Selection Process

Selection Process

The Vetting Committee of the Ultimate Hall of Fame (HoF) leads the selection process to elect Hall inductees in the following categories; Player, Contributor, and Special Merit. Since the inception of the Hall in 2004, the Vetting Committee reviews input from the community, voters, along with the results of the prior year selection, to identify and incorporate incremental process improvements.

Step 1: identifying nominees that fit the peak playing year timeframe

Step 2: peer review and vote to identify a slate of candidates

Step 3: community input requested on the final slate of candidates

Step 4: vote-eligible members of the Hall of Fame select the new class of inductees

Player Category

Players with a distinguished record of achievement at the national and/or international level(s) in their primary division of play are eligible to be nominated as candidates in the Player category. Consideration of Hall-worthiness is focused on what the player nominees did “at their best against the best” during the peak playing years’ time frame under consideration for the current year’s selection process.

There are 4 stages that Player Candidates pass through as they are considered for induction into the Ultimate Hall of Fame. The first stage requires being Nominated in their primary division of play (Women’s, Open, or Mixed). Once nominated, the player must complete forms that detail the candidates’ competitive career. Division-based Peer Pools then participate in a rank-choice vote on the divisional candidates to inform the selection of a Final Slate of Player Candidates. The division-based Peer Pools include players who were actively playing at the national/international level during the Peak Playing Years under consideration, as well as Consultants; coaches, organizers, administrators, reporters/media, or others who have first-hand knowledge about the top tier competitors in that division during the Peak Playing Years under consideration.

In the second stage, the Vetting Committee uses the division-based Peer Pool voting results, along with candidate competitive history and letters of reference, to determine the final slate of candidates. 

In the third stage, the final slate of candidates is announced to the ultimate community with a public request for comment in the Call to the Community.

The fourth and final stage involves two rounds of voting by eligible members of the Hall to select the Player inductees from each division. Eligible voting members of the Hall must participate in the first round of Player candidate voting to vote in the second round. Player candidates must receive an affirmative vote from at least a two-thirds majority (66%) of the eligible Hall voters to be selected for induction into the Ultimate Hall of Fame.

2025 Selection Year Timeline

Peak Playing Years: 2008 – 2016

Player Eligibility: FMP – Born in 1987 or earlier    MMP – Born in 1986 or earlier

Nomination period opens May 1, 2025:

– Player division nominations close Sunday, June 15, 2015

– Contributor nominations close on a date TBD following Contributor Advisory Group information gathering

Player Peer Pool & Player Nominee Short Forms & References due NLT Sunday, June 22, 2025

Player division Peer Review Completed by Monday, July 14, 2025

Call to the Community Completed by October 10, 2025

Contributor Category

As a broad category, there can be many types of contributors considered; administrators, organizers, promoters, and coaches. 

For 2025, the focus is on Coaches; individuals who were innovators who brought unique and new approaches to their teams and achieved significant overall team success focused on those who led teams in the Youth, College, Club division, at WFDF and World Games, and/or with professional club teams.

ELIGIBILITY:  Coaches whose success occurred prior to and including 2008 with the following CRITERIA to consider:

  • Consistent Team Success/Over performance: Did their team(s) achieve significant and consistent competitive success and/or outperform their talent level; was this attributable to their coaching? Were they able to continually attract, recruit, or produce top talent to build and sustain a winning program(s)?

  • Innovative Strategy: Did they bring forward a new strategy, tactic, coaching approach that impacted the sport overall going forward? Was their unique or innovative approach shared and adopted by other coaches/teams moving forward?

  • Coaching Influence: Did the coach’s leadership influence extend beyond their own coaching through a demonstrated influence on other coaches (e.g., a coaching tree)? Were they able to communicate what it takes to succeed and pass that knowledge along to those they directly & indirectly coached?

  • Player Development: Did they demonstrate the ability to nurture talent and help players achieve and exceed their potential? Were they able to promote a positive growth environment that encouraged skill development and player retention in the sport? Did their players have an outsized impact on the sport

  • Positive Reputation: Did they contribute to a culture of integrity, sportsmanship, and safety that earned the respect of players and opponents during their time as a coach? Did they serve as a mentor and exemplar that promoted and enhanced Spirit of the Game?

Nominations are due No Later Than AUGUST 1, 2025 

Coaches in the sport of ultimate are honored in the Contributor category and can be nominated through the Nominee Information Form detailing their innovations and contributions. The Contributor Advisory group can also nominate Contributor/coach candidates and thereafter evaluates the nominations and recommends contributor candidates to the full Vetting committee for consideration for the Final Slate.

There are no minimum or maximum contributor candidates required for the final slate; in some years, there are no Contributor candidates. Contributor candidates are voted on in the final round of eligible Hall member voting and must receive an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds majority (66%) from the voters to be selected and thereafter be inducted into the Ultimate Hall of Fame.

Beginning in 2025, Coaches will be evaluated by the Ultimate Hall of Fame within a defined time period, like players and other categories of contributors. This year, the Hall of Fame will evaluate coaches who consistently coached and had a significant impact as a coach during the period prior to and including 2008. Because this is the first year coaches are being evaluated exclusively, the window will be open ended on the front end.

Coaching careers can last much longer than playing careers.  To avoid evaluating coaches in mid-career, the time frame for coaches in 2025 will be 8 years ahead of player nominees (2008-2016).  The Hall will focus on coaches as contributors every 3 years. The next window for coach nominees will be in 2028 and will focus on coaches whose primary impacts occurred between 2009 – 2016, subject to change by the committee. 

Should a community member want to nominate a Coach/contributor, please use the Contributor Nomination/Nominee Information form. 

Special Merit Candidates

Candidates for Special Merit are reviewed separately from candidates in the other categories. The Vetting Committee will recommend a Special Merit candidate, if they so choose. The Special Merit candidate has a high supermajority voting requirement to ensure a very high standard of “specialness”; candidates will be approved if they receive at least 90% support from eligible Hall voters.

To nominate a player for the Ultimate Hall of Fame or as a member of the Player Peer Pools:

Women’s Division Candidate Forms

Open Division Candidate Forms

Mixed Division Candidate Forms

Contributor Form

Researching Competitive History

Use these Search Tools for Competitive History X Player/Teams:
– Ultimate-Reference   For USA Ultimate National Championship data, search by CLUB + NONE + select Men, Women or Mixed to review top 4 teams; click on the team name to review roster, if available. OR enter individual candidate name in Search to obtain competitive history/results.
– Ultimate Frisbee History in the US (Seidler site)  Search X Club, Player division,  and obtain Club Nationals Championship Results/Scores for top 4 teams from ’81-’21. Can also search this site by Worlds, USA Beach, Worlds Beach, and Championship Rosters for US and Worlds
– USAU Archives – need to search by Year X Club X Division – this will provide Team Lists, Final Team Standing/Region/Finals Score

– National Teams of Ultimate – Hartti database // Includes a Player Directory with individual look up with International Results

Important Resources 

A synopsis of historical adjustments and improvements to the selection process was published in 2022; please refer to the Resources posted below for additional detail.