Tim Smith
Photo Editor
The Keene State College Ultimate Frisbee Club strengthened its team bond at the annual ultimate frisbee tournament this spring break. The national tournament High Tide is celebrating its twentieth year of hosting frisbee teams and KSC’s ultimate club has spent the past five spring breaks competing.
High Tide occurs all during March, but is broken up in divisions across the three weeks to accommodate for the different experience of the teams and the varying times of Spring Breaks.
Tim Smith / Photo Editor
Each week begins on Monday with a hat tournament that is designed to mix players with players from different schools and is a brilliant chance to meet people from across the USA.
Tuesday and Wednesday consist of regular pool play, with each team playing three games each day. The week caps off on Thursday with bracket play. This is the most competitive part of the week and where the “champion” of each High Tide week is determined.
I have gone to the past three High Tides with KSC and each trip was a memorable experience. The bonds I’ve formed with my teammates will last long after graduation and most of our memories come from High Tide.
The car trip to and from Myrtle Beach is a fun experience, as well. The travel time is about 14 hours through the night and is spent with music, singing, cheers and talking about past tournaments and what to expect for the coming week.
The team found itself enjoying the 80-degree weather on the beach about five minutes after arriving at the rented house. That whole day was spent on the beach and hanging out late into the night.
The next day was the Hat Tournament and about eight KSC players participated. Each player made about 15 new friends just from the Hat Tournament alone. DJ Lancaster’s team won in his bracket but, unfortunately, did not receive a champion hat. The Hat tournament champion hats are coveted since the teams are randomly made up and vary in skill. Every KSC team member enjoyed their Hat Tournament teams.
Tim Smith / Photo Editor
Our team members found ourselves having more fun during Tuesday and Wednesday. The teams we played against had similar goals for the week as we had: have fun playing ultimate regardless of winning or losing. A bunch of our points were spent playing ‘joke’ points, which are points played with unconventional or ridiculous rules. I spent a lot of each day next to the other team’s bench talking about what we have done during the week and where we are from.
Our best day of play was Thursday morning. I scored my first couple points of the week during Thursday’s game and Chip Foster scored two points and had seven assists, three of which were ‘hammer’ throws. A ‘hammer’ throw is the most unreliable throw of the three basic throws in ultimate frisbee.
All throughout the week, we met college students from all around the USA and hung out with them on and off the field. Many times we were hanging with other college teams on the beach or at our house. One night, I found myself spending hours talking with University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Frisbee team and SUNY Brockport’s Frisbee team in the hot tub.
The KSC team will continue to enjoy spending Spring Break at High Tide and bonding over the great sport of Ultimate Frisbee.
