Its mission is "to advance the sport of Ultimate in the United States by enhancing and promoting Character, Community, and Competition.
"[1] Its vision is that "Ultimate is widely known, played, and respected in the United States as a sport that inspires athletic excellence and integrity among participants and fans."
In addition to organizing and supporting national teams to represent the nation in international and world championship competitions, a major focus of USA Ultimate is the Championship Series; it sanctions certain tournaments throughout the year in five divisions (Club, College, Youth, Masters, Beach) and runs the local, regional and/or national championship tournaments at the end of the respective seasons.
While the national champion is crowned in various divisions of the USA Ultimate Championships, four Canadian teams have won championships over the years in different divisions- Vancouver's Furious George (Club Open), University of British Columbia (College Women's), Stick Dog (Masters Women's), and Winnipeg's MOFO (Youth Club Mixed).
Club national championship tournaments were held in Sarasota, FL from 2000 through 2012, and in 2013 USA Ultimate began moving around the location, starting with Frisco, TX for 3 years and then Rockford, IL in 2016.
The College division is subdivided into Women's and Men's (open to any gender and previously called "Open" despite the vast majority of participants identifying as men) gender divisions, which have their regular season in the winter and spring.
In the early 21st century, USA Ultimate moved more towards a complete high school nationals, which launched in 1998 in Maplewood, NJ.
In 2005, two significant changes were made: High School Nationals was split into Easterns and Westerns, split by the Mississippi River, held in May each year, and a Youth Club Championships was created, for club teams assembled from various cities/regions across North America, held in August each year at the National Sports Center.
Aside from the championship series, several community development programs exist to advance the sport at local and grassroots levels.
The Affiliate program connects the national office to existing organizations that are dedicated to advancing the sport in a specific metro area.
The State-Based Organization initiative funds and supports the establishment of new state-focused governing bodies to assume the role of the national office with a dedicated focus on a single state or perhaps a few contiguous states, where geography and population dynamics warrant the combination.
The Board is responsible for overseeing the Chief Executive Officer, budgeting, strategic planning, setting organizational policies and serving on various working groups that include Equity & Diversity, Audit & Ethics, Nominating, Investment, Marketing, Strategic Planning, et al. Nearly 62,000 people joined as members of USA Ultimate in 2019, the largest membership year so far.
Membership covers participation at sanctioned and championship events; accident and liability insurance in those events; attendance at USA Ultimate education clinics; certification options at various levels of coaching, tournament directing and officiating (called "observing"); voting in board elections; seeking election to the board of directors; discounts with several partner sponsors; scholarship opportunities; access to the USA Ultimate mobile app to follow events, access the rules, event guides for national championships, and report scores for sanctioned events; access to USA Ultimate electronic newsletters and updates; and discounted USA Ultimate merchandise.