The Augustana Ultimate Frisbee Team hosted their second annual Snow Sleep Tournament on Friday, Jan. 25, which lasted from 9 p.m to 4 a.m.
The Snow Sleep Tournament gets its name from the fact that since it is a winter tournament, there is often snow on the ground, and the team plays all night inside PepsiCo. And with it being all night, the players get no sleep (snow sleep).
This is the second year in a row Augustana has held this tournament and Ultimate Frisbee athlete, sophomore Abby Berry, who also came up with the name “Snow Sleep,” talked about the specifics of the tournament.
“Basically, we invited local teams to come have a little round robin style tournament with us in PepsiCo, starting around 9 p.m. on Friday and going until the early morning on Saturday,” Berry said. “It is a great chance for us to get experience playing other teams as well as make some money for our program. And, of course, it is a lot of fun.”
The Ultimate Frisbee Team has a few tournaments throughout the school year apart from this home event.
“In the fall, we usually go to about three tournaments often at big state schools like Illinois State and Western Illinois. We are hoping to attend some indoor tournaments next year as well as some in the spring. The transition to semesters might make it easier for us to attend more tournaments because our schedule will better align with other schools,” Berry said.
The Ultimate Frisbee Team as a whole has grown throughout recent years, with the hope of getting even bigger. Junior Matt Friello talked about the team and changes that have been made.
“Currently, we have around 25-30 members around campus that are involved with the club, with many other alumni staying involved after graduation.  There is definite desire to make the club more popular,” Friello said. “We put a lot of effort into recruiting new people at the activity fair during welcome week, and we also are always brainstorming new ways that we could gain more recognition on campus.”
Berry also talked about the growth of the team throughout her time here.
“It’s nice because we have people join at random times year-round; anyone is welcome any time. We usually have a pretty big crowd in the fall that dwindles a little in the winter. But compared to last winter, we still have a good amount of people coming to practice each week,” Berry said. “I do wish it was more popular so that we could get a bigger budget and be able to attend more tournaments. I think a lot of people feel like they can’t come because they don’t know how to play very well or it’s the middle of the school year but that is not true. Literally anyone is welcome any time.”
When it comes down to it, the one thing in common among the members of the club is they all love it. Senior Laura Neswold talked about how the community aspect of the team is her favorite part of the Ultimate Frisbee Team.
“I love all the people and it is always so much fun. It’s a great group of people and since my freshman year, I’ve gotten to know all of them very well,” Neswold said. “Even outside of Ultimate Frisbee, we all hang out and spend time together.”