With only three places up for grabs the SE region will be experiencing a heated game to go while the top two battle for the prestige of taking the region.
DED (Dog Eat Disc) were last years years victors of the region after finishing a comfortable 4th at Tour in 2012, however a stronger and more fleshed out squad from Brighton brought it back hard at Nationals, beating them comfortably 15-5 while DED where were lacking some key players. This year they have slipped 6 places in the tour rankings down to 10th place, but will still be fighting for that vital qualification if they are again to establish themselves as the biggest contenders in the regionals tournament. With them placing in a mixed squad into the region, it is clear that DED's focus is not just on the Open side of things. It will be interesting to see how they split their guys between the two teams, trying to find a balance can be difficult. DED will be looking to get comfortable with the mixed team but should be doing so without cutting too much depth from the DED open squad. If this team is to continue it's growth, it's important that it tries hard to find this balance and not sacrifice the few spots that are on offer, which will be highly contested from Reading and Brighton Echo.
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| DED at T2, but which men will go play mixed from this bunch? Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss. |
Brighton City, long time standing club and rumors suggest; the biggest Ultimate club in the UK, are on a mission that transcends that of single tournaments and instead places itself on the timeline of decades. With discussions rife about sorting out who will play Breezy, Echo and City, it is clear that Brighton City are thinking of nothing else but a Nationals qualification, a given seeing that they finished 4th at Tour over all this year, rising two places from 6th last year. However who they face in the final could be a different story. Trying out a new approach to Ultimate, City will be looking to see how their offense fares compared to last year not just in the region but all the way to Nationals. With Brighton putting up their best ever performance against Clapham this year (15-11), it will be interesting to see how they contend for the Euros spot as their team grows in strength and depth.
Brighton Echo, a team that is seen as more of an extension of the first team within the club than a second team will be looking to prove a point in the SE. Meeting defeat upon defeat against Reading, they will be looking for revenge, but with Reading being comfortable in their victories, surely that 3rd place is destined for them and them only. Echo, however, will be sporting their strongest team yet, coupled with a few new tricks in their arsenal, their aim is to solely prove that Reading caught them on a bad few days.
Reading as previously mentioned had comfortable victories against Echo this year and broke into A-tour after Tour 2, only to drop back out of it in tour 3. Proving that they are on the cusp of promotion, they finished top of B-tour, taking 17th, 4 places up on Echo who stole 21st from EMO 2 (a team that had previously given them trouble). Going from strength to strength this year, they are in a prime position to take their game up to the next level. Lacking Mark Bignal (who is going to be playing for DED Mixed), their Captain and so goes without saying, a key player, the rest of the players will be looking to step up to the mark and prove that their depth is withstanding.
Release have seen key players lost to Wessex last year and a few to Brighton over the years, they will be looking to rebuild their team back to full capacity; with regionals providing a perfect opportunity to do that. Sporting lots of fresh talent from Skunks, it will be important to see if these players build the club loyalty to stay or will their talent be head hunted by some of the bigger clubs as the younger players look to make plays to get noticed. Possible exciting moments from this team.
Pier Pressure being another part of the Brighton contingent will be looking to bring a hard game, with a lot of experience and ability, they have the potential to cause some upsets to the rankings. Wanting to further themselves in the regionals scene, Pier Pressure will be looking to bring a hard game to whomever they play. Expect tough defence and a hectic offence from these guys, who proved last year that given the right moment and their years of playing together, they can upset teams!
Team Shark and Guildford will also be appearing, hoping to utilise this as an opportunity to match up against the big players and teams, taking from it what they can in a hope to continue the growth they have been experiencing so far.
Predictions for this region?
1. Brighton City
2. DED
3. Brighton Echo
4. Reading
5. Pier Pressure
6. DED Mixed
7. Release
8. Guildford
9. Team Shark
So that's it, all the regional competitions will take place over the weekend. Follow the action on twitter! DP @ tSG.
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