Liberty men's and women's ultimate players, coaches, and staff show their wilder side at the tournament where they both played and served alongside Disc-iple Sports Ministry.
Ultimate players join forces to help Disc-iple Sports run High Tide Tournament over Spring Break
A team of 15 players traveled to North Myrtle Beach to compete in the 50-team tournament while serving and ministering to the other 1,300 players at the weeklong event.
A mixed team of Liberty University men's and women's ultimate players competed in the co-ed division of the High Tide College Ultimate Tournament and also joined the serve team at the tournament over Spring Break at the North Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sports Complex.
"A lot of it was sports outreach and a lot of ministry-related things within ultimate Frisbee, to be able to use the sport I know and love to glorify God," said senior team captain Luke Carlsen, a Disciple Maker and handler on the men's squad. "It was a great time, just helping (Disc-iple Sports Ministry) to run the tournament, and interacting with others and seeing how we could be praying and serving them. The was the first time for a Liberty team to go, and hopefully not the last."
Disc-iple Sports, led by Ed and Cathy Pulkinen, has hosted the High Tide Tournament every March since 1996, starting in Savannah, Ga., with just six teams. The event has been hosted in North Myrtle Beach since 2018 and has grown to over 200 teams attending over four weeks, with numbers returning to pre-COVID-19 totals in recent years.
"There were 50 teams and about 1,300 people there that week, and it was an amazing time," Carlsen said. "Disc-iple staff do a great job with the tournament. All the other teams were there to compete and enjoy their Spring Breaks. We were the only ones volunteering to help run the tournament."
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Team members crowd beneath a sunset mural at the hotel overlaid with Psalm 118:24.
The 15 Flames and Lady Flames players plus women's Head Coach Bethany Weldy, Club Sports academic advisor Dylan Coombs, and a driver made the trip and participated in a six-game hat tournament on Monday before playing three games per day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
"It was tiring, but the fact that we got to compete and play with them on the field and then to serve them off the field was awesome," Carleson said. "There were a bunch of opportunities to serve. When it came to being on the field in games, we were able to show good sportsmanship, and be the light of Christ, even when the competitive nature of the sport came out. Then, off the field, to fill water bottles and show others that Jesus loves and cares for them was very impactful for us and others at the tournament."
Then on Friday, the team went to a local high school to put on an ultimate Frisbee tournament.
"I loved that opportunity," Carlsen said. "We were the only team that went, along with a couple of the Disc-iple Sports staff, and that was an excellent time of getting to interact with about 100 freshmen high school students, to show them how to play ultimate and to be lights of Christ wherever we were."
Other team leaders who participated in the outreach included women's team captains Grace Wilson, a graduate student, and junior Marina Abila and men's team Disciple Maker Micah Moore, a freshman.
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