December 20, 2002

Two New England prep school Ultimate coaches joined forces to create the first Ultimate Frisbee league for Northeastern independent day and boarding schools.

Feeling the need for an organization to facilitate the scheduling of games between independent school teams, Bob Sidorsky, the then coach of Northfield Mount Hermon Ultimate, began thinking of creating an Ultimate league that mirrored the structure of the NEPSAC (New England Prep School Athletic Conference).

With the help of David Thompson, one of the Hotchkiss coaches, a questionnaire was created and mailed out to schools across New England. The responses indicated that the sport existed at over 20 day and boarding schools across the region, and was increasing in popularity and acceptance.

Since 2003, the league has grown rapidly: for the first season, there were 17 schools with teams that played interscholastically, 4 of which were at the varsity level. For the 2006 season, there are 16 teams at the Varsity level out of a total of 36 interscholastic teams.

Three of these schools field both boys and girls varsity teams, and there are a total of five girls teams in the league, up from zero two years ago. The number of schools that offer ultimate in PE or as a intramural sport on campus has increased as well. 

The two coaches cited several specific reasons for forming an Independent School Ultimate Association. The NEPSUL seeks to:

1)    Help bring member schools closer together, creating a structure that will facilitate and promote association games on a regular basis throughout the spring season. It is also our hope that this association will help schools keep pace with the increased interest and demand for ultimate as part of the athletic program

2)    Create a more formal and consistent scheduling format enabling new and old teams to maintain contact from year to year.

3)   Establish an avenue for discussion of formal changes in rules of  play and player eligibility.

4)   Offer member schools the possibility of competing in a New England Independent Schools championship series. The New England High School Ultimate League's championship tournament (run by the Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance:http://www.buda.org/highschool) is incompatible with many independent schools' exam and graduation calendars.