AFDC’s Project Diversity committee, hosted the Color of Ultimate right here in Atlanta on June 22nd, 2019.
The goal of the game was to bring awareness about the socioeconomic and racial inequity of the sport of ultimate. The game highlighted elite players of color from around the world, brought awareness to the racial and socioeconomic inequities of ultimate, and exposed the sport to those outside of our community encouraging more people of color to play ultimate.
The Color of Ultimate, and its accompanying documentary, which highlighted the stories of how race and socioeconomic status affected players in the game both on and off the field, was praised nationally within the ultimate world.
Contact Us: Questions or inquiries about the game? Please email Josh T. Feng, Director of Project Diversity, at jfeng004@gmail.com, and we’ll be happy to help!
Full Videos:
Color of Ultimate: ATL — Full Documentary
Color of Ultimate: ATL — Documentary Trailer
Color of Ultimate: ATL — Full Game Footage
Color of Ultimate ATL — Highlights:
Edited Highlight Reel (Courtesy of Nathan Kolakovic of USA Ultimate)
Individual livestream highlight clips (Courtesy of the Atlanta Hustle)
Color of Ultimate Photos:
Atlanta Hustle Gallery (via Ryan Cameron)
Tino Tran Gallery
Alana Jolie Gallery
James Crissman Gallery
Color of Ultimate Media and Articles:
The Flatballer — Preview
The Ultimate Podcast — Interview with Josh and Shanye
Fox 5 Atlanta News — TV Appearance & Article
Official Game Articles — Game Preview, Player Interviews, Recap
Ultiworld — Recap
Official Game Program
Missions of the game:
- To raise awareness within the ultimate community that people of color and people of underprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds are severely underrepresented in ultimate
- To showcase players of color at the game’s highest level
- To introduce people of non-traditional ultimate backgrounds to the sport of ultimate
2019 Roster
Women
| NAME | Location of Residence | Most Recent Professional Team | Most Recent Club Team |
| AJ Beard | Seattle, WA | n/a | Seattle iRot |
| Allysha Dixon | Denver, CO | n/a | Denver Molly Brown |
| Anastasia Foster | Houston, TX | Austin Torch | Houston Crush City |
| Anraya Palmer | Decatur, GA | Atlanta Soul | Atlanta Ozone |
| Ari Lozano | Seattle, WA | Seattle Cascades | Seattle Mixtape |
| Chupzi Lema | Atlanta. GA | n/a | Atlanta Outbreak |
| Claudia Vasquez | Palo Alto, CA | n/a | San Francisco Classy |
| Dana Rose | Atlanta. GA | n/a | Atlanta Bucket |
| Elizabeth Mosquera | Medellin, Colombia | Medellin Revolution | Medellin Revolution |
| Felicia Yang | Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles Ninety-Nines | Los Angeles Rampage |
| Georgia Tse | Durham, NC | Raleigh Radiance | Raleigh Phoenix |
| Jenny Choi | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Soul | Atlanta Ozone |
| Jin-Mi Matsunaga | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Soul | Atlanta Ozone |
| Kat Smith | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Soul | Atlanta Outbreak |
| Lauren Lee | Marietta, GA | n/a | Atlanta Outbreak |
| Leah Tsinajinnie | Phoenix, AZ | Atlanta Soul | Atlanta Ozone |
| Manuela Cardenas | Medellin, Colombia | Medellin Revolution | Medellin Revolution |
| Marie Perivier | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Soul | Atlanta Ozone |
| Michelle Yang | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Soul | Atlanta Ozone |
| Nariah-Belle Sims | Seattle, WA | n/a | Seattle Lights Out |
| Shanye Crawford | Kennesaw, GA | Atlanta Soul | Atlanta Bucket |
| Sydney Harris | Raleigh, NC | Raleigh Radiance | Raleigh Phoenix |
| Ximena Montaña | Medellin, Colombia | Medellin Revolution | Medellin Revolution |
| Yina Cartagena | Medellin, Colombia | Medellin Revolution | Medellin Revolution |
Men
| Name | Location | Most Recent Professional Team | Most Recent Club Team |
| Anders Olsen | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Hustle | Atlanta Chain Lightning |
| Ben Feng | Eugene, OR | DC Breeze | San Francisco Mischief |
| Brandon Li | Atlanta. GA | n/a | Atlanta Bucket |
| Byron Liu | Oakland, CA | San Francisco Flamethrowers | San Francisco Revolver |
| Chidike Iromuanya | Atlanta. GA | n/a | Atlanta Heartbreakers |
| Chris Calhoun | Nashville, TN | Nashville Nightwatch | Atlanta Chain Lightning |
| Christian Boxley | Bowie, MD | DC Breeze | Washington DC Truckstop |
| Delrico Johnson | Columbia, MD | DC Breeze | Washington DC Truckstop |
| Devin Cox | Atlanta. GA | Nashville Nightwatch | Atlanta JLP |
| Gabe Hernandez | Dallas, TX | Dallas Roughnecks | Austin Doublewide |
| Jaime Perez | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Hustle | Atlanta Chain Lightning |
| Jakeem Polk | Raleigh, NC | Raleigh Flyers | Raleigh Ring of Fire |
| Jacques Perivier | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Hustle | Atlanta Chain Lightning |
| Javier Ortiz | Chattanooga, TN | Atlanta Hustle | Huntsville Freaks |
| Jesse Bolton | Seattle, WA | Seattle Cascades | Seattle Mixtape |
| Josh T. Feng | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Hustle | Atlanta Rush Hour |
| Justin Badgett | Knoxville, TN | Nashville Nightwatch | Tennessee Tanasi |
| Kelvin Williams | Birmingham, AL | Atlanta Hustle | Atlanta Chain Lightning |
| Mark Rauls | Denver, CO | Detroit Mechanix | Denver Johnny Bravo |
| Matt Smith | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Hustle | Atlanta Chain Lightning |
| Raymond Mendoza | Washington, D.C. | DC Breeze | Baltimore Medicine Men |
| Sun Choi | Atlanta. GA | Atlanta Hustle | Atlanta Chain Lightning |
| Victor Luo | Madison, WI | Madison Radicals | Madison Club Ultimate |
| Zubair Abdulla | Chicago, IL | Chicago Wildfire | Chicago Beachfront Property |
For more info on our rosters, please check out our players’ bios on Project Diversity’s facebook page.
