From the young guns to the older lot, everyone enjoys throwing discs during the weekend and having some fun. But it is not just about tossing a frisbee and playing for fun anymore: Chennai Ultimate Frisbee is all set to organise the fifth edition of Chennai Heat at the Besant Nagar beach this October.
India’s only Beach Ultimate Tournament this year, the Chennai Heat will see 16 teams participating — eight home teams and eight away teams from Bangalore, Delhi and Puduchery.
This year’s tournament is set to be the biggest yet, not just in terms of the teams participating but also in terms of the crowd. “Last year saw about 2,000 people watching but this year we are planning an active social media campaign and a flash mob-like performance in between matches to attract more people,” said Nishanth Radhakrishnan, tournament director, Chennai Heat 2012.
Although there is more participation this year, Nishanth said they had to restrict the number of teams due to certain constrains. “To begin with, unlike other cities, we cannot host matches throughout the day due to the heat,” he said. “Another thing is we don’t have much space so we can’t host too many matches,” Nishanth explained.
So all outstation teams were ranked based on their past performances and only the highest ranked teams were allowed entry. “Thanks to this system, the competition is going to be very fierce this year,” said Nishanth.
This tournament has put Chennai on the sporting map nationally, thanks to the efforts of Manu Karan and Narayanan Krishnan who started the Ultimate Frisbee movement in Chennai in 2006. Ultimate Frisbee is a sport comprising football, basketball, American football and netball. It is played on a rectangular field with two zones, one at either end. The teams score a goal by passing the disc amongst themselves and receiving a catch in the opposite end zone.
Chennai Ultimate is now working to promote the sport among children as well. Earlier this year, Chennai Ultimate conducted a tournament for schools, where over 80 students participated.
“In my team, we have some school children taking part as well. Many children are very enthusiastic. This will definitely help the sport grow,” said Nishanth.
Chennai Heat 2012 will be held at Elliot’s Beach, Besant Nagar on October 12, 13, 14.