Since first becoming an Ultimate coach 25 years ago, Colin Yeung has witnessed major growth within the coaching population, which was once a dwindling community.  

As a newer sport —first introduced in 1968— Ultimate faces more challenges in athlete registration and coaching development than most legacy sports. So, when Yeung first stepped into his role as a coach, it came from a place of necessity.

“Eventually, my past coaches had to step away and I took over when no one else was willing to take it on. I didn’t want to see the sport not have that [youth] program in place, or the opportunity for juniors to not be able to explore the sport.”

At the time, the gap in coaching was caused by various factors, including the pathway athletes chose to pursue after developing past the junior level.

According to Yeung, players often choose to continue their development as senior level athletes rather than exploring the sport as a coach.

“I made the decision to coach instead of play and then eventually I worked to balance both, so I was able to play competitively while coaching, which is extra challenging,” shared Yeung. “There are very few athlete-coaches, who are kind of doing double duty.”

But stepping into the role as coach came with ease thanks to Yeung’s pre-existing knowledge from his early introduction to the sport in school.

He officially joined Ultimate after not making the soccer team and states it was an easy pivot since he would often join his brother and cousin at their practice in the time prior.

“As you get more experience playing it, you feel like you are a part of the community and it’s a smaller community, so it’s more tightknit. You feel more welcomed in the sport, and you want to give back so others don’t lose the opportunity to be a part of the game.”

And that is just what Yeung has spent his time doing. He has coached youth, to grand master teams, both at the local community level to the international stage and helped guide them to claim national bronze medals and berths to world championships.

In the years since first stepping into the role, Yeung has also helped welcome numerous coaches to the sport and now volunteers his time mentoring the new generation.

“It’s not just a sport, it’s an opportunity to show that you are a good human being and do things that are good in the sport.”