About
Ultimate Impact is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was launched in June 2016 to support youth in our communities. We use the team sport of ultimate Frisbee as the framework for providing youth with increased opportunities, confidence, communication abilities, and conflict-resolution skills. Through weekly training sessions, peer interaction, and consistent adult mentorship, Ultimate Impact creates a positive environment for youth to have fun, be active, improve athletic skills, and build community through the concept of a team.
Ultimate Frisbee (commonly known as "ultimate") is a fun, fast-paced, non-contact team sport that is low cost, easy to learn, and can be played anywhere. Ultimate is unique because it is governed by the self-officiating Spirit of the Game™ philosophy, making it a great educational tool for developing Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies.
Partnering with local organizations that serve underrepresented youth, Ultimate Impact encourages participation, builds teams, and offers weekly instruction with experienced coaches and volunteers who have been trained in Ultimate Impact’s coaching techniques. Coaches work with the youth for up to two hours per practice session at least once a week. Additionally, youth attend scrimmages, tournaments, and other ultimate-related activities. Coaches also become part of the community fabric by building relationships with local leaders, teachers, school administrators, and parents.
Through these activities, youth gain the following:
Social-emotional development
Fun, fitness, and health development
Ultimate Frisbee instruction and competition
Mission
Empower youth from underrepresented communities to develop confidence, teamwork, and accountability through the sport and community of ultimate.
Program Pilot and History
The initial seed of Ultimate Impact was planted in 2010, when founder Rocky Beach retired from a top club team and wanted to give back to the sport that had helped him in so many personal, social, and professional ways. Through a landscaping project that he led while managing volunteer services for United Way of the Bay Area in 2006, Rocky connected with the Program Director at Hunters Point Family, located at Gilman Playground in Bayview-Hunters Point and launched a youth ultimate team there four years later as a volunteer.
The youth, ages 6-13, came from surrounding neighborhoods such as Double Rock, Alice Griffith, Oakdale, and Hilltop and all attended a summer and after-school program at Gilman Playground, near the former Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The kids have incredible stories of resilience. “Over the years it has been extremely rewarding to see the group progress, not just in ultimate, but also in life,” Beach says. “It’s exciting to see some of the first-year players already in high school and talking about going to college.”
In June 2016, Rocky decided to dedicate his creativity, time, and passion — along with his entrepreneurial spirit and program knowledge — to launch a youth development program modeled off his experience with youth and ultimate Frisbee.
What is Ultimate Frisbee?
Played with a disc, or Frisbee, ultimate combines the nonstop movement, field spacing, sprinting, and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football — all in a non-contact format. Players compete on a field with end zones similar to football, in teams of seven on grass and five on sand. Ultimate is a fast-growing sport, with an estimated 5 million current and former players in the US and more than 80K in the Bay Area. Most universities have club teams, and ultimate has been featured in the World Games as a medal sport since 2001, with a future as a possible Olympic event. Ultimate is unique because it is one of the few sports played at a high level in a co-ed format, along with women’s and men’s divisions.
Our Team
Rocky BEach
Executive Director and Founder
Rocky has a background in entrepreneurship, youth development, nonprofit management, organization building, and coaching. Rocky spent nine years at United Way of the Bay Area, where he built their corporate volunteer program and managed the organization’s largest portfolio as a Director of Development. Rocky also served as the Director of Partnerships and Development for CODE2040, where he grew annual fundraising from $2M to $7.2M by securing partnerships with Apple, Intel, Google, Box, PwC, and other industry leaders.
In the spring of 2016, Rocky left his leadership role at CODE2040 to launch Ultimate Impact. He has a BA in International Business from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, graduating magna cum laude. In 2007, the Chamber of Commerce selected Rocky as one of the 50 future leaders of San Francisco through his participation in the Leadership SF program. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and is also a World Champion Ultimate Frisbee player.
LAWRENCE LI
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Lawrence is a senior director providing strategic operations leadership to small, rapidly evolving nonprofit orgs, most recently at SPUR. With a 30-year track record in systems design, business analytics and tactical execution, he brings a broad functional skill set that covers financial governance, HR administration, facilities optimization, and IT systems deployment.
Lawrence has brought his dedication to equitable, sustainable and prosperous communities to boards of the SF Bicycle Coalition, Yerba Buena Community Benefit District and, most recently, the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy.
