In 2023, AJ won his first gold medals in international competition. It started out with the first US team he ever received a tryout for in the u24 US Mixed team. That team not only won the World championship but also the Spirit of the Game award! This was truly an amazing experience for him. Then, in November, he was a member of the men's Team USA beach ultimate team that won the World Championship in Los Angeles. Although this was a completely different group of players, it was also an amazing experience for him. Not only did he play with men he's been playing with for a number of years, or who were responsible for teaching him the game in the very beginning, but also he had the opportunity to play with men who are usually his competitors. Finally, in December, AJ traveled to the Dominican Republic to play with the Blue Devils in the Pan American Ultimate Championship. He came home with another gold medal but more importantly with some wonderful memories and a larger family.

All of these experiences were possible because of AJ's incredible work ethic and unrelenting dedication to his sport AND everyone who helped us in any way with the associated costs (and really so many other things too). For many years now, AJ has coached all ages individually and at camps, as well as at George Mason University and now the University of Maryland. You can sign up for coaching sessions with him at this link. https://ajmerriman.wixsite.com/ajmerriman/booking?fbclid=PAAaY0zyNloVIdx1X4eAageUJuFsNNORS6kClvZa05oTNGto5ft-_N8hPx554 He has also been a player representative with USA Ultimate for the past few years, which is an elected volunteer position. He has played with the DC Breeze, a professional ultimate team in the UFA, since he was 18 (2019 season), and was named a captain of the team for the current season. Last year he began playing with a club team from the DC area,Truck Stop, after having played with a Bethesda-based team, Watchdogs/Redwolves, since high school.

USA Ultimate has estimated that the most recent Team USA team that AJ has the honor of playing with will cost around $8,000 per player. This includes a training camp weekend, a tournament in Amsterdam in June, and the World championship in Australia this coming August. Plane tickets alone will be more than half of the $8,000.

In 2023, the Delrico Johnson fund (I can also share a link to donate to that fund if you're interested) was a huge help in addition to all of the donations AJ received from friends, family members, teachers and so many people in the ultimate community. As we work on some different fundraising efforts for this team, we will also utilize a GoFundMe campaign since it is often the easiest way for people to donate. We definitely understand that not everyone is able to help out financially and always welcome positive thoughts and prayer. Sharing the link to this GoFundMe as well as his coaching link is also a huge help.

Thank you for reading all of this and for joining AJ on his journey.