The Notre Dame Ultimate Frisbee Team will host the 15th annual Whitesmoke Tournament this weekend in South Bend. Whitesmoke, which traditionally has been held in the spring season, will be the opening event for the team this year.
The men's team will split into two competing squads for the event: Notre X and Notre Dame Y. Co-captain Michael DellaPenna said the split squads are not divided by talent, but rather evenly divided with a hope of getting as much playing time for the players.
"Our main goal for the tournament is get some experience for the team," DellaPenna said. "Throughout the weekend we will be able to get some of the new guys out there and see what they are made of."
Saturday will consist of group play, where each squad will compete against the other teams in their particular pool.
Notre Dame X will play a group consisting of Michigan State, Eastern Illinois, Hope College, Case Western and Northwestern while Notre Dame Y will take on Illinois, Grinnell College, Valparaiso, Illinois State and Purdue
In total, 24 men's teams from across the region will travel to South Bend for the tournament.
On Sunday, a championship bracket will be formed from the results of the Saturday group play. Reaching the championship is not necessarily the team's goal, according to DellaPenna.
"The competitive portion of the Ultimate season is mainly in the spring, so we will be using this event to gauge some new players; introduce them to the sport and to competitive play," DellaPenna said. "If both squads go .500 for the weekend, that would be a success."
Notre Dame will also have a women's team represented at Whitesmoke. They will play Case Western, Illinois, Truman State and Michigan State. A total of 16 women's teams will compete in the event.
The men's tournament will be held at Boehme Park in South Bend, located close to campus on Edison Road. The women's event will be played on the Saint Mary's College campus.
