Thirty-teams converged this weekend on Amherst for the two-day tournament, now in its 21st year. Watch video
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AMHERST - In Ultimate circles, the Amherst Invitational Tournament is the ultimate event. And next year there are plans to make it even better.
Thirty-teams converged this weekend on Amherst for the two-day tournament, now in its 21st year. Teams came from as far south as Atlanta and as far west as Seattle. Organizers say next year with additional sponsors on board and more fields, it could easily grow to 50 teams.
Tiina Booth, coach of the Amherst Regional High School Boys varsity team and the organizer of the first tournament in 1992, said the first year
there were just eight teams, and four of them were from New York City.
“Since then the sport has just exploded,” she said.
“There are teams all over Western Massachusetts, there are teams all over the country. I can’t even keep up with them all anymore,” she said.
“This is the ultimate tournament for ultimate in the United States,” said spokesman Joseph Bohan “It’s the ultimate Ultimate tournament.”
With several local businesses and organizations signing on as sponsors, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, Amherst Cinema, and the local Rotary Club, Bohan said there are there are plans to make it more of a community event.
“A bigger and better community event,” he said. “We’re trying to give a boost to the local economy with next year’s event.”
Teams played on field at four locations throughout Amherst: Amherst High School, Amherst Middle School, Groff Park and Hampshire College. It continues today from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Boys Division A final match will begin at 1:45 p.m. at the high school. The Boys Division B final and the Girls final will each be at 3:30 p.m., also at the high school.
Booth said if the tournament could get the use of some of the athletic fields at the University of Massachusetts, it could easily expand to 50 teams. “We’re turning down teams all the time,” she said.
The sport, originally known as ultimate Frisbee but now just called Ultimate, combines the nonstop movement of soccer, the physicality of rugby, and the aerial passing of lacrosse and football. Ultimate is a game of speed and quickness, athleticism, strength and agility, and, without referees to enforce rules and maintain order, it’s also a game of sportsmanship.
Watching on the sidelines of the match between Amherst Boys Varsity vs. Paideia High School of Atlanta, Ga., Ginny Elkin, of Amherst, said “The athleticism is amazing.”
