WASHINGTON AREA FRISBEE CLUB Strategic Plan

Washington Area Frisbee Club

2014-2019 Strategic Plan Status Report

February 10, 2014

Executive Summary The Washington Area Frisbee Club has long been the sole organization in the DC area that organizes and promotes disc sports. We organize 15 Ultimate Frisbee co-educational and women-only leagues each year for all ages as well as two national caliber tournaments and numerous other smaller, local events. For the past ten years, field space has become scarce and getting harder to permit, competition for players among recreational sports is increasing, our volunteer capacity is stressed, and membership numbers have stagnated. To mitigate these changes, the WAFC board decided to conduct a strategic planning process. The purpose of having a Strategic Plan is to outline goals that will lead to sustainable practices, continuity as an organization, new program development and strengthen volunteer engagement. In the following plan, we, the board of directors for WAFC with member input, are laying out an analysis of where WAFC is now and what we would like to achieve over the next five years, including some benchmarks needed to measure our progress (see Appendices B and C for summaries of the member input). With a dedicated plan, we can make more efficient decisions knowing that all leaders are focused on the same goals and provide more transparency to our members who aren’t involved in decision-making processes.

PART I: Introduction

Mission and Values Current Mission Statement in Bylaws: The purpose of WAFC shall be to promote the growth and development of flying disc sports in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area through the sponsorship of co-educational recreation leagues, flying disc tournaments, and educational displays and demonstrations. As an organization, we believe:

Ultimate is a real sport.

Playing Ultimate is a combination of competition and community.

Everyone who wants to play Ultimate in the DC area should have that opportunity.

All WAFC players should have access to safe and available fields.

Spirit of the Game is an integral part of playing and organizing Ultimate.

Some players just want to play, without having to think about the organizing that happens behind the scenes.

WAFC is the voice of Ultimate in the DC area.

History/What is WAFC? Organized disc sports began in DC in 1978. Larry Shindel, Sholom Simon, Eric Knudsen and others organized small tournaments and club teams that traveled to compete in a national series of tournaments. The first Ultimate league was founded in the summer of 1983 and had 4-5 teams. The league only cost $2 per player because games were on the free National Mall fields. WAFC also organized other disc competitions like Disc Golf, Freestyle, Double Disc Court (DDC) and Max Time Aloft. By the late eighties, Ultimate was expanding enough that fall and winter leagues were also organized, and players hosted the first Fools Fest.

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The organization continued to grow, adding leagues, tournaments of various sizes, and other events. Volunteers also organize three tournaments that attract teams from around the world. As the organization expanded, these events increasingly focused on Ultimate Frisbee. Currently, WAFC regularly uses 22 different field sites that are managed by ten different agencies to host these activities. However, over the past few years, membership numbers have stagnated as our field capacity forced WAFC to limit registrations. WAFC was founded as, and remains a volunteer-led organization. The Board of Directors oversees all operations of the organization. There are eight past presidents, four elected officers, and currently three at-large members. There are another three volunteer league coordinators, 40+ tournament volunteers, and countless others who help out with various projects. Demands on volunteers have increased as WAFC went from a small, tight-knit group of players to a multi-league organization that sees an influx of one-time players in the summer. WAFC volunteers tend to be really passionate about what they do and get burned out quickly. WAFC is a member organization. The official definition of a WAFC member is anyone who has signed up for a WAFC event within the current calendar year. Functionally speaking, a member is anyone who has played in a WAFC event in the past year.

WAFC by the Numbers 1983: Ultimate league debuts in Washington, DC # of field sites where WAFC schedules Ultimate games: 22 # of years of Fools Fest Ultimate Tournament: 37 # of years of Chesapeake (Open/Invite) tournaments: 10 # of years of DaBUT tournaments: 12 # of leagues in 2013: 15 Members: 2,800 Range of league registration price/individual: $20-50 Range of tournament registration price/team: $70-650 Field cost: $0-250 per hour Approximate average field cost per hour: $50 See also Appendix E.

