Club or Country Part 2 - Is GB ready?

Mark Penny continues Club or Country by asking:

Are GB missing out not sending a club team to represent our country?

For Club or Country Introduction click here.

For Club or Country Part One click here.

A lot of the leading international teams from our sport are winners of the national club championships from their respective countries. The US sent Sockeye to Worlds in 2008 and Revolver in 2012, whereas teams such as Japan and Sweden have consistent representation from Buzz Bullets and Skogshyddan. The same can be seen in the women’s division, with San Francisco’s Fury being a prime example of success within this system. The question being asked is this: are we, in Britain, right or wrong for not sending our national champions overseas?

There are arguments in favour of sending our reigning champions to international tournaments, the most obvious and important of which is the strong chemistry between players within a club team, which comes as a result of regular training. As solid an argument as that is, in my opinion it doesn’t out-power the fact that an accumulation of players from across Britain will hold more talent than say, for example, the Clapham or Chevron Squad alone. Furthermore, the chemistry held by the club teams is not excluded from an All-Star lineup. Great Britain does not have a large player base to pick from when compared with the US or Canada. This means that our club teams, whether they are considered to be top teams in the UK or not, are not packed from first pick to last with international standard players. The top teams in North America are. If we did send what would at the moment be Clapham to Worlds, then the second tier of their players would get dominated by the second tier of players from bigger countries’ rosters. This would result in Britain continuously losing games due to a lack of strength in depth.

Mark Penny playing for GB at WUGC in Japan. Photo courtesy of nzsnaps.com.

Club or Country? Introduction

Josh Coxon Kelly introduces the next edition of Discussion titled: Club or Country?

Next week teams will compete for the right to call themselves the greatest Ultimate club in the world. Now only a number of days away, excited qualifiers from 40 different countries and 161 different teams will be adding the finer touches to their preparation for this momentous opportunity at time of publishing - getting their bodies and minds perfectly ready to take on the rest of the world. At the height of elite non-commercial ultimate the WUCC held this year in Lecco, Italy is only challenged in terms of prestige by international competitions that occur between the World Club years. Players and coaches will still talk with a hushed reverence of Maribor, Southampton, Sakai, Vancouver as they share stories of their brushes with international glory or defeat, and our whole community is undeniably galvanised by the prospect of GB being represented and competing at Ultimate on the highest international stage.

The EUC and WUGC not only carry an extra weight with the privilege and national pride bound up in their medals, but also arguably present a more tantalising prospect for underdog ultimate nationals given the single-team restriction placed on entrants. With only a single entrance from USA, Canada, Japan, or any other of the growing list of world class Ultimate nations (Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Colombia...), the elusive quarter and semi final brackets are notably more viable for the underdog. The most recent example of this comes from close to home with our very own GB open squad making a first ever appearance in a world final in the recent summer of 2012, in Sakai. Whilst the defeat to USA may have been a decisive one, the GB Open performance in Japan provides lasting inspiration for up and coming British players whose dreams of international success were shown to be more viable than perhaps we had all thought a few summers ago.

Whilst not all players at in Lecco will have represented their country, there will be very few international competitors who do not have a club team at WUCC 2014, and depending on the nation, the distribution of national players varies greatly. There are clearly some quite disparate approaches across the international community to balancing the push and pull between club and country.

In the UK Clapham Ultimate have been open National champions for 13 years, and Iceni have held the women’s title for 8 out of the last 10 years. Whilst neither team is completely unscathed, they are widely held as the best teams in the country and there has is a sense building suggesting that we are starting to develop our own domestic ‘gap’, between the best London club and the rest of the country. Accompanying this suggestion, is the discussion of whether or not we should as a country be sending our most successful teams, or a combination of all-star players from across the country's most competitive squads.

Daniel Furnell (EMO) passes to Si Dathan (Chevron) for GB in Japan. Photo courtesy of Stuart Austin.

It is undeniable that London seems to gravitationally attract a huge portion of young people in the UK whether for career, financial or other reasons. This effect is only going to be further exacerbated for our young sportsmen and women by the high percentage of the Ultimate community who learn and/or mature as players at their universities, and subsequently seek out employment in the larger cities. The country is evidently lopsided population wise, and this as well as the bustling London scene is drawing more and more talent to bolster the already dominant London clubs. Yet, despite this weighting towards the capital, top players from clubs across the country consistently prove at tour and GB selection processes that they can bring their own individual dominance over others from further down the London rosters.

