This weekend April 15-17,

Hopkins Ultimate recreational team (HUrt) will travel to Cartersville, GA, to play in the Paideia Cup XI. The Paideia Cup  is a tournament that is hosted by The Paideia School, every year for the top eight teams in the country.

There are two different divisions in the tournament including: Girl’s and the Boy’s division both of which HUrt will be competing in.  

One of the biggest opponents HUrt will have to face is Amherst. Amherst is the only team in HUrt history that HUrt has played and never beaten.

“The key to winning is retaining possession and playing lockdown defense. If we limit our turnovers and play great defense, we will have no problem,” said Ben Pavelka, senior, captain.

‘HUrt’ also will face some other challenges including making it to the winners bracket.  The team has been unable to make it to the winner’s bracket for the past three years.  Additionally, ‘HUrt’ has not played a tournament outside yet this year.

“To overcome this we have been working out and practicing as much as we can. The hardest part will be adapting to weather we haven’t been able to practice in,” said Zach Shear, senior, captain.

HUrt also has much to look forward to including playing against the top Ultimate teams in the country.

“I’m most looking forward to the environment and the intensity. The competition at Paideia is unrivaled,” Pavelka said.  

The girls are also looking to make a history as this is their first time ever competing in the tournament.  

Both the boys and girls start at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday morning.

“The key to winning this weekend is starting the game hot and coming off the bye hot. We also need to make smart decisions and throw to open hands,” said Sam Resnick, junior, captain.