How UKU works
In 2008, UK Ultimate (UKU) became a company limited by guarantee. We are a not-for-profit organisation.
The members are effectively the “owners” of UK Ultimate, rather like the shareholders of a company, except that in particular the organisation cannot distribute any profits.
The members elect a Board of Directors to act on their behalf in looking after the interests of the organisation.
The Board in turn appoints a number of people and committees to take responsibility for various activities and/or areas within the sport.
Board of Directors
UK Ultimate Ltd is the governing body for the sport of Ultimate in the UK. UKU Ltd is a company limited by guarantee, accordingly Board members are company directors.
The Board’s role is summarised as follows:
- Determine UKU Ltd’s mission and purpose ensuring that UKU Ltd complies with it’s governing document, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations
- Determine and monitor UKU Ltd’s activities and services – ensuring that appropriate practices and policies are in place, defining goals and setting targets
- Appoint, support and review the performance of the CEO/Administrator and UKU Ltd as a whole against agreed targets ensuring effective and efficient administration of the organisation
- Ensure the availability of adequate resources, approve annual budgets and ensure that UKU Ltd uses its resources exclusively in pursuance of its governing document and is financially stable
- To protect and manage the property of the organisation and to ensure the proper investment of funds
- Safeguard and enhance the public image of both the sport and the organisation
- Assess its own performance and account to the members for the organisation’s performance
- Serve as a Court of Appeal
Other duties
In addition to the above statutory duties, and role-specific responsibilities below, each Board member should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help the board reach sound decisions. This will involve:
- Have regular access to email/internet and read email at least once a week (other than during planned absence). Weekly email volume is less than one hour – but does increase around Board meetings
- Attend Board conference calls (approx 6 calls per year) plus one face-to-face meeting and respond to correspondence within 5 working days
- Read all emails posted on UKU Ltd Board e-group and UKU Ltd Member Updates
- Scrutinising board papers
- Leading discussions
- Focusing on key issues
- Providing guidance on new initiatives
- Other issues in which the Board member has special expertise
There are up to eight elected positions on the Board as follows:
Chair:
The chairperson is responsible for leading the Board:
- Ensure regular board meetings/calls occur
- Chair board meetings – and support/encourage activity and discussion between meetings
- Ensure Board meetings are effective
- Support, advise and manage the CEO/Administrator
- Member of Remuneration committee
Treasurer
The Treasurer has overall responsibility for all UKU finances and budgets. In particular the Treasurer should work with the CEO/Administrator to:
- Supervise accounting
- Authorise payment of UKU bills
- Ensure tax obligations are met
- Chair Remuneration committee
- Member of Grants committee
Director of Competitions (DoC)
The DoC is responsible for planning the UK ultimate events calendar across all divisions and for coordinating all UKU events and the associated rules – including ensuring we have a clear strategy for the ongoing evolution of the national competition structure.
These activities should be done by leading two key groups of volunteers:
- UKU Competitions Committee
- UKU Scheduling Committee
The Director of Competitions’ role is to lead these groups to deliver “the calendar”, the UKU competition rules and the UKU competition structure.
University Coordinator
The Uni-Coordinator is responsible for University Competitions and promotion of student ultimate. The role includes:
- Chairing the Uni Coordinators Committee
- Answering queries from student players
- Ensuring AGM and e-AGM take place
- Attend and chair AGM
Director for Junior Ultimate
One member of the Board is required to be or become an active member of the Junior Ultimate committee in order to ensure we maintain good communication between the Board and the Junior committee. This role include:
- Ensuring that the organisation continues to review and improve its approach to Safeguarding/Child Protection
- Supporting the administration of the DBS process.
Without Portfolio
The remaining positions on the Board are all "without portfolio" in order to offer an opportunity for individuals to propose and take a key role in an area that they feel is important.