There are clearly many variables and opinions in the balance in this debate, and the pieces in this series will provide an analysis of the British approach and comparison to other world powerhouses, as well as speculation on what steps need to be taken to best progress in the future. Sion Scone will be providing an in-depth analysis of the various options open to us. Supplementing this analysis will be two contrasting opinions from the UK Open club scene [Editor’s note: these supplementary posts are knowingly open-division-centric. We would love to expand the scope of this discussion to other divisions - comment below or get in touch!]: Ollie Benjamin (Clapham ~ 10 years) and Mark Penny (Chevron ~ 7 years). 

The last catch in Lecco will be followed by joy, desolation, celebrations and relaxation for many who move past the pinnacle of their seasons. For some however, it won’t be long after this that the focus turns to EUC’15, WUGC 2016, and the trialling, training and competitive journey of international ultimate that swiftly rises to the height of priority. Should we reassess our current system, and would doing so lead to short term, long term improvement, neither or both? Should we be focusing on top level or grass roots? Should such questions even be imposed on those who make up these teams, and should these people have the responsibility to do both? Let's start the discussion…

No Heroes

Sion "Brummie" Scone discusses what it takes to be a team player.

Here's a little experiment.  I want you to close your eyes (not yet, keep reading) and picture yourself playing ultimate in the future, playing at some event that you are going to be working hard for, playing in the "dream game" that defines your season, maybe your playing career.  It could be coaching your student team to the regional "Game to Go" match for the first time, maybe getting onto a big club or national team, maybe playing a big final. Allow yourself a good few minutes, play that over in your mind, allow the vision to develop.

Ok. Back in the room. What did you see?

Jen Ultimate: The Interview

Those with a keen eye will have noticed a recent ripple in the UK Ultimate social media sphere under the mysteriously simple name of 'Jen'. With a website and Facebook identity already established, as well as a concerted effort for word of mouth distribution by its founders, Jen nevertheless still seems to have the ultimate community unsure and left with a host a plethora of questions. What is Jen? is it a British Nexgen? Doesn't it threaten most tour teams? Why "Jen"?! The Showgame got in touch with co founder and captain Sam Bowen to get some answers...

GB Throwing Regime

Sion "Brummie" Scone divulges the throwing routine that GB Open started using back in 2011. 

Last year, Dan "Colonel" Furnell and I put our heads together in order to come up with a throwing routine that we felt stressed the most important throws; having spent the previous two years teaching throwing skills to GB Open, we took the bits from Burruss' KFT  that we found most useful, added/tweaked a little (including some of Wiggins' Zen Throwing), and split into four chunks to make it easier to fit them in before or after other practices or fitness sessions. Each should take in the region of 20 mins, probably slower the first few times you try them until you know the routines.  

GB Open 2010-2012. Photo Courtesy of Dominic Clark.

World Games Review

Sophie Edmondson looks back at her amazing experience on our World Games team over in Cali, Colombia.

Arriving back in London from the World Games in Colombia has been a reality wake up. The tournament was the final part of what has been a nine-month journey made up of a seemingly endless trial followed by training weekends and relentless track sessions. It seems a long time to prepare for a tournament that was done and dusted in just two and a half days. Yet compared to other sports, say an Olympic weightlifter who spends four years working for just six lifts, that’s probably not a bad lead-in time. Regardless, after nine months of all-consuming commitment of time, energy, emotions and funds I was definitely ready to go to Cali and play.

As odd as it might sound the actual playing felt secondary to the experience of preparing for and being at the World Games. From the moment we landed in Colombia we were treated like celebrities (all-be-it z list). It seemed as though the whole of Colombia’s police force and army had descended on Cali; we had police outriders flanking our shiny new team bus and a designated police head honcho from Bogota to co-ordinate our every move. I could only presume the rest of Colombia was in turmoil because of it.

World Games Opening Ceremony Cali, Colombia. Courtesy of Isabella Burke.

Closing the gap

David Pichler questions how large the gap between the Big Three and the rest of the world actually is.

In the last 2 weeks, USA Ultimate teams went 36-0.  4 golds.  Dang.

