The Carolina Flyers , formerly the Raleigh Flyers , are a professional ultimate team from Durham, North Carolina playing in the South Division of the Ultimate Frisbee Association . The team was founded in 2015. From 2015 through 2018, the Flyers played most of their home games at Crusader Stadium on the campus of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, with some home games at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary . In 2019, the team has played home games at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary , and other venues. After the 2020 AUDL season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team moved their home games to Durham County Stadium beginning in 2021. In 2022, the team announced that it was changing its name to the Carolina Flyers. The team had won the national title once in 2021.
34-719: The Flyers won the South Division in their inaugural season, with a record of 11–3. In the divisional playoffs, they beat the Jacksonville Cannons 28–27 in double overtime to advance, where they were defeated 22–19 in the national semifinals by the Madison Radicals . The Flyers signed the first-ever female professional ultimate player, Jessi Jones, to play in their game against the Nashville Nightwatch in May 2015. Jones, who
68-481: A drop in the stall count from 10 seconds to 7, a ten-yard penalty for travelling when catching the disc, no prohibition of double-teams, and a yardage penalty for travelling when throwing the disc. There are also other infractions, such as too much physicality, that result in 10- or 20-yard penalties depending on the severity of the infraction. While different from the USAU and WFDF rules, many of these changes were also seen in
102-800: A new South division in place of the Atlantic division. Also in December 2021, the Dallas Roughnecks announced that they were rebranding as the Dallas Legion. In February 2022, the San Jose Spiders announced a move to nearby Oakland . After the 2022 season, the league announced the addition of the Houston Havoc , and the departure of the Tampa Bay Cannons and Ottawa Outlaws. On January 17, 2024
136-691: A playoff berth but were disqualified due to their unpaid fines and the Rampage advanced in their place, losing to the Philadelphia Spinners in the Division final. In December 2012, the league and team owners reached a settlement. Details of the settlement are unknown due to a non-disclosure agreement. Neither the Rampage nor the Connecticut Constitution returned to the AUDL in 2013. For the 2013 season,
170-632: A single elimination tournament that culminates in a final four style showcase known as the UFA Championship Weekend, which is contested in late August over two days. The UFA was founded in 2012 as the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), before renaming itself the Ultimate Frisbee Association for the 2024 season. The New York Empire hold the most championships with 3 titles. The reigning league champions are
204-575: The American Ultimate Disc League ( AUDL ), is a professional ultimate disc league that consists of 23 teams divided between the South, Central, East, and West divisions. The UFA is located in North America. Each UFA season has 12 regular season games which run from April to July. Following the conclusion of the regular season, the top three teams from every division advance to the playoffs,
238-732: The Indianapolis AlleyCats and the Detroit Mechanix were the only teams from the 2012 season to remain in their cities, while the Bluegrass Revolution relocated from Lexington, KY to Cincinnati, OH and the Buffalo Hunters relocated and rebranded as the Rochester Dragons . Even with only four teams left, the league still managed to expand to twelve teams overall. In 2014, the league expanded to 17 teams, including
272-461: The MLU . The UFA consists of 24 teams divided into four divisions. During the regular season, each team is allowed an unlimited number of players on its roster; only 20 of these may be active/rostered (eligible to play) on game days. Every UFA team is based in North America. The 24 teams are organized into four geographic divisions with a varying number of teams in each. † Team was a founding member of
306-673: The Minnesota Wind Chill , who defeated the Carolina Flyers by a score of 17-16 in the 2024 UFA Championship Game. The UFA was founded by Josh Moore in 2012 as the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL). The first AUDL game was won by the Connecticut Constitution on April 14, 2012, over the Rhode Island Rampage by a score of 29 to 23, and the first goal was scored by Brent Anderson of the Constitution. The first championship
340-530: The Philadelphia Spinners for the encroachment of the New Jersey and New York franchises. Negotiations between the Constitution, the Rampage, and the league reached an impasse in early June and the franchises' owners threatened legal action. The league preemptively sued the owners on June 17. As negotiations wore on, the league (at least twice) offered various settlements to the owners of the Constitution and
374-620: The Salt Lake Lions announced that they would be suspending operations for the entire 2015 season; leaving the West Conference with only 6 teams. In October 2015, the AUDL announced that the Lions franchise had been bought back by the league, making that hiatus permanent. In the same announcement, the league welcomed the Austin Sol and Dallas Roughnecks to the South Division. Shortly thereafter,
