By Danielle Modica | October 17, 2022
The University at Albany Ultimate Frisbee team (SCAM) announced their “Capital Invite” tournament, to be held Oct. 22 through 23 at the athletic fields behind Casey Stadium. This is UAlbany’s first home ultimate frisbee tournament in 20 years.
Capital Invite Tournament Flyer
Photo Credit: @UAlbanyUltimate on Instagram
The tournament will feature 16 teams across 14 New York colleges and universities, including Siena, Plattsburgh, Syracuse, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and more. Saturday, Oct. 22 will be organized “round robin” style - each team will take turns playing against each other and the winning team of each will determine who continues onto the next round. The festivities continue with a final round championship game on Sunday, Oct. 23.
“On Saturday, there are four separate groups consisting of four teams each, and each team within a specific group will play each other once,” SCAM President and senior digital forensics major Matthew O’Brien said. “Seeding will be determined for bracket play on Sunday based on how the teams play Saturday - the winner of the Sunday finals is going to receive a custom trophy.”
UAlbany Ultimate, also known as SCAM, was founded under the name “Aerial Hominids” in 1977 by alumni Tom Prado. According to team lore, the Aerial Hominids were eventually banned in the 1980s after misuse of university club funding and revived in the 1990s, where they qualified for a national championship for the first time.
“Back in the early days, the club funneled university funding into their own pockets and spent it on party activities,” SCAM Secretary and senior history/political science major Aidan McLaren said. “Eventually the club was banned and when it was reconstructed it was called SCAM as a homage - it’s no acronym.”
Today, they are a USA Ultimate (USAU) recognized university sport club with approximately 15 registered team members.
“This year we are undergoing a renaissance - we have a groundbreaking sponsorship from a frisbee company called Spin, and new Coach David Bowers who has been putting a modern twist to our playing,” McLaren said. “We also did a fundraiser for frisbees and sold around 100.”
The Capital Invite Tournament is USAU sanctioned, meaning it is in accordance with all precautions and guidelines. The scores will be official on each team’s record.
“Our a-team's immediate focus is on winning the tournament, and some of those games will be highly competitive,” SCAM Treasurer and junior accounting major Christopher Cooney said. “We won a chippy, sudden-death game against Syracuse last year, so we know they're coming here looking to prove themselves. Teams like Hofstra are traveling hours to play, and we know they're not planning to leave Albany empty-handed.”
The Capital Invite Tournament is open to the public and will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22. Finals will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23. For more information and updates, visit the UAlbany Ultimate Instagram page.
“Winning the Capital Invite will not only give us confidence and momentum going into our next tournament, but it will also serve to get the word of UAlbany Ultimate Frisbee out to more of the student body,” Cooney said. “Having a crowd to cheer us on would mean the world to us.”