November 6, 2024
By Ian Toner

Welcome to the first edition of "Inside The UFA"! Over the coming months, this column will keep UFA fans up to date on the latest player movement and league developments. Though Ultimate Frisbees may not be flying in the depths of the offseason, there’s plenty of buzz floating around about 2025 campaigns. Let’s dive in!

DC could be without offensive, defensive stalwarts in 2025

Fresh off its first Championship Weekend appearance, the DC Breeze may have to defend its East Division title in 2025 without stars from its offense and defense. Team USA handler Jonny Malks, a Third Team All-UFA selection in 2023 and Second Teamer in 2022, is moving to Seattle, though he has not decided if or where he will compete in the UFA next year. Troy Holland, a world class defender and fellow Team USA champion, will be moving to Seattle and also has yet to settle on his 2025 UFA plans.

“Both of these players elevate the on and off field experience of the Breeze,” Head Coach Lauren Boyle said. “They set the standard for what it means to hone their craft, commitment and also care for others.”

“My approach to all athletes is to care for them as a person first and an athlete second,” she added. “I want to know what will be best for this journey they are on. If playing Breeze is part of that, I will be thrilled and we will work with them. If it’s not, I am excited to see what the next step brings as I am a big fan of both of them.”

Malks’ Move Imminent

Malks, who played just three games for the DC Breeze in 2017-18 before becoming a central distributor for the team after the COVID-19 pandemic, will be moving to Seattle November 9 to be with his partner, Seattle Tempest veteran Jamie Eriksson.

“I’m pretty sad to be leaving,” said Malks, who has never lived outside Virginia and still has family in the area. “The DC ultimate community is one of the bedrocks of my life.”

“I have a ton of gratitude for the Arlington and Virginia ultimate communities for raising me and teaching me to play well,” Malks, referencing his time in the Virginia youth scene, at William & Mary, and beyond, emphasized.

“It takes a unique place to put their trust in homegrown talent,” Malks said, mentioning his appreciation for the leadership of Boyle, former Breeze coach Darryl Stanley and others.

Despite the cross country move, Malks, who has not had any contact with Seattle Cascades management, said there’s no guarantee he’ll be playing for Seattle next season or in the UFA at all. It’s also possible he finds a way to play for the Breeze in 2025.

“I’m both very excited and refreshed by the potential of what a new beginning could look like for another chapter,” he added.

As Malks sees it, three options are on the table for 2025:

1. He could fully commit to the Seattle ultimate scene as part of the UFA’s Cascades and other teams

2. He could invest in other community elements or pursuits in Seattle and not play in the UFA

3. He could come back to the DC area at some point during the 2025 season, though that would likely mean he wouldn’t participate in early season games for the Breeze

Malks doesn’t consider one option to be better than another at the moment. He needs time to recover from a long year of UFA, club, and international competition and see how his living situations and options develop.

“Things are the most uncertain that they’ve ever been for me as far as playing ultimate,” he said.

He’s aiming to have a clearer idea of his 2025 plans around February 1 “to give all the stakeholders time to factor things into team planning processes.”

Holland Heading West

Troy Holland has always prided himself on doing the defensive “dirty work,” taking whatever assignment the team needs. Though he hails from Wisconsin, his mother is from Chicago, and he grew up appreciating how former Bulls champion Dennis Rodman would “do the stuff that no one cares about” for the team to succeed. Though Holland said he doesn’t identify with Rodman’s life off the court, he wears number 91 because of that in-game work ethic.

He will be moving to Seattle in spring 2025 with his wife, Mary, to be closer to family.

“When I first started playing ultimate, the DC Breeze wasn’t really a thing, I wasn’t good and I didn’t know what club ultimate or Truck Stop was,” Holland explained. “I grew into who I am and found myself with DC ultimate.”

“I have feelings of sadness associated with leaving,” he added. “But the excitement of the next chapter is intriguing.”

Holland wasn’t supposed to play for the Breeze in 2024, and he told Boyle as much. He felt that between his wedding plans, Team USA obligations, a nagging nerve issue and other factors, he wouldn’t be able to commit in the way that he expected of himself. But thanks to some prodding from Boyle, Holland stayed involved in early 2024, attending cold practices while injured and even repping with the offensive unit when he could.

“I go to every practice whether or not I play because I just enjoy being around the people,” Holland said.

Holland explained that he didn’t want to show up and take a roster spot from a more committed player if he couldn’t attend every practice and game. After the season started, however, and it became clear he could attend a number of important games, he formally rejoined the Breeze. He threw one assist and caught two goals through 13 defensive points in his 2024 debut, a June 8 victory over the New York Empire, and finished the 2024 campaign with five assists, seven goals and five blocks and three throwaways over six games in the regular season and playoffs.

