On the 28^th and 29^th of March TuksUltimate played their first official tournament of the year. The Tournament kicked off with TuksUltimate taking on Skyveld in what was to be a good first test of our team’s mettle. The first few points saw nerves getting the better of a number of players, however TuksUltimate quickly stepped up their game and after some patient play went into half time leading the scoreboard. TuksUltimate managed to maintain their lead throughout the game beating Skyveld with a 11 – 8 win.

The second game of the tournament was played against the University of Potchefstroom or NWUUltimate! This game saw TuksUltimate take an early lead scoring 6 points in a row without reply from the very new and inexperienced team from Potch. However the team from Potch managed to pull the game back a tad, scoring 3 points in a row with TuksUltimate going into half time 8 – 3 up. TuksUltimate used the rest of the game to experiment and test other defensive strategies and tactics and ran out very convincing 15-4 winners at the end of the game.

The third and final game of the day proved to be a significantly tougher test. The game was played against Ultitude from Johannesburg. With a large squad and many experienced players this game was always going to be the toughest of the group stage games. The winner of this game would finish the game top of the pool with both teams winning their first two games of the day. The game saw some excellent ultimate being played by both sides with some huge defensive layouts and impressive throws. The teams traded points evenly with a point separating the teams at halftime. The game then went into softcap with TuksUltimate being two points down. Fighting back hard TuksUltimate managed to score two break points, bringing the scores even at 10-10 going into hardcap. Whoever scored the final point of the game would win! After a mistake by Ultitude, TuksUltimate turned over the disc and managed to score the final point of the game. TuksUltimate ran out 11-10 winners on universe point!

As a result of finishing top of their group TuksUltimate’s semi-final match would be against the second placed team from Pool B. This meant TuksUltimate would be facing up against Zone Rangers, a team known for their solid defensive strategy and ability to score points by going long. The first game of the day got off to a good start with TuksUltimate opening the scoring. TuksUltimate managed to force a number of turnovers and ran into a 3-0 lead before Zone Rangers scored their first point of the game. By this point the TuksUltimate team began to gel together really well and managed to easily break Zone Rangers’ defence and scored regularly. At the halftime mark, TuksUltimate had a commanding 8-3 lead. TuksUltimate ran out 15-5 winners. A very comfortable victory in the end, in a game that was predicted to be very close. TuksUltimate went into the final of the tournament unbeaten winning all four of the games!

TuksUltimate then faced the Long Donkeys, hailing from Pietermaritzburg, 2014’s National and Rocktober champions. Facing the best team in the country would be a huge challenge for guys and girls from Pretoria. TuksUltimate got off to a good start and opened the scoring with a hammer thrown into the end-zone beating the Long Donkeys zone defence. The next two or three points saw the teams trade points with the scores tied at 3-3. The Long Donkeys then began to find their flow in the game and began to prove why they are the best team in the country and despite TuksUltimate’s players playing their hearts out and leaving everything out on the field they were no match for the Donkey’s polished play. TuksUltimate lost the final 15-5 and claimed second place.

Overall it was a hugely successful tournament for TuksUltimate with the team exceeding all expectations and played extremely well! This tournament proved to be very good preparation for Nationals that are taking place at the end of April. Although disappointed to lose in the final, an amazing time was had by all the players!