Valley of the Sun Ultimate has been an official non-profit organization for less than 30 years, but it has been a community of players and organizers for much longer. New Year Fest, our locally run tournament, entered its fourth decade in 2012.
This page is an attempt at an inclusive history. It is a work in progress. If you have materials or reminiscences, please email me at webmaster@vots.org ~Katherine Nabity, 07/09/20
New Year Fest XXVIII
Leagues
New Year Fest XXIX
League
New Year Fest XXX
Leagues
Winter Competitive League 2012
Champion: Yellow Team
Captain: Paul Otto
Spring League 2012
Champion: The Disc is Mayan
Captains: Tim Streit & Kaysi Oliphant
Summer Women's League 2012
Champion: Pink Tacos
Captain: Kaysi Oliphant
Summer Men's League 2012
Champion: Thunder Ducks
Captain: Tim Streit
Friday Night Flights 2012
Champion: Black Bear Bicycle
Fall League 2012
Champion: Blackout
Captains: Pat & Marlena Nardi
Sunday Fall League 2012
Champion: Ice Cream Sunday
Winter Women's League 2012
Champion: SnowBALLAS
Captains: Cheyenne Lopez & Jody Sheets
Winter Men's League 2012
Champion: Green-Man Woman Haters Club
Captains: Eric Bay & Bryan Paris
New Year Fest XXXI
New Year Fest 31, January 26-27, 2013
Games were cancelled due to inclement weather.
Leagues
Spring League 2013
Champion: Hucktoberfest
Captains: Jason Chen & Erin Donahue
Summer Women's League 2013
Champion: Hanky Pankies
Captains: Breanna Bryant & Erin Donahue
Summer Men's League 2013
Champion: El Gringos
Captains: Bill Christensen & Nick Rodeck
Friday Night Flights 2013
Champion: Purple Drank
Fall League 2013
Champion: Office Disc Space
Captains: Crystal Hall & Tom Studer
Winter Women's League 2013
Champion: The Blue Team
Captains: Emily Claricoates & Amanda Kaestner
Winter Men's League 2013
Champion: Redrum
Captains: Tim Streit & Tom Studer
USAU Southwest Club Regionals 2013
VOTS hosted the 2013 USAU Southwest Club Regionals.
Congratulations to Revolver & Condors (Open), Polar Bears, Mischief & 7 Figures (Mixed), Fury & Nightlock (Womens) for earning bids to the National Championship competition.
New Year Fest XXXII
Leagues
Winter Competitive League 2014
Champion: The King and Jia
Spring League 2014
Champion: The Strange Case of Dr. Heckle & Mr. Skied
Captains: Cole Cairl & Kody Lippincott
Summer Men's League 2014
Champion: Blue Team
Captain: Robert Gallagher
Summer Women's League 2014
Champion: Ninja Bunnies
Captains: Cynthia Thomas & Carmen Zazueta
Friday Night Flights 2014
Champion: Wyld Stallyns
Fall League 2014
Champion: The Incredible Huck
Captains: Jeff Budd & Jody Sheets
Sunday League 2014
Champion: #redTeam
Captain: Ashley Stahl
New Year Fest XXXIII
NYF 33, January 31-February 1, 2015
Games were cancelled due to inclement weather.
Leagues
Men's Winter League I 2015
Champion: Weight Room*
(*by regular season. Finals were rained out.)
Women's Winter League I 2015
Spring League 2015
Champion: LEGO My Beer
Captains: Emily Claricoates & Jia Xie
Summer League 2015
Champion: The White Walkers
Friday Night Flights 2015
Champion: Cuatro
Captains: Jake Schmieder
Fall League 2015
Champion: Throws Before Crows
Captains: Amy Stern & Ryan Watson
Men's Winter League II 2015
Champion: Blue Team
Captains: Jia Xie
Women's Winter League II 2015
New Year Fest XXXIV
Leagues
Winter A/B League 2016
Champion A Division: The A-Team
Captains: Daniel & Elizabeth Deming
Champion B Division: Saved by the Hammer
Captains: Brian Colson & Allyson Pacini
Spring League 2016
Champion: Throbi-Wan Kengodeep
Captains: Keith Aspinall & Erin Donahue
Summer Leagues 2016
Champion Men's League: Blue Team
Champion Tuesday Coed League: Luck of the Irish
Champion Thursday Coed League: Team 7
Club
Rubix Ultimate welcomed Club Mixed teams to the first-ever Coconino Classic, Aug 13-14, held in beautiful Flagstaff, AZ.
