(Photo by Tino Tran: Rainmaker Reid Koss catching, in preseason matchup vs. Portland)
This spring, you won’t have to go downtown to see professional sports: The Seattle Rainmakers just announced their home games will be at Southwest Athletic Complex in Westwood, starting a week from this Saturday. Here’s the announcement:
Major League Ultimate (MLU) is establishing one of its eight professional ultimate frisbee teams in the Seattle area. The Seattle Rainmakers join the MLU’s Western Conference, and kick off their season on April 20th against the Vancouver Nighthawks.
The Seattle Rainmakers are coached by the highly decorated Ben Wiggins, a participant in, and coach of, elite ultimate in the northwest for the better part of the last decade. Wiggins has won awards at the highest level of collegiate ultimate, taken three club championships with Seattle’s premier club team, Seattle Sockeye, and has two World Championship silver medals to his name.
“Seattle has an amazing Ultimate community,” said Wiggins. “Hopefully the Rainmakers can show them something new that also embodies a love for the game wherever we play.”
Wiggins selected a 25-man roster in mid-March following a comprehensive two-day combine that tested participants on speed, strength, agility and disc skills. The resulting team is deep on talent, athleticism and, perhaps most importantly, experience.
“I think the Rainmakers are right there talent-wise with the best teams in the league,” said General Manager Max Vitali. “When you look at the years of experience a lot of these players bring and combine it with the pedigree of our coaching staff, it’s tough to find another team in the league that looks better on paper than us.”
Vitali is looking forward to watching his team in action, and has high hopes for their prospects in this inaugural season. More than that, he’s excited to bring a fast-growing sport to the city of Seattle.
“The fans in Seattle have absolutely blown us away over the last several months. We’re overjoyed that we can showcase the next phase of ultimate in their city, and we’re looking forward to bringing home the MLU’s first championship trophy later this summer.”
The regular season schedule runs from April 20 through June 22. Games are played at Chief Sealth Stadium near West Seattle, and tickets are available for $16. Discounts are available for students and children.
That would be the Southwest Athletic Complex, 2801 SW Thistle. See the season schedule (with ticketing links) by going here.
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