Kaela Helton

Kaela (Jorgenson) Helton

is a singular talent whose decades of hard work, leadership and on-field excellence led to an incredible 17 championships spanning college, club, Worlds, semi-pro, beach, masters, and grandmasters. Her dedication to her team has always manifested in the enviable ability to play her best on the biggest stage, rising to the challenge of any pressure situation. A versatile player equally comfortable as a handler, initiating cutter, or downfield finisher, Kaela was undoubtedly on every opponent’s scouting report as a player to stop, yet no matter the match-up, Kaela found a way to execute. While teams often utilized her powerful throws and explosive cutting as an offensive threat, Kaela was simultaneously one of the top one-on-one defenders in the division.

Kaela first fell in love with ultimate at UC Santa Barbara, where she made the finals all four years of playing, including winning a title her junior year as captain in 2009. She then had an 11-year career with Fury where she earned 6 national titles between 2010 and 2021, picking up a gold and silver medal at WUCC with the team along the way. In 2022, Kaela co-founded a women’s club team out of San Diego, Flipside, and also started playing in the Western Ultimate League for San Diego Super Bloom–captaining both teams for multiple years. These new teams relied heavily on Kaela’s trusted experience, complete skillset and indefatiguable motor, featuring her heavily on offense and defense. She shone under the spotlight and earned UltiWorld All-Club 1st Team honors four years in a row on Flipside (2022-2025), including as the division overall stats leader at Nationals in 2024 and 2025, and was recognized as the WUL MVP in 2022, 2023, and 2025. Kaela also won the Kathy Pufahl Award in 2024. 

All the while, Kaela built a worldwide reputation with her many Worlds appearances representing Team USA. She is a seven-time world champion, including twice on the US World Games team in 2022 and 2025. As evidence of her longevity at the top of the sport, she made four WUC/WUGC rosters over a 12-year period, twice in the women’s division and twice in Mixed. She also was on three WBUC Mixed teams, captaining twice. Combining her tactical, strategic approach to the game with the joy of competition, Kaela has become an ambassador of the sport via clinics, camps, and coaching. Kaela is the owner and CEO of CUT Camp, an Elite Game Point Performance coach, and co-coach of the Ultimate Frisbee Association San Diego Growlers. Her passion and dedication to the sport is second to none as a player, leader, organizer, and coach; the sport is better for her selfless brand of uncompromising excellence.