GB teams were competing in all these divisions which Team USA won.  Our medal count wasn't quite as prolific as our American counterparts, every returning player's suitcase was a little lighter than hoped.  Most, although not all, medals went to the countries in 'The Big Three'.

By The Big Three I am refering to USA, Canada and Japan.  These three nations seem to dominate when it comes to medals at the major international events.  In recent years GB have had the focus and talent to push these nations close but never seem able to make the leap from challengers to champions.  Why are these countries ever elusive to us?  That question can be best answered if we look first at what's getting us in with a shout to begin with.

USA U23 sweep the  Championship taking Gold in all three divisions. Photo courtesy of CMBT Creative.

ECBU GB Review

David Pryce tells the GB story from last months ECBU campaign.

Whilst our u23's battle for international glory in Toronto we finally review ECBU for GB. Over 100 GB athletes along with medical staff and supporters went to Calafell, Spain to take on the continent in the European Championships of Beach Ultimate at the end of June. Expectations and confidence were high and a lot of great results came out of the tournament. Highlights for each squad were:

Open

• Shock in early game loss to Latvia.
• Get through by beating Spain by enough points and meet Portugal in pre-quarter. 
• Ease through both pre-quarter and QF to semi final vs Germany, close game but go catch it here.
• Make final to play Switzerland, slow start and get beaten to half 8-4. Second half comeback but couldn't quite make it back. Well deserved silver medal

GB and Portugal Open after the Brits take the win. Photo courtesy of Chris Whittle.

Mixed

• Show pitch game against Ireland was only loss in pool but meant nothing, still went to quarters
• Strange schedule (re seeding top 8?!) meant replay of Ireland game for QF.
• Disappointing loss in QF and next game against France gives another pool replay vs Poland for 7th/8th placement.
• After losing Francesca Scarampi to a dislocated shoulder for a huge layout score in tight game, play restarts. Win in sudden death, finish 7th.

Womens

• Only lost to eventual winners Russia in pools.
• Beat France 12-9 in quarters.
• Universe point loss to Swiss in semi.
• Final game loss to Germany but I feel this squad is not done.

Masters

• Took Gold in a great final against France.
• Always made points cap and only team to score more than 7 were France in the final.
• Si Hill really gets flying after securing his medal.

Photo courtesy of Clarwen Snell.

Mixed Masters

• Few tight games to starts against France and Belgium winning by 2 and 3.
• Better play against Spain and Austria winning both 13-4.
• Final pool game against Germany very tight but win by 2.
• Semi against France = win. 
• Final against Germany again another tight affair and with 10-8 lead the Germans come back to take game. 
• Silver and Spirit winners!

Womens Masters

• Early blip to UEI, loss in universe point.
• Other pools games go the right way except second Germany game.
• Final is third game vs Germany.
• Tight affair but loss by 2, another silver for GB.

Grand Masters

• Couldn't beat France (the eventual winners) or Austria but...
• Always got the best of Germany (played them three times)
• Finished the weekend off in 3rd.

The full standings can be found here plus spirit results here. 

Here we collate all the country results into a medal table (like the Olympics) where it is ordered by number of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals we could get something like this.

We can see that the teams that had a squad in every division come top 3, as expected. GB make second from losing out in the Open, Mixed Masters and Women's Masters finals but only team to get a medal of every type. Special mention goes out to all the SOTG winners: Germany (Women's Masters and Grand Masters), GB Mixed Masters, Switzerland Open, Spain Masters, Belgium Women's and Turkey/Portugal Mixed.

What does all this mean? Well GB performed well in most divisions and as a player I know that many of the teams and players want more beach as well as representing their country. Worlds is in two years and teams might start to form even earlier to work on the strong basis of ECBU. Keep an eye out at Paganello 2014 for some of these teams trialling players and structures ready to take on the world.

Well that's beach done with. More grass coverage coming up! DP @ tSG.

The Grapevine U23 Special

This Saturday special edition of The Grapevine gives you the one stop shop for all the links and pages for the GB and Ireland U23 teams in Toronto.

For general tournament news and results on the official facebook, twitter and website.

NGN are streaming 15 games from the championship, the streaming schedule has not been released but all games on PITCH 3 (Show pitch) are highlighted below on the full schedule (times are BST).

Some more streaming will be shown on iamultimate.com ... here. Keep an eye on that since they can only do what they are allowed to.