Total Revenues Total Expenses Difference Net Assets

2012 $302,646 $265,912 $36,734 $942,382

2011 $219,814 $181,246 $38,568 $905,648

2010 $263,530 $179,521 $84,009 $867,079

Stakeholders An important component of a strategic planning process is to evaluate who our stakeholders are and make sure that all of their needs are addressed in this plan. We recognize that this list may not be complete and that some individuals fall into multiple categories. This is a list of all of the people who use WAFC services or are somehow affected by what we do. Player Types

Pickup Players

Rec League Players

Clique A, B, C, and D players

Corporate League Players

Club Players

Non-WAFC, Non-Pickup Ultimate players

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WAFC Junior Players

Middle School (and younger) Players

Female Players/Male Players

Master’s/Grandmaster’s Aged Players

Maryland Players/DC Players/Virginia Players

Tournament Participants (Fools, Chesapeake, DaBUT, Savage Seven, St. Hatrick’s)

College Players and Leaders/College Programs

Former/retired players Volunteers

WAFC Volunteers

Volunteer Captains

WAFC Officers

Volunteer Field liaisons

Sectionals/Regionals Coordinators

Other Local/Regional Disc Sport Tournaments External Organizations

County/Field Contacts at the agency

County Parks Officials who want to grow/sponsor Ultimate

League/Club Sponsors

Local Bars/Restaurants

Local Charities

Other Ultimate organizations on the East Coast/Mid-Atlantic region

USA Ultimate

World Flying Disc Federation Supporters

WAFC Junior Parents

Other Flying Disc Sports (disc golf, goaltimate, DDC)

Players’ parents/spouses/significant others/children Other

People who have never played Ultimate before

People who have never captained/volunteered/showed leadership in an Ultimate setting

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis The four prongs of a SWOT analysis are -

1. Strengths: The organization’s internal positives 2. Weakness: Internal problems/challenges 3. Opportunities: External factors that can help an organization 4. Threats: External factors that can hinder an organization

The purpose of a SWOT Analysis is to remind an organization of the positives (strengths) and to develop an outline of what an organization can and can’t control. One purpose of this plan is to ensure that WAFC has maintained its strengths and utilized its opportunities while neutralizing any threats and turn its weaknesses into strengths. See Appendix A for the SWOT details.

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PART II: Strategic Plan

Focus Areas Over the course of this plan, this is where WAFC would like to focus its resources and what we’d like to achieve to improve disc sports in the DC area. The board would like to focus on the following areas:

1. Sustain an effective, efficient, and secure organization. 2. Build a flourishing player community. 3. Recruit, develop, and retain capable volunteers and leaders. 4. Provide access to quality fields and facilities. 5. Maintain a well-informed membership. 6. Foster player development opportunities. 7. Develop and support a robust youth program.

Details 1. Sustain an effective, efficient, and secure organization.

Develop WAFC into an organization that conducts its responsibilities well with efficient use of fiscal and human resources, while ensuring that we will have the resources to continue organizing Ultimate events indefinitely.

Develop and follow sustainable business/nonprofit best practices.

Develop WAFC’s capacity to engage and manage organizers.

Prepare for increased costs and the need for additional resources, regardless of growth.

Develop the capacity to admit all players/teams. 2. Build a flourishing player community.

WAFC, and Ultimate itself, is a community; we want to encourage interaction among all manner of players and participants.

Host a variety of leagues and tournaments for a variety of gender ratios, skill levels, etc.

Create and promote opportunities for members to interact with players outside of their league/cohort.

Empower members to organize events.

Review and enforce the conduct policy to ensure all players have access to a fun, safe environment.

3. Recruit, develop and retain capable volunteers and leaders. Institute guidelines to make sure our volunteers have the best possible experience as a volunteer and are fully capable of performing their responsibilities. This means recruiting the right people for the job and properly training them.

Create a captain core of trained captains.

Create incentives to volunteer and captain.

Make it easy to connect to WAFC (all members know how to plug into WAFC operations if they want to be involved) with a process in place to vet new volunteers and connect them to the best role for WAFC and the volunteer.

Continually recruit new leaders.

Leadership pipeline - Foster continuity by continually developing leaders to take over more responsibility and ensuring that all senior volunteers have a replacement in training.

Structure volunteer management to allow varying levels of involvement (e.g., one project, one event, one month, longer term, etc.).

4. Provide access to quality fields and facilities.

Seek out, secure, and retain high-quality fields that are in convenient locations and accessible to our widespread members.

Build and maintain strong relationships with field contacts

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Sign agreements to secure long term field access (public/private or ownership)

Engage with field agencies to improve and maintain high field quality.

5. Maintain a well-informed membership. Develop effective ways to communicate with members and the public.

Create and implement a communications plan (monthly e-blasts, regular newsletters, etc.) that manages the volume and content of clear and timely communications.

Manage volume and channels of communication to reach appropriate audiences.

Make board operations transparent.

Design and maintain promotional materials in PDF and hard copy for both WAFC and Ultimate.

