By: Leah Feuerman
On May 20, MSJ’s 2nd annual Ultimate Frisbee Tournament began at the MSJ soccer fields. The tournament was started last year by L2’s Sports Committee, which is led this year by Junior Alton Lin and Seniors Allison Cho, Melody Fang, and Milad Moghimi. A total of nine teams signed up for games that took place over the course of several weeks.
This tournament was different from other school-wide tournaments that took place previously in the year (like three-on-three basketball and volleyball) in that Ultimate Frisbee is not a team sport that is played through the school. “We chose Ultimate Frisbee because it was a sport that allowed a lot of players on a team, and you didn’t need previous experience to play,” said Fang.
Ultimate Frisbee is a sport that incorporates elements from football into a relatively low-contact sport. Teams pass a Frisbee between each player in order to advance up the field, and a team scores when the Frisbee is caught by a player in the end zone. Ultimate Frisbee is most often associated with intercollegiate sports, but there are also high school teams in some areas as well as professional leagues.
Each team in the MSJ tournament was given a three-game guarantee. The team Keelum & Friends immediately rocketed to first, going undefeated into the finals with three wins under their belt. Thick Rick and Los Humping Banditos, however, were not going down without a fight. After losing to Keelum & Friends in the first round, “Thick Rick” clawed their way back with a three-win streak in the consolation bracket. They then faced the Ridisculous Frisbeasts in the semi-finals, where they won with a score of 4-1. Their victories allowed them to face Keelum & Friends on June 11 in a rematch for the championship. However, despite their efforts Thick Rick and Los Humping Banditos were once again defeated by Keelum and Friends, who claimed the championship and the prize money later that day.
For the MSJ tournament, teams could have up to 10 players and had to pay a $3 entrance fee for each player. Half of the profits from the tournament went into gift cards for the winning team. The rest of the money will go to benefit ASB.
