Junior Chris Dascalos is developing an app to connect Ultimate Frisbee players from across the country as well as aid them in planning tournaments for every level of play. He is also planning several Ultimate Frisbee tournaments, two in Minnesota and one in Arkansas.
Dascalos has played the sport for four years. He joined the HU Apocalypse team his freshman year at Harding and received lots of good advice from older members on the team about how the game is played. His sophomore year he was put on the starting line for the team and had the opportunity to play at the Division III nationals. This year he serves as treasurer for the team but does not play anymore.
“The sport is based on something called ‘spirit of the game,'” Dascalos said. “It is unlike any other sport because ultimate is all self governed; there are no official refs. Spirit of the game encompasses mutual respect, friendship, non-violence, integrity and fun. The best part about the game is that you can go all out but still have respect for somebody else and expect other players to have respect for you.”
The app includes everything that a Frisbee player or tournament participant could ever want. The app will take him about four years to develop, and he has already been working on it for more than a year. The app will be able to create an entire tournament based on how many fields are entered, how many teams there are and on all the variables needed to plan a tournament. The app puts the information together, divides teams into brackets and posts it to the Web. It will be available for all levels of play, from middle school to masters, and will be free in the app store.
Dascalos is involved with the Minnesota State Championship, the U.S. Open and the Arkansas tournament. He is the head of volunteer coordination for the Minnesota Championship and U.S. Open, but is planning the Arkansas tournament entirely on his own.
“Chris always does a great job of seeking people out and getting them to commit to helping volunteer at a tournament,” Nick Pappas, former member of HU Apocalypse, said. “From there, he energizes and mentors volunteers so that they can optimally perform their duties.”
The Arkansas tournament is expected to be a huge youth event for boys’ and girls’ high school teams. Dascalos is expecting to host 25 teams at either Harding University or Burns Park in Little Rock, Ark., by the summer of 2015. The Minnesota State Championship tournament will host 67 mens’ and women’s teams in the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn., on May 31 and June 1. The U.S. Open will be the largest Ultimate Frisbee tournament of the summer with 20 professional teams from 12 countries bringing in over 10,000 fans. The four-day tournament and convention will take place on July 2-6.
“Tournament atmospheres vary slightly, but as a whole they are intense and competitive,” senior HU Apocalypse team member Jared Knappe said. “We have an amazing opportunity as a team to show Christ to a lot of state schools that have some players that don’t have the same focus in life. That focus is living for God, and we want them to see a joy in us that can only come from Him.”
Dascalos wants the tournament that he’s designing to be something that can be continued for years to come. He wants to leave a legacy.