Coconino Classic is a SANCTIONED mixed tournament. In its first year, it hosted 8 teams. The tournament was also a fund-raising event for Ultimate Peace.
http://vots.org/16SWRegionals/16SWRegionals.shtmlSouthwest Regionals were held in Phoenix, AZ at the Reach 11 Sports Complex, Sept 10-11, 2016.
New Year Fest XXXV
Leagues
Winter A/B League 2017
Champion A Division: Blue Steal
Captains: Justin Gries & Sarah Hill
Champion B Division: Clifford
Captains: Danielle Marshall & Stephen So
Spring League 2017
Champion: ...but it's a dry heat...
Captains: Brenton Hard & Sarah Hill
Friday Night Flights 2017
Teams
No other info is available for this league.
Summer League 2017
Summer League, games in August, was handles hat-style.
Fall League 2017
Champion: Killer Kallahans from Outer Space
Captains: Joanne Aspinall & Kris Kaufman
Club
Crawl, the open master's team, won USAU's Southwest Regionals and advanced on to Masters Nationals (July 21-23 in Aurora, CO). A Phoenix team hadn't won the southwest championship since Plastic Surgeons in 1992. At Nationals, Crawl broke seed to finish 6th in a field of 16 teams.
Riding High West also competed at Nationals in the inaugural year of the Women's Grandmasters division. They also broke seed to finish 4th in a field of six.
Sprawl (open), Phoenix Uprising (women's), and Superstition (mixed) all earned bids to USAU Club Regionals.
New Year Fest XXXVI
Leagues
Winter A/B League 2018
Champion A Division: Imminent Ballistic Thumber Attack
Captain: Tim Streit
Champion B Division: So Black & Tan (Team 13)
Captains: Stephen So & Laura Tan
Spring League 2018
Champion: Orange You Glad You...
Captains: Elliott Hawks & Kelly Payne
Club
World Masters Ultimate Club Championship
Local team Crawl was invited to compete at the World Flying Disc Federation's World Masters Championship in Winnipeg, Canada on July 29–August 4th.
WFDF's WMUCC site
Crawl vs. Wolpertinger (Germany) via Big Media Sports
Coconino Classic
Phoenix area club mixed teams acquitted themselves well in competition at Flagstaff's Coconino Classic. ROBOS took home the championship over California's Long Beach Legacy and Rubix and Superstition battled for third.
New Year Fest XXXVII
League
A/B Winter League 2019
Champion A Division: Black Ice
Captains: Erin Donahue and Mike Hall
Champion B Division: Yellow Tail
Captains: Matt Nock and Liesl Pimentel
Spring League 2019
Champion: Red Mountain Mamas
Captains: Ted Bland and Kody Lippincott
Summer League 2019
Champion Session 1: Rendez-blue
Captains: Allyson Pacini and Timothy Streit
Champion Session 2: Team 1 (WHITE)
Captain: Kris Kaufman
Fall League 2019
Champion: 2019: A Disc Space Pants Odyssey
Captains: Ryan Blackman & Ashley Stahl
Winter League 2019
Champion: Team 2
Professional
Westcoast Women's Professional Ultimate
The San Diego Wolfpack (featuring many Phoenix metro ladies) finished the season 2-1, closing out the season with decisive away-game win over the LA 99s.
Western Ultimate League site
Wolfpack vs. 99s via Los Angeles Aviators
Club
USAU Mixed Masters
Snowbirds mixed masters team competed at USAU Nationals the weekend of July 19-21. In their first season of play, Snowbirds finished third in our very competitive southwest region and broke seed at nationals to finish tied for 7th. Snowbirds is one of the Valley's first mixed masters teams and continues the strong tradition of masters ultimate in the Phoenix metro.