A Vice-Chair is appointed from the without-portfolio board members:
- Takes role of Chair when s/he is not available
- Provides support to Chair when needed
Current Board Members
Current board members are:
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Chairman: Graham Mynott "I started playing ultimate as a student at Southampton University in 1985, I still have the Glyn Lewis designed shirt still (a bit thin now mind). My main ultimate playing career in this country was with Catch 22 and LeedsLeedsLeeds on sand and grass, in domestic, european and world competitions: legendary times. I'm the proud owner of a gold medal from the Euros in 2003 representing the Masters (got the winning point disc as a memento too) and a bronze from the Turku Worlds the following year , although my first Masters foray was in Sweden back in 1996. I don't play any more apart from an annual trot at Glastonbury with the Catch family. My son's got the golden arm though. |
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Treasurer: Wayne Davey "I started playing ultimate at Warwick in 1985. Since then I’ve played at all levels, in mixed, masters and open divisions and I’ve been lucky enough to play in World Championships on 5 continents. I have captained the GB Masters team several times on both grass and sand, including leading the team to success in the 2003 European Championships. I've also been on winning teams at UK Nationals in open, mixed and indoors. In 2011 I was part of the GB mixed masters team that won the World Beach Championships. Unfortunately, injury now limits my ultimate to 2 or 3 beach tournaments a year. Off the field I have been the treasurer of UK Ultimate for the last 3 years or so. I was also the first treasurer of the UK Ultimate's predecessor organisation. While I have been on the Board I chaired the UKU Spirit of the Game Committee for 2 years. I also spent a couple of years on the BULA Beach Ultimate Committee." |
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Director of Competitions: Chris White "I've been part of the competitions committee since 2008, starting as the Mixed Coordinator for 4 years and serving without portfolio until 2014 when I became DoC. I have kept a working knowledge of the competitions structure & rules central to my work. These areas are vital to steering the structure of UKU competitions in the coming years as we need to find new ways to grow with the number of teams & players." |
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Performance Director: Ali Tincknell "I started playing ultimate as a student at Leeds University in 2000 and have since played with teams across all 3 divisions of the UK Tour including LLLeeds Open and LLLadies, Bliss, Jeremy Codhand, and Nice Bristols. I have also been fortunate enough to play at multiple European Club tournaments and at 4 World Club tournaments; twice in Mixed and twice in Women’s. I started my GB career in 2003 and continued through to WUGC in 2012, winning 3 European Gold medals on grass and 1 World Beach Silver medal. After retiring from GB in 2012, I became part of the GB Oversight Committee and in 2018 I was asked to take on the voluntary role of GB Performance Director. I currently sit on the Board of Directors for UK Ultimate and for WFDF, where I hold the role of Chair of the Athletes’ Commission. Outside of Ultimate, I completed a PhD in 2008 and have worked ever since at the University of Bath where I teach and research in sport psychology. I have also worked with a number of sports organisations including the Premier League, Sport England, UK Sport, and UK Anti-Doping." |
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University Coordinator: Tom Daly "I am a Sports Development and Enterprise graduate from University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). I started playing Ultimate in my first year at University after working abroad for 5 years. In my 2nd year I was club secretary and in my final year of studying I became President. I was elected UCLan’s VP of Sport for a year after I graduated. As I play various other sports, my playing time for club is limited but I enjoy picking up where I can and concentrate on indoors with my alumni team, Prone. I'm looking to increase ties between local clubs and universities, provide more support for new or small university teams and develop an Ultimate network where different universities can share best practice and pass on ideas to the University sub-committee that can be used to influence any changes for the wider University Ultimate community." |
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Director for Youth Ultimate: Joe Wyatt "I have taught beginner juniors, supported club level teams that have included juniors, helped to promote ultimate in schools through the Matalan Sports Promise and I managed the GB juniors U20s for a 2-year cycle. |
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Without Portfolio: Willis Bruckermann "In this country, we have an incredible amount of knowledge and experience when it comes to ultimate. However, the institutional structures that underpin the sport remain poorly understood by many in the sport itself. I've played this sport for all of my adult life, and as I begin to transition out of the competitive playing phase of my career I would like to continue contributing to the community at the institutional level. Among the issues I would be interested in addressing are: |
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Without Portfolio: James Cooper "I started playing Ultimate at Nottingham University in 2001 and have been playing on and off ever since. I have been luch enough to represent GB at the Masters Level at Beach Worlds in 2017 and Euros in 2019. I've even represented Ultimate in an ill-fated TV appearance on Eggheads! A Chartered Accountant by background, I now work for a small consultancy helping organisations define and then deliver on their corporate strategies. I've sat on two Boards previously - once as the Treasurer of a charitable organisation seeking to use derelict and underused urban spaces to grow fresh fruit and vegetables; once as an inverstor and Board member in a digital start-up seeking to disrupt everyday delivery services." |
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Without Portfolio: Ed Lee "I started playing Ultimate in 2001 at Oxford University and, since graduating, I have played for ABH in London for 10 years, including a number as Open captain, Mixed captain and Treasurer. I am currently captaining and coordinating GreyBH on its journey to World Masters in Winnipeg in 2018. I have a strong interest in supporting the interests of clubs focused on being a long-term venture, and I believe my many years of playing Ultimate in UKU tour events for a mid-level team give me a unique perspective to bring to the board. In my day job, I am a partner in the international law firm, Proskauer Rose, which has a significant sports law practice, including acting for the NBA, MLB and other sporting organisations. I believe my experience and legal expertise, and access to knowledge in the Sports law practice, will be an asset to the UKU." |
