February 9, 2024
2023 was Glory’s most successful year ever. The team had a winning record, and made the playoffs, for the first time. These results are a credit to coaches Sam Rosenthal and Nathan Wicks, and, of course, to the 31 players who took the field for Glory at one time or another during the season.
Total paid attendance was 2,038 which exceeded the prior year’s total by 17% notwithstanding terrible weather in the just-completed year. Attendees enjoyed an improved experience which included food trucks at every game and the late-season initiation of an area in the bleachers where beer consumption was permitted.
Led by Katy Kellett, Glory’s community engagement effort exploded in ways which will benefit the team for years to come. These included a youth outreach program which engaged a staggering 908 kids through clinics, group outings to Glory games and a newly-formed Kids’ Club. Glory also hosted a series of group outings and special events at home games and is pursuing new opportunities through its membership in the Medford Chamber of Commerce.
The team’s social media effort, led by Luke Johnson, experienced continuing growth. At this writing, Glory has 1100 Twitter, 800 Facebook, 2900 Instagram and 300 TikTok and 410 Threads followers, in every case representing significant year-over-year increases. We had another year of strong and efficiently dispatched merchandise sales, for which, kudos to Casie Sabean, our director of merchandise.
Team cohesion benefited from both an effort to coordinate schedules more closely with Boston’s leading club teams, particularly DIG, and from a conscious decision to roster only players who were willing to be all-in on Glory. Much of the work in this regard was done by Jay Talerman and captains Gus Haflin and Brendan McCann. Haflin and McCann worked tirelessly and inspiringly through the entire season.
Glory has a long to-do list for the 2024 off-season. It includes:
2024 Schedule: We’re getting close to finalizing Glory’s 2024 schedule, which will include six home games at Hormel against eastern division rivals, New York, DC, Philadelphia, Toronto and Montreal. Be on the lookout for that in coming days.
Fan survey: Shape the Glory experience. We’ve put together a fan survey which shouldn’t take but 5-10 minutes of your time and which is invaluable to us in making Glory the funnest it can be. Participants are entered in a drawing for a $250 PUMA gift card.
April Media Day: On April 13, Glory will be hosting a Media Day at the Medford Public Library. In addition to affording picture and autograph opportunities, the program also includes a photo exhibition by Glory team photographer Kathy Joyce, book readings, press conference/Q&A, demos and more. Stand by for more details.
Bay State Games: For more than 40 years, the Bay State Games have been a beloved Massachusetts institution, attracting thousands of participants in some 30 different sports. 2024 will witness the inauguration of Ultimate as a BSG sport, with Glory sponsoring the action and hopefully hosting the state championship in conjunction with a home game at Hormel Stadium.
Cape Cod camps: In conjunction with local municipalities, Glory is planning to sponsor five-day youth clinics across Cape Cod on the weeks of July 8 and 15 this summer.
UltiFest. Glory is exploring an Ultimate Festival at Hormel on the weekend of June 8 which would include a Glory home game, a series of high-school all-star games, youth clinics and various other FrisbeeTM foolishness.
Thank you, thank you, thank you…
The danger of issuing a list of thank-yous is that you’ll forget somebody. The danger of not doing it, at least in this case, is that you’ll fail to acknowledge the incredible contributions made by a wide range of people without whom there would be no Glory. So, apologies in advance to those overlooked, and many, many thanks to:
Arlington Pumahs, Disc shagging, merchandise flogging, ticket selling, whatever needs doing
Kevin Bailey, venue and logistics
Brian Buck, hypemeister extordinaire
Ben Centracchio, stats, making the best of a bad situation
John Curley, venue and logistics
Sam Dimitrius, glorious music. Sorry about the lighting.
Rocco DiRico, Laura O’Neill, and the Medford Chamber of Commerce, gracious assistance, wonderful people
Alex de Frondeville, in from the beginning
Isaac Devers, photography
Connor Donovan, broadcast production
Caitlin Fitzgerald, broadcast announcer
Kathy Joyce, photography
Kevin Leete, emergency hype
Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn for her honorary pull
Jourdan Marino, DJ, Sabotage
The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management at UMASS, insight and inspiration
Dave McGillivray, Run Medford and the Finish Strong Foundation for including Glory in the Celebrity Mile
Hunter Mckay, photography
Toshihiro Nagase, ticketing, logistics, whatever
David Nunes, literally anything
Benji Otting, photography
Ethan Pham, clock
John Rice, recruiter of volunteer armies, consigliere
Cody Roy, stats, broadcast announcer
Jordan Rucks, trainer nonpareil
Craig Salvador. Broadcast announcer
Will Sicard, stats
Somerville Villens, See Arlington Pumahs
Susan Stewart, in from the beginning
Owen Tambor, stats, broadcast announcer
Lily Talerman, kits and discs
Miho Tanaka, MD, team physician
Robert Thackery, now that is how you do a National Anthem
Mike Walker, stats
Sponsors and friends…
Chevalier Theatre
Elliott Physical Therapy
EventThem
Frisbie-Frisbee Family Association of America
Just Hummus food truck
Kay’s Cans and Bottles
Long Cross Bar + Kitchen
Matt Heaton, Music for Kids
Medford Community Chorale
Night Shift Brewing
Pennypacker’s food truck
PUMA
The Porch Southern Fare & Juke Joint
TAPPED Beer Trucks
Work Hard, Eat Good