Ultimate in North Carolina facts for kids
Ultimate (sport) is a growing sport in North Carolina. The state has national level competing teams at youth, college, club, and professional levels. Regionally youth clubs compete in the South, college teams compete in the ACC, and club teams compete in the southeast. These teams consist of over 1,000 USAU members
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Youth
TYUL (Triangle Youth Ultimate League) Triforce based in the Research Triangle area. The under 19's boys team finished runners-up at the 2015 National Youth Club Championship. TYUL consists of two under-19 and two under-16 boys teams, as well as one of each for girls.
College
Both men and women's teams from universities around North Carolina compete in either the NCAA Division I (since 1984 for men and 1987 for women) or NCAA Division III level (since 2010 for both men and women). Universities in North Carolina have accumulated a total of 5 Men's College Championships as of 2015, while the University of North Carolina at Wilmington's Women's team were the women's team to win it in both 1992 and 1996. Darkside (Ultimate), co-founded by Gene Hoffman, is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill men's team, who have reached the national championships the past two years in a row.
| College | Times Won | Years Won |
|---|---|---|
| ECU | 2 | 1994, 1995 |
| UNC-CH | 1 | 2015 |
| NC State | 1 | 1999 |
| Wilmington | 1 | 1993 |
Club
Men: There are many club ultimate teams that compete at sectionals in North Carolina. Turbine, Right Coast, and Cash Crop compete regionally. Ring of Fire competes nationally and in 2015 finished 6th at the TCT Pro Flight Finale 2015, informally known as club nationals.
Women: The main women's club ultimate team is Phoenix.
Mixed: The Cahoots, based in Asheville, NC, and Boxcar, based in Durham, NC are the two competing mixed club teams in North Carolina. Cahoots were ranked 21st in the nation at the end of the 2015 season.
Professional
North Carolina is home to a professional ultimate team, the Raleigh Flyers of the AUDL. A second AUDL, the Charlotte Express, folded in 2016. The state does not currently have a Major League Ultimate team.