6. Foster player development opportunities. Establish opportunities for all players and potential players to learn about the sport and improve their skills.

Make WAFC and its activities accessible to new players (players new to Ultimate and new to the DC area).

Develop player advancement through frequent, quality clinics, and teaching tools that teach skills and the rules.

Provide opportunities to recruit and retain women to the sport

Create a more accurate ranking of players and track player progress so that auto-drafted teams are equally competitive and to help prevent false self-rankings.

Ease player transition to more advanced levels

Keep older players engaged in the leagues; add masters level activities if needed.

7. Develop and support a robust youth program. Expand opportunities for youth to play Ultimate, without ignoring our adult leagues.

Offer a variety of programming (including programming through school systems and departments of parks and rec)

Integrate youth players with adult activities where appropriate and safe.

Organize youth appropriate events.

Develop nationally recognized teams/players.

Promote coaching/trained coaches (USAU or our own program) to maintain coach pipeline.

Create incentives in order to provide youth with educational opportunities and to recruit and retain youth coaches.

Next Steps The board proposes making a volunteer committee for each “action area”, as deemed appropriate by the board. These groups will be tasked with deciding a timeframe, writing a budget, and developing specific action steps to accomplish the listed goals (some ideas from member feedback are listed in Appendix D). The board will work with these committees to consolidate their recommendations into the overall organization, and monitor the effects of any changes.

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Appendix A: SWOT Analysis

Strengths Huge membership numbers Well established leagues 30 years of experience/knowledge One of largest/oldest disc leagues in the US Solid core of return players Largest disc league in DC area Strong net assets and financial balance Dedicated leadership (representative of Ultimate players) Corp of "senior" volunteers (past presidents/officers/past commissioners/other doers) Core volunteers Vested youth volunteers (coaches/organizers) Growing youth component Core of repeat captains Long standing relationships with field agencies/reps Some good relationships with other rec leagues Cheap sport and low registration fees Easily marketable sport Diversity of playing opportunities for different skill/commitment levels Quality signature tournaments (Fools, Chesapeake) Reputation as a “good” organization, easy to work with Diversity of communication tools: listserv, hotline, Twitter, website

Weaknesses Low member numbers compared to other rec groups? No permanent fields Small group of hard-core volunteers; Little member input Volunteer core is overworked and/or burned-out Website is not professional enough Can’t support geographically organized teams Lack of man power to engage/manage new volunteers No player database/condensed info system Lack of defined plan for sustainability/growth Challenges in developing quality captains Not enough captain volunteers to be picky. Challenges with gender ratio in certain leagues Challenges with teaching the game to new players Challenges recruiting/engaging/using new volunteers Challenges with engaging club-caliber players Lack of relationships with traveling club teams and their leadership and with college teams/leaders Difficulty in cultivating quality leaders that stay in DC Lack of a publicly accessible meeting location Sales tax (not taking advantage of our 501c3 status when planning events) Lack of prompt communication to members (our messages are not always easy for new players to understand) Lack of sustainable business practices Lack of expectation docs for captains and league commissioners Majority of members who only want the club’s benefits (playing Ultimate) and are not willing to invest time volunteering No organized way to communicate past decisions/experiences/lessons learned Marketing/Branding is poor Corporate teams that are really clique teams in disguise. Lack of defined Organization of roles.

Opportunities Any field partnership/untapped field space Member talent Field/County/School partnerships Partnerships with other leagues (disc and non-disc) Youth programs Youth outreach Sponsorship (money and in-kind) Grants/foundation support Revenue opportunities (i.e. sponsorships, credit card processing, advertisements, etc.) Community outreach Marketing Local college resources Political power of players and parents Many localities and other organizations are cash strapped and might be willing to partner Developing more of a community within WAFC Relationships with other Ultimate leagues (i.e. Baltimore, PADA, NC, USAU) Membership growth Club players Website Incentivizing leagues for volunteer recruitment Recruiting more female players and strengthening development Develop good reputation with field providers

Threats Loss of important volunteers Loss of institutional knowledge Anyone else that plays on a field in the DC area Poor field maintenance Some group may try to form another league Diminishing green space due to area development Liability or some other legal issue Participation declines at signature tournaments Rising costs Developing youth league competing with WAFC Jr Developing regional Ultimate leagues (i.e. Loudoun County) Misconceptions about WAFC operations Disgruntled players Poor communication for game cancellations Registration snags Congestion preventing attempts to utilize fields outside player's traveling comfort zones Permit threats - members who don’t respect rain policy or pick-up trash, other leagues As field demands increase, required promptness of players for game times is going to be an issue