2019 Coaches
Our first coach is Tuba Benson Jaja! Born in Nigeria and raised in the US since age 5, Tuba played soccer and ran track & cross country in high school. In college, he founded Georgia Southern’s ultimate program where he played from 1999 to 2004. Ultimate has been a part of his life ever since. Tuba played many seasons with Ring of Fire (a USA Ultimate men’s club team out of NC) from 2003 to 2013, which included 9 National Championship appearances and multiple Regional Championship titles, as well as 2 years with Boneyard (a men’s masters team). Tuba has also competed internationally winning 2 gold medals at the World Ultimate Club Championships representing the USA in 2014 in Italy and in 2016 in London.
Tuba started his coaching career at the collegiate level helping various teams across the years build their programs and invest in their players. From 2014-2017, he coached the Jacksonville Cannons, an AUDL professional men’s ultimate team, and led them to the playoffs two of those seasons. Tuba has long been a staple in elite southeast ultimate and we’re beyond thrilled to have him helping coach one of our showcase teams this year. Good luck, Tuba!
Coaching against Tuba will be Atlanta’s own, Jason Simpson! From playing recreationaly in AFDC Summer Leagues to elite levels on a national or even world scale, his love, talent and mind for the sport is unmatched. Jason grew up while playing at Paideia, a local high school known nationally for it’s ultimate program, and later helped coach a few seasons. He led Georgia State University’s men’s ultimate team to some tournament wins during his time in college.
Jason started early representing the USA on the under-19 Worlds team in 1998 (also serving as team captain). A staple of Atlanta’s Chain (a USA Ultimate men’s club team), Jason played with the team for 15 seasons from 1999 to 2014, including taking home a National Championship win in 2009. He also played two seasons with Bucket, an mixed club team out of Atlanta. He has a 5-digit USAU ID if that shows you how long he’s been playing competitively..
Jason’s coaching career is just as impressive with highlights including assistant coaching the USA World’s under-19 men’s team in 2004 and 2006 and the USA World’s under-23 mixed team in 2013. He’s served as a mentor and role model to countless players across Atlanta and can claim credit for teaching or inspiring many of today’s top talent. Good luck, Jason!
About TNReels
Tee Newsome of TNReels has recently arrived on the media scene increasing coverage of ultimate in the southeast. What started out as just a hobby is growing into much more and we’re so excited to have him for the Color of Ultimate: ATL.
I first started filming ultimate back in 2017 with the Ole Miss ultimate frisbee team. I loved it so much that, I wanted to film more ultimate after the season was over. I went to ATL Classic and made a great reel. After receiving positive feedback/comments, I didn’t want to stop filming. I live and breathe this sport and creating content is something that makes me love it even more. For now, TNReels is something that I do on the side and I hope to continue to grow in that. I’m always looking forward to creating content together in the ultimate community.
Check out Tee’s YouTube page to see his previous work or give him a follow on social media. If you’re interested in booking Tee for an up-coming event, he can also be contacted by email: tnxulty@gmail.com
Spin Ultimate is the official apparel provider of The Color of Ultimate: ATL. Spin has supported us with over $2000 worth of value in game jerseys and sponsorship apparel to support our game’s mission!
Aria discs is the official disc partner of The Color of Ultimate: ATL. Aria has supported us with 225 custom discs for the game and an ADDITIONAL 250 new discs to give away to youth in need!
USA Ultimate is an official partner of The Color of Ultimate: ATL. USAU will be providing us with videography help and assistance and will also help us with outreach by spreading our game and our mission.
