REGIONAL INTEREST
MODS celebrates its silver anniversary in style
Written by: Eric Reder
For the Manitoba Organization of Disc Sports, November 2013 was the culmination of 25 years of energy, passion, hard work, and love of the life of Ultimate An inconceivable and remarkable 25 years was on display in Winnipeg on November 9, as the Manitoba Organization of Disc Sports (MODS) celebrated their silver anniversary with a gala dinner and social event that exceeded everyone’s expectations.
A glimmer of potential sparked the founders of Winnipeg Ultimate, Jean-Luc Forest and Mike Jones to establish a disc sports organization back in 1988. From the humble beginnings of a league of four teams — which shrank to three teams from lack of players in its inaugural season, Winnipeg has grown a competitive and involved disc sports community as big as any in the world.
November 9, 2013 was the culmination of 25 years of hard work, sweat, energy and love of a sport that goes beyond definition. The Manitoba Organization of Disc Sports celebrated the quarter century mark with a gala dinner and social. The night brought back many old faces, reconnected a group of people who grew up together and introduced some people to where Ultimate really came from.
The origins of Disc Sports in Manitoba reaches back to the 70s and early 80s but the most direct connection to the birth of MODS can be traced to St Paul’s High School in 1983. But before the first seeds of MODS were planted there was the passion and dedication of one man. Jean- Luc Forest (upon the urging of his older brother Pierre) took up disc sports and particularly Freestyle as a way to rehabilitate a broken arm. This led to three Manitoba Provincial Junior Championships and three Canadian National Junior Championships. In 1981 he place fifth in Dallas at Worlds; in 1982 & 1983 he would win the World Junior Championship becoming the first non American to do so. After summers in Toronto, with their booming
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disc community, he brought Ultimate to his friends at St Paul’s. Those pick up games led to an eventual shift to Assiniboine Park.
A small but excited group of players carried this momentum into an appearance at the first CUC in 1987. Mike Jones, Greg Lang and others were amongst the corner stones of this early group.
Jean-Luc knew Ultimate could be much more than it was. Despite some serious reservations from his friends he pushed forward to make more than a league. In February of 1988, MODS officially became the first incorporated non-profit Ultimate organization in Canada. A small four-team league sponsored with shirts from “Chip and Pepper” was started.
Winnipeg has proven to be one of the fastest growing areas for Ultimate in the world. The league ballooned in the 90s and by 1998, when the format was switched to four separate leagues, things really exploded. MODS can proudly say that they were the first to gain Provincial Sports Organization status and funding from the government.
Danny Saunders (current UC Executive Director) was hired as the first full time employee and oversaw incredible growth in the league but more importantly in the schools. He also delivered on the promise of getting our own field complex. Winnipeg Ultimate Park debuted in the summer of 2008 and was a testament of all MODS’s hard work and effort.
We don’t know for sure where the next 25 years will take Ultimate but we do know that there will always be a large group of dedicated and passionate people leading the way and passing the game we all love onto the next generation.
MODS lifetime members (Hall of Fame)
Photo: MODS Ultimate Canada Magazine -
www.canadianultimate.com
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