Ultiapps have made another schedule which is a bit easier to read see full version here. Also includes a great score reporter.

Great Britain  

Open 

Division info:
Two pools of 7 and 8 played until Thursday then crossovers for 4th and 5th in pools then QF/SF/F next Friday to Sunday. 
Squad twitter.

Schedule (Ultiapps): Sunday 21st

Canada 10pm (Show pitch) [14-17 L]

Monday 22nd 

Mexico 2pm [17-2 W]

Tuesday 23rd

France 4pm [17-7 W]

New Zealand 8pm [17-13 W]

Wednesday 24th

Dominican Republic 2pm [13-8 W]

Japan 8pm [12-17 L]

Thursday 25th

Austria 2pm [13-15 L]
Switzerland 8pm (show pitch) [13-10 W]

Friday 26th - Quarter Final
USA 4pm [7-17 L]

5v8 Austria 8pm [17-16 W]

Saturday 27th - 5v6 Placement game
Japan 6pm [17-16 W] - coming back from 13-16 down, finish 5th.

Mixed

Division info: Two pools of 5 and 6 (Pools A and B) played out until Wednesday, then 2 power pools (Pools C and D) consisting of top 3 from each prelim in one and remaining 5 teams in other played on Friday. Leading to QF/SF/F in top 8, bottom 3 round robin (Pool G) played next weekend. 
Squad facebook and twitter.

Schedule (Ultiapps): Monday 22nd

Colombia 5pm [14-11 W]
Australia midnight (Show pitch) [13-17 L]

Tuesday 23rd
Chinese Tapei 6pm [10-9 W]
USA 10pm [3-17 L]

Wednesday 24th
Venezuela 4pm [4-17 L]

Thursday 25th - Lower power pool
Austria 2pm [14-15 L]

Friday 26th
Germany 6pm [13-12 W]

Saturday 27th
5v8 Ireland 2pm [8-15 L] 
7v8 Australia 8pm [12-9 W] - taking 7th and a 4W:5L record is nothing to scoff at!

Women

Division info: One pool of 10 played out until Friday, then straight to SF/placement games on Saturday and final on Sunday.  
Squad twitter.

Schedule (Ultiapps): Monday 22nd
Japan 4pm [6-17 L]
Germany 8pm [13-14 L]

Tuesday 23rd
New Zealand (who they beat in a warm up yesterday) 2pm [17-2 W]
Colombia 8pm [8-16 L]

Wednesday 24th
Mexico 4pm [12-5 W]
Canada 8pm [9-17 L]

Thursday 25th
Australia 6pm [17-10 W]
Austria 10pm [17-11 W]

Friday 26th
USA 2pm (Show pitch) [2-17 L]

Saturday 27th
5v6 Germany 8pm [6-12 L] - finish in 6th and a 4W:6L record. Great work ladies! 

Ireland

Open

Squad facebook. 

Schedule: Monday 22nd
Switzerland 2pm [14-17 L]
Colombia 8pm [10-15 L]

Tuesday 23rd
Germany 4pm [11-16 L]
Australia 8pm [12-17 L]

Wednesday 24th
USA 6pm [4-17 L]
Italy 10pm [9-16 L]

Friday 26th - 9 to 13 bracket
New Zealand 2pm [8-14 L]
TBD 8pm [16-6 W]

Saturday - 13th placement game
Dominican Republic 10pm [12-14 L] - putting these lads in 14th, a fine performance in a division of amazing strength! 

Mixed

Squad facebook.

Schedule: Monday 22nd
Germany 4pm [17-5 W]

Tuesday 23rd
Canada 2pm (Show pitch) [10-15 L]

Wednesday 24th
Austria 6pm [17-4 W]
Japan 10pm [12-17 L]

Thursday 25th - Top power pool
Venezuela 6pm [11-16 L]

Friday 26th
USA 6pm [4-17 L]
Australia 10pm [16-8 W]

Saturday 27th
5v8 GB 2pm [15-8 W]
5v6 Austria 8pm [16-11 W] taking 5th and highest European Mixed team! 

Get behind your team on twitter and facebook! Let's go GB! DP @ tSG.

ECBU Ireland Review

Mark Earley tells us of the Irish success at ECBU last month.

