2003 Toronto Ultimate Tournament

This page has been recovered via web.archive.org. Formatting is not ideal at the moment, but it's on our list; we'll get to it eventually!

Dates - Saturday & Sunday, May 10-11, 2003 (Juniors May 10 only)

Location - Milliken Mills Park and nearby fields, Markham, Ontario, Canada

Divisions - Open A (12-16 teams), Open B (12-16 teams), Womens (12-16 teams), Mixed A (12-16 teams), Mixed B (12-16 teams), and Juniors Mixed (4-8 teams)

Registration is closed as of April 30, 2003. Contact tut@tuc.org or 416-426-7175 if you have any questions.

GAIA Ultimate - Official Gear Sponsor of the Toronto Ultimate Tournament: This year GAIA has come out to sponsor the TUT tournament with Ultimate gear and clothing. The best part of this deal, is that the more we buy, the more we get for the tournament, so if you need to make a gear purchase click on the GAIA banner, or plug in our affiliate number:50045 at check-out on the GAIA site.

Fields: As in the past, the TUT tournament will be using a number of locations in the town of Markham (which is directly north of Toronto). Unfortunately we don't have a single location that can accommodate 60+ teams. This year the fields are even more dispersed than usual since there are a couple soccer tournaments as well as our Ultimate tournament. We'll do our best to keep things as clear as possible, but if at some point during the weekend your team gets lost, you should contact John's cell phone at: 416-525-5677.

Click HERE to get a listing of all the fields with directions.

Parties: The Friday get together will be at the Bedford Ballroom, 232 Bloor Street West, 416-966-4450, which is about 2 blocks east of the Quality Hotel Midtown, 280 Bloor West, 416-968-0010.

The Saturday party will be at 300 Campbell Ave, Suite 216, from 9:00pm onward; which is easy walking distance from the Lansdowne subway station on the Bloor line: from the Lansdowne station, walk four blocks north on Lansdowne to Dupont, then 1 block west on Dupont to Campbell. VC Ultimate will be hosting this party!

Hotels:

• Quality Hotel Midtown (closest to parties), 280 Bloor St West, 416-968-0010, cost $99, quote "Toronto Ultimate Tournament" and reservation number 101559.
• Holiday Inn Yorkdale (midway between fields & parties - on 401 for tournament, on subway line for parties), 3450 Dufferin Street, 1-800-524-8436, cost $129.95, mention "Toronto Ultimate Tournament".
• Comfort Inn Northeast (closest to fields), 8330 Woodbine Ave, 1-800-477-6088 or 905-477-6077, cost $85, mention "Toronto Ultimate Tournament".

SARS: A number of you have asked about SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) which had an outbreak in Toronto. I am no medical professional, but here’s what I can say:

• On April 30, WHO lifted travel restrictions to Toronto.
  On April 23, WHO recommended against non-essential travel to Toronto.
  See www.who.int/en/
• The CDC (Center for Disease Control) in the US is recommending caution when traveling to Toronto - see www.cdc.gov/travel/other/sars_can.htm. They mention that SARS has been contained to a small number of hospitals and communities in the Toronto area.
• Health Canada, www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/warnings/sars/update39.html, has expressed opposition to the WHO recommendations stating that all SARS cases in Toronto can be traced to a single case, and that the outbreak has been contained. Also, Canadian health officials are monitoring airports for any new cases that might arrive from other affected areas.
• I phoned Health Ontario (1-866-797-0000) today and learned that there were only four hospitals in Toronto that had SARS cases. The hospital nearest to the TUT fields, Markham-Stouffville, did not treat any SARS patients.
• I also heard on the news that it has been 20 days since the last reported new case in Toronto. 20 days represents two incubation periods for the disease, so the expectation is that the outbreak has ended.
• This is the Health Canada advisory saying it's OK to travel to Toronto: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/tmp-pmv/2003/sarsdomestic_e.html.

Given this information, it is my intention to continue with the TUT tournament. I will keep an eye on the situation in Toronto and will let you know if there is anything negative to report. I will respect the opinion of any team that feels uncomfortable visiting Toronto and will unconditionally issue a refund of full fees if a team drops out due to SARS fears. (But please let me know sooner rather than later so I can revise any schedules.)

Archive.org link to schedules and results