2009 PADA Board Candidate Statements

Laura "SJ" Amann

As a member of the UPenn women’s team for all 4 years of college (1 yr. in an administrative position) and as a current member of Wicked, I have been playing ultimate in Philadelphia for the past 5 years. I have played in various seasonal PADA leagues and tournaments within that time, and am therefore familiar with the many different events and activities that PADA is responsible for organizing. With a seat on the board, I would therefore make the development and upkeep of our field space one of my top priorities. I commend the current board for their work expanding space at Edgely, as well as securing playing time at another Chamounix field. Still, there is more work to be done. These fields could be further improved upon and/ or other fields could be used to host games. Though playing outside of Edgely does make gathering as an ultimate community a bit more difficult, playing on more developed fields would both protect and help to retain players. I think most of us can attest to the fact that the PADA community is one of the main things that keeps us coming back to leagues and...

Joe Bangert

Having enjoyed the experience of playing in the PADA community for several years, I'd like to take a chance on being more active in the community, and thus I am running for the 2009 PADA board. I know what you're wondering, will the crime rate skyrocket if the Molecular Man is preoccupied with his PADA board duties? Probably, but it will be worth it if I am able to give back to the league that has provided me with so many awesome teammates, so many spirited games, and so much love for the sport of Ultimate.

Jeph Bullard

I have been playing in PADA leagues and ultimate in the Philadelphia area since i was 15, and i have grown to really love and appericate this community. I have a desire to help out and give back to this amazing group of players and people. Some of the best memories i have come from PADA events as well as playing club, high school, and college ultimate in the area. My goal as a board member would be to attempt to facilitate this positive life experience for as many other players as possible. I have had the benefit of getting to play in various leagues across the country from Arizona to Texas to New England, and i can truly say that PADA is a one of a kind experience. As a board member i would also like to try to incorporate the area colleges more into PADA. We always have a pretty strong core of people from a few schools, but there are so many schools in the area that play ultimate that i think we can incorporate them more.

Marc Davies

Dear PADA community, we are in the midst of significant change, as our sport grows, membership increases, league offerings are expanded, fields remain a premium. The debate over how to handle the myriad issues that inherently arise from such a dynamic, changing system continues. I have been part of this debate for many years now, originally during a three year stint on the board that ended two years ago, and then again this past year, when I joined the board for a second time. I have no particular agenda to share, but I do have some overarching goals for PADA. I want the board to help PADA be as cohesive a community as possible, and to be transparent in its decision making. I hope to help our organization serve the many needs of its disparate members, young, and not-so-young, incredibly skilled, and just learning. To serve, partly by providing the simple opportunity to play, but also by setting benchmarks for how to play that emphasizes the deeper aspects of what makes ultimate a sport that allows for tremendous individual effort and expression, but that also demands more. One that casts a...

Kevin "Bulb" McCormick

In this age of uncertainty, a man begins to ask himself certain questions. How can one even put into words something so... enigmatic? No... vast? No, not vast... well, whatever it is, basically, I like PADA. If there's one particular aspect about it I like, it would have to be the hats. They convey that solemn religious look you want in a league. Anyway, I love PADA. I feel my creative and fresh outlook can help improve PADA as an organization. I would try to make it a priority to more evenly distribute the workload among PADA's 1000+ members. It has always seemed to me that 2% of the players are doing 98% of the work. There is no real reason that, with appropriate coordination and delegation, the rest of PADA can't contribute a larger share of the work. So in short, a vote for me is a vote for more work for you! ...ok, well, it doesn't sound as grand when I put it that way... but if you got the Seinfeld quote above, you should probably vote for me. Knibb High Football rules!