mellon based teams faced off in the Carnegie Cup, a one night round robin.

PHUL Winter League 2012 Recap

Congratulations to the Hampton High School Boys Ultimate Team for finishing in first place in the 2012 PHUL Winter League, defeating Mt. Lebanon in the championship game, 10-7.

The 4 semi-finalist teams all had very strong seasons, with each of the 4 playing each other multiple times with many one-point games. Both of the semi-final games were won on universe point: Mt. Lebanon over Pine-Richland 12-11 and Hampton over Fox Chapel 10-9.

Final standings:
1. Hampton 2. Mt. Lebanon 3. Fox Chapel 4. Pine-Richland 5. North Allegheny 6. Allderdice 7T. Shaler 7T. Mars 9. Andrew Street 10. Central Catholic 11. Moon 12. Woodland Hills-Franklin Regional (combo team) 

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CPU Board Updates

Board Meetings

All CPU Board meetings are open to the public, and occur monthly on the second Thursday of the month from 6:30pm-8:00pm at the PHUL/CPU Office in Lawrenceville.

 

Letter from the Board      

This month, the Board has a couple of very important announcements:

 

As you know, the Community for Pittsburgh Ultimate ('CPU') is a 501(3)c non-profit. This status has been a huge boon to our organization, giving us the best chance to grow Ultimate in Western Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, this status is in jeopardy.

 

Because we are a 501(3)c non-profit, we are required to provide several reports to the government each year. For the past two years, these reports were not filed. If a non-profit fails to report three years in a row, the organization is at risk of several penalties, including loss of 501(3)c status.

 

This Board is committed to making sure this paperwork is filed for 2011. While determining what needed to be done, several key problems in our organization became apparent:

  • Our financial record keeping is sometimes incomplete
  • Oversight over the finances is poor, opening CPU up to potential fraud.
  • Shared costs across leagues and events are currently being spent out of the CPU's savings and not accounted for in league, event, or program revenues

In order to ensure that these problems are solved for good, the Board has made several difficult, but important decisions.

 

Starting in 2012, the CPU will be hiring an accounting firm, bookkeeper or bookkeeping service and treasurer. We are currently vetting accounting firms, considering bookkeeping options and interviewing for the open treasurer position. These services will standardize our financial processes and file our paperwork for us. Believe it or not, but the CPU regularly handles over $100,000 in revenue each year - so these are not small tasks!

 

While these services are necessary, they are not free. Given the fact that we already are spending out of savings for shared expenses, the Board felt it was important to determine a way to fairly pay for these shared expenses. We considered several different options, but ultimately decided that we will be instituting a yearly CPU Membership fee.

 

This fee will be required for all participants of CPU events and will be required starting with this year's summer league. You will only need to purchase a membership once per calendar year, so if you wanted to play in multiple leagues during that calendar year, you'll only need one membership to participate in both events. For 2012, the membership fee will be $5.

 

A membership will also enable you to vote in CPU elections, something which has often been hazy in the past of who is actually eligible, and allow the Board to explore other opportunities for members - like CPU insurance, facilities and more.

 

As always, we look forward to your feedback, concerns and questions. This was a difficult decision, but one the Board feels is in the best interest of our organization.

 

See you on the fields!

 

Justin Burdett

Vice President, CPU Board

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Behind the Scenes
 

Accountant Hired by CPU   

CPU has hired William Lupone Jr. and Associates to do accounting work, including assisting in filing yearly 990 and 1099 tax forms.  They will also provide CPU with advice on how to better manage finances.

 

Bookkeeper Hired by CPU
CPU has hired Susan Thomas, currently the Office Manager, to act as the bookkeeper.  In this role, Susan will keep records of all incoming and outgoing funds but will remain independent from the Treasurer and will have no ability to make or receive payments.  She will provide a monthly view of finances to the Board.   

CPU/PHUL Office

Check out what the office is all about.  You can find a library of resources to borrow, supplies, and the lost and found! 
 
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Ultimate Around the Web    

 

Pittsburgh Ultimate members Robert Dulabon, Mike Pannone, Ari Weitzman, Jeremy Kanter, Dean Culver, and Vivek Devaraj were selected to play on the Buffalo Hunters competing in the semi-pro AUDL league

 

Pittsburgh Ultimate member and University of Pittsburgh player Alex Thorne was named Skyd Magazing MVP of Easterns 2012   

 
 
Pittsburgh Area Teams in the Top 50 of the USA Ultimate College Rankings - Open: Pitt (1), Carnegie Mellon (36), Penn State (37)  
 
Pittsburgh Area Teams in the Top 50 of the USA Ultimate College Rankings - Women: Penn State (21), Pitt (22), Carnegie Mellon (48)    

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