The HSNI is headed back to the Midwest.
January 3, 2024 by Charlie Eisenhood in News with 0 comments
Ultiworld and Competitive Ultimate Training (CUT) are pleased to announce the sixth annual High School National Invite!
The tournament is set to be held on June 7-8, 2024, in Rockford, Illinois, as the event continues a geographical rotation on a rolling three-year basis. It marks a return to Rockford for HSNI for the first time since 2019; the fantastic fields of the Mercyhealth Sportscore Two complex played host to the first three years of the HSNI.
“It’s been a pleasure to work alongside the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau team and other partners in the community,” said HSNI tournament director and CUT Camps project manager Juan Acosta. “Mercyhealth Sportscore Two is the perfect venue to host this elite tournament and we’re thrilled to be back in the Midwest once again.”
HSNI 2024 will remain on a Friday-Saturday schedule, rather than the standard Saturday-Sunday. This allows the tournament to accommodate teams that do not compete on Sunday for religious reasons and enables the tournament to host the finals later on Saturday evening with a chance for the rest of the tournament’s players to enjoy the games.
32 high school teams — 16 open, 16 girls — will again be invited to play in the event based on performance during the 2023-2024 fall and spring seasons. Beginning in March, Ultiworld will begin releasing biweekly high school top 25 power rankings for each division. Rankings will be based on performance during the season and compiled with a combination of Ultiworld editorial judgment and coaches’ input. Bids will be offered on a rolling basis, particularly to teams that finished their season in the fall or to those at greater distances that require more time to plan travel.
“We’re looking forward to working with CUT Camp, Ultiworld, and other area partners to bring this elite national ultimate frisbee tournament back to the Rockford region after five years. This is a very big win for our entire community and a testament to our commitment to sports excellence,” said Lindsay Arellano, RACVB director of sales & service. “This partnership reaffirms our region’s reputation as a premier sports tourism destination for top athletic competitions and we’re thrilled to welcome visitors here from across the country for the elite tournament weekend.”
In early May, a final set of power rankings will be released; any remaining bids will be offered at that time. If teams decline their invitations, more slots will be opened up in order of the rankings.
New This Year: More Qualifying Tournaments
We are excited to bring back the High School National Invite qualifying tournaments. These tournaments provide a new way for teams to qualify for HSNI earlier in the season and start planning for their trip earlier: the winners from each elite division will earn an automatic bid to the High School National Invite. HSNI is now offering more qualifying tournaments in more regions of the country in 2024, with the Southwest, Northwest, Southeast, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic now represented.
This year’s qualifying tournaments are:
– Seattle Invite Boys Div. (Sept. 2023, qualifier: Eastside Prep)
– YULA Invite (March 16-17, Arlington, VA)
– Seattle Invite Girls Div. (March 30-31, Seattle, WA)
– River Campus Classic (April 6-7, Nashville, TN)
– Neuqua Knockout (May 4-5, Loves Park, IL)
– Amherst Invite (May 4-5, Granby, MA)
– Spaghetti Western (May 4-5, Stockton, CA)
2024 qualifying tournament rules:
– Invitations only extended to high school teams or approved consortiums
– Only the winner of the top division will be invited. Ex: If there is an Open A and Open B division, only the Open A winner will be invited
– Winners of both the Open and Girls divisions will be invited
- HSNI retains the right to withhold an invite
Invited Teams & More Information
Last year’s repeat champions, the Lone Peak (UT) open division team and the South Eugene (OR) girls division team, will both receive an automatic invitation to the 2024 tournament. Additional teams that concluded their competitive seasons this fall will receive invites in the coming days. The 2023 Seattle Boys state champion Eastside Prep has auto-qualified by winning the Seattle Invite in the fall.
Ultiworld will continue its high school reporting in 2024 in the lead up to the event and will again be on the ground for reporting and live video coverage.
More information about the tournament is available on the HSNI website. If you have questions about the event or want to provide information about your team’s interest in the event and/or results this season, please email [email protected].
Check out all of the Ultiworld video and UltiPhotos photo coverage from the 2023 HSNI in Salt Lake City!
