Spirit Captains: In a sport that depends on fairness and sportsmanship for quality competition, we take Spirit of the Game very seriously and encourage all teams to have great spirit. Each team needs to elect a “Spirit Captain” for the weekend to make sure their team upholds these values all weekend. Please have your “Spirit Captain” review USAU’s “Spirit Captain Guide” so they have a good understanding of their very important role.
More notes on SOTG:
Winning is important, but not at the cost of sportsmanship and respect for your opponents.
Spirit captains and spirit timeouts: Every team will have a spirit captain. That spirit captain can call spirit timeouts if games get too "chippy." The teams should meet in a circle and discuss the issues and come to a resolution to continue to play spirited.
Spirit scores will be recorded along with game scores. The highest spirit-scoring teams in each division will receive a special prize.
If any team demonstrates bad spirit, the Tournament Director will talk to the team and give them a warning. If bad spirit persists, repercussions will occur.
From USAU's 2022 Youth Division Competition Guidelines - Spirit of the Game is a set of principles which places the responsibility for fair play on the player. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules or the basic joy of play.
All players are responsible for knowing, administering and adhering to the rules. The integrity of ultimate depends on each player’s responsibility to uphold the Spirit of the Game, and this responsibility should remain paramount.
It is assumed that no player will intentionally violate the rules; thus there are no harsh penalties for inadvertent infractions, but rather a method for resuming play in a manner that simulates what most likely would have occurred absent the infraction. An intentional infraction is cheating and considered a gross offense against the Spirit of the Game. Players are morally bound to abide by the rules and not gain advantage by knowingly committing an infraction, or calling one where none exists.