The Grapevine - 28/02

Couple weeks off for the Grapevine but back in for this almost leap day!

UKU/BUCS University Ultimate Regionals (we love acronyms) start this weekend, see our coverage here.

The UKU needs info for the upcoming tour season! New team? Get involved email Benji at benji.heywood@ukultimate.com. 

Benji also wrote a piece on his site Understanding Ultimate this week about possible Match Fixing in Ultimate.

Last night saw a big meeting of minds for Women's ultimate. Wasn't able to go? Contact us and we can link you up and help develop the Women's division in the UK!

Windmill Windup have made their decision on who will get to play there this year! Go see some big teams warming up for WUCC2014.

Check out this old school news piece from Ross-On-Wye explaining Ultimate in the UK, 25 years ago!

Make sure to tweet from your region this weekend, e.g. SEUOOR -> #seuoor. Good luck!

Midlands University Open Outdoor Regionals Preview

Chris Alderson runs down the Midlands region ahead of this weekend University regionals in Cambridge.

With the University Indoor season drawing to a close, all teams in the Midlands Region are once again drawn to Cambridge to compete for 6 Nationals places (3 in each Division). Here’s a preview of what we’re likely to see.

We can’t start this anywhere other than looking at the Division 1 Indoor National Champs and our hosts, Cambridge (Strange Blue). On the lips of everyone in the region is ‘these Americans’ or to use their actual names, Justin Norden and Ben Funk. Funk is an import from Stanford and Norden a 2011 USA College Nationals Champ with Carleton. Expect the combination of Norden’s clinical handling and Dom Dathan breaking forces like twigs to form an offence to be reckoned with. Captain George Anegg will be looking to take a large and athletic squad to give those handlers plenty of options.

University of Nottingham at Div 2 Nationals last year. Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss.

The next logical team to review would be the Division 2 Indoor National Champs, Warwick Bears. Bears Skipper Sam ‘261’ Hawkins appears to have gathered a good squad depth. Their second team was the highest placed second team at Indoor Regionals, and they have a good retention of players from last year in the name of Robbie ‘Cracking’ Tink and Frigate as steady handlers, plus Andy Hillman organising the defence. Expect that ‘Midlands weave’ and a classic Bears aggressive zone in their arsenal. With this in mind, Warwick will be looking to be that outside bet to break into the top two (of Cambridge and Birmingham) in the region.

South East University Open Outdoor Regionals Preview

Joe Spreckley continues our UKU Uni Regionals previews with the outlook in the South East.

The south east has finally found a venue and the largest region will get its qualifying tournament for another year. Realistically I can only see two teams having a chance of winning the tournament, the first of course being Sussex (Mohawks).

Sussex enter the tournament heavy favourites having won the previous three open outdoor regionals with relative ease. While some of the big names are starting to graduate, the depth of class in the squad is still evident with players such as John Maule and Sam Airey continuing the winning legacy. What remains to be seen is do they have the depth to get two teams into division one once again? Don’t be surprised to see Mohawks 2 in the 3-4 game to go like last year.

The other standout team in the region this year is Imperial Disc Doctors. Led by Stephan Rossbauer (Clapham) and James Threadgill (Cambridge mixed). They arguably have the strongest individuals in the region. Keeping near enough the same team as last year, David Pryce (Fire), Phil Sandwell (Ka-Pow), and Renny Norman (Iceni) are the other key players which most the play should run through. If the draw allows it, A DD vs. Mohawks final will be a great watch and could be one of the closest for a few years.

Can Imperial take the title off long standing champions Sussex? Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss.

Western University Open Outdoor Regionals Preview

Andrew Moss starts off the University Outdoor season from the Western region perspective.

Always challenging, the run up to the University outdoor season seems to have been particularly tough this year with the addition of flooded fields and 80mph winds meaning it has been nearly impossible for teams to get outside. Those who have persisted will be rewarded, however, with the opportunity to represent their University at the BUCS National Championships.

Ben Powlay in blue for Plymouth University. Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss.

The South Bristol Sports Centre will host those Western University teams hoping to make the elusive top six in our regional competition, and thus a spot at Nationals in Manchester. An expanse of quality, well-drained fields means the tournament has a huge capacity, and clubs have taken advantage of this with most fielding second and third teams. Some fairly exposed pitches means that wind will likely be key factor in this tournament.