Astra News
December 25, 2024
Los Angeles, California
Our Open and Closed tryouts for the 2025 season were an amazing experience! We were so happy to see such an amazing turn out for the team after the massive effort it took to get to this point. We hope our fans and community know that every single athlete who showed up gave it their best and the decisions are always tough with such an amazing pool of Ultimate talent. We’re grateful to everyone who attended and encourage folks to show up to the next tryouts in late 2025. With all our hearts, thank you for making this team possible. We haven't fully filled our roster yet and will be making the full public announcement February 7th along with the rest of the Premier Ultimate League.
We had folks attending from Tijuana, the San Francisco Bay Area, and most importantly all over Los Angeles! It was amazing and humbling to meet people traveling so far to be a part of what we’re doing in LA. We’re excited to have such a broad geographic draw with our team, and are even more excited to generate a lasting pipeline for LA grown talent in the future. After offering the opportunity for U18 athletes to show up for free and participate we were immediately shown how great the upcoming generation is!
We had the entire Allyson Felix field to ourselves at the University of Southern California as attendees showed their stuff to our new coaching staff and evaluators. We’d like to give a special thanks to those evaluators who generously donated their time: Katie Killebrew, Meg Hofner, Jeff Landesman, Brandon Van Deusen, and Jesse Cohen thank you so much. The USC Men’s team also showed up as volunteers to support by running for more nutrition and hydration, as well as filming both sessions with a drone. Thank you to Dox Raskin, Cameron Davis, Daniel Hochberg, and Mike Diloretto for the support. We’ll have some excellent footage for the community to watch soon. We had an Athletic Trainer on site for both the Open and the Closed session, and were immediately relieved to have them on site for both sessions.
The season runs from April to June, and we’ll be busy solidifying the roster, setting up public events, and getting ready to put on the best performance yet for our LA fans. In the meantime, happy holidays, happy new year, and make sure to grab your season tickets now!
-Astra
Los Angeles Astra Joins the PUL South Division
The Premier Ultimate League is excited to announce the addition of the Los Angeles Astra to the PUL South Division beginning in 2025.
The Astra came into existence in 2019 as a Western Ultimate League franchise. They competed in the league for four seasons. In 2024, the Astra were acquired by a new ownership group and are excited to get back onto the field in 2025.
"We’re thrilled to embark on this incredible journey and join such a dynamic and competitive league. It's an exciting new chapter for our team, and we’re ready to bring our passion and commitment to this new stage. We’re working tirelessly to deliver the fans an amazing new experience, bring a fresh energy to the season, and make an impact both on and off the field. Our goal is to continue building something special in Los Angeles, and we’re eager to get started on what will be an unforgettable season," said Astra Owner Ashley Hart.
The PUL and Astra have been in communication with various stakeholders at the WUL throughout this process. The PUL does not have plans or intentions to add more Western teams to the league.
"Welcoming the Los Angeles Astra to the PUL is an exciting step for our organization. We look forward to seeing how they’ll inspire fans and players and further our mission of promoting equity and opportunity in professional Ultimate," said Commissioner Amanda Dallas.
The PUL’s mission is to achieve equity in the sport of Ultimate by increasing accessibility to the sport for, and visibility of women, transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, and genderfluid people through high-quality competition, leadership experiences, and community partnerships. Our league strives for gender, racial, and economic diversity in the sport of Ultimate.
Teams interested in joining the PUL will be expected to align with our mission, and there will be questions in the aforementioned application related to how you plan to fulfill this expectation and your team’s mission. If you or your team are interested in joining the PUL in the future, email us at premierultimateleague@gmail.com. The league board reserves the right to accept, reject, or postpone applications, but pledges to keep the decision and rationale transparent.
Support the Los Angeles Astra as they embark on their first season in the PUL. Purchase season ticket packages now. Looking to support women’s and gender-expansive Ultimate? Donate to the PUL today.