Covenant Ultimate Frisbee club continues to build its reputation

Last Saturday, Covenant’s ultimate team finished second of eight in the “Downtown Throwdown” in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia State University hosted the tournament on April 25.
For Covenant, “pool play” ended in three losses including matches against Wofford (8-11), Gainesville State (10-11), and Georgia Tech’s  B team (11-12). The tide turned for Covenant in tournament play (8 teams, single elimination) in matches against Valdosta State (13-8) and Gainesville State (13-7). Covenant’s tournament winning streak ended with a 2nd place finish in the championship against Georgia Southern B (9-13).
One Saturday before, Covenant’s squad split into two teams for a home tournament on April 18 (the “Lookout Mountain Classic IV”).  Covenant A defeated Lee University and Covenant B. Covenant B also defeated Lee, but lost against Covenant A. Both Covenant A and Covenant B lost to UTC.
For now, Covenant is limited to Saturday-only tournaments since the college won’t allow tournament play on Sunday. The squad has participated in three two-day tournaments this year, but not under Covenant’s name. The club is seeking special permission from the Ultimate Players’ Association (UPA) to give them “college signature” without having to go as “Covenant.” College signature would enable the squad to participate in sectionals, regionals and nationals.
This is the fifth year of Covenant’s Ultimate Frisbee club’s existence. Covenant student Ben Slade re-energized the club in 2004, but it didn’t hit the limelight until 2006 when the team finished 13th out of 26 teams in nationals in May 2007, according to team captain and club vice-President Ben Watley. Other team leaders are Siler Johnston, David Hilleke, and David Inouye, the club’s president.
Future plans for the team include an additional Saturday-only tournament each semester on top of the regular two home tournaments. The team would also like to see an early-season scrimmage against Lee University, so people can get a feel for regular game play outside of a tournament, according to Inouye.
Check out ultimate Frisbee updates, brackets, and everything ultimate at the Ultimate Players’ Association website:

www.upa.org