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The weekend of July 4 - 5th delivered ideal conditions for an Ultimate tournament.
The focus was clearly on the Women's division on Saturday as 3 teams battled for the 2 Prairie bids to nationals.
WOMENS
Fusion (WPG), Sirens (Regina) and Pandora (Saskatoon) played their Regional Qualifying games on the Saturday at the end of the day one team would be eliminated from the CUC. The 4th womens team the "Ninjas" (comprised of women from Chaos as well as some Winnipeg and American p/ups) had an agenda of their own. Fusion defeated Pandora while the Ninjas laid a beating on the Sirens. The 2nd time slot was the most important game of the tournament and despite a very close tight game the Sirens managed to defeat Fusion. The Ninjas easily defeated Pandora. The day ended with the Sirens ending Pandora's National aspirations and the Ninjas defeated Fusion to take the top seed for the Sunday playoffs.
Sunday action had 2 semi final games. The Ninjas as was expected defeated Pandora (17 - 3). Fusion finally pulled it all together and knocked off the Sirens (14 - 8) after losing to them in the 3 previous match ups this summer. Sunday was considerably hotter then Saturday and shade became a premium. The all Winnipeg final drew a decent sized crowd and they were treated to a tight game in the early going. With the game tied at 3's it looked like the championship was up for grabs. Despite their best efforts Fusion was unable to hang with the Ninja's who seemed to always have an answer. The deep game was a big part of the difference in the outcome. The Ninjas won in impressive fashion 15 - 7 and captured the $500.00 cash prize. The Ninjas doubled up their victory by being name the Spirit Champs for their Division.
MENS
The Open Competitive division included last years defending champs General Strike, Mangina (Regina), the masters team Flood and Chaos. Saturday's action saw Strike roll over Flood while Mangina and Chaos went the distance. Chaos won the razor thin match but it may have emptied the gas tank for them the rest of the way. The 2nd slot featured the all important Regional Qualifier between Strike and Mangina. The 3rd Open Prairie team (Saskatoon) did not attend and forfeited their chance to improve their standing. Unlike the women this wasn't an elimination situation but seeding going into the CUC is always very important. Strike had lost a previous encounter to Mangina this summer so the question was if Regina had Strike's number. The answer this weekend was no. Strike won fairly easily. Chaos playing with a pretty small bench and some p/ups defeated Flood. The masters could have scored several more points but had some issues with unforced turnovers. The day ended with Mangina beating Flood and Strike walked through a
a tired Chaos squad.Sunday was all about the finals. Each team hoped to get through their semi as quickly as possible to rest up for the final. In both games that would not be the case.
(1 vs 4) Strike vs Flood - being the 4th time these teams had met this summer the outcome was basically pre-written. To Strike's dismay the outcome played out a little different then they imagined. After taking a large lead Winnipeg's Open team showed a little crack in the armor. Flood finally hit their stride and gelled. The comeback saw the game tied at 10's a huge feat for Flood given some of their top weapons were watching from the sidelines. Strike did finally take the game back over and won 16 - 11. They had to spend a lot more energy then they had hoped. (2 vs 3) Chaos and Mangina went through another grueling battle. They used the entire 2 hour time limit to decide the game. It came down to a Universe point and Mangina barely squeaked out the win 15 - 14. The Finals were a rematch of last years tournament. The game was much closer then the Saturday match and featured some very impressive plays from both teams. General Strike was able to finish the game off 15 - 9 and win the $1500.00 cash prize. Mangina was awarded the Spirit Prize for their division.
OPEN REC
SaturdayThe division featured 5 teams: defending Flatland and CUC champs MOFO, WPG adult co-ed touring team Swarm, new WPG JR co-ed team DOAP, Spun and Jolly Roger. Spun had some strong p/ups from the Duluth area while Jolly Roger got an unexpected boost from 3 Halifax players who were passing through town. Swarm ran the table and went undefeated, while MOFO claimed the 2nd seed and Jolly Roger surprised everyone with a 2 - 2 record to claim the 3rd seed. Spun beat DOAP to claim 4th as DOAP were playing in their first ever tournament as a team.
Sunday
(4 vs 5) Spun defeated DOAP to advance to the semis. As Saturday's results showed the finals would be a rematch of last years finals. Swarm and MOFO repeated history as MOFO went on to avenge the Saturday loss and win the tournament. Spun was awarded the Spirit Prize for the division.
THE PARTY
At long last the CUPS TOURNAMENT returned. Despite some complications with the permit everything worked out and we had a licensed area to play the tournament. Donovan Wiebe and Jared Lehostky won the tournament and the beer fridge that was on the line. For those that ate, the meal was from Delucca's and was very good.
THANK YOU
There are so many people to thank.
Leah Parker - the feed back was clear... best tournament food ever this would not have been possible without Leah's significant efforts. The food included cookies, vegetable trays, dips, salad for the wraps, hard boiled eggs and more.
Robert Campbell - for organizing the dinner and helping at the party
Adam Knibbs and Kelvin Dyck - for transporting the snow fence for the party
Donovan Wiebe - for running the CUPS TOURNAMENT
Flood - for setting up the big tent
Fusion - for taking it down
Strike - for setting up the snow fence
Dale Oliver and Dan Timmerman - for videotaping on Sunday
Naomi Woodman, Don Fuentes and Lee Crierie - for the photos above.
As always thanks to my employees Graham and Yengin for the long hours and efforts to keep the tournament running smoothly.