The San Diego Growlers look to continue their solid start in the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) when they face the Portland Nitro at 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 11 at Mission Bay High School.

The Growlers are 3-1 with a three-game winning streak after losing a close one to the Salt Lake Shred in week one.

“This season we lost a few players but also picked up some key players as well, and mostly return the same core as last year,” said co-owner Justin Goodman, who also played for the team during its first two seasons in 2015 and 2016.

The Growlers advanced to the AUDL playoffs for the first time in 2018, falling in the West Division finals to Los Angeles. They went on and finished the 2019 season with a 10-2 regular season record to clinch the top seed in the West Division playoffs and their first postseason victory defeating Los Angeles, which earned them a trip to Championship Weekend in San Jose. But they lost in the semifinals to the Dallas Roughnecks.

After the 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic, the team made yet another playoff run in 2021, which again saw them finish with a 10-2 record and get revenge on the Roughnecks in the West Division Championship. The Growlers advanced to the AUDL Championship Weekend in Washington, D.C. where they would fall in the semifinals to New York Empire.

“We are trying to spread the word to let more people know about this exciting sport,” Goodman added. “With our depth and experience, I am expecting another playoff run in 2022.”

The games are four quarters of 12 minutes each, with seven players on the field for each team. On offense, each team attempts to complete passes to teammates in under seven seconds. If the disc is caught in the end zone it’s 1 point. If a team throws a disc out of bounds, hits the ground, or is intercepted, the other team takes possession and heads in the opposite direction.

Besides the excitement on the field, the Growlers game versus Portland in Pacific Beach will include a youth day that will include a free clinic for kids, pizza, ice cream, music, face painting, and balloon artists before the game – plus the team mascot in attendance. Children 12 and under get in free and receive a free disc.

Photo courtesy: Armaan Ali