115 of the world’s best frisbee teams are taking part on the WFDF World Masters Ultimate Club Championships which got under way at the University of Limerick and TUS Moylish Campuses yesterday.
A special opening ceremony heralded an exciting week-long competition and saw all 23 participating nations represented in a flag parade.
A showcase game from the Masters Women’s division between Ireland’s Masterclass and Canada’s StellO gave a flavour of the excitement and drama expected during the 550 game tournament.
The Masterclass team includes members of the Irish team that won the 2019 European Ultimate Frisbee Championships.
Mayor Daniel Butler said that welcoming some of the world’s best Ultimate Frisbee players and serving as the host city for the World Championship was incredibly exciting for Limerick.
“We are a sporting city with outstanding facilities and a reputation for hosting world-class events. I hope that the players, coaches, officials and fans have a wonderful experience both on and off the field. I would encourage people in Limerick and further afield to show up and cheer on the teams, giving them the support they will no doubt thrive on.”
Karen Brosnahan of the Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau, said that attracting such an enormous international delegation to Limerick underlies the importance of sports tourism.
“It is wonderful to see how the University of Limerick (UL) campus has become Ireland’s sporting campus and a perfect location for the event with fields, facilities, accommodation and restaurants all wrapped up into one Olympic Village- like setting.”
During the eight-day tournament, athletes will compete in either the Masters Open, Masters Women’s, Masters Mixed, Grandmasters Open, Grandmasters Mixed and Great-Grandmasters Open, divisions.
The age criteria for athletes playing at the event varies by division but minimum age for the Masters’ divisions is 33 for men and 30 for women up to a minimum age of 48 for men and 45 for women in the Great Grandmasters divisions.
For anyone interested in finding out more about Ultimate Frisbee, an introductory session will take place on Thursday, June 30 from 3 to 5 pm at Maguire’s Field, University of Limerick.
