So, you arent playing in a tournament this weekend. Rare i know, a saturday/sunday combo that is not consumed by travel to and from some patch of grass to chase after a beautifully circular piece of plastic.
Yet here we are, and what to do with your time?
Well if you live near one of the following areas you are in luck.
Charlotte, NC; Iowa City, IA; Naperville, IL; Rochester, NY; Princeton, NJ; Vancouver, BC (Canada); Tulsa, OK; San Diego, CA.
What do all of these wonderful tourist locations have in common?
These cities are the wonderfully fortunate hosts to the UPA College Series Regional Tournaments.
But Matt - why in the name of Wham-O should i care about that?
Well, ill tell you Billy. You see, at each of these regional tournaments there are 16 mens teams, and 16 womens teams. To qualify and play in this tournament each of those teams had to be one of the top teams in their section (there are 30 sections).
So, out of those original 554 teams (177 womens, 377 mens) from 30 sections there are now 256 teams competing in 16 regional tournaments (8 men, 8 women).
You see, the level of competition at the regional level increases exponentially. And to sweeten the deal even more the regional tournaments arent the end of the line.
The top 2 teams from every region will earn a bid to the national tournament - held at Ohio State this year. With a few exceptions - the Atlantic coast women, Northwest women, and the southwest men all have 3 bids; the Great lakes women, south women and the central men all only have 1 bid.
SOOOO - we now have 256 teams competing for 32 spots - 16 men, 16 women.
I think we are all catching my drift here, if you can make it to a regional tournament this weekend you should check it out. It is a great opportunity to see collegiate ultimate at one of its high points, to see players compete in games which they have spent the last 9 months training and practicing for, and to see in every region at least one nationals caliber team. It is also a great way to show new recruits what ultimate really looks like.
In my opinion, if people are really serious about the sport, and taking it legitimately etc etc yada yada, there would be crowds of high schoolers and other fans alike at these tournaments. If you played high school varsity basketball and Duke or Florida or UConn was coming to play near your town and offering free admission - would you go? just a thought...
Regional tournament pages
Friday, April 28, 2006
If you arent playing this weekend...
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10 comments:
The Metro East Regionals are at Princeton University's Washington Road Fields, just off of Route 1. They're actually Princeton High Ultimate Club's home fields.
P-HUC didn't know about Born to Dive or we would have sent a bid in, but with these 2 tournaments only 10 minutes away from each other in Princeton we have plenty of great ultimate to watch. We're relatively happy. You all should come watch too.
I really want to go, but Vancouver is too far from Eugene.
Last year college nationals being in Corvallis was awesome, though.
not to mention that to see that you would have to have a passport, which is rediculous in iteself.
but nonetheless i think it was an unwise move to have regionals in canada. i think a more central area would have been better as well as somewhere that most students wouldnt have to get governmental permission to go to as well.
just a thought though
It switches around every year doesnt it? So it only seems fair to let the vancouver folk have it in their town every so often. Eventually itll be more central but its always moving and will always favor one team over the other.
And its really not that hard to get up there, just bring ur birthday certificate and you are fine. Pass port isnt required.
easier said than done -
personal anecdote, here i am ready to go to college and apply for financial aid when my family comes to the realization that i never received a birth certificate. i have a social security card, but no birth certificate.
4 months later it comes in the mail.
i do agree with the moving it around the region argument, but i think it would still be better to keep it the ol u s of a
and i thought that there were new laws about needing a passport enacted in the past few months/year or so? i could be wrong though, but it wouldnt be out of line with the xenophobic histeria of late.
Starting January 1st 2007 you will need a passport for flights and January 1st 2008 for cars/boats whatever to go back into US. You won't need a passport to get into Canada, but you need one to get back.
senor kevin, i see (from your blogger profile there) that you will be attending carleton next year
out of curiosity two things -
1. did they recruit you in any way or did you choose them based on academics, or ultimate reputation? whats the low down there
and
2. who do you think is going to win central regionals this weekend?
1. Nope, the current team/administration their did nothing to recruit me. Derek Gottleib and Miranda Roth, two alums, did do a lot of convincing, however. I choose Carleton probably 40% Ulty, 40% academics and 20% size/feel of campus.
2. Depends upon a few things. The weather is supposed to be crazy, which definitely gives Carleton the advantage. Leon Schneider, probably Carleton's best deep cutter got injured at the Stanford Invite (seperated shoulder or popped his shoulder out of the socket or something) and I haven't heard if he is going to be back or not. All that being said, I think this is the year that Carleton's magic runs out, Wisconsin 15-11 in the final.
just saw it on RSD: Hodags over Carleton 15-12. nice call Kevin.
A few adjustments to your numbers:
187 womens teams/367 open teams at sectionals
116 womens/128 mens at regionals
THe following women's regions didn't have 16 team:
GL, SW 15
C, NW 14
S 10
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