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.

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.

2023 Player Eligibility Criteria:
For 2023, the Peak Playing Years for all three player divisions is 2004-2012. The age eligibility criteria for male-matching players is for those who were born in/before 1982 and for female-matching players, those born in/before 1984. (Or be retired from their primary division of play for 5 years). The final slate of candidates in 2023 will include up to 10 players from each of the Women’s and Open divisions and up to 8 players from the Mixed division.

Contributor Category

Contributors to the sport of ultimate are honored as Contributor candidates and can be nominated through the nomination form detailing their contributions. Additionally, the Contributor Vetting Sub-committee nominates Contributor candidates. The Contributor sub-committee then 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.

Should a community member want to nominate a contributor, please use the Contributor Nomination/Nominee Information form below. In 2024, changes will be made to the Contributor candidate selection process; updates will be posted, as available.

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.

Additional 2023 Selection Process updates will be posted in early May.

To review a synopsis of historical adjustments and improvements announced for the 2022 HoF Selection Process, please review the 2022 Update for the Ultimate Hall of Fame Process Improvement Initiatives.

Additional important information can be found in the 2022 Ultimate HoF Peer Pool Process and the 2022 Hall of Fame Selection Process + Timeline documents; both documents will be updated for 2023 shortly.

Important Resources

Search Tools for Competitive History X Player/Teams:
– Ultimate-Reference   Individuals can go to CLUB – select Women or other category, click on the team name and then individual’s names to get their competitive history/results
– Ultimate Frisbee History in the US (Seidler site)  Can search X Club Women and obtain 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

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