Pay It Forward

Tomorrow's clinic in Toronto marks the official end of the spring season for me.  On the eve of the end of the season, I thought I'd write about the idea of paying it forward, something which has been a cornerstone of my work for the past half a dozen years.  I mention it in this interview with Ultimate Interviews.

One of my mottos is “Pay it forward.” My hope is to cultivate a group of players and teams who are able to think bigger than themselves. I hope that my investment in them leads them to invest in others, and that the end result is something beyond what we can even imagine.

It's hard to explain exactly what this means to me because it's a bit of a life motto, not just what Without Limits is about.  Paying it forward is about giving to people.  It's about loving the people around you.  It's about being kind to strangers.  It's about using what you've been blessed with to bless others.  Just because you can.  Not because of what you might get in return.

I think that women's ultimate is in an incredible place for development.  We are a tight-knit community, which opens up great possibilities for collaboration and sharing of ideas and knowledge.  I strive to be a connector, and have high hopes for both our division, and our sport.  The idea of paying it forward has played a critical role in many of my past projects- Midwest Throwdown, Keystone Classic, and Virginia is for Layouts are all tournaments that would never have been created were it not for people's and team's abilities to pay it forward and think bigger than themselves.

I previously posted this quote:
Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair. Sport speaks to people in a language they can understand. - Nelson Mandela

Paying it forward is important to me because it's about more than just trying to advance our sport and create playing and development opportunities.  It's about more than raising money for college teams or trying to help programs get to the next level.  Those things are very important to me...

But more than that, it's about an attempt to have an impact on the lives of the people around me.  It's about spreading positivity, confidence, hope, and love, because if we're spreading those things, then the world is just a better place.  And ultimate happens to be a great vehicle for this.

Sound idealistic?  Perhaps.  But here's my end-of-season challenge to you, and more importantly, to myself:


Care enough to make a difference for someone or some group of people.  Then sit back and see what happens.  :)