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Appendix B: 2013 Strategic Planning Survey Results

In winter 2013, the Washington Area Frisbee Club (WAFC) conducted a member survey about the recent work on WAFC’s Strategic Plan. With 344 responses, the survey offers a glimpse into the minds of WAFC’s main stakeholders: Why WAFC is important to you… “WAFC provides an excellent opportunity to enjoy my favorite sport.” “Connects ultimate players to each other and makes it possible for them to play with each other.” What WAFC should do next… “WAFC's central goal should be continuing to offer leagues on relatively convenient fields as affordably as plausible.” “Getting high quality fields for games and making sure they are easily accessible for members who don't have cars.” Foster youth leagues and player development opportunities Other things we learned… 60% of respondents said that providing access to high-quality fields was extremely important. The three most important offerings from WAFC that are important to you are leagues, fun/social tournaments and major tournaments (Fools Fest, etc.). Words we saw a lot! Fun Accessible Affordable Structured Socialize Regular Schedule Quality Community Competition Paid employee Transparency Fields Youth Clinics Women’s League Exercise

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Appendix C: Key Findings from Focus Groups and Other Meetings

1. Members see WAFC as a vibrant, hardworking organization with a dedicated membership and passionate leaders.

2. At its most basic level, Members feel WAFC is meant to foster the sport of Ultimate by providing opportunities to play and securing field space for Members.

3. Even though members at all levels of involvement are endeared to WAFC, the lack of clear processes and transparency within the organization is a frustration among members.

4. There is also a desire to see clear processes and guidelines for the more common requests. 5. Be it to spread Frisbee, create feeder teams, or give back to the community, WAFC members at all levels see the

importance of youth involvement, and think it is an essential component of WAFC’s overall mission. 6. Make volunteering easy. 7. Effective and good leaders are essential to the sustainability of the organization. 8. Communicating with members more quickly about schedules and field closures. 9. Identify how to make sure teams are in the right division. 10. Have a clear process to address incidents on the fields. 11. WAFC needs to recruit players to keep up numbers.

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Appendix D: Ideas

These are just some of the many ideas that the WAFC board, survey respondents, and focus group attendees have come up with as ways to improve our organization. These will be given to the committees to help spark brainstorming for how to enact WAFC’s goals.

Develop a good working relationship with USAU.

Develop a system to routinely gather and analyze statistics in order to enhance member’s experience and satisfaction.

Develop/maintain a system to record all organizational history and decisions.

Develop/maintain an accurate, up-to-date member database.

Continuously solicit player feedback on ways to improve leagues and WAFC experiences to ensure that WAFC is delivering the highest-quality playing and social experience.

Sponsor frequent community events (e.g., clean ups, non-disc social events, etc.)

Develop relationships with all pro, college, club, and pre-existing youth teams.

Help teams stay in touch with each other and share information.

Create a “how to” for organizing events to help members connect with WAFC resources.

Develop relationships with social venues.

Adopt a captain training/certification.

Create a checklist for captains to prepare for each season.

Hold regular volunteer appreciation events (every two years, but could also include, for example, a monthly happy hour) - recognize volunteers

Advertise a volunteer or captain of the season.

How can we identify good captains?

Identify members by vocation/expertise (database) to facilitate outreach

Create a senior level volunteer position to manage volunteers.

Compile a database of resources available to volunteers.

More organizer/member/volunteer interaction.

Recruit qualified volunteers for targeted tasks.

Make it easy to do one simple project.

Make it easy to volunteer as a team.

Publicize field search list so members can see what fields are and are not in the pipeline.

Maintain an active field committee

Have a representative on all appropriate sport and field commissions

Monitor league numbers to determine if we can move to regionalized leagues (e.g. MD league, VA league, etc.).

Maintain a social media presence on appropriate channels.

Make emergency announcements (e.g. cancellations) via effective channels (text, Twitter account for fields, etc.)

Maintain an effective website for both users and the administrators

Maintain forums for teams to communicate with one another (league teams, college and club teams)

Communicate what senior leadership does for members behind the scenes and how money is used

Advertise field costs on the website

Periodically research other sports in DC and other ultimate leagues for cost comparisons.

Keep WAFC-branded merchandise/schwag on hand for event handouts.

Everybody in WAFC shirts

Win “best rec/social league” in Express, City Paper, etc.

