The men’s ultimate team was ready to compete. Sectionals, the first post-season tournament of the year, was set to begin the weekend of April 14 – 15, and the Wolfpack men’s ultimate team was set to go. It wasn’t until practice a few days before the tournament began that the players’ dreams of competing for a national title were ended because of a delinquent roster.

The Ultimate Players Association, which is the governing body for competitive ultimate, requires teams to submit rosters of all their members. The University registrar must verify that every member on the roster is a degree-seeking student in good standing with the University.

The process involving the registrar is something the UPA initiated just this year, and it was this rule that proved to be State’s downfall. The Pack ultimate team turned in its roster just a single day late, and the UPA decided to disqualify the team from playing in the post-season tournaments.

This was an unprecedented move by the UPA, as teams have consistently been late in the past, but have still been allowed to participate. This disqualification in particular has set off a maelstrom among the ultimate community on its message board, rec.sport.disc, because the Pack has traditionally been one of the nation’s superior teams.

Junior Thomas Ward said it has been extremely tough for the team because the national tournament is the zenith that every team wants to reach at the end of a long and grueling season. Upon the announcement of the ruling, Ward said the team was in shock.

“[Our reaction] was disbelief more than anything,” Ward said. “It was just a really surreal feeling to know that our entire year of hard work toward this one goal was taken away from us on a technicality.”

Although he said he wished the outcome were different, Ward said no team member or University official is to blame for the misfortune that the team experienced.

“The process just took longer this year than in years past,” Ward said. “And we weren’t aware of it until it was too late.”

State, not wanting to see its season come to an abbreviated end, spent many frantic hours on the phone with UPA officials trying to get them to overturn their decision. Their efforts were futile, and the UPA decided to stick with its first ruling.

Ward said the UPA merely wanted to stand behind its statutes and had no personal interest or agenda in disallowing the Pack to play in the tournaments.

“They really wanted to make a statement about following the new guidelines and used us as an example,” Ward said.

The loss of opportunity was especially tough for the seniors, who will not have another opportunity to bring home college ultimate glory. Ward said emotions ran wild in the aftermath of the bad news.

“A lot of the guys were really crushed that their last chance to put together a run at a national championship was taken away out of nowhere,” Ward said. “And I guess it really showed, as a lot of the team broke down to tears.”

Ward said those who experienced this setback will take it as a valuable lesson and use it as motivation for next year’s season. Several Pack players will also have the opportunity to let off their frustration at the club level over the summer. Club ultimate is mainly composed of the top current and former college ultimate players.

Ward, while he plans to try out for an elite local club team named Ring of Fire, said he will never feel fully vindicated until the team gets another crack at a national title.

“I have no doubt that next year were are going to be prepared to make a deep run and will definitely be playing with a chip on our shoulder,” Ward said.