From the Desk of the CEO: Deep in the (Administrative) Trenches
Since I last wrote, we’ve officially launched the 2025-26 membership registration, released the officials tests for the season, rolled out a few policy updates, and announced the USQ Collegiate Growth Department. We’ve also moved all policies, resources, and key webpages off of SportsEngine and onto usquadball.org. That includes the officials hub, gameplay policies, player eligibility resources, and more. Update those bookmarks!
So where do membership numbers stand so far? Let’s take a look at the same time period over the last three seasons (from launch to September 9, according to Sports Engine):
2023: $6,225
2024: $3,917
2025: $9,380 paid, $7,460 outstanding
Those “outstanding” dollars are from invoices issued to teams—mostly college teams—that need official documentation to get payment processed by their universities. That’s normal for this time of year.
Notably, we’ve seen the return of Columbia College Chicago and the addition of three new club teams.
To continue to help teams grow and stabilize, we launched a collegiate retention guide, a Sponsorship 101 guide, and a sample sponsorship packet. Boston University alum and Boston Lobster, Cleo Brooks, is also hosting two Recruitment 101 sessions this month. The first will be on Wednesday, Sept. 17 and the second on Saturday, Sept. 20, both at 7 PM ET on the USQ YouTube. Even if your tabling sessions are done, you should always be recruiting, so see you there!
If you’re in the West, Great Lakes, or the Carolinas, add Quadballfest to your recruitment and retention toolkit. This week we announced the revamped series which includes the likes of:
Fantasy tournaments
Skills clinics and workshops
Pickup games
Official tournaments
Last year, Quadballfest suffered from a lack of clarity. Teams didn’t quite understand what it was or how to pitch it, and it wasn’t their fault. This year, we’ve cleaned up the branding (shoutout to Austin Sharp for the logo) and clarified what you get from the moment you buy a ticket. Check out the full announcement here,
We’re also looking beyond the existing season format. I’m planning to launch more USQ-hosted tournaments and invitationals, beginning with our Cabarrus County tournament this December. We’re inviting 12 teams to compete on Saturday, Dec. 6 then participate in a slate of Quadballfest events on Sunday. The tournament will become an annual affair (with a trophy, obviously), but its location may rotate year to year. Yours truly will be directing.
More on the social side of things, but still on the events topic: this season we’re kicking off a Game of the Week spotlight. Every Wednesday, we’ll post a full slate of upcoming tournaments on our socials and, on Fridays, we’ll highlight one game for special coverage. But for this to work, we need your help:
Submit your events using the form on this page.
Stream your games! Don’t worry—we’re putting together a streaming how-to guide. In the meantime, email info@usquadball.org and someone will walk you through it.
Behind the scenes, I’ve been deep in the administrative trenches. One big task has been distributing a request for proposals for a new merchandising partner. In less formal terms, that means we’re looking for a company that can hook us up with merchandise discounts and a few freebies in exchange for league-level branding and exclusivity. While those applications roll in and get reviewed this month, we’re also laying the groundwork for two upcoming fundraisers: the return of the Support a College campaign in October and a board-led fundraiser heading into the holiday season. Meanwhile, our events team has been hitting the road to attend conferences and explore bids for next season’s major events. Across departments, we’ve also started the long-overdue process of updating documentation, some of which hasn’t seen a refresh in years.
While that’s all I have to share for now, there is plenty more going on including work on a new revenue stream, sponsorship outreach, 1:1s with teams, etc. but I actually need to make these blogs consumable by small attention spans.
✅ Weekly Action Item
In order for us to keep launching new projects and revamping the old, we need your help. Over the past two weeks, we’ve posted 20+ new volunteer roles. If you’ve got a few spare hours a week, apply. If you don’t, forward the listings to someone who might. Volunteering with USQ directly supports your team’s experience.
Help us help you.