He finds inspiration in exploring issues of the day through contemporary art and performance, and you can find him on the streets enjoying coffee, biking around or running through Golden Gate Park.
Jahlil “JJ” James
Senior Manager of Leadership AND Training & Coach
Jahlil has worked in Youth Development since 2013 when he partnered with Golden Valley Health Center to create a youth program, then later as a summer camp leader, and then eventually as a Playworks Coach in the Bayview and Mission neighborhoods of San Francisco. With more than 6 years of experience as a Youth Educator, he brings a wealth of knowledge and techniques for working with kids from all types of backgrounds and varying life circumstances. JJ also brings a positive attitude, fun and an engaging personality to Ultimate Impact.
“What excites me most about Ultimate Impact is the correlation between my childhood and the work that Ultimate Impact does with underrepresented students. In high school, one of the pivotal points in my life was when one of my mentors taught me how to play ultimate Frisbee. It started off as just a game but quickly became a way of venting frustration and being able to spend time with a caring adult that listened and guided me toward being a more successful as a human being. I’m excited to emulate my mentor and use ultimate as a way of reaching students and teaching youth social-emotional and conflict-resolution skills.”
Nicole Canning
Program manager & Coach
Nicole began working with youth in 2011, guiding students on educational sails along the coast of California aboard a historic tall sailing ship. She then spent ten formative years in Boston, Massachusetts, receiving her B.A. from Northeastern University in International Affairs & Cultural Anthropology where she started playing ultimate and later coached. During her time at Northeastern, she applied her knowledge working with youth at an integrated primary school and coaching with PeacePlayers International in post-conflict Northern Ireland during a semester abroad. After college, Nicole worked on the global product marketing team for Reebok before shifting back to the youth development space with Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. At Big Sister, she led the recruitment team in increasing community presence and enrolling girls and women in gender-intentional mentoring programs that support girls’ healthy development. Her experiences in ultimate have ranged from captaining and coaching to playing club and professional women’s at the highest levels with Boston Brute Squad, Siege Ultimate, and Portland Rising. She has been able to combine her love for travel and sports as a tool for cultural exchange in Ireland, Ecuador, China, and Vietnam. Nicole is excited to bring her wealth of cultural experiences and passion for promoting confidence and leadership skills through sport to her role as Program Manager and Coach with Ultimate Impact!
Sarafina Angstadt-Leto
Manager of Data Evaluation and Competitive Play & Coach
Sarafina began working with youth through Reading Partners in Oakland and quickly found she enjoyed being a mentor. She has extensive experience coaching Ultimate in both developmental and competitive settings. Sarafina enjoys the challenge of balancing different skill levels and creating an environment where all players are welcome.
Sarafina currently coaches at four elementary schools in Oakland and San Francisco and runs the Dragons program, which provides weekly competitive practices for middle and high school youth. Sarafina is a decorated Ultimate player who has won gold medals with Bay Area Disc Association’s youth club team, the University of Oregon Women’s team and the U20 USA Girls Team. She is excited to continue sharing the sport of Ultimate with youth and supporting the Ultimate Impact team as an operations manager and coach.
Robin Vickers Batzdorf Program Assistant & Coach
Robin has worked with Ultimate Impact since Fall of 2022. He first learned of Ultimate Impact through The Oakland Spiders, Oakland’s very own professional Ultimate team, during a “Play with the Pro’s” day at MLK elementary school in Oakland. He brings a wealth of knowledge of ultimate tactics, strategy and skill development. Robin has been coaching and teaching sports since 2017 and is on his way to becoming a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Robin continues to use his understanding of training to help youth become the best athletes they can. Robin also pulls from his experiences as a young athlete and understanding of how good and bad coaching affects youth. Robin is excited to be a positive model for the youth he coaches in his role as a Program Assistant and Coach.
JASHAN SHETTY MANAGER OF OPERATIONS AND REVENUE & COACH
Jashan worked as a software engineer before deciding to make a dramatic change of career towards sports for development. After three years in the corporate sector he moved cities to be part of the Surat Ultimate Frisbee Association as Head of Development and Coaching. He later joined Yuwa, another non-profit that uses sports and education as a tool to build character, confidence, and courage specifically with girls from impoverished families in rural Jharkhand, India. He joined first as an English teacher and then as Director of Sports Programmes, so he brings a lot of experience working with youth from different cultures and backgrounds. He is currently pursuing his MBA at UC Berkeley while working with Ultimate Impact.
