The First Mekeni Ultimate Cup. The Next Big Thing Up North!
Mekeni Cabalen! or "Come here, my brothers and sisters!" (that's my own interpretation of the word Mekeni)
First of all. The Clark Parade Grounds is beautiful. I know, there were a lot of bad experiences back in 2010, where there were a lot of players who got injured during the 2010 Spirits. And I totally understand the fear of coming back to play ultimate is still in the minds of most of the members of the community. But the ten participating teams who played last weekend can attest that, with a little more work, the Clark Parade Grounds will be back in all its glory. And that's what Ultimate Liga Pilipinas Inc. (ULPI) founder, Peng Manlapaz is doing right now. He wants to put the Northern part of Luzon to the Ultimate Map. And The First Mekeni Ultimate Cup was born.
Ten teams participated in this years Mekeni Ultimate Cup (MUC), Teams like Tandang Sora Pleasure, Sunken Pleasure Halo-Halo and Pampanga home team, Pamp'ed Up Chicks and Chongs were three of the ten teams who has the privilege to break in the newly treated Parade Grounds. With hundreds of villas surrounding the grounds. With the grounds so huge, you can have dozens of standard sized ultimate fields in just one area. Restaurants all over the place (I mean, if you love food, Pampanga is the place to be!), this place is an ultimate haven, in my opinion. Standing there in the middle of Clark Parade Grounds. You can see a lot of great possibilities (cough... Worlds!)
Anyway, back to Ultimate!
The games were fun. There were some exciting highlights that was captured during the two day tournament, but I think the one thing that really stuck in to my mind was the relaxing atmosphere which we enjoyed for 2 days. I honestly missed that in a tournament. Everyone was smiling, dancing and just having a great time being with each other's company. And hey, who would not enjoy a tournament that offers a Sisig Buffet? That was phenomenal!
As expected, quarterfinal and semifinal games on the second day became intense and very competitive. The teams came in that day to win, not just to enjoy the festivities, Clark, had to offer (Mekeni Ultimate Cup was part of a big celebration, The Clark Festival). But the one team that really caught my attention was the improvement of the home team, Chicks and Chongs. It was such pure joy to see a team work together, work harder to be better from what they used to be three years ago. Big kudos to this Pampanga home team.
With Tandang Sora Pleasure (TSP) and SP Halo-Halo giving us an exciting finals, free beers for everyone and more sisig for pulutan, The Mekeni Ultimate Cup was definitely off to a very good start. The parties were not bad at all. Since MUC was connected with the Clark Festival Calendar, the party venue was also located at the Parade Grounds. With a bunch of food stalls, local bands and "the" Brownman Revival as the main act for the night, it was definitely a great way to spend a December weekend in one of the nicest places in the country. In the end, Congratulations, TSP for winning the First Mekeni Ultimate Cup!
Big thanks to Boss Thumbie and Peng Manlapaz of Ultimate Liga Pilipinas Inc. for having AAU as one of the media partners and to be a part of history. I can only see great things from this tournament in the next coming years, and I am really excited to see what ULPI has to offer to the Philippine Ultimate Community. I have a feeling that Clark Parade Grounds in Pampanga will be the next Ultimate battlefield of the North.
You can bet on it!
Until then. More images to share. More stories to tell... It's All About U!
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