Defending a title is challenging at the best of times.

But that wasn't the only hurdled faced by Cochrane High's Ultimate Frisbee team in last weekend's provincial championship held at the Glenmore Athletic Park, May 25-26.

The championship coincided with graduation celebrations and that left the team's bench a little sparse on the opening day of play. With one win and an eighth place finish, they squeezed into the playoffs, then went undefeated on day two to claim it all.

Jared Wunder, and grad and team captain for the last two years, was among those unable to attend Saturday.

"We had a few grads come back for the Sunday so it was nice to have people make it so that we could continue to play Sunday," says Wunder. "It was a tough start to the weekend but we were able to bounce back in playoffs and went undefeated Sunday winning four games in a row."

Still, it was a tougher tournament than last year when they went undefeated both days and recorded some lopsided victories. This year, both the final against Fort St. John and their semifinal game were decided by one point.

"Saturday was very rainy, cold and wet so everyone was a little bit mad after that day and didn't feel good. We came out Sunday and won our first game right away.  That got everyone fired up then we went forward and kept winning."

The Cochrane High team recently went to the national finals hosted by Carleton University in Ottawa as the Alberta champions.

"It was a great experience. Everyone had a lot of fun and we actually ended up winning the Spirit Prize which is the sportsmanship award of the whole tournament."

While they have the right to represent the province again next spring they may pass it off to a northern Alberta team.

"We might give it up to an Edmonton team. The big thing right now is everyone is trying to develop the program and develop teams. We're thinking Edmonton can go next year so the whole province can have a stronger base."

Head Coach Tara Cunningham gets soaked after the Cobras retained the provincial title.Ultimate Frisbee is very much a grassroots program in Alberta but is strong in other provinces, especially Ontario and Manitoba, he says.

"If we could reach that one day it would be great," says Wunder. "Whatever we can do to build that program here in Alberta is what we're looking to do."

It was a school announcement that first intrigued Wunder to try the sport.

"I went out and it was super fun. It's a great way to get out and run and it's super relaxed. I just love the whole vibe of the sport. I fit right in and I haven't turned away from it since."

"In some sports, there's chirping and people are shoving around stuff but Ultimate is so relaxed and everyone is just happy to be out and playing. When you chat with people on the other teams you haven't met before you get along instantly because everybody loves the sport."

Does the team have a shot of winning the provincial championship for the third time?

"We pulled it together at the last minute this year. Will we be able to do it again? We'll have to see."

Head coach Tara Cunningham says there were more teams at this year's provincial championship as the sport to continues to grow in popularity.

She says one of the beauties of Ultimate Frisbee is its open door approach. There are no tryouts and the students can come out and enjoy the sport as time allows. Upwards of 30 students play at Cochrane High but not all are interested in competing.

"Anybody at any time is welcome to come out and play," she says.

Ultimate Frisbee is played with seven players on a field that's 40 yards wide by 70' deep with 20' end zones. The object is to move the frisbee down the field until a player catches a frisbee in the end zone to score. When you catch the frisbee you must have one foot stationary and pivot until you throw the frisbee to another player.