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#1732858773171408-746: The 13th Championship Weekend, August 23–24, at Zions Bank Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. After the 2024 season, the Portland Nitro changed their name to the Oregon Steel, and the Dallas Legion suspended operations. The UFA features a number of rule changes from the traditional set of rules laid out and established by USA Ultimate (USAU) and the WFDF . The field area is expanded to 53 + 1 ⁄ 3 yards wide and 80 yards long with 20-yard end zones (the same size as an American football field, but with
442-535: The 2017 season. The Flyers won the AUDL's first ever regular season cross-divisional match against the DC Breeze 23–21 in overtime on April 22, 2017, as part of the league's "Cross Coast Challenge". The Raleigh Flyers won the South Division with a 13–1 regular season record, but fell to the Dallas Roughnecks in the first round of the divisional playoffs. The AUDL voted unanimously to recognize Jonathan Nethercutt as
476-657: The 2018 season, the Vancouver Riptide announced they would be leaving Vancouver. Before the 2019 season, the Nashville Nightwatch and the San Francisco FlameThrowers announced they would be ceasing operations. On December 4, 2019, the league announced that a new Boston franchise (later named the Boston Glory ) would join the league for the 2020 season, its first expansion since 2016. That same day,
510-498: The 2020 season, citing more community support than Tampa. The team was realigned to the short-lived Atlantic Division for the 2021 season, which became the South Division again in 2022. The Cannons ceased operations after the 2022 season. This article about a sports team in Florida is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . American Ultimate Disc League The Ultimate Frisbee Association ( UFA ), formerly
544-617: The AUDL announced that the Rochester Dragons franchise was also being contracted and that the league was again hoping to start a franchise in the Boston area. Also in 2015, the Raleigh Flyers of the AUDL signed the first ever female professional ultimate player, Jessi Jones, to play in their game against the Nashville Nightwatch. Jones, who was a team USA U-23 player in 2013, was signed as part of "Women's Ultimate Day". In September 2016,
578-700: The Canada Cup. The 19 U.S. teams competed in three divisions: Atlantic, Central, and West. The Boston Glory and the New York Empire moved from the East Division, which did not exist in 2021, to the Atlantic Division. In December 2021, the league announced three new franchises, the Colorado Summit , Salt Lake Shred , and Portland Nitro . With the addition of these teams the divisions were realigned, with
612-594: The Cincinnati Revolution and the Charlotte Express announced they would be ceasing operations. In the 2017 season, Jesse Shofner was selected to the roster for the Nashville Nightwatch, which made her the first female player to make a full season AUDL roster. Shofner subsequently scored two goals in the Nightwatch's first game of the 2017 season, making her the first woman to do so in any AUDL game. Before
646-612: The League's Most Valuable Player for 2017. With the addition of Jakeem Polk, Andrew McKelvey, and Mischa Freystaetter, all previously of the Jacksonville Cannons to their roster, Raleigh was considered a strong pre-season contender. In addition to 12 divisional games, Raleigh played 2 cross-divisional games against the DC Breeze and Madison Radicals. In the game against Madison, Raleigh gave Madison only its 2nd ever loss at home and Madison's largest margin of defeat ever (8 points). Raleigh
680-666: The National semifinal and the New York Empire 19–16 to win their first AUDL Championship. The Flyers completed their 2022 season as regular season champions of the AUDL South Division with an 11–1 record. They defeated the Austin Sol in the Divisional Championship to go to AUDL Championship weekend, where they lost the national semifinal to the New York Empire. The Flyers completed wither 2023 season with an 7–5 record, which
714-410: The Rampage, but those offers were rejected. On July 5, the Constitution suspended team operations due to legal fees, missing two games. The league then fined the team the maximum fine of $ 10,000 per game, which Constitution owner Bryan Ricci called "severe and excessive" and refused to pay. Both the Constitution and Rampage had games cancelled near the end of the season. The Constitution would have earned
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#1732858773171748-518: The South Division with their only 2 regular season losses coming against the Dallas Roughnecks and New York Empire , the two teams that would subsequently play for the AUDL Championship. Raleigh sent Jacob Fairfax and Henry Fisher to the inaugural AUDL All-Star weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. Raleigh was eliminated from the playoffs by the Dallas Roughnecks by a score of 19–17. The 2020 AUDL Season
782-454: The end zones taking up twice as much of the field as in American football). Games are timed with four-quarters of 12 minutes each, including a 15-minute halftime. If the score is tied, a five-minute overtime period is played. If the score remains tied after overtime, a second overtime is played in which the first team to score wins. Notable changes from the USAU format include the use of referees,
