Western Ultimate League
The Western Ultimate League (WUL) is a professional women's ultimate league founded in 2020 currently consisting of seven teams: Arizona Sidewinders, Los Angeles Astra, Oregon Onyx, San Diego Super Bloom, San Francisco Falcons, Seattle Tempest, and Utah Wild. The WUL's stated mission is to "promote visibility, opportunity, and equity within women's ultimate." While not currently a part of the Premier Ultimate League (PUL), the WUL was formed to parallel the PUL in structure and provide competition opportunities in the western portion of the United States, with an eye toward a future merger with the  PUL. The WUL shares resources and communicates closely with the PUL. The WUL was also built on 2017 and 2018 women's and mixed showcase games affiliated with the American Ultimate Disc League, and a 2019 series of professional women's showcase games along the West coast, including games between Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver-based teams; and between Los Angeles and San Diego-based teams. The inaugural 2020 Western Ultimate League season began with tryouts in January and February 2020 with seven teams. Competition, which had been set to begin in March 2020 and continue through May, was postponed and  then canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2021, the Portland Swifts announced they were withdrawing from the WUL, reducing the Western Ultimate League to six teams. The six remaining WUL teams first competed in December 2021 at the Winter Cup in San Diego. The Utah Wild emerged victorious, while two plays from the Winter Cup were featured by ESPN SportsCenter. Just after the Winter Cup, the league announced the addition of a seventh team, the Oregon Onyx. The WUL began 2022 regular season competition in March 2022.