Ultimate at the Univeristy of Maine

At the University of Maine, there are women, men, and co-ed practices for ultimate. We generally have 3 practices a week, splitting up days between practicing together and separately. Before last year UMaine did not have enough women to field a team, this fall we went to our first women's tournament EVER. This tournament, Danse Macabre, is an annual Halloween costume tournament held in Rochester, NY. Both UMaine women's and men's teams attended dressed as Furn Gully and Mainers. Although the results of the tournament were not in our favor, it gave us the opportunity to play as a team and see how see how we compared to other college teams.

Something that people don't realize is there are actual club ultimate teams in the area. Most people who play for the University of Maine are also on a team called BlackFly. BlackFly is composed of people from Orono and all over Maine ranging from the ages of 19 to 42. Yes, there is no age barrier in ultimate, once you start playing, you never have to stop.

BlackFly normally goes to numerous tournaments in the summer and a couple during the school year. Most recently, we went to Fredricton, NB. This indoor tournament, Fruitbowl, normally takes place in the end of January and lasts for a weekend. Our next tournament is called "Get the Led Out" at the end of April.

As spring comes around the corner, the University of Maine men's and women's teams go separate ways in preparation for sectionals. Each region is divided into sections, within these sections there is a tournament that is played with 8-10 teams. The top 3 in each bracket advance to something called regionals. The top three in this bracket advance to nationals, and the top 3 in this bracket advance to worlds.