Is the Midwest too far for you to travel?  Some or all of us will be involved with a few other college women's tournaments this season and chances are, we'll be in your backyard.  Stay tuned for information about the bid / invitation process and the exciting things we have planned for the spring season!

Women's College Centex (hosted by University of Texas Melee)
Austin, TX
Date: March 27-28
Women's College Centex has been the most competitive tournament of the spring season over the past few seasons and the women's division is entering its seventh year of existence.  Last year, Texas Women's Ultimate teamed up with Michelle and the Ultimate Players League of Austin (UPLA) to run the tournament, expanding the field to 32 of North America's best teams, including eventual the College Champion UCSB Burning Skirts.  Centex featured sponsors such as Clif Bar and Vitamin Water, and coverage of the weekend was provided by The Huddle and Ultivillage.  Players were also treated to tournament player packs, a Friday Night Social, and the famed Saturday Night BBQ and Danceoff.  As evidenced by all of the Testimonials, Women's College Centex was the highlight of many teams' seasons.  The Texas program's commitment to running a high-quality event was evidenced in the real-time score reporting, seamless communication with teams, and attention to every last detail.  The planning process for Centex 2010 has already begun, and Melee, Michelle, and UPLA will be teaming up once again to put on a show in Austin.  The Texas women have been generous in their sharing of resources and contacts, helping to facilitate the development of Midwest Warmup, Midwest Throwdown, as well as Philly Classic.


Philly Classic (hosted by University of Pennsylvania Venus)
Philadelphia, PA
Date: March 13-14
Over the past two years, we have partnered with Texas Ultimate to pursue the growth and development of college women's ultimate in the South and Midwest.  It has been exciting to be a part of the change that is sweeping the South and the Midwest and a privilege to partner with teams like Texas, Wisconsin, Truman State, Saint Louis, and others in making college women's ultimate better.  Michelle's vision for college women's ultimate and our role in its development expanded as she talked to captains and coaches in other regions and began to realize that many of the issues in the South and Midwest were also very much present on the East Coast.  Michelle's first contact with Penn came in Summer 2008 when she met Venus alum Alex Chan, a recent West Coast transplant, at Cal States in Santa Cruz.  After Venus came out of nowhere to qualify for the 2009 UPA College Championships, Alex put Michelle in touch with the Venus leadership and Michelle got to watch Penn play firsthand while covering the Championships as a writer for the UPA.  After insulting two of Penn's top players and leaders, Raha Mozaffari and Whitney Viets, with her views on coed ultimate, Michelle had a lot of making up to do.  About a month after the Championships, Michelle read a RSD post that current Penn captain Octavia "Opi" Payne had written asking for help finding workout buddies in Baltimore.  A few emails later, a friendship was born.  The more Michelle heard about Penn's story, the clearer the opportunity became.  Here was an opportunity for the South Region to expand their commitment to developing college women's ultimate... while simultaneously helping Penn impact the Metro East Region in a positive way and raise funds for the team to compete at an even higher level.  Teams from the Metro East and New England Regions account for nearly half of the teams in the college women's division.  Last year, the Metro East had one of its strongest performances in Series history, with two teams, University of Pennsylvania Venus and University of Ottawa Lady Gee-Gees, playing their way into the Quarterfinals at the UPA College Championships.  Penn, with support and resources from Texas, hopes to build upon last year's successes and continue developing both the quality and quantity of ultimate being played in the Metro East.  Penn is endeavoring to bring the top teams in the Metro East and Northeast together for a weekend of competitive ultimate at a well-run tournament hosted at an awesome field site.  They will be hosting a Division I, Division II, and B-Team / HS Team Division so that they can accommodate as many teams as possible.  We are very happy to be able to support them in this endeavor.