Tournament Spotlight: Jillz Jamboree & Jaxx Jamboree

The First Annual Jillz Jamboree will be held February 16-17, 2019, at the Kate Campbell Soccer Complex in Jackson, TN!  We currently have representation from 6 different regions (Great Lakes, New England, North Central, Ohio Valley, South Central, and Southeast) and we would love to add more!  We only have a handful of spots left (16 team capacity), but D-I or D-III ladies teams can find more information via our interest form (https://goo.gl/forms/1z8KK5JxfWDb1Lrb2).  An official team list will be released once the teams have solidified their bid and received in-depth travel information! This is a sanctioned USAU event!

The sport of Ultimate is growing quickly and we are so excited to both watch and be a part of that growth as we continue to work towards furthering the legitimacy of the sport and its deepened collegiate recognition.  Our ladies team (The Union Jillz) were founded just a few years ago and they have been working incredibly hard to better their team and promote their sport at Union University.  This tournament is being run through the united effort of both our men's and our women's teams in order to accomplish a few goals: 

 

We want to create an elite, centrally-located women's tournament that can consistently be relied on to turn out top-level programs.  So often, tournaments are found so deep within border regions that it is difficult to get that regional diversity every tournament director desires without having drastically increased travel costs for teams.  We are incredibly grateful to be located in Jackson, TN, as it is almost right in the middle of the eastern half of the United States.  We are so grateful and excited to already have 6 regions represented and we look to grow that as much as possible, both this year and in the future.

We want to continue to support our ladies team at home and develop a deeper relationship with our university.  The Union Jillz are right on the cusp of being eligible to apply for a new funding program being provided by Union University for club sports that have existed for at least 4 years.  The men's team under past leadership and present efforts brought the sport of Ultimate to the attention of the school and we are so excited that our girls will have the chance to be recognized in this way too!  By working to make this tournament a success, we can decrease the overall season expenses for the Jillz and show our school what the sport of Ultimate is capable of.

We want to promote the sport of Ultimate and the viability of collegiate tournaments to the city of Jackson and surrounding field sites.  I am continually amazed that field sites have never heard of our sport and we would love to change that here in West Tennessee.  By working hard to support our ladies and run successful tournaments, we hope to open many more doors in the future both for our teams and other local teams in years to come.

The First Annual Jaxx Jamboree will be held March 2-3, 2019 at the Kate Campbell Soccer Complex in Jackson, TN!  We are working on promoting this tournament to both D-I and D-III men's college teams looking for a solid, middle-of-the-season, sanctioned tournament.  There are still bids available and we would love to have as many as we can (cap at 16)!  Teams can find additional information via our interest form (https://goo.gl/forms/bmdPebhkN3fMJM152).

What's behind the First Annual Jaxx Jamboree? 

The Union Jaxx are incredibly grateful to be embarking on a brand-new partnership with Union University to support the sport of Ultimate.  We would be remiss if we did not utilize this new opportunity to try and better the collegiate scene by adding centrally-located fall tournaments in addition to USAU sanctioned spring tournaments!  Our goal is to put Union University on the map as a great tournament location year after year.  This will both aid our men's and women's programs at the school and do a great deal to show our school that its investment is being well utilized.  We have a few specific goals for what we hope this tournament an help accomplish:

We want to continue to reward the hard work of our athletes and attempt to decrease the ever-increasing expenses that come along with Ultimate Frisbee.  We are incredibly excited that our school is getting more involved with our team and we are thrilled that this is just the first step, not only for us, but colleges across the country towards building great collegiate Ultimate programs.

We want to add to the base of highly competitive tournaments.  As stated before, there are several fantastic tournaments put on every year by various organizations.  However, the distances required to travel to some of these tournaments mean that your average team might have to settle for just one high-level tournament per season.  Our hope in adding a central location is to give teams another option to decrease travel expenses without sacrificing "level of play."

We hope to add to the strength of the growing Southeast region!  The Southeast has been growing quickly, especially over the last few years.  Our hope is to enable Southeast teams to play other regions with much more frequency due to a central location.  Just maybe we'll secure the ever-elusive two bids for the Southeast in the future!