'Old Capitol Open' Ultimate Frisbee at Tuma Sports Complex

The University of Iowa Hawkeye Ultimate Club is helping put on the first ever "Old Capitol Open" Ultimate tournament. It's this weekend in Marion.

The sport just goes by Ultimate now, but many people will know it as Ultimate Frisbee. Collegiate men's and women's teams from across the Midwest are expected to attend.

Where: Tuma Sports Complex, 13239 C Avenue, Marion

When: Saturday 4/6 & Sunday 4/7, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

What: Collegiate men’s & women’s Ultimate tournaments

From Cedar Rapids news release:

First Annual “Old Capitol Open” Ultimate Tournament at Tuma Sports Complex this Weekend

The Cedar Rapids Parks & Recreation Department and the Iowa Hawkeye Ultimate Club (IHUC) have partnered to organize a new athletic tournament that is bringing college athletes from across the Midwest to town. This Saturday and Sunday, twenty men’s and women’s Ultimate teams from universities as far away as Nebraska and Michigan will compete in a USA Ultimate sanctioned collegiate tourney. The event is sponsored by 5 Ultimate, Spikeball and Rock Valley Physical Therapy.

Ultimate is a sport born in the 1970s with the advent of the Frisbee®, and was commonly called Frisbee® Football or Ultimate Frisbee®. Now known just as Ultimate and governed by a national body (USA Ultimate), the game has grown in sophistication and popularity both on campus and off. Its fluid motion looks like soccer or hockey, and the field resembles a football field, but it’s played with a disc that is kept in flight.

Teams entered in this tournament include the University of Iowa, Iowa State, Luther College, Loras College, Grinnell College, Drake University, the University of Wisconsin, UW-Whitewater, UW-La Crosse, St. Olaf College, Winona State University, Western Michigan University and the University of Nebraska. These teams are tuning up their play for Regional Collegiate playoffs later this month.

Originally scheduled in March but postponed due to the weather, this tournament is the first of what promises to be a growing and recurring event each spring. 40 teams from as far away as Oklahoma originally had entered. The interest and demand is there! 

This weekend’s event is a perfect opportunity for media to capture video and still photography of this exciting and popular sport. Tournament organizers and players will be available to visit with as well.  Saturday is pool play, and Sunday has playoff brackets.

Where: Tuma Sports Complex, 13239 C Avenue, Marion

When: Saturday 4/6 & Sunday 4/7, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

What: Collegiate men’s & women’s Ultimate tournaments

 For more information visit www.oldcapitolopen.com. To learn about the sport of Ultimate, visit www.usaultimate.org.