Ultimate has a short season, but Grand Forks is already dominating in the region.
But the core tenant of fun and sportsmanship is still being upheld.
The GFSS senior Wolves and junior Timber and Arctic teams added another accolade to their growing successful 2024 year by hosting their own Ultimate Frisbee Tournament on April 30.
Nine teams with more than 200 junior and senior players from Grand Forks, South Okanagan Secondary School, Kelowna Secondary School and Summerland Secondary School hit the fields for a day of games, said Grand Forks Ultimate communications coordinator Courtney Jewitt.
“The student response at GFSS has been simply amazing with 25 per cent of the high school student population coming out for the team,” Jewitt said in an email. “Many teachers walked their classes over to the fields and there were loads of kids picking up the frisbee and playing on the sidelines. Such an accessible sport for the kids as you just need a frisbee.”
“We even had elementary school classes come to watch. They were great cheerleaders - so cute!”
While there were scores being recorded, co-coach Kristy Kuromi said they are not focusing on the numbers. Instead, they are sticking to the core principle of nurturing sportsmanship and working together as a team.
“We did not try to collect overall wins and losses because we really wanted to promote spirit of the game,” she said. “So the final winners of the entire event were the team that was voted most spirited, which means more sportsmanlike, upholding rules and a culture of spirit of the game.”
Those winners were South Okanagan Secondary School. This doesn’t mean they had the best score. It means their peers chose them.
However, they were competitive, she said, but the focus for the team was to showcase Grand Forks as a community.
For the GFSS Wolves team, it’s been a banner year, sitting in first place for BC Sports provincial AA Ultimate rankings as of April 30. The team has played in three tournaments to date. Provincials are happening at the end of the month so the teams will be training for this during most of May, Kuromi said.