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Without Portfolio: Fowzia Mahmood "Since picking up Ultimate at KCL in 2010, I've found myself deeply involved in the sport as an advocate to get more women playing and unlocking their potential.I co-founded the women's team Discie Chicks, and have been running it for the past 5 years with an almost fresh cycle of players each year. My post graduate degree in Gender Studies and work as a curriculum coordinator for a Women's Charity have helped inform my approach to the way I see and can deal with issues in Women's Ultimate. I have served on the UKU Women's committee since 2015, and a personal highlight has been the Find A Team initiative which was launched last year. I enjoy playing Ultimate in all disciplines and in most divisions, and the community aspect of the sport is what I find so appealing. Going forward, I'd like to continue ensuring Ultimate in the UK is always inclusive, diverse and equitable." |
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Without Portfolio: Serena de Nahlik Serena has been playing ultimate since 2012. She started playing at university with OW!, and has since played for a number of teams, most recently Reading mixed and women's. She played at WUCC2018 and was on the management team for Reading Mixed, helped to organise WU232015 and WUGC2016, and is now trying to get some more structured ultimate happening in Oxford. She sits on the UKU Women's committee and the branding committee, and outside of ultimate spends her time trying to commercialise university research and help academics start companies. |
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Without Portfolio: Nick Smith I run a company called Airbounce, after my favourite throw, which provides consultancy to the sport, education and charity sectors where they overlap with one another, specialising in fundraising and brand communications. My career started in marketing and 5 years in the telecommunications sector before moving onto various roles in education and sport including at the University of Cambridge, The Prince’s Trust and Right To Play UK. When not consulting, I also work part-time at Churcher’s College in Petersfield heading up fundraising and alumni engagement. I am a very keen sportsman, trying out my hand at most things, excelling less. All sports went into the bin when I started playing ultimate in 1994. I was lucky enough to ride the Catch 22 rollercoaster, including winning Nationals and oh so many near misses at Paganello, join Chevron Action Flash for World Clubs in Hawaii, be a founding member of Fire and be part of the GB Open gold medal squad in France 2003. I love everything about ultimate and am passionate about helping the sport grow in the UK. |
UKU Staff
UK Ultimate employs a number of staff members in either full time or part time roles. You can click on the image of the staff member below to read a bit more about them.
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Name: Simon Hill Job Title: CEO |
Name: Chris Bamford Job Title: Administrator |
Name: Meg Price Job Title: Events Coordinator |
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Name: Francesca (Chesca) Weddell Job Title: Coach Education Manager |
Name: Ruth Flight Job Title: GB Junior Ultimate Programme Manager |
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Si Hill
Name: Simon Hill
Job Title: CEO
What do you actually do???
Inevitably I am involved to some degree in almost everything that UKU is doing. This includes the obvious projects like helping to run events, supporting UKU sub-committees, working with external organisations such as the Youth Sport Trust, and managing the UKU staff members. I work on a number of international ultimate groups: in particular the WFDF Ultimate Committee as well as the Rules and Event Bid groups.
Increasingly, one of my priorities is to better enable UKU volunteer sub-committees to directly drive progress and activity in their areas. We’re trying to reduce my involvement with day to day operations so that I can invest more of my time in areas that will help increase participation and/or income in the medium-long term.
Who can I find you playing with currently/Where can I find you at tournaments?
I’m not really able to play regularly anymore - but I did manage another tournament with GB Grandmasters at European Beach in May. Guildford, TBC and Devon were also all kind enough to let me train or play some games with them this year (despite my flakey attendance and diminishing fitness). I work at most of the larger UKU outdoor tournaments, and if there is time between jobs, I’m always happy to stop and talk - please just wave me down! If that doesn’t work - feel free to call me during the week.
Why might I get in touch with you?
Sadly (for me) one of the main reasons you’ll get in touch with me is that you’re unhappy with something about ultimate in the UK. Sometimes we (staff and volunteers) make mistakes; but often there are situations where it’s not possible to make everyone happy. Either way I promise to listen and think about what you have to say.
Otherwise:
You’ve got an idea about something that could be different or better?
You’re looking for information about ultimate and you can’t find it anywhere!
You’re thinking of getting involved with a UKU project or sub-committee but would like to know more.
You’ve got a lead for a company that is interested in a partnership with UKU e.g. sponsoring a GB team. Or better still, you own such a company...
Or - you just want to say “Hey!” Ultimate players really are a lovely bunch of people, and one of the very best parts of my job is simply being at tournaments with other ultimate players. If you’ve read this far, I think you probably know what I mean.
Chris Bamford
Name: Chris Bamford
Job Title: Administrator
What do you actually do???
For the most part I'm the first point of contact to players and public approaching UKU. That might mean responding to contact myself or directing it towards the appropriate member of staff to deal with it. I also provide support to staff, volunteers and members on everything from using the website through to managing membership.
I also provide some admin support to our GB squads, which depending on the year can either be a relatively small task as we don't have many active squads or in certain years we'll have up to 22 active squads and it takes up a bit more time!