As of November 1, Holland confirmed no one from Seattle Cascades management had formally spoken to him.

“The Cascades are very intriguing,” Holland said. “They have a lot of young talent with a lot of pop. They just have a lot of fresh energy that I think is very interesting to explore.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do,” he said of his plans for the 2025 UFA season. “If I was interested in playing, I would find ways to come to tryouts. That’s very important to me.”

To be sure, Holland said many of his DC-area friends have pitched creative ways to get him to stay involved with DC pro or club ultimate even after he relocates, like offering up rooms in their apartments for weekends or weeks at a time.

Los Angeles parts ways with coach Jeff Landesman

After leading the Los Angeles Aviators for four seasons and a run to the West Division Championship Game in 2023, Jeff Landesman will not return as head coach in 2025. Aviators General Manager Sonja Roden informed Landesman of ownership’s decision to make a coaching change during a conversation in late September.

According to Michael Kiyoi, a 2014 UFA champion who has competed with Los Angeles since 2016, there were no indications during the season that a coaching change could be a possibility, and while some player leaders were made aware of the potential for a coaching change after the 2024 season, player leadership was not consulted about the final decision to make a coaching change.

UFA all-time assist leader Pawel Janas said the Aviators formed a transition team, comprised of captains and player leaders, two months ago to explore ways to best position the team heading into 2025.

“To the best of my knowledge, no one on that committee was informed this [coaching change] was coming,” said Janas, who found about the change via a team-wide email Roden sent October 2.

“The decision for the change was a culmination of factors but ultimately came down to him [Jeff] not being the best fit at the moment,” Aviators ownership said in a November 4 statement. “We can have an amazing team and an amazing coach, but if the two aren't meshing perfectly then we won't get the best out of either. It could be a matter of timing, strategy style, personality, or myriad other factors; but we believe that Aviators is a champion-level team and it's time to try something different.”

“This is a friend that we love,” Roden said when recounting the conversation with Landesman. “The players all love Jeff dearly. He has been a part of the Aviators family since the inception of the team [...] he is the energy and the person that we love to have there supporting the players and the team. He has helped grow the community of players. He has helped feed our culture of love and respect for each other, which is something I’ve always tried to make sure the players knew no matter what happens. Jeff dove head first into that philosophy and has helped maintain that and grow that whole concept.”

Landesman said he never initially approached the team about coaching but was asked to coach by a member of the ownership group during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I understand there are people who have more experience coaching [...] but I worked so ridiculously hard and it’s because I love it, working on everything, and I love doing it,” Landesman explained.

“During Jeff’s first year as coach, he was doing a lot of learning about how to manage the team, was a great player’s coach and was having to learn about the strategy side of UFA ultimate,” Kiyoi said. “He was always receptive to feedback and worked hard over the next several years to match his enthusiasm and support of the players with the strategy and game management side.”

Kiyoi recalled the Aviators bringing in assistant coaches Andrew McRae and Linda Hamon to help with strategy and share coaching responsibilities.

“The team was one film or video, Xs and Os geek away from being good,” Janas said. “Not to take away from Jeff, Skipper [Hamon], or Box [McRae], but if there’s one thing to add, it would be that analytical mind.”

Players did express some surprise at ownership’s decision.

“I was surprised,” Janas said. “I can’t make this point strongly enough: Jeff has been the lifeblood of this team since joining it. He built the culture of this positivity and buy in [...] Second, I was a little sad. Jeff is a great coach. Like any, he has things he knows how to do well and things he lacks, like players do. I don’t see a reason why he would just be let go [...] Why would you fire someone if you didn’t already have someone lined up who aligns with what ownership wants for the future?”

“It was a mix of emotions hearing the news,” Kiyoi said, referencing when the team received an email from Roden about the change on October 2. “I’ve always loved coach Jeff and have felt extremely supported by him. I know that he is a huge part of not only LA ultimate but ultimate in the whole world and is greatly respected by the whole community, including our team. So I have a lot of gratitude towards him as a coach and a lot of respect. I felt thankful for him and also disappointed that he’s not going to be the coach any more.”

“A lot of us did not see a full firing [coming],” Janas said. “It was clear to most players that we lacked in some areas. But I don’t think most players thought that warranted a complete separation,” he added, referencing an end of year player survey that collected positive comments on Landesman’s impact on culture and commitment while also noting room for improvement on strategy.

“The saddest thing for me is I love hanging out with the guys,” Landesman added. “I still love the players and will miss being with them.”

