Ozone is the most successful and competitive womenís team in the Southern region of the UPA. Seeded second in the World Flying Disc Federation and third in the Ultimate Players Association (UPA), Ozone formed in 1984 and has been the number one force in the region since 1990. In fact, Ozone has attended every WFDF Club World Championships since Toronto 1991, playing in the finals twice: once in 1995 against Women on the Verge and then in 2002 against Riot, both from Seattle, WA. Furthermore, Ozone has never finished lower than quarters, or the equivalent, at the UPA Club Championships since 1993. Ozone reached the semi-finals of this tournament in 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2002, and played in the finals in 1994 against Felix and 1996 against Godiva from Boston, MA.

Team Outlook:

This year's generation of Ozone includes women from Athens, Atlanta, and Chattanooga. We range in age from 16 to 39. We have students, teachers, lawyers, an accountant, engineers, and an acupuncturist. We are a group of dedicated women willing to sacrifice our bodies and our time for a sport and a team we all love.

Our purpose is to play Ultimate at the highest competitive level and to achieve high performance. We play for team experience, camaraderie and the love of the game. We wish to play to the best of our ability, learn, and improve as individuals and a team. Our rules include respect for teammates and self, trust, commitment, and above all fun.

Our satisfaction will be come from team cohesion and learning, confidence, improvement, and of course winning.

We know that the responsibility for a successful season lies not only in ourselves and our teammates, but also in our support systems outside of Ozone. Without our family and friends standing behind us and cheering us on, we know that all the sacrifice and work would not be nearly as fulfilling.

Previous Team Outlooks (2003):

This year, Ozone looks forward to carrying a roster of 21 women from Georgia (Atlanta, Athens, and Macon) and Florida (Gainesville). We will compete in several highly competitive tournaments over the next 5 months including the Boston Invitational, Seattleís Emerald City Classic, and Chicagoís Tune-Up. Our goal at these tournaments is to give our new players as much exposure to high level competition as possible and to fine tune the team dynamic and play. There is much optimism this year because Ozone has a new addition to its arsenal ‚ Coach Michael Baccarini, who is and has been Paideia High Schoolís coach of 10 years. We believe that this addition will bring a new level of focus, discipline, and success to the team. Baccarini brings years of successful coaching experience, as he has led his high school team to two first place and one second place finishes at the UPA Junior National Championships in the past three years. Baccarini is also working on a book with another established high school coach, Tiina Booth, on the sport of ultimate for Human Kinetics. He also worked as the National Juniors Director for the UPA for 3 years. During this time, Baccarini, along with Eileen Murray, a 5 year veteran of the team, participated in the first meeting of the Junior Advisory Council for the UPA and both held positions on the council in 2001-2002.

Many individuals on Ozone also regularly contribute to the Ultimate community in Atlanta and around the country. Holly Sommers, Lisa Kotora, Mara Lindsley-Smith, Jen Smith, Angela Lin, and Eileen Murray volunteer annually at local college tournaments as observers and organizers. These women, among other Ozone players past and present, have worked at Athensís Classic City Classic, UPA Junior Nationals, and Atlantaís Terminus. For Terminus, Angela Lin has served as the College and Club Womenís tournament director for three years. In 2003, Eileen Murray assumed the job of high school director from Baccarini, who ran the tournament for the previous 4 years.

Murray also has been running a high school Ultimate league in Atlanta for the past three fall seasons. The league has increased from 25 to 80 participants in this time and Murray is working to partner the league with the local YMCA organizations to diversify the population currently involved. Murray has also coached Ultimate in her own high school, Woodward Academy, for the past three years and has expanded the program from a club to a lettering sport with Varsity and JV squads. Finally, Murray helped to organize community service for several of her high school students to teach Ultimate at a local home for troubled youth.

Other Ozone players have also had a hand in coaching and developing younger players. Angela Lin coached the Paideia girlís team for the 2001 and 2002 seasons and Katharine Kidd-Shippey coached them in 2003. Kidd-Shippey came from the highly successful UGA Ho-Dawgs team, where after leading the team to victory in the 2001 UPA College Championships and being a runner-up along with teammate Angela Lin for the Callahan award, she coached the team during their 2002 season. Finally, Jessica Ogburn and her husband, Mark Driver, have begun to work with high schoolers in the Macon area. There has been no organized clubs for these kids in the past, and Jessica and Mark hope to work with these youth in the years to come and bring ultimate into the community.

Sommers has also contributed a great deal to the Atlanta womenís scene over the past two years. In 2003, Sommers led the effort to organize Atlantaís first ever Womenís league which attracted 108 participants. As Womenís director for the Atlanta Flying Disc Clubís Steering Committee, Sommers was able to garner the support necessary to foster a very successful inaugural season. The league was, and will continue to be, an amazing outlet for the women players of Atlanta and surrounding cities. Furthermore, Sommers is currently a member of the UPA Formats Committee this year and is helping to formulate new and more effective regional formats.

Ozone takes pride not only in the accomplishments of our team, but also in the many contributions of our players to the growth of the sport. We have worked hard at making and keeping our team one of the most successful teams in Ultimate history. We have also spent countless hours volunteering locally, regionally, and nationally to help broaden the Ultimate base and bring solid leagues and tournaments to as many players as possible. We work with high schoolers as well as women who want to learn the sport and will continue in our efforts throughout our Ultimate careers.

For more information about the national ultimate scene, check out www.upa.org. This website has information on teams, the championship series, as well as information about the rules of the game. Locally, www.afdc.com has information about the Atlanta scene. This is also where the Ozone website is linked.