816-487: The first All-AUDL Team. In May 2012, the AUDL announced its plans for expansion for the following season, including franchises in New Jersey, New York, and Boston. Owners of the Connecticut Constitution and Rhode Island Rampage contended that the Boston and New York franchises impinged upon their Territory Licensing Agreements, which specified a non-compete radius of 100 miles. Separately, the league compensated
850-674: The introduction of the West Division. The league also reached a multi-year broadcasting deal with ESPN3 that covered 14 regular season games, a playoff game, and the Championship Weekend. In 2015, the league expanded to 25 teams. The new expansion teams consisted of the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds , Ottawa Outlaws , Los Angeles Aviators , San Diego Growlers , Jacksonville Cannons , Nashville NightWatch , Raleigh Flyers , Atlanta Hustle , and Charlotte Express . In March 2015,
884-619: The league announced a divisional realignment plan that saw the Midwest renamed the Central, the dissolution of the South into a combo South-East Atlantic Division, and the two Texas teams moving to the West division, among other moves. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Due to COVID-related travel restrictions, in the 2021 season the three Canadian teams played in an independent series,
918-610: The league announced it was rebranding the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA). The league partnered with Sport Dimension Inc. (SDI), owner of the Wham-O brand family which includes the Frisbee trademark to license the name for use across the league. Multiple new logos were designed as part of the league's new brand identity. In 2024 the UFA announced it would be streaming the "Super Series", top weekly games for free, live on YouTube. The season culminated with
952-507: The team, called the Cannons, debuted in the 2015 season and made the playoffs in its inaugural season. The team drew from many former college during its inaugural season, including those from the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of Central Florida. After the team's 2017 season, ownership decided to relocate to Tampa, citing better community interest for games. It
986-856: Was a team USA U-23 player in 2013, was signed as part of "Women's Ultimate Day". In 2016, the Flyers finished 9–5, which secured a #2 spot in the AUDL South Division, but were upset in the first round by the visiting #3 seed Atlanta Hustle, 23–25. With the folding of the Charlotte Express after the 2016 season, the Flyers signed eleven of Charlotte's former players (Matt Bode, Clint McSherry, Jesse Lieberman, Micah Hood, Jeff Nordgren, Taylor Minch, Nate Goff, Shane Sisco, Evan Howey, Jacob Fairfax, Charlie Muniz) as well as AUDL veterans Jonathan "Goose" Helton ( Indianapolis AlleyCats , Chicago Wildfire , DC Breeze ), Brett Matzuka ( Chicago Wildfire , DC Breeze), and Mike Pannone (Rochester Dragons, Pittsburgh Riverhounds) for
1020-687: Was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Due to ongoing travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian teams in the AUDL were grouped into a single division to compete for the AUDL Canada Cup and the other AUDL divisions were re-aligned. Raleigh finished the season at 8–4. Raleigh defeated DC Breeze 19–16 to earn a trip to AUDL Championship weekend, where they defeated the Chicago Union 21–20 in OT in
1054-550: Was held on August 11, 2012, and was won by the Philadelphia Spinners by a score of 29 to 22 over the Indianapolis AlleyCats . In the first season, the league consisted of eight teams broken into the Eastern and Western conferences. Jonathan "Goose" Helton of the AlleyCats was named league MVP for the inaugural season. Helton, alongside Evan Boucher, Cameron Brock, Rob Dulabon, Dave Hochholter, John Korber, and Jake Rainwater were named to
Carolina Flyers - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-466: Was later revealed that Kilgannon had sold the team to the AUDL, and that the league planned the move to Orlando. However, a group of owners from Tampa Bay made the purchase in time for the 2018 season and moved the team to Tampa. The Cannons also rolled out a redesigned logo coinciding with the move to Tampa. After playing two years in Tampa, the team expressed interest in moving to St. Petersburg, Florida for
1122-618: Was sufficient for a #3 seed to the divisional playoffs, but they lost the divisional semifinal against the Austin Sol. This table reflects games through the end of the 2023 season. Jacksonville Cannons The Tampa Bay Cannons (formerly the Jacksonville Cannons ) were a professional ultimate team in the South Division of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) based in St. Petersburg, Florida . The Cannons were active from 2015 to 2022. Bill Kilgannon purchased American Ultimate Disc League franchise rights for Jacksonville, Florida in 2012;
1156-420: Was the only team to defeat Madison during their run to the 2018 AUDL Championship. Raleigh finished the regular season as the #2 seed in the South Division with 10 wins and 4 losses. After defeating the Austin Sol in the divisional play-off game 26–23, they lost to the Dallas Roughnecks 19–20 in the divisional championship game after being up 6 goals just after halftime. Raleigh finished the season at 10–2 and won
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