The Game To Go

I was at a frisbee tournament this weekend, the Eastern Regional Championships. Teams from Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra competed. The top teams from this tournament qualify to play at the National Championships in April.


There was a game at the end of the weekend between two teams who really wanted to go to the National Championships. The winner would go, the loser would not. The Game To Go. One of the teams was full of youngsters and the team hadn’t qualified since 2004. The other team was a former national champion, perennial top competitor and quite experienced. It was high action, high tension. Somewhere else, someone else was winning the tournament. It did not mater, the big show was right here. 

After an hour the game was 10 all. The next team to score a goal would win and qualify for Nationals. Hectic. All the other games had finished, the field was surrounded with interested, invested and intrigued spectators. It was hard to see the middle of the field through the wall of bodies vibrating along the sideline. At one point a long throw sailed into the young team’s endzone, a young person exploded down the field with hair and limbs flapping. They dove and caught the frisbee for the win, this was a spectacular way for the game to end. Somewhere between 40 and 400 people rushed on the field. There was a pile of bodies, shirts where whipped around heads, I thought I saw a bin on fire pushed on the field as a part of celebrations. The only problem was there was a call. An illegal move from the offence, and it wasn’t a win at all.


The game wasn’t over. Tears of joy had to be wiped away, players untangled themselves, and the field was swept clear of the mini carnival that had just occurred. It’s hard to imagine the emotional journey of the people playing in the game. Joy, grief, surprise, frustration, determination perhaps.


Play started again and the scene repeated itself. The youngsters won the game and a place at the National Championships. Shirts were thrown, hugs were hugged and all kinds of emotions were felt on both teams. The kids won, they are going to Nationals. 



This article from Monday has aged pretty well following the Sunday result. 
https://insideoutultimate.substack.com/p/manly-the-future