All that Frisbee fun West Coast kids lap up is paying off.
For the first time in history, the Ucluelet Secondary School Warriors Ultimate Frisbee team is heading to Provincial Championships. The young team earned a spot after beating three teams in a row during the Vancouver Island Championships in Victoria on May 9.
With five of the 11 players being in Grade 8, coach Rory Henderson said Ucluelet’s Ultimate team was the underdog of the tournament, plus they even played up a division because technically Ucluelet Secondary is a Single A school, but that division doesn’t exist in BC School Ultimate.
“I’m really proud of them. We have some great athletes that play a lot of other sports. We’ve been practicing twice a week since March in all sorts of conditions and I think that’s what gave them the advantage. They’re used to playing in wind and rain,” said Henderson.
The Warriors left Ucluelet at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning to make it to Victoria for their first game against Glenlyon Norfork where they took the win, 8-6. Marcus Nixon and Olivia Rhodes were awarded game MVP’s and Riley Gerbrandt and Susi Crosby were named Spirit winners for great sportsmanship.
Ucluelet dominated their second game of the day against Cedar Secondary, 13-3. MVP’s were Owen Rhodes and Susi Crosby and Spirit winners were Carter Swann and Ana Udovicki.
Coach Henderson said their last game against St. Andrew’s was a close one, but Ucluelet ultimately came away with an 8-6 win. Siblings Owen and Olivia Rhodes were named MVP’s and Spirit winners were Marcus Nixon and Susi Crosby.
“The last 20-minutes of the last game, there were no points scored. But they really focused in at the end,” said Henderson.
Ucluelet Warriors will be one of 16 teams to compete at BC’s Ultimate High School Provincial Championships on May 26 to 27 at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey. For more information and a live stream feed of the games, visit: http://bcss.tv/
Do you want in on the Ultimate Frisbee action? Ucluelet Recreation hosts drop-in Ultimate on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at Tugwell Fields.
nora.omalley@westerlynews.ca
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