"What's a Fall Tournament?"

This past weekend, the SUNY Fredonia Club Ultimate Frisbee team traveled to it's second tournament this fall semester at Fort Niagara State park. This tournament, held by the University of Buffalo Ultimate alumni team, was the 27th annual tournament run in honor of the great Theodore Seuss Geisel, more commonly known as Dr. Seuss. This tournament is a perfect example of what a college club Ultimate Frisbee team would call a "Fall Tournament". 

Each semester, every college level club team is going to start with the recruitment of some new face to their team. These new members, whether they have prior Frisbee knowledge or not, have probably never been to a college Ultimate Frisbee tournament and therefore never played in one. That's where these so called "Fall Tournaments" come into play. The actual season for college Club Ultimate Frisbee takes place during what would be the spring semester of the school year. This is when the games being played at tournaments begin to count towards whether or not a team makes Sectionals, Regionals, and or even Nationals. That leaves the entire fall for what? Just practice. The tournaments that are participated in during the fall season are just as important if not more then the spring season.

 A fall tournament's main purpose is to train new recruits and help them learn the flow of the game as well as the rules and regulations of an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. The TSGMUT tourney is perfect for that. Teams that travel to this tournament understand that it is a fall tournament, and come with recruits, prepared to teach their new members about how a tournament and a game of Ultimate Frisbee works. This is where rookies are still learning how to throw a disc, make a cut or even call a foul that was committed against them. One way teams do this is by splitting up a team from one college into an "x" and "y" team. This allows for more players to get playing time and recruits to actually receive some on the field experience. Without getting new recruits the playing time and experience, how should they be expected to play during the spring season and even know what a tournaments like. Fall tournaments also provide the feeling of enjoyment while playing Ultimate Frisbee. These tournaments tend to be more laid back, less competitive and easier. While new recruits are learning how to play the game, they are also learning to love it. This is why fall tournaments are a huge aspect of college level Ultimate Frisbee.