Country's Best Frisbee Players Arrive in Hamilton This Weekend

They're back.

Some of the top collegiate Ultimate Frisbee players from across the country will arrive in Hamilton this weekend for the largest tournament of its kind in New England.

It will run all day on both Saturday and Sunday on 13 Ultimate Frisbee fields at Myopia Hunt Club.

The tournament started in Hamilton three years ago almost by happenstance. Organizer Tim Spittle's father, Tom, runs Roy Spittle Electric of Gloucester, which does work at Myopia. Tim Spittle, who played Ultimate Frisbee at Northeastern University before graduating last spring, approached the club about using the fields for an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. The answer was "yes" and the New England Open tournament has just grown.

"Now we are attracting teams from outside New England," Spittle said, quickly putting in on par with some of the largest tournaments in the country that happen in California, North Carolina and Texas. "We're making our way up into that level of tournaments."

The setup is just about perfect, Spittle said. The length of an Ultimate Frisbee field is equal to the width of a polo field. And springtime is the perfect time to use the fields, which come with plenty of parking. The location is attractive to out of town teams since it is close to Boston, he said.

Spittle said that in addition to most college team from New England, the tournament has also attracted teams from Cornell University, Penn State, University of Michigan, San Diego State and Rutgers.

"It's strictly men's college team" he said.

The tournament is broken up into a Division 1 and Division 2. There will be 20 teams playing in Division 1 and another 12 teams playing in Division 2. Many schools will field two teams and some, such as Tufts University, will bring three teams.

Spittle said there are not other college tournaments this weekend and it is the week before the college Ultimate Frisbee championships.

For the casual observer, Spittle said you can show up any time between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. both days and see plenty of action. Each team will play four games each day and games will start a five set time on all 13 fields - seven Frisbee fields on the polo field closest to Route 1A and six Frisbee fields on the rear polo field - will have almost nonstop action.

Saturday will consist of round-robin play and the result of Saturday's games will establish an elimination bracket for Sunday. The championship game will start at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

"You could literally show up any time and see a game that looks interesting and check it out," he said.

Parking is across Route 1A from the fields at the Schooling Fields. There is no parking or admission fee.