Landesman said Roden, on behalf of the organization, wanted to keep him involved by having him help run tryouts or serve as a youth coordinator.

“A change for the Aviators is necessary but as a player it is much more on the player side and the team side than it is on coaching or ownership in terms of on field production, wins and losses,” Kiyoi explained. “We as a team need to take accountability for not playing as well as we are capable of or should have.”

Landesman finished his coaching tenure with a 19-29 regular season record and 1-1 playoff record.

Roden said the Aviators are in the middle of the coaching search with “five or six really good candidates.”

Multiple players confirmed that Hamon, McRae, and retired UFA champion Chris Mazur have been approached about the head coaching vacancy, but multiple players confirmed that those candidates are not yet signed. 

“We need someone to think about the game more analytically,” Janas said.

“We’ve got a lot of really strong candidates out here,” Roden, who did not disclose candidate names, said. “There are some incredibly talented ultimate frisbee players in the SoCal area. But finding the combination of being a great frisbee player and a great leader [...] is not an easy task.”

“The cart was put in front of the horse a little bit,” Janas said. “Where’s the horse?”

Empire re-sign two superstars

Ben Jagt. Jack Williams. Two names that have become synonymous with New York and its winning Empire are locked in for 2025, per general manager Matt Stevens.

The move appears especially important after contract challenges in the 2023-24 offseason contributed to the departures of MVP Jeff Babbitt and UFA champion Ben Katz to Boston, the team that eliminated New York from the 2024 playoffs.

Both Jagt and Williams have earned All-UFA honors every season since 2018, dating back to Jagt’s first trip to Championship Weekend with the Empire and Williams’ final season with the Flyers. Both were integral in New York’s three UFA championships, with Jagt collecting MVP awards in 2019 and 2021.

“Signing means I get to play another year with some of my closest friends and winners,” said Jagt, who confirmed that this new contract is a one-year deal. “I want to win a championship.”

Is power shifting from Seattle to San Diego out West?

Jesse Bolton, who played 25 games with the Cascades across five seasons and coached the team to its first Championship Weekend appearance since 2016, will not be returning as Seattle’s head coach in 2025.

“He’s choosing to focus on other things,” General Manager Xtehn Titcomb Frame said. “We’ll miss him!” 

Bolton, who did not respond to requests for comment, began coaching in 2021 and amassed a 20-31 record across four regular seasons and one playoff campaign.
There’s no word yet on how the Cascades coaching staff will shape up for 2025, but Frame expects more coaching staff decisions to be made and player signings to be publicized in the coming weeks.

At the moment, it appears likely that World Games champion Khalif El-Salaam will be taking his talents back down to San Diego. El-Salaam competed with the Growlers in 2021, helping the team win a West Division title. In nine starts with San Diego, El-Salaam posted 19 assists, six goals, and 12 blocks while playing 90 percent of his points on defense. 

El-Salaam is not under contract with Seattle beyond 2024, according to Frame.

Growlers assistant coach Jonathan Helton, recovering well from his 41st surgery, confirmed El-Salaam has moved to the San Diego area, and while El-Salaam has not signed any contract, Helton said El-Salaam’s “intent is to play with the Growlers.”

“If Khalif signs with us, it would solidify our talent a lot both because of what he can do on and off the ball and it could be a draw for people interested in playing with him,” Helton said.

Helton has heard that Marcel Osborne, a former Aviator and Growler, has moved to the San Diego area and expressed interest, but Helton is unsure of Obsorne’s commitment level.

“I’m hoping he plays for us,” Helton added.

Helton also said he has heard 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Lukas Ambrose could be moving to Southern California and is hoping to engage with him.

Defending the West Division crown without El-Salaam or Ambrose could be a tall ask for the Cascades, and it could shift the balance of power among the UFA’s West coast franchises. But the offseason is still young, and many players, including El-Salaam and Ambrose, have yet to sign contracts for 2025.

Helton expects Travis Dunn, the only player aside from Jagt and Williams to earn All-UFA honors every season since 2018, to return in 2025 with many other Growlers who commute from Arizona to practice and play. (One notable exception: Garrett Hable, whom Helton said tore his ACL in October and is expected to miss San Diego’s 2025 season. Best wishes to Hable for a full recovery.)

Helton, who will also co-head coach the Western Ultimate League’s San Diego Superbloom next season, said the Growlers will be discussing coaching staff for 2025 this week, and he doesn’t know if anything will change from 2024’s lineup of Kevin Stuart and World Games champion Kaela Helton leading the staff with Goose supporting in an assistant role.