It’s basically Nanaimo’s Super Bowl of ultimate Frisbee.
Udderbowl 2011 gets underway today (April 9) at the McGirr Sports Fields in the north end.
Nanaimo’s Seven Potatoes team is up against 13 other worthy challengers in a sport that is a bit like touch football with a Frisbee. Udderbowl is sort of a kickoff to the competitive season.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Dirk Heydemann, spokeman with the Nanaimo Ultimate Association. “You get to see old friends again and play old rivals.”
Sportsmanship awards are coveted in the sport, since ultimate Frisbee is self-refereed.
“Even though it can get very competitive, the spirit-of-the-game aspect is never lost, which is one of the things that’s really attracted me to ultimate Frisbee,” Heydemann said.
The Seven Potatoes won’t have an easy road to the playoff round. The team’s first game this morning is against the defending champions, Teddy Bear’s Picnic.
Action goes until about 6 p.m. today. Sunday’s championship games in the A and B pools will start sometime around 2-2:30 p.m.
DISC DISCUSSION … The Nanaimo Ultimate Association hopes that Udderbowl will help to pique interest in the sport in time for summer league registration. “We’re hoping to get some nice growth this year with our summer league,” Heydemann said. For more information, please e-mail nua-executives@googlegroups.com.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com