Machine is set to kick off the 2016 season this weekend at the US Open in Kingston, RI. The US Open is a four day tournament, running from Friday (7/1) through Monday (7/4), and features several of the top US and International teams. The tournament is run in conjunction with the USA Ultimate convention, a series of speakers and seminars on a variety of ultimate related topics from leading figures across the US.
More information on the tournament and convention can be found at http://play.usaultimate.org/events/US-Open-Ultimate-Championships-2016/
Machine will complete pool play against Seattle Sockeye, Madison Club, Florida United, Ki.e (Colombia), and General Strike (Winnipeg) over two days before moving onto bracket play.
Full Game Schedule: http://play.usaultimate.org/events/US-Open-Ultimate-Championships-2016/schedule/Men/Club-Men/
Select games will be live streamed via ESPN3 – Machine is not currently slated to appear on the broadcast schedule unless in semi-finals or beyond.
Machine will be sending a smaller roster of 19 players, with several players missing for non-injury related reasons (Ron Kubalanza, Alex Evangelides, Mike Schwenk, Nick Prozorovsky, Brett Kolinek, Stephan Mance, and Joshua Stevens-Stein). Despite the smaller squad, there will be plenty of time for bonding, as the team will be residing in a 10 room dorm suite at the University of Rhode Island campus, a short drive from the Atlantic coast. Machine will also be joined for the first time this season by out of city players Travis Carpenter (Indianapolis, IN), Bob Liu (Raleigh, NC), and Goose Helton/ Brett Matzuka (returning from the World Championships in London as gold medal winning members of Team USA).
To follow along for live updates: http://twitter.com/machineultimate
Check back after the tournament for a recap, highlight video, and much more throughout the season.