OP/ED: Edina hosts ultimate All-Star game at US Bank Stadium

On Sunday, December 1st the first ever ultimate frisbee game was held in U.S Bank stadium. The game featured two games side by side. Two Minnesota All-Star rosters were created to take on the Edina boys and girls teams, being Edina vs. Minnesota. 

Minnesota being a combined team of athletes from Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Eden Prairie, Great River and many more schools across the state. Edina has ranked themselves as number 1 in the state, trying to gather the best players in the Metro as a combined team to compete against. 

The game went by rather quickly, as there were only two, 40 minute halves, with more than 13 subs. Points were scored frequently, as defense lacked from both sides. Players from both teams seemed a little under conditioned as the winter season is upon us.  

This game was an honor to play in. Being able to walk onto the field I see on TV all the time was such an amazing experience. Standing on the field just looking around at the thousands of seats and trying to imagine all of those filled took my breath away. 

Unfortunately, there were not thousands of people there like the Vikings game I see on TV. Edina’s goal was to sell 70 tickets per hour over two hours totaling to 140 across 4 different teams. This was accomplished with over 300 ticket sales, as the stands were decently filled in one section with many parents and friends of players. 

“It was an amazing experience to play in the stadium and be able to showcase ultimate to a large group of players. Being able to play on an all star team was great and also beating the “best team” in the state was nice to put them in their place,” Phoebe Stern, senior, a member of the Hopkins girls team said.

The girls all star team picked up a victory 12-8 taking down the Edina girls at their own fundraiser. 

On the other hand, the boys all star team failed to do the same. Coming into the game our all star team was flooded with elite players from all across Minnesota, including three team USA tryouts, but not necessarily all the best talent in the state. 

I believe that many of my teammates on Hopkins could easily play at this level and were suitable to play on the team. Unfortunately, the team was composed of only players who compete over the summer on the three Minnesota Superior teams.