Pioneer Valley Invitational celebrating 10th anniversary this weekend at the Oxbow

NORTHAMPTON — This weekend marks a milestone for the annual Pioneer Valley Invitational (PVI), as the event will celebrate its 10-year anniversary by welcoming 64 total ultimate teams from along the East Coast to the Oxbow Marina. The tournament is hosted by the Northampton boys and girls ultimate teams and will span across Saturday and Sunday – with the winners of the A Divisions earning a spot in the national tournament later this spring.

According to the PVI’s website, a portion of the proceeds are to be donated to Ultimate Peace, a non-profit organization that uses the sport of ultimate to build bridges of understanding and friendship between youth who live in divided Middle Eastern communities.

A whopping 20 playing fields will be jam-packed with highlight plays and competitive matches throughout the weekend, and many of the over 100 volunteers at the PVI helped set up the playing surfaces in the days leading up to the tournament to ensure they’re ready to go.

Across those nearly two-dozen fields, 44 boys teams divided up into three divisions and 20 girls teams in two divisions will compete for titles against their respective opponents. On the boys side, teams from New Jersey, Georgia, New York, Maine, Connecticut, Vermont and all over Canada are making the trip to the Valley to play in this large event. Local teams include The Hartsbrook School, Frontier Regional, Four Rivers, PVCICS, Amherst and the hosts, Northampton.

Division A consists of Écho (Canada), Four Rivers, Montclair (New Jersey), Northampton, Arlington, Brooklyn Tech (New York), Haverford (New Jersey), Beacon (New York), Lakeside (Georgia), Westfield (New Jersey), Stuyvesant (New York), Titane, Lexington, Columbia (New Jersey), Needham and Montpelier (Vermont). Montclair won last year’s title.

Hartsbrook and PVCICS are in Division B while Frontier is in Division C. Écho enters the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and the favorite to win it all.

For the girls, 20 teams from similar parts of the country line it up battle it out over the weekend – one in which weather may play a part in the outcome of these games. In Division A, Titane is the top seed, and is joined by Four Rivers, Haverford, Northampton, Amherst, Toronto, Lexington and Arlington. Canadian team Origine won last year’s girls’ title.

The ‘Canes, which won the Amherst Invitational two weeks ago, check in at No. 2 and are looking to sweep the Valley’s two top tournaments this season.

As for game logistics, each game will be played to a score of 13 and a five-minute halftime break will be taken after a team reaches seven points. If neither team reaches that number in 35 minutes, halftime will ensue. Each team is allowed one timeout per half and they last a maximum of two minutes. There is a hard cap of 75 minutes for each game. If nobody reaches 13 points, the team with the most points after the time is up will be declared the winner.