This weekend, one of Ballard High School's best sports team will compete in the largest youth ultimate frisbee tournament in the world.

Taking place in Burlington, Wa, Spring Reign is a co-ed tournament featuring over 100 teams from elementary school to high school age and will showcase some of the best competition in the Northwest.

Ballard High School is sending their co-ed team to the tournament, which Coach Ben Goldfarb said, is their strongest.

The team remains undefeated this season and they're heading up to Burlington as the number one seed in the tournament.

Goldfarb said the seven-on-seven co-ed game requires a ratio of four boys and three girls.

"The stronger your women are, the better your chances of winning are," he said.

Luckily for Ballard, the team has two of the strongest girls in the city, Savannah Ryan and Sarah Edwards.

"Savannah is probably the most special girl athlete I've seen. She throws as far as most of the good boys," Goldfarb said.

Sarah Edwards attends Holy Names Academy but plays for the BHS ultimate frisbee team.

"She's amazing as far as running, catching, and throwing goes," Goldfarb said. "She loves the game and knows the game really well. She's very smart."

Ultimate is a club sport which means that coaches are volunteers and kids pay their own way.

Goldfarb said they struggle to get field space and Disc Northwest, the educational, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes and supports the sport of Ultimate, has been pushing district to implement a boys and girls high school league.

"We do have a middle school league run by the district," Goldfarb said. "But lots of kids who played in middle school go to high school wanting to keep playing."

Ultimate appeals to the counter-culture, said Goldfarb.

"It's a self-refereed game and is based on respect. It's not a game of how much you can get away with. You play with honor and integrity," he said. "In addition to being physically active, the kids learn to mediate things themselves and learn about conflict resolution."

Goldfarb said having a co-ed team at middle school and high school age is unique but it generally works well.

Goldfarb himself got introduced to the sport as a kid in Buffalo, New York in 1977. He later started the ulimate frisbee team at Evergreen State College.

He coaches the BHS boys ultimate team and co-coaches the co-ed team with Carmella Vizza.

Vizza was awarded the 2010 Girls Youth Coach of the Year award by USA Ultimate.

The Ballard ultimate frisbee teams were started 10 years ago by Sarah Plants, who was a student at the time. After high school, Plants went on to captain the UW ultimate team, which is one of the highest ranked teams in the nation.

In 2008, she died at the age of 22 due to a brain tumor.

"We make sure the players remember her and know about her as they come through the system," Goldfarb said, who coached with Plants at Whitman Middle School. "She serves as an inspiration for the kids."

The number 24, Plants' UW number, is stitched on all the jerseys and the program hands out a few scholarships to summer camps in her honor.

Since its founding days the Ballard teams have grown fast.

"The sport is growing in leaps and bounds," Goldfarb said. " We currently have 23 boys and 18 girls on our roster."

At the younger age, Goldfarb said Whittier Elementary, Whitman Middle School and Salmon Bay Middle School have strong programs, too.

"Ultimate is a spectacular game to play and watch," Goldfarb said. "There's diving and jumping catches. It's a very acrobatic game that highly athletic. "