Contract with merchandise vendor (multi-year, with benefits for members who want to order items separately)

Explore sponsorship opportunities

Create a clinic committee

Host at least one clinic each season

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Hold clinics for skills, injury prevention, and captaining.

Establish and advertise an “education opportunity” schedule

Advertise success narratives

Post resources on the web

Design and maintain educational materials

Recognize our members through efforts such as naming a player of the season

Host regular skills competitions

Create a regional youth team

Advertise WAFC Jr. activities to all members.

Promote Ultimate Frisbee and WAFC to gym teachers/athletic directors and to schools and community centers in general; design and maintain appropriate materials for different audiences (e.g., for AD’s, address insurance concerns)

Connect volunteers to teams needing coaches

Maintain the list of youth programs

Support players if they make a regional/national team

Provide scholarships for Ultimate-related opportunities

Promote youth players (e.g. “player of the season”)

Send local players to NUTC and other Ultimate camps

Advertise volunteer opportunities to captains first.

Encourage players to captain after playing for a few years.

Free registrations if captain x times per year.

Create a list of members who can help teach adults various skills.

Discounts for commissioners.

New disc design every x years.

Play ulty stickers.

Add score reporting for tourneys and game recaps.

Make sure teams are playing at the right level and notify other teams if they can’t field a team.

Option to opt out of certain fields (in requests)

Add quick facts and history to website.

Add emails to CC every season.

E-blast – did you know section, rule of the month.

Sign ups dictate gender ratio.

Plus one hat tourney.

Referral bonus.

Diff baggage for newbies?

Increase girl’s ultimate.

Create a mentor program.

Adopt a local school.

Create a grant program for teams and other charities– money and/or discs.

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Appendix E: Annual Report Numbers

These are the membership numbers from our annual meetings for the past 3 years. 2012 WAFC Supported Ultimate

Team count Approximate #

Players per team Total Players WAFC Leagues Spring Rec 16 25 400 Spring Clique 68 20 1,360 Women’s League 4 20 85 Long Bridge League 4 20 80 Summer Rec 12 20 240 Summer Intermediate 18 20 420 Summer Advanced 14 22 315 Summer Corporate 44 17 748 Summer Weekend 8 21 170 Fall Rec 12 25 300 Fall Clique 71 17 1,241 Night Owl League 6 22 132 Winter Outdoor Clique 22 12 272 Winter Indoor Armory 26 16 279

WAFC Jr. 22 15 330

Subtotal 6,372 WAFC Tournaments Fools Fest 48 20 1,000 Chesapeake Open 75 25 1,875

DaBUT 10 9 90 St. Hatricks Day 8 15 120

Subtotal 3,098 Grand Total 9,470

Other WAFC supported Ultimate: Sectionals for open and coed Regionals for coed and master’s

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2011 WAFC Supported Ultimate

Team count Approximate #

Players per team Total Players WAFC Leagues Spring Rec 16 25 400 Spring Clique 77 20 1,479 Summer Rec 12 23 278 Summer Intermediate 20 21 428 Summer Advanced 14 22 314 Summer Corporate 48 17 837 Summer Weekend 8 21 169 Fall Rec 14 23 326 Fall Clique 93 15 1,417 Winter Outdoor Clique 19 11 207 Winter Indoor Armory 14 15 210 WAFC Jr. 22 15 330

Subtotal 6,395 WAFC Tournaments Fools Fest 48 20 1,000 Chesapeake Open 82 25 2,050

DaBUT 12 8 96

St. Hatricks Day 8 15 120

Subtotal 9,661 Grand Total 16,056

Other WAFC supported Ultimate: Sectionals for open and coed Regionals for coed and master’s

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2010 WAFC Supported Ultimate

Team count Approximate #

Players per team Total Players WAFC Leagues Spring Rec 16 23 366 Spring Clique 74 18 1,365 Summer Rec 16 23 373 Summer Intermediate 18 21 382 Summer Advanced 14 24 332 Summer Corporate 43 20 860 Summer Weekend 8 20 158 Fall Rec 16 26 421 Fall Clique 81 20 1,597 Winter Outdoor Clique 16 15 240 Winter Indoor Armory 12 15 184 WAFC Jr. 29 20 580

Subtotal 6,858 WAFC Tournaments Fools Fest 48 22 1,056 Savage Seven 12 7 84 Chesapeake Open 82 22 1,804 DaBUT 12 8 96

St. Hatricks Day 8 16 128

Subtotal 3,168 Grand Total 10,022

Other WAFC supported Ultimate: Sectionals for open and coed Regionals for coed and master’s