Backhoe's Winston Cup Ultimate Challenge, August 5-6, Tournament Preview

Winston-Salem, NC (PRWEB) July 29, 2006 -- The top women’s Ultimate Frisbee teams in the nation will gather next month at the 2nd annual Winston Cup Challenge in Winston-Salem NC.

Unofficially serving as the sister tournament to the Furniture City Classic in High Point, this group won’t admit to playing 2nd fiddle to anyone. With an impressive list of committed teams including Ozone, Brute Squad and BNOGO, this event is already on the radar screen of those teams expected to make an impact at the Mid-Atlantic, South, and Northeast Regionals in early October.

So, just how does a tournament in only its second year attract a ‘who’s who’ list of women’s club teams? Attracting top talent to picturesque North Carolina helps, as does having a host team that many see as the team to beat in the East (2005 Mid Atlantic Regional Champs and 2005 National runner-ups). Tournament coordinator and UPA liaison, Melissa (Mel) Proctor, offers a slightly different view. “They come for the handsome hardware,” a faux Winston Cup Trophy given to the victor (take note, Kyle Bush), and “for some of the best food and hospitality this side of the Mississippi.”

Tournament perks aside, at the time of this writing, in a format similar to Nationals, 10 teams will compete in 2 pools with 2 hr. rounds, games to 15. Last years finalists, Backhoe, and semi-finalists, Ozone will again be competing this year for bragging rights and a chance to sharpen skills gearing up for Nat’l Club Championship qualifying tournaments later this fall.

As host and sponsor of the tournament, Backhoe is trying to add to their winning ways looking to hoist the Winston Cup for the 2nd year in a row. They’re also looking to add to their early season success, having captured the Terminus tournament in March, beating Ozone in the finals.

One of the teams committed to making the journey is BNOGO from the Washington DC area. Their view on participating in the event is simple. “If you want to be the best, you have to compete with the best,” offers Sarah Smith, co-captain of this year’s squad. With a smattering of College competitors and at least 5 rookies on the team, BNOGO is eager to get an early read on the competition and to assess their own new talent in a high-intensity environment. If BNOGO’s early season experiments at the Cape Henlopen tournament in Delaware and the Boston Invitational are any indication, there is still work to do if they are expected to make an impact in Winston-Salem and against the region’s top teams.

While Smith would only offer “being in the top half” as a prognostication for this year’s tournament for Bnogo, Mel Proctor, one of the leaders of Backhoe, believes that for them, similar success to last year’s results is not out of the question. When asked if it’s fair that a host team win it’s own tournament, she smiled and replied, “why not?”

The tournament takes place on August 5th and 6th in Winston-Salem, NC at the Hines Soccer Field Complex. For more information on attending or volunteering at this event, please contact Mel Proctor from the Backhoe website. More information on the tournament can be found at: UltimateFrisbee.com

Teams committed to participating are listed below:

Ambush (NY, NY)
Backhoe (Raleigh, NC)
BNOGO (Washington, DC)
Brute Squad (Boston, MA)
Layuma (Florida)
Ozone (Atlant, GA)
Pi (Washington, DC)
Strut (Ann Arbor, MI)
Sweet T (Raleigh, NC)
Wahine (Wilmington, NC)

Nate Brochin
Staff Writer
http://www.ultimatefrisbee.com

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