Irish Mixed team make history in Calafell

About a week ago now, the European Championships of Beach Ultimate took place in Calafell, Spain. The tournament was hosted by the local team Peixets, ably lead by the Tournament Director Juan Carlos (better known as ‘Mom’) and his team of staff and volunteers. Two Irish teams attended the event, both with contrasting results, as anticipated.

In the Open Division, a young and inexperienced Irish team made the journey and found the going tough. They were beaten well by most opponents, despite starting every game strongly and showing much potential throughout. Winning just one game during the week was frustrating for a group of players that will feel they should have beaten Hungary, a team that pipped them in a sudden death game on the Saturday and beat them by 4 on the Sunday. They did not face Portugal, who finished below them but would likely have beaten a nation whose focus was on the Mixed division, much like Ireland’s.

Leading in to the tournament the Irish Mixed team had done nothing but impress. They had won two warm up tournaments and had finished fourth at Paganello, narrowly losing to the finalists and in their bronze medal game. They came in confident but focused. Unfortunately for them the week started as badly as it could with Poland jumping to a 6-0 lead and closing out the biggest upset of day 1 by winning 10-8. Ireland regrouped though and ended top of their group having thumped Turkey and UEI, beaten the Netherlands in a tight 10-8 win and getting the better of a GB team who had already qualified by winning 4 group games. That put Ireland top of the group and allowed them maintain their seeding. 

Daragh Ó' Céilleachair makes a bid against Turkey (Spirit winners) in pool stages.

The quarter-finals were the cause of a Captain’s Meeting and much discussion at the end of the days play on day 2 of the tournament. Due to various teams holding seed and a number of odd results the schedule saw teams who had already played each other in pool play meet in  the quarter-finals. Sweden, among others, objected but given that the schedule had been emailed to all captains and agreed upon they were left with little choice to stick by it. While this was undoubtedly fair, it gave the draw a somewhat lopsided look with Russia, Germany and a (very) under-seeded Sweden all on one side. However, as many people noted, you need to beat the best to be the best.

Ireland faced GB in their quarter-final and produced their most complete performance of the tournament in a repeat of the previous day’s pool game. Haring out of the blocks the Irish converted 3 quick turns and didn’t look back, taking half at 7-2. They never let their foot off the gas and won 13-4, sending a statement of intent to the rest of the competition. If ever a team needed to shake off a defeat, this team did it with this game. Suddenly the Polish loss seemed like a year a go, not a mere two days previous.

Seamus Murray sends another disc long against GB in their QF match up.

Portugal were the team in their way of a berth in the final. Another trip to the Arena for what promised to be a cracking match up. The teams had met twice previously, with Ireland having won both games in testing conditions and with Portugal missing some big players. This time the wind was a factor once more, but perhaps not as much as expected. Both teams began nervously, trading turnovers but it was David Pimenta who stood out, as he single-handedly tried to swing the game Portugal’s way with a number of big blocks and grabs. However, the strength of Ireland’s women, and indeed their offence, began to shine through. They went 3 points up late in the game and despite a Portuguese fightback, won out to ensure a place in the final, and a medal.

The final was the last of the games in the Arena on day four of ECBU 2013. The sun was shining, the wind blowing and the crowd in good voice. Ireland faced a Swedish team who had lost just one game, in pool play against the Germans – a game they avenged with a crushing victory in the semi-final, and who were playing extremely well. With years of international experience among their men and speed, agility and athleticism across the women, it was hard to see a weak link in the Swedish team. That said, it was a final and few teams are adverse to mistakes in front of a big crowd.

Sweden and Ireland after the Mixed division final.

The game began cagily. Both teams turned over in odd ways – misread discs, overthrown hucks and some drops. Eventually Sweden punched in the goal and were on the scoreboard. Point two saw them break the Irish offence again and so the theme for the game was set. Ireland could not get the space they were used to around their handler reset and their female players were facing their toughest battle yet. A slow start was unlike them and they appeared a little rattled, making mistakes where previously they hadn’t. A few dropped discs, a couple of marginal calls and all under sustained Swedish pressure left Ireland chasing the game and the more they chased the more the fight slipped away from them. It was a frustrating and disappointing end to a brilliant season and talking to the players after the game they felt like they’d under performed on the big stage. Sweden can take credit for a lot of the problems caused but Ireland will have to shoulder some of it too.