Kenneth Justin Lim
COACHING AND LEADERSHIP (CAL) PROGRAM MANAGER & COACH
Justin manages the CAL (Coaching And Leadership) Program at Ultimate Impact and also coaches at several sites in Oakland and San Francisco. His favorite game, excluding Ultimate in all its various forms, is frisbee tag because we get to use the tiny J-star frisbees. Before Ultimate Impact, Justin spent seven years as a bioinformatician in a medical research lab at UCSF. He decided to switch fields because he has a passion for coaching and values the direct impact that it can have on local communities. Justin is also a semi-professional Ultimate Frisbee player for the Oakland Spiders, and a National and World Champion with San Francisco Revolver.
Dragons Ultimate Frisbee Team
The “Dragons” are an ultimate frisbee club in San Francisco managed by Ultimate Impact. The club team practices every week on Wednesdays from 4pm-6pm at Crocker Amazon. The team is free to join and is open to all levels of play for Middle and High School students in San Francisco. If you’d like to check out ultimate frisbee, come join our team! Ultimate Impact pays for all tournament, practice, travel, and equipment fees.
Interested in Playing? Sign up or just show up!
Dragons Ultimate Frisbee Practice
Crocker Amazon Fields
Wednesdays from 4pm - 6pm
San Francisco, CA
Board of Directors
Katie Berk
Katie is a product manager who's primarily focused on building educational software for students, teachers, and their families to help students be appropriately challenged and supported in service of closing equity gaps and improving whole child outcomes. She most recently led the product management team for the ChanZuckerberg's Education Technology team.
Katie is a life-long lover of more or less all sports. She found Ultimate Frisbee in college where she co-captained Stanford Superfly and was on two national championship winning teams. After college, Katie helped co-found a club team for recent college grads and despite not having played competitively in many years, still surrounds herself with the many lifelong friends (and spouse) she met through the incredible Ultimate community.
Katie is excited to support Ultimate Impact to help bring the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to more kids and communities and is especially energized by Ultimate Impact's approach of broadening access to sports and using them as a venue for the development of a broad set of life habits and skills.
Courtney Keating
Courtney is a mom of two energetic boys, who love any and all reasons to run, jump and play. In addition to parenting, Courtney has spent her career in Finance and is currently a Director within PwC’s Finance Transformation practice, helping CFOs and Finance Leaders solve complex problems. Her career has taken her to Seattle, Amsterdam, and back to her hometown of Portland, OR, where she currently resides.
While she admittedly gets the “yips” while throwing a frisbee, Courtney is passionate about the power of play, and its long lasting positive influence on children’s lives and ability to bring communities together. She is thrilled to be a part of the Ultimate Impact team!
Jennifer Scarlett, DVM
Scarlett was introduced to Ultimate just before entering Peace Corps Morocco—and was hooked. For the next two years she carried a disc and enticed kids in her village and visiting Peace Corps colleagues to practice throwing. On returning to the States, Scarlett played with teams in Washington DC, Tennessee and eventually the Bay Area. Although her teams did not win the US National Championships, she won indelible memories, lifelong friendships and a passion to share the generative lessons embedded in Ultimate to youth through Ultimate Impact. Scarlett is a veterinarian and President of the San Francisco SPCA.
Karim Basta
Karim is a macro-economist, currently working with III Capital Management, a global investment manager. He previously worked in a number of research roles on Wall Street. His focus is on assessing economic developments, how government policymakers may react, and what it all means for financial markets.
Karim began his ultimate career at the University of Pennsylvania, co-captaining the team that won the second ever collegiate national championship. He went on to play with New York New York, winning 6 national and 4 world championships. Though long retired from competitive ultimate, he still enjoys the occasional pick-up game in his adopted home of St Croix, USVI. Karim has been a volunteer for many years with the Family and Children’s Agency in Norwalk, CT as an academic assistant for middle schoolers challenged by both their school and home environments. He looks forward to supporting Ultimate Impact in its mission to empower youth from underrepresented communities to develop confidence, teamwork, and accountability through the sport and community of ultimate.
