No entry fee. Just bring a gift to be donated for Toys for Tots and you get to play. This is the concept behind The Ultimate Gift Hat tournament – a charity event being put on by the folks at SAVAGEultimate on December 11th in Charleston, South Carolina. But it doesn’t stop there. The folks at SAVAGE want to spread this idea and help bring gifts to a lot of needy children. We hammered off a few questions to SAVAGE’s Todd Curran to find out more about the tournament and the movement.
Skyd: Please explain how The Ultimate Gift Hat Tournament works.
Todd Curran: The Ultimate Gift Hat Tournament (The Ultimate Gift) is a way for ultimate players to give a little joy this holiday season while being able to play their favorite sport. Instead of trying to get people to pay to play, we’re asking them to bring a new/unwrapped toy (a $5 value). If they can’t make it to the store, they’ll need to pay a $10 fee, which will help pay for the fields. The toys will be given to our local Toys For Tots. We are also going to be selling tournament jerseys at the event and online. For each tournament jersey sold, SAVAGEultimate will donate a toy to Toys For Tots. We are guaranteeing at least three games (hat tournament style) and it will all depend on the turnout. My goal is to get at least 50 players out this year.
How did the idea come about?
Todd: For the past few years in Charleston, there has been a Toys for Tots benefit art show called Presents from Punks. I spoke to the organizer and tried to get involved this year, but he wasn’t able to find the time to organize it. I thought I could potentially take the event over, but since it’s not really my scene, I decided to have a tournament with the same goals: to get as many toys donated as possible. I also thought, what better toy that a disc? We’ll be selling discs that can go into the Toys For Tots bin. The event is very last-minute, we have less than 2 weeks, but I know it can be a success.
What’s it going to look like this year?
Todd: This year’s event is going to be the trial year. Because it’s our local ultimate community, it’s very easy just to contact everyone and say “come play ultimate” and they’ll show up. Everyone’s played with each other in the seasonal leagues so it’s going to be a fun time. I’m advertising in the Charleston City Paper, the local alt-weekly newspaper (they might be a sponsor of the event) to try to get more of the community to come out. There’s a bunch of ultimate players that don’t get involved in the leagues and this could be an opportunity for them to get interested in playing more. I’d like to see some out-of-town players as well, but because of the late notice, I’m not sure how many will make the drive.
What are your goals for TUGHT and where do you want to see it go in the future?
Todd: My goals are to get as many people excited to play for this cause as possible. This year, I’d like to see 50 players at our event that all donate a gift. That’s 50 toys going to needy children. My other goal for this year is to see at least three ultimate communities join in. We are offering organizers a free jersey, free swag to give out at the fields and a free banner if they can get The Ultimate Gift in their community. We are going to put up a city list so players can find a place to play. The first community that offered to host their own tournament is Fredericksburg, VA. I’m hoping they can pull it together. This tournament could be as easy as changing one of the pickup games in December into The Ultimate Gift. You just need to bring a toy to play that day. My long term goal is to have The Ultimate Gift being played in every ultimate community across the country.
What else can be said about TUGHT? How can communities start their own?
The Ultimate Gift is exactly that: a gift. Players coming together to help give presents to children whose parents can’t afford them. It’s a way to give back to your local community. We’re hoping players across the nation want to start their own Ultimate Gift tournament. If they’d like to join up, they can contact me directly at todd@savageultimate.com. We’ll give them the tools they need to help promote their event and give them information on how to host a tournament. We’ll help them get in touch with their local Toys for Tots organization and find the closest drop-off location for the toys. We’ll even be able to have participants purchase jerseys online and have them shipped out to be picked up at their tournament.
Sign up and find out more at http://savageultimate.com/GiftHatTournament.html
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