IX Ultimate Shindig: And there was one.
After last year's two Shindig weekends (Please dont do that again), we finally had one big gathering in the beautiful city of Dumaguete. Thirty-two teams from all over the country traveled for hours (even days for some) via all sorts of transportation, in order for them to participate in the biggest grass tournament in the Visayas - The IX Ultimate Shindig National Tournament. As always, Shindig organizers delivered yet again, a heck of a weekend in the land of gentle people.
Three days of exciting and intense ultimate battles, three nights of good positive vibration parties with liquor in our hands and huge smiles on our faces. The captain's meeting at El Amigo, though I only stayed there for a few minutes, was not just packed with Ultimate players, but it was also swarmed by Pokemon Trainers. El Amigo is now officially a Pokestop. I know, this is not a Shindig related news, but who cares. Gotta catch 'em all, right? Okay, moving on!
Yes, the games were competitive, but c'mon now, most of us were there for the parties. (Don't you dare deny it my brothers and sisters!) Day 1 party at The Venue was a little bit conservative but it was just right for all of us to get a little tipsy. Day 2 at the Legendary "Payag sa Likod" on the other hand was on another level of craziness as expected. Drinks were pouring all over the place just like the heavy rain, that gave us the wettest and wildest Payag party I've ever witnessed in the three years that I've covered the tournament. It was wet... it was wild and.... I seriously don't know what happened next. Day 3 party. The rain still continued to give us a rain forest kind of Socials and awarding on the earlier hours of the night at TIKI Bar, but with the stellar performances of Dumzville's resident Showband and DJ's, and of course Dumaghetto's home grown Rap Group, MidNasty. The crowd went wild, rapping along with hits like "Ilongga", the Ultimate gods gave us clear skies to end a wonderful weekend with teammates and friends in Dumaguete.
As expected, all thirty-two teams came in well prepared and ready to tackle tough battles the whole weekend. The games were intense, most especially on the second day of the tournament that the only time that me and Nico had a chance to have a break was during our lunch and an hour break just before the Pool A Quarterfinal games. Games were so exciting that you can't pass it up. There were a lot of note-worthy head to head battles during the Shindig weekend. But, the quarterfinals game between Extreme Dumaguete and Ultimate Tribu Iliganon (U.T.I.) was the game of the tournament. It was so exciting that I myself was cheering on every play. It was so intense that we even forgot that there was another quarterfinals game happening on the other side of the pitch between Fasa Fuego and The Vikings. With so many errors in the early stage of the game and with 11 minutes left on the clock, Extreme Dumaguete found themselves trailing 6 to 2. With Dada and Tajji taking over the game, Extreme worked their way to tie the score and forced the game to universe point battle. In the end, a short and sweet easy pass to Ading sealed the victory to give U.T.I. a ticket to the dance with fellow Iligan team, Ultimate Green Archers in the Semis, and spoiled Extreme's epic comeback. It would have been one of the greatest comebacks in Ultimate Shindig.
On a wet and muddy Day 3, Cebu's Finest, Fasa Fuego dominated the younger Ultimate Green Archers (UGA) of Iligan in the Pool A Finals. Talk about experience wins championships. But then again, the mighty Iliganons fought 'til the end. They showed us a well Spirited Ultimate all throughout the weekend. They had great attitude on and off the field. Definitely eyeing to see them more on bigger tournaments around the country. It was a well-played Championship game between these two exciting teams.
From seasoned players like Dada, Tajji, Ronan, Kyrah, Popoy and Bade, Up and coming superstars like April, Jordan, Jep2x, Maolin, and Qhuenjune, experienced players like DJ Tutay and Aries (Ayaw nilang tawaging veterans. Experienced lang daw) and some 11 and 14 years old players of Team Acetoryahe who happened to have no fear on facing up against Popoy, the IX Ultimate Shindig was definitely a Shindig to remember. This is the kind of tournament that will show everyone how amazing it is to live in the provinces witnessing and photographing these teams playing high intensity of Ultimate Frisbee on a regular basis.
This may be my last trip to Dumzville this year (Well I hope not!), But it's always a blast being in Dumaguete. It always feels like an extension of my home and the people there are distant family members that you only happen to see once or twice a year. The 8-hour trip was all worth it. Every damn minute.
Congratulations to all the winners:
FASA FUEGO: Pool A Champions
URANUS: Pool B Champions
TARSIER ULTIMATE: Pool C Champions
HIGH PRESSURE: Pool D Champions
Until Then... More images to share. More stories to tell.... It's All About U!
Thank you and congratulations to all the organizers and staff of this years, Shindig! Next year napud!
Before this blog ends, I would like to take this opportunity to greet my fellow AAU photographer Nico Primaleon a happy first anniversary! Congratulations on surviving the first year of the crazy world of Ultimate Photography! Here's to more Layouts and Skies right in front of your lenses!
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| Nico Primaleon in Action during the IX Shindig Pool A Finals |
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