2016 Triple Crown Tour Events' Dates and Locations Announced
Posted: February 2, 2016 10:38 AM
Colorado Springs, Colo. (Feb. 2, 2016) – USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States, is excited to announce the dates and locations of the flight-level events that will comprise the 2016 Triple Crown Tour (TCT). The TCT represents the highest level of competitive ultimate in the world, with more than 600 teams competing each year in the men’s, mixed and women’s divisions.
The five regular-season Triple Crown Tour events will span the nation with more than $25,000 in total prize money up for grabs for winners of the three individual portions of the Triple Crown – the U.S. Open, Pro Flight Finale and National Championships – as well as for any team that can claim all three legs of this year’s Tour. As was announced last year, each of the 2016 TCT events will take place on the same weekend as their 2015 counterpart.
The 2016 U.S. Open Championships and Convention, which was was announced in January, will kick off the 2016 club regular season. The fifth-annual event will take place in South County, R.I., at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, July 1-4.
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Elite-Select Challenge - July 9-10 - Columbus, OH |
The season’s first flight-specific event, the Elite-Select Challenge, will take place the following weekend, July 9-10, at Spindler Road Park just outside Columbus, Ohio, for a second consecutive year. The event will again be hosted by Rodger Oakes and Oshadega, LLC. The Elite-Select Challenge features teams from the second and third tiers of the Triple Crown Tour.
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Pro-Elite Challenge - July 30-31 - Aurora, CO |
After a successful year in 2015, the 2016 Pro-Elite Challenge will return to Colorado Cup and Aurora Sports Park in Aurora, Colo., July 30-31. The event will be hosted by Altitude Youth Ultimate, who will also host this year’s Masters Championships in Aurora the next weekend. The Pro-Elite Challenge welcomes teams from the top two tiers of the TCT – teams that competed at last year’s National Championships.
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Select Flight Invite - August 13-14 - Westfield, IN |
After being added in 2015 to expand playing opportunities for Select Flight teams, the second annual Select Flight Invite will take place. Aug. 13-14, at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., just north of Indianapolis. The invite will be hosted by the Indiana Ultimate Foundation and the Hamilton County Sports Authority. The Select Flight Invite is designed for teams in the third tier of the Triple Crown Tour.
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Pro Flight Finale - August 20-21 - Vancouver, WA |
The season’s final flight-specific event, the Pro Flight Finale, will take place on the last weekend of the regular season, Aug. 20-21. The tournament will be held at the Harmony Sports Complex in Vancouver, Wash., and will be organized by Seattle Mixtape, Seattle Riot and Portland Ultimate. The Pro Flight Finale functions as the second leg of the Triple Crown and includes the top eight teams in the nation, as determined by finishes at the prior year’s National Championships, as well as the top two finishing teams in each division from the Elite-Select Challenge.
This year’s postseason will kick off with sectional championship events the weekend of Aug. 27-28, followed two weeks later by regional championship events on Sept. 10-11.
The 2016 Triple Crown Tour will culminate at the National Championships, to be held in Rockford, Ill., Sept. 29-Oct. 2. The event will be hosted at the Sportscore 2 athletic complex by USA Ultimate, Ultimate Chicago and the Rockford Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Full competition guidelines for this year’s Triple Crown Tour will be published as soon as they are available. This year’s guidelines will reflect several of the changes discussed and decided on by the club working group comprised of USA Ultimate staff, national volunteers and elected player representatives from each division at the annual competition working group meeting held last December. Check out the club division update published after the working group meeting for an overview of the topics that were discussed and changes for the 2016 season.
Stay tuned to usaultimate.org/triplecrowntour and @TripleCrownTour for all the latest information about the 2016 club season.
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