On Friday May 16, student athletes from six schools from across Niagara gathered at Port Colborne High School (PCHS) for the 6th Annual PCHS Ultimate Tournament organized by teacher, Jonathan Fletcher. The colder than usual day did not stop the competition or the students from having a great time competing on the field.
Ultimate takes many elements from various sports where teams have to move the disc up the field completing passes and catching the disc in the endzone. Although you can not run with the disc, the game is very demanding as everyone else is running furiously trying to get open or to play defence. It relies on a spirit of sportsmanship which places the responsibility of fair play on player. There is often a spirit game after each game meant for a laugh such as “disc fencing”.
For Port High student Moriah Robinson, playing in this tournament “was an amazing experience. It’s unlike any other sport I play, there’s so much running involved and the teams are all good sports, by the end of the day you have a couple of new friends.”
The game is highly addictive and “tournaments like these are vital to the growth of the sport, so many of my players hadn’t played a real game before and are now hooked on the sport,” said coach JL Frado from Jean Vanier.
Jean Vanier won the tournament with a perfect 6 to 0 record. After the round robin, NCC(second place) and Port Colborne (third) were tied for second place, but NCC edged out PCHS having scored five more points overall. The other schools at the tournament were South Lincoln (fourth place), Eden (fifth) and Eastdale (sixth).
Anyone looking to experience the sport in a recreational setting can find information at niagaraultimate.com or on the Facebook group Niagara Ultimate.