Atlanta Hustle Explained

Sport:Ultimate
Founded:2015 [1]
Division:South
City:Atlanta, Georgia
Stadium:Silverbacks Park Stadium
Colors:Purple, Black, White and Orange
Coach:Miranda Knowles
Record:45–40
Team:Atlanta Hustle

The Atlanta Hustle[2] is a professional ultimate frisbee franchise based out of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. They compete as one of 25 teams in the Ultimate Frisbee Association, playing in the league's South Division.[3]

2015 season

The Hustle finished the season 10–4 and tied for second in the division with the Jacksonville Cannons, both behind the Raleigh Flyers. The Cannons possessed a head-to-head tie breaker with the Hustle and thereby advanced to play the Flyers in the first round of the divisional playoffs on July 25, 2015. Raleigh would win the one game playoff and advance to represent the South Division in the AUDL's championship weekend on August 8–9, 2015.

2015 Regular Season Results!Date!Opponent!Score!Record
4/11/2015@ Raleigh Flyers21–29 (L)0–1
4/12/2015@ Charlotte Express27–25 (W)1–1
4/18/2015@ Nashville Nightwatch23–17 (W)2–1
4/26/2015vs Jacksonville Cannons23–20 (W)3–1
5/03/2015vs Nashville Nightwatch30–20 (W)4–1
5/09/2015vs Raleigh Flyers29–28 (W)5–1
5/16/2015@ Jacksonville Cannons22–26 (L)5–2
5/23/2015BYE N/A5–2
5/29/2015vs Charlotte Express26–18 (W)6–2
6/05/2015vs Raleigh Flyers24–20 (W)7–2
6/14/2015@ Nashville Nightwatch25–21 (W)8–2
6/20/2015@ Jacksonville Cannons27–29 (L)8–3
6/27/2015@ Charlotte Express26–13 (W)9–3
7/04/2015vs Jacksonville Cannons21–24 (L)9–4
7/11/2015vs Nashville Nightwatch28–18 (W)10–4
7/18/2015BYEN/A10–4

2016 season

The South Division added two new teams before the 2016 season, the Austin Sol and the Dallas Roughnecks.

Color of Ultimate

The Hustle, along with the Atlanta Soul, sponsored and supported the first Color of Ultimate game, a mixed showcase game held in Atlanta on June 22, 2019.[4] [5] The Color of Ultimate games are a project of the Atlanta Flying Disc Club (AFDC) Project Diversity initiative aimed at raising the profiles of elite ultimate players of color from around the world.

The Color of Ultimate: ATL game was the first Color of Ultimate showcase game. According to AFDC Project Diversity, "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."[6] The Color of Ultimate: ATL featured almost 50 players of color from across the United States and Colombia. The two teams were coached by Jason Simpson and Tuba Benson-Jaja, two prominent players and coaches of color. Team Tuba defeated Team Simpson 20–19 in overtime. A catch made by Team Tuba player Delrico Johnson was selected for the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 plays of the day. The game had a widely positive reception. The showcase game was followed by a conversation about steps the sport can take to increase its diversity.[7] A documentary was produced with the support of USA Ultimate about the game and its impact on players, spectators, and their communities.[8]

It was followed by a second beach ultimate game sponsored in part by the American Ultimate Disc League[9] and produced in partnership with the LA Throwback beach ultimate tournament in Santa Monica, CA in January 2020.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AUDL Hustle Page. May 19, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160511194906/http://theaudl.com/teams/hustle. May 11, 2016. dead.
  2. Web site: Atlanta Hustle. May 18, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160527104948/http://www.atlantahustle.com/about/. May 27, 2016. dead.
  3. Web site: AUDL About. May 18, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20141009062439/http://theaudl.com/about/audl. October 9, 2014. dead.
  4. Web site: The Color of Ultimate: ATL Earns Center Stage. News. Daniel Prentice in. comments. Recap with 0. 2019-06-26. Ultiworld. 2020-05-26.
  5. Web site: Atlanta Flying Disc Club aims for diversity at upcoming game. 2019-06-20. FOX 5 Atlanta. en-US. 2020-05-26.
  6. Web site: The Color of Ultimate: ATL. Atlanta Flying Disc Club. en-US. 2020-05-26.
  7. Web site: 'Color of Ultimate' Showcase To Highlight Sport's Diversity. Faries. Jordan. 2019-05-24. The Flatballer. en-US. 2020-05-26.
  8. Web site: Check Out the Color of Ultimate: ATL Documentary!!!. 2019-08-02. Atlanta Flying Disc Club. en-US. 2020-05-26.
  9. Web site: AUDL Launches Diversity Initiative. 2020-01-15. AUDL. en. 2020-05-26.
  10. Web site: The Color of Ultimate Showcase at LA Throwback 2020 Beach Ultimate Fest. Petroczy. Monika. 2019-10-01. LA Throwback Foundation. en-US. 2020-05-26.