Karli Sager
Karli is an attorney focusing on intellectual property, consumer protection, data security and privacy at all stages of the product lifecycle. She is currently Of Counsel at BraunHagey & Borden. Karli also has had experience in corporate and non-profit internal investigations as an associate at Latham & Watkins, where she served as a member of the firm's Pro Bono Committee. As part of her commitment to public service, Karli has represented a transgender appellant before the Board of Immigration and incarcerated youth on criminal appeals before the First, Second and Sixth District Courts of Appeal of California and as an appointee to the federal Criminal Justice Act panel.
Before attending Stanford Law School, Karli was the program coordinator for the Richmond District After School Collaborative, a program offering academic and art enrichment and case management services to students at six elementary and middle public schools in San Francisco.
Karli has made amazing friends playing ultimate frisbee in pickup, college and club settings across the country and the world. She was co-captain of the San Francisco Bay Area women's club team, Fury. She is still hoping that someday she will have a consistent upwind forehand throw.
Sandy Jen
Sandy is a long-time entrepreneur and most recently co-founded Honor in 2014, a company focused on transforming home-based care for older adults. She currently spends most of her time working with product and engineering to further the mission of changing the way we care for our aging loved ones. An innovator at heart, she also co-founded Meebo, a consumer internet company focused on instant messaging in 2005, which was acquired by Google in 2012. She loves to mentor young entrepreneurs and is active in the women in tech circles. Sandy discovered Ultimate after college and the sport has led her to love the spirit of the game and cherish the decade-long friendships she’s made along the way. Now a mother of two children and a frisbee-loving dog, she’s excited to share her love of Ultimate in a way that helps the future generation.
STEVE MOONEY
The summer of 1979 changed Steve’s life when he spent it at UC Berkeley taking a class in black-and-white photography and playing ultimate with The Flying Circus of San Francisco. Little did Steve know at the time how much these two events would shape his career and life—first, by inspiring him as a photographer and marketer, and second, by exposing him to high-level ultimate with the Circus. Steve went on to enjoy a long career in marketing, which includes years as a multimedia producer, and later as a creative and managing director at the brand experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide. Steve also had the privilege of leading numerous exceptional ultimate teams, winning seven National Championships and three World Championships with the Rude Boys and Death of Glory. Steve and Mary live in Brookline, and have two children, Ben and Nicole.
Steve is excited to join the Ultimate Impact Board after six years on the USA Ultimate Board. Boston is a hotbed of both ultimate and nonprofit organizations, where Steve has learned about how teams and organizations succeed. He looks forward to sharing his perspective and supporting Ultimate Impact as it continues to grow in the Bay Area, the place where it all began for him.
Rachel Dyke
Rachel is a logistics and energy expert who has worked for several high-growth companies in finance, operations, growth, and product. She currently works for a trucking fleet electrification company and loves solving problems related to the energy transition. She's based in Berlin, Germany for a few years but was previously in the Bay Area after growing up near Washington DC.
Rachel played many youth and college sports before finding Ultimate at the end of college. She played on Stanford Superfly and then club for several years. She is forever grateful for Ultimate and believes youth sports are a critical part of communities and kids' development!
Ultimate Impact Beach Invitational!!
Come play in our inaugural adult fundraising Hat tournament. Tournament proceeds support Ultimate Impact's program expansion!
All levels are welcome! You'll have a chance to play with some ultimate legends, current stars, Ultimate Impact leaders, and make some new friends! Ticket sales are capped at 150. So get your tickets soon!
Ticket sales go directly to helping expand Ultimate Impact’s mission to empower youth from underrepresented communities to develop confidence, teamwork, and accountability through the sport and community of ultimate.
Event Details
POSTPONED TO JANUARY
Ocean Beach, 704 Great Highway San Francisco, CA 94121
About Ultimate Impact
Ultimate Impact is a youth development organization that uses the team sport of ultimate Frisbee as the framework for providing youth from underrepresented communities with increased opportunities, confidence, communication abilities, and conflict-resolution skills. Through weekly training sessions, peer interaction, and consistent adult mentorship, Ultimate Impact creates a positive environment for youth to have fun, be active, improve athletic skills, and build community.
Supporters
Program Partners
