The inaugural Ülmost Heaven tournament is scheduled for Sept. 29 and 30 at Shawnee Sports Complex in Dunbar.
The field of ultimate Frisbee squads includes two clubs from North Carolina, as well as club and college teams in West Virginia.
“Ultimate Frisbee is one of the world’s fastest growing sports, and its popularity is rising in the Mountain State,” said Danny Forinash, one of the event’s organizers. “This region has lots of dedicated players who travel throughout the year to tournaments in other states. We felt like it was time West Virginia host an event that would spotlight the sport and showcase the state at the same time.”
The Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau (CCVB) is sponsoring the event.
“We’re always striving to bring new audiences and visitors to the Kanawha Valley, and Shawnee provides the opportunity to bring new kinds of events to the area,” said Tim Brady, vice president of sales and marketing for the CCVB. “Once players from other state experience what this region has to offer, we know they’ll want to come back.”
Ülmost Heaven is hosted in conjunction with OktoberWest, the Sept. 29 fundraiser for Charleston Main Streets, which also is sponsoring the tournament. OktoberWest functions as the tournament’s Saturday night celebration, which is common for ultimate tournaments.
Pool play is scheduled to start at 9 am Sept. 29. The tournament begins at 11 am Sept. 30.
“The Shawnee Sports Complex team is excited to host this first-ever event,” said Samantha Carney, Shawnee’s director of operations. “This is one of the region’s best sports facilities, and we love having a wide variety of sports and activities on our fields. Our hope is Ülmost Heaven can be a staple that gets larger each year.”
