ONTARIO Toronto Elites Ultimate expands A personal look at club junior
ultimate experience By Kelly Smith
As summer approaches, in the midst of culminating activities and exams, I grow increasingly restless. I cannot concentrate on my studies and find myself staring longingly out the window; I cannot wait until my summer ultimate season begins!
It is now almost August, and I am well over halfway through my season with Toro, one of two junior women’s teams from Toronto that will be attending Nationals in Edmonton, from August 8th-10th. Uproar, the other junior women’s team, is in its inaugural year. Finally, there is enough interest in the Toronto area to field two
junior women’s ultimate teams, a testament to the rapid growth of the sport and the tireless effort of coaches and players to recruit fresh faces. On the junior open side, Toronto’s Elites Ultimate sent an unprecedented four teams to Regionals: Toro, Uproar, Energy and Havoc. Toro, Uproar and Energy qualified for Nationals.
When I was younger, I competed mostly in individual sports, so the discovery of ultimate, with its spirit, intensity and athleticism, came hand in hand with the discovery of the joys of being part of a team, from the on-field chemistry to the off-field exploits. This year, Toro has competed in three weekend tournaments. Our first tournament was the All- Canada Classic, at York University
in Toronto, where we had the amazing opportunity to play two games against Canada’s U20 Women’s National Team. A couple of weeks later, Toro came first at Ontario Regionals in Port Hope after a hard-fought finals match against Wicked West, our friends and rivals from Ottawa.
Last weekend, we competed at No Borders in Ottawa, winning its first ever junior women’s division title. (Our prize: a cup filled with lollipops, in lieu of the the traditional beer.) With the countdown on until Nationals (less than two weeks!), Toro cannot wait to compete with and learn from the country’s best junior ultimate teams.
Photos Ed Kung
The rebranded Toronto Elites program is in its third year of existence. They have already become powerhouses on the junior secene and look to top the podium in Edmonton.
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