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The University of Maine ultimate frisbee team will host its first home tournament in years. The “Maine Event” tournament will be hosting eight teams from across the state including the University of Maine at Farmington, Presque Isle, Fort Kent, Bowdoin, Colby, University of New England and Bates.
The competition is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. and will run all day before wrapping up around 6 p.m.
Along with the excitement of hosting their first tournament, Captain Josh Kahn is pleased with the first-year student turnout.
“It’s great to see sixty-plus people at every one of our practices. It shows that not only the sport of ultimate has grown but how we as a team have made strides to grow bigger every year,” Kahn said.
The team reports that a total of 50 first-year students have practiced with the team this semester. It isn’t just the freshmen that are the only ones taking up the sport.
Third-year political science major Marco Fernandes attributes ultimate being a great way to stay in shape.
“The amount of running involved is incredible. I played football, track and baseball in high school and I’ve had to run the most in ultimate,” Fernandes said.
Along with more numbers at practice, the sport is growing for both men and women on campus. Both teams practice as a whole and will attend co-ed tournaments together. The teams will also split up and attend gender-specific tournaments as well.
“My goal for the women’s team for this tourney is to have a lot of learning opportunities for the beginners,” said co-captain Laura Williamson, “as well as a chance for our more experienced players to play against some challenging opponents.”
Sunday’s tournament will be a big indicator of who the top contenders will be at the college sectionals tournament in the spring. Every spring the sectionals tournament is held by the UPA, which is the governing body of the sport of ultimate. In this tournament, teams from across New England compete to receive bids to the regional tournament.
As the sport of ultimate grows it is evident to see teams closing the gap on colleges that used to be far superior and untouchable at these tournaments.
“This is the year we are going to make our biggest run. We have improved dramatically over the past couple of years and now it is time to display what we have worked so hard for,” Kahn said.
All are encouraged to come and support the ultimate team, which will take to the field at 9 a.m. at Lengyel Field. It is likely Red Bull will be in attendance as well as Breakmark clothing. For further information, contact Josh Kahn on FirstClass.