The final part of my role involves between Si and I basically picking up any tasks that need doing that don't fall into any of the other staff members roles!
Who can I find you playing with currently/Where can I find you at tournaments?
I'm still a reasonably active player, playing with LLLeeds and coaching Leeds university so usually on the pitch at club tournaments or on the sideline at university ones!
Why might I get in touch with you?
Among other things general questions about Ultimate, club affiliation, DBS checks, how to get involved with UK Ultimate, membership questions or website queries should be directed towards me. Also if you're not sure who to email about something then just email admin@ukultimate.com, it'll come through to me and I'll do my best to help.
Meg Price
Name: Meg Price
Job Title: Events Coordinator
Whats do you actually do???
The main part of my role is organising the tournament calendar and the various events throughout the year, from small regional competitions to our larger National ones, across all of the divisions that you might compete in!
In many cases I set up and manage the events from the outset until completion, including booking the venues, writing the schedules and running the tournament itself with my small group of trusty TDs. In other instances, I work closely with clubs or individuals who run their own Tournament Organising Committee (TOC) - particularly when it comes to the University Regional Events or Tier 2 UKU Ranking Events. In these cases my role can change quite a lot, from doing all of the bits I usually do but with someone else just being the Tournament Director (TD) on the day to just solely assisting the TOC with team entries and writing the schedule!
I work particularly closely with various UK Ultimate Committees, notably the UKU Competitions Committee and UKU University Committee. Regularly we review specific aspects related to each committee's area, for example the overall tournament structure or developing/expanding certain areas of competition, and I will help to implement any actions that come from various discussions or committee meetings. Similarly, working alongside Si, I look at the longer-term plan for events; this could be anything from building the brand of an event or to bidding for UK Ultimate to run a European or international competition in the future.
Who can I find you playing with currently/Where can I find you at tournaments?
I don't really play these days as it's a bit much to organise the events as well as play at them, so more likely than not you'll find me managing the show at the TD desk if I'm not enjoying a weekend off!
Why might I get in touch with you?
If you have a query about anything tournament related, anything at all!
Lost a shoe? Email events@ukultimate.com. Not sure when entries open? Email events@ukultimate.com. Unfortunately your team needs to drop out of a tournament that's coming up? Email events@ukultimate.com. You get the gist :-)
Laura Atkins
Name: Laura Atkins
Job Title: Bookkeeper/Accountant
Whats do you actually do??? I make all the UKU's payments, reconcile all the money received and prepare the accounts for the Board.
Who can I find you playing with currently/Where can I find you at tournaments? I don't really play much anymore so I'm not usually around at tournaments.
Why might I get in touch with you? Usually because you need paying!
Ruth Flight
Name: Ruth Flight
Job Title: GB Junior Ultimate Programme Manager
What do you actually do???
Heck where do I start?? Listed of some of my duties as follows;
- Assist in the appointment of junior staff
- Arrange GB junior trials and ensure they run smoothly.
- Assist GB junior staff in all aspects of their jobs when required
- Training- days or weekend
I also arrange all aspects of trips for worlds or euros including but not limited to:
travel, accommodation, Insurance’s, food, kit order, physio cover, Medical cover, tournament entries, pkayer prizes, player well being, parents info, payments, any individual player&staff needs whilst in uk or abroad, injury prevention & management via med squad, paperwork, a necessary evil, child protection, player wellbeing during tournament - heat management, food management, staff wellbeing, hospital visits with injured players - We hope to minimise these visits with all of the above. Player and parent education on how to ‘survive’ a week long tournament. Finally getting everyone home in one piece and safely after a fun filled, physically demanding successful weeks play!
Who can I find you playing with currently/Where can I find you at tournaments?
Hee hee I don’t actually play Ultimate but if any of my 3 daughters are playing you will usually find me pitchside supporting them and their GB/Uni/Club teams
Why might I get in touch with you?
If you think you have kids who are eligible to trial for GB Juniors.
Governing Documents and Reports
Governing Documents
* Memorandum and Articles of Association of UK Ultimate Ltd.
AGM Minutes
* Dec 2020
* Nov 2018
* Nov 2017
* May 2011
Accounts
Other Documents
* Minutes of General Meeting Sat 9 November 2013
* Strategic Plan Summary 2013-16
* Conduct and Complaints Policy
* Anti-Doping Policy document (also see online anti-doping pages)
* Expenses Policy and expense form
* Risk Management Assessment 2011
* Conflict of Interests Policy
* Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures 2018
* Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
* UKU Terms & Conditions of Tournament Entry
Annual Reports
Conduct Committee Reports
| Date | Report Date | Complaint By | Complaint Against |
| Dec 2013 | April 2014 | Nick Brownbill | James Bush |
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| 20140402 UK Ultimate Conduct Committee Report.pdf | 431.57 KB |