Eastern athletics helping a country in need

The Exiles is not your average Ultimate Frisbee team.

In fact, Eastern’s resident frisbee players will be taking their game to the next level on April 17 to raise money for Haiti in a tournament at LaSalle University.

All funds raised through the tournament, “Hucks for Haiti,” will be donated to a Catholic Haiti fund. LaSalle came up with the idea for the tournament in February, and the Exiles have been involved ever since.

“I sent everyone an e-mail about it—said it was first-come, first-serve—and the response was pretty quick,” said junior David Wadleigh, president of the Exiles. “Everyone’s really excited about it.”

Eight teams, with six players each, will compete in the tournament and all of the teams have to pay a $100 entry fee.

Play will be organized round-robin style, and the team that wins the most games will win a prize.

“The prize is usually a really big candy bar or something,” Wadleigh said.

Eleven or twelve Eastern students are going to participate in the tournament, which is mixed to allow both girls and guys to compete together, something that Wadleigh was looking for.

“It’s going to be fun and more laid-back than most tournaments,” Wadleigh said. “It’s at the end of the semester, and I think everyone is ready for a fun time.”

Sophomore Diana Burke, who is also going on the trip, agreed.
“It’s going to be with smaller teams and more intimate, which will be nice,” she said.

The focus of the tournament is less on competition and more on helping those less fortunate.

“At least in some small way we’re helping, and we’re having fun at the same time,” first-year Jeff Russell said.