On Feb. 8, 2026, Cold Front, Bates’ women’s, non-binary and gender non-conforming ultimate frisbee team, posted an official statement on their Instagram account discouraging USA Ultimate (USAU) from changing their gender policy to exclude transgender student athletes.
Cold Front splits into competitive and non-competitive teams each spring. The competitive team plays in USAU’s Women’s league.
In the post, the team took a definitive stance regarding gender inclusion in the sport. The post said: “We join those urging USA Ultimate to uphold its Gender Inclusion Policy and resist any political pressure to roll back protections for trans and nonbinary players. We also reject any governing bodies that seek to exclude athletes from competition based on their gender identity.”
USAU is the national governing body for ultimate frisbee and a member of The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), but now has a conflicting transgender participation policy with federal guidelines following the USOPC’s policy change in line with an executive order.
Executive Order 14201, signed by President Donald Trump on Feb. 5, 2025, prohibits transgender women athletes from participating on sports teams, under threat of withdrawal of federal funding from public educational institutions due to purported violations of Title IX.
USOPC has changed its policies to comply with Executive Order 14201, along with other athletic associations. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), for example, amended its policy on transgender student-athlete participation, limiting women’s teams to “student-athletes assigned female at birth only.” USAU, however, has not changed its policy, despite USOPC membership.
According to a July 2025 Ultiworld article, “If USAU is required to alter its gender policy to meet USOPC guidelines, the organization may have to choose between its affiliation with the US Olympic Committee and its stated commitment to inclusion.”
USAU’s 2026 college guidelines specify, “Players who select the Non-Binary or Prefer to Self-Report gender identity option are eligible to compete in the division in which they feel most comfortable and safe, as per USA Ultimate’s Gender Inclusion Policy.”
The guidelines also posit that players who identify as men (cis or trans) are only eligible to compete in the men’s division. Players who identify as women (cis or trans) are eligible to compete in either the men’s or women’s divisions.
If USAU adopted USOPC-compliant policies, ColdFront team members not assigned-female-at-birth would be prohibited from participating in competitions, including regionals and nationals.
In light of concerns about USAU caving to the federal executive order, collegiate ultimate frisbee teams nationwide signed an open letter to USAU. The letter addressed to the organization pledged that if USAU policies change to exclude transgender student athletes, the signing ultimate teams across the country would withdraw from all USAU involvement, including regional and national tournaments.
Created in Google Docs on July 30, 2025, the letter has 114 signatures from teams to date, in addition to individual signees via a separate Google Form.
Cold Front’s Instagram statement followed a vote on Dec. 3, 2025 to sign the open letter. Celia Horowitz ‘28, member of the team’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Engagement committee (DE-ICE), shared with The Student that the decision came after a couple of months of captains and DE-ICE discussing the policy for the first time. The open letter was originally sent to the Bates team by Brown University’s women and gender expansive ultimate frisbee team Shiver, Cold Front Captains said, “so that more support for trans athletes would be shown at the college level.”
“We have a lot of trans athletes on the team, and without them, playing wouldn’t be the same. Cold Front is a welcoming and inclusive space, and signing this open letter puts action behind that promise,” Watson and Schnee said.
The men’s ultimate frisbee team at Bates, Orange Whip, plays in the USAU’s men’s division. Orange Whip captains reported to The Student that they initiated conversations about the policy among leadership in the fall.
“We’re obsessed with the culture and how to make Orange Whip the most awesomeness, lovingest, bestest community possible, and it is our obsession,” shared Orange Whip Captain Matt Riseman ‘26.
After selecting the roster for their competitive season, Orange Whip discussed the open letter at a mandatory meeting in early February, encouraging members to make individual signing decisions. Though Orange Whip did not initiate a full team vote regarding their potential action should USAU change their policies, the team captains made it clear that none of them, as individuals, would participate in USAU events. They noted that the team would revisit the issue as a competitive team should policies change.
Although the teams might be separated by USAU’s gender divisions, the spirit of frisbee remains the same. “Team spirit and culture is written in the rules of the game, Cold Front member Luca Bernardin ‘29 said. “I think every team that I’ve been a part of and games that I’ve played, people try really hard to be inclusive of people, and of playing levels, and experience,” they continued.
“I was nervous about being a man on a mostly women’s team…I have never felt less than welcome at a Cold Front practice,” said Elliott Aranovitch ‘29. “When I saw Cold Front’s statement, it just solidified what I already knew: Cold Front is for any person who wants to be a part of it. Which I hope remains the same for the sport of frisbee.”
Aidan Stark-Chessa ‘26, another captain of Orange Whip agreed, “What’s really awesome, and what I love so much about ultimate is that idea of spirit extends to off the field, and extends to practices, and how you treat one another as a teammate.”
As for what this means for team sports going forward, the players are hopeful that this decision will inspire other ultimate leagues and teams to take this step. Horowitz said, “It’s definitely a small, local ripple effect. But that’s something, even if it’s not a big, nationwide change.”
Cold Front ended their Instagram announcement by affirming, “The frisbee field should be a place of joy and community, not fear and divisiveness. Cold Front vows to uplift and stand with [trans and nonbinary] communities – always.”
“The culture of frisbee is reliant on building an inclusive and spirited environment. We need to show this extends to all aspects of the game, including welcoming everyone regardless of gender identity,” Cold Front Captains Ansley Watson ‘28 and Aggie Schnee ‘27 shared with The Student after signing the open letter.
Despite collegiate regional and national tournaments coming up this spring, USAU has not made any further statements about whether they plan to change their gender inclusion policy.
