A group of Neom friends created a grassroots sports team to compete in the MENA Ultimate Club Championship 2022
My friend in Oxagon heard about the Ultimate Frisbee tournament occurring 11-12 November 2022 at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
A few of us started chucking a competition frisbee around Oxagon and soon we started travelling to NEOM Community 2 (NC2) to train on the larger pitch there. Our network of friends and colleagues started attending and we soon had enough interested players to form a team. We trained twice per week at NC2, and sometimes had to skip.
The team leader registered us a Self-Directed Group (SDG) with Neom Community Services, which provided us support to enter the competition. Our team name became Tabuk Tossers, was based on the region we were established, and joyful play on words with frisbee throwing.
It was a lot of fun going to the training sessions, forgiving the 1 hour drive each way from Oxagon. It was a great opportunity to socialize, network and experience somewhere else for activity and dinner.
We managed to get a good mix of players together, and due to the rules of UF requiring 60:40 male: female ratio, it was important to have a healthy female representation on the team.
We registered around 18 players, and 3 team supporters to attend the event. There was a lot of pre-registration requirements to gain access pass for KAUST.
We arrived at KAUST with high spirits, and after seeing some of the team practicing in the morning, it was clear that we were in a different league. Our knowledge of the game was lacking, and we had a mixture of skill level. Whereas our first opponents looked coordinated, accurate and prepared. The teams were doing warm-up drills and exercises we’d not seen or experienced, so it was a little daunting.
The Team Captain and myself as Spirit Captain, joined the other 15 teams in for the welcoming.
To be completed…