August 9th through 11th: Minnesota and YCC National U-19 Ultimate tournament

August 9th: South Dakota and Minnesota

Another beautiful day of driving - the theme this day turned out to be water.

August 10th and 11th:
The point of this road trip was to watch my younger son Natan at his last YCC National Ultimate tournament. This is his final year of eligibility for this tournament. He made the Seattle All-Star team his Freshman, Sophomore and Senior seasons of high school (his junior year he made the US under-20 national team and competed in Dublin, where the United States won the world championship). There were 19 states represented at the tournament. Day one of the tournament was "pool play," where each team plays the other 4 teams in their bracket. Seattle ended up wining three of the four games, coming in second place in their pool play, which qualified them for the quarter finals on Day 2.

Seattle Kingpins, circling up before their first game

After the game both teams circle up and "play games" together. One of the best aspects of this sport is what they call "the spirit of the game," which is all about fair play and good sportsmanship. 

Seattle team after day One

 Day Two: 
Seattle played Boston Buda in their quarter final match. At 11-11, with time running out, the game went to universe point," which means the next team to score wins the game. Buda had the disc, but after a turnover, Seattle scored and won the game 12-11. Seattle played Triangle Area, North Carolina in the semi-finals. Loosing 7-6 at half, Seattle came back to win 13-10 and head to the finals. But in the finals, Seattle was over-matched on this day, loosing to Atlanta 13-7.

Seattle after losing in the finals (Natan is #95)

Seattle and Atlanta clapping hands after the game

Some members of the Seattle team at a happier moment, at the end of Day one (Natan is the second from the right on the bottom)

I am so proud of my son. He was one of the team captains. His graciousness and  leadership qualities, especially in defeat, are testaments to what an amazing young man he has become.