The 2013 AUDL off-season has been marred by troubling news,
as new information has come to light about the dangers of the frequent
expansions that are an unfortunate reality of playing in the league.
Many are now asking what the league knew, and when it knew
it. Players, fans, and parents of
aspiring young athletes are all seeking answers, in what has become a
public-relations disaster for the league.
Today, Outside the Cones investigates the expansion crisis in the
AUDL.
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| The NFL has concussions. The AUDL has expansions. |
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Toronto. New
York. New Jersey. Philadelphia.
DC. Chicago. Madison.
Minnesota. Each team represents
another on-field expansion suffered during the 2013 AUDL season. Each expansion brings unknown, potentially
long-lasting consequences to the players involved. Even relatively low-impact expansions that go
almost unnoticed, like the Minnesota Wind Chill, can cause serious problems,
like headaches, lowered self-esteem, a sharp drop in GPA or work productivity,
and a cynical and defeatist attitude about the future of professional ultimate.
Expansions have long been a danger of playing in the
American Ultimate Disc League. Even back
in the AUDL’s early days as an 8-team league, the lasting effects of expansions
often left players in dire straits.
John Korber, former captain of the now-defunct Connecticut
Constitution is one such player. He sat
down with Outside the Cones for this story.
“The AUDL was a great experience at first,” said
Korber. “In a lot of ways, it was a
dream come true: playing professional ultimate. Seeing the way those kids’ faces would light
up, being part of this new, exciting way of playing this game, it was
great.
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| An expansion cost this former AUDL star his career. |
“But then…the expansion changed everything.”
In the middle of the 2012 AUDL season, Korber endured a
gruesome and devastating expansion. The
AUDL sold the rights to a Boston franchise, the exclusive licensing territory
of which collided forcefully with the established licensing radius of the
Constitution. The collision, and the
ensuing legal battle, ended the Constitution’s season, and Korber’s AUDL
career.
“It just knocked me completely out. Out of the season, and out of the league, I
mean,” said Korber. “It’s just like, one
day you’re doing fine, the season’s going great, you’re playing well, and
then…BAM! Out of nowhere, someone
infringes on your contractually guaranteed marketing potential, and it’s over. Just like that.”
A year and a half later, Korber has still not returned to
the professional ultimate field, and it’s increasingly unlikely that he ever
will. There is no timetable set for his
recovery.
(Note: A chilling photograph of the actual expansion incident can be seen here. The image was not embedded, because it is fairly graphic.)
And yet, despite the obviously damaging effects of
expansions, the AUDL has done nothing to abate the surge of expansion-related
incidents. The league added eight new
teams for the 2013 season and saw a corresponding rise in the number of players
voicing their dissatisfaction with the league’s handling of the issue.
One outspoken player is Brodie Smith, the All-Star face of
the Windy City Wildfire. Smith has
suffered an expansion-related injury in every AUDL season to-date.
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| A devastating expansion head-shot. |
“Of course I’m frustrated,” said Smith in a Skype interview
on Sunday.
“Expansions are a serious
problem.
They shouldn’t be taken
lightly.
But I keep getting the sense
that the league isn’t doing their job here.
They knew about the risks of expansions, and they allowed just as many
new teams last year as the first season.”
In fact, the AUDL is adding even more teams for the 2014
season, bringing San Jose, Vancouver, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Montreal,
and Seattle into the fold. Rumors of a
30-team league in the near future have expansion experts on-edge.
“What feels really dishonest about it is that the league
office hasn’t issued a single warning to players about the risks of expansions,”
continued Smith.
“So I wonder how many guys out there are signing contracts
with no idea that they could still end up out of work, or injured, or even
worse…playing for the Hammerheads.”
Only time can tell how the league will address players’
concerns, but this much is certain: the controversy isn’t going away. And, apparently, neither are the expansion
teams.