Ireland Mixed take Silver at ECBU.

Having watched from the sidelines it was easier to immediately understand how much their achievement means for them as players and indeed for Irish Ultimate as a whole. This is the first team to come home from any major championship with a medal and they won it in style, finishing the season with only a handful of losses. They played with swagger, aggression and Spirit. They won over opposition teams and impartial fans with their honesty and sense of team. What’s more they did it all with a legion of fans at home willing them on, cheering their every move and hoping they’d bring something back to Ireland once the sand settled in Spain.

Looking further down the line this result is an example to young players of what can be achieved with hard work, tactical nous and a focus on putting team chemistry ahead of all else. There are many Irish teams setting off this summer, all younger than most of this Mixed Beach team and no doubt keen to replicate their efforts. If they look at how the team applied themselves and how they behaved they will learn a lot. This Irish team is one for the Irish community to be proud of, one the three captains can look back on with pride and one which has set a high bar for teams to follow. Here’s hoping it’s just a start…

Yesterday was a massive day for the community making that $15,000 in a couple days for ulti.tv, looking forward to WG streaming! Like, share, comment and contribute! DP @ tSG.

London's Calling Review - A Tour

Josh Coxon Kelly brings us this weeks penultimate review of London's Calling - A tour.

As expected the opening tour of 2013 has brought an exciting start to the UK domestic season. With weather conditions which came dangerously close to ‘summery’ at points, UK clubs were treated to the perfect conditions to start off their season’s battles and rivalries.

Sitting pretty at the top of the pack, Clapham’s O line showed throughout the weekend why they were given the number 1 seed as the only non-movers of the A-tour. Bolstered by a returning Giacomo Maltman and new recruits Magnus Wilson (Tooting) and Rob Schumacher (Fire), the Clapham machine showed its capabilities with a clinical weekend - with their closest test from Bad Skid (15-13 Clapham) overshadowed by a decisive victory over the same team in the final. With the D-Line ‘dogs’ woofing their way to third place, the current UK and European champions have succeeded in a strong statement to start their competitive year.

Chevron captain Mark Penny lays out for the grab against CUSB 

Chevron proceeded through pool play unscathed, and found their form of the weekend for their quarter final matchup against the GB U23 squad which despite being largely outnumbered and losing 8 players to the opposition, they came out of with a 15-10 victory. Unphased by the aggressive offence and screaming defense Chevron showed an early sign of the form they will need to replicate if they hope to challenge for the long coveted National and European titles later in the year.

The GBU23 team had one of the most controversial seedings pre-tournament at 7th. They rose to beat this by two, but will be unhappy to not have had a shot at a Tour final. The young squad showed flashes of brilliance throughout the weekend, and displayed one of the more formidable defensive squads at the tournament. However, an occasionally stuttering offense was exposed by the most experienced opponents with losses to Clapham and Chevron. When this team plays at the top of their abilities they are strong enough to take on any domestic club - but will they be able to sustain this level of play to get the result they want at Tour 2?

EMO 1’s ascension of three seeds is maybe the story of the weekend, and a considerable move at such a high level of competition. Despite missing the leadership and pitch length throws of Joe Wynder, EMO showed themselves as a strong geo-team that has full intentions of challenging for the top 4 this season. They have stars Rich Gale and Dan ‘Colonel’ Furnell from the recent GB Open squad (Rich will also be attending World Games), backed up by plenty of pace and athleticism from a solid squad. EMO have reported consistently high numbers at trainings, and this is reflected in large squads attending Tour events for the recent years. Most importantly the team are starting to play with the belief that is needed for giant killings - keep an eye on these boys for potential major upsets later in the season.

A tour movers. Courtesy of Wayne Retter.

Fire of London found themselves in tough matchups for their quarter-finals (Bad Skid) and the 5-8 playoff (a livid u23 squad). The resultant 7th place position will be disappointing, but does not in any way suggest that Fire are not going to be fighting hard for finals berths as the season continues. Once again recruiting heavily, and importantly retaining GB Open/World Games Matt Parslow, Fire are strong once again and, importantly, are a team that knows how to peak later on in the season.

Outside of the top 8 we find Kapow!, who after an upset in Fire 2's favour on Saturday will have been disappointed not to have been in the top 8, but have shown their intentions for bigger things by taking 9th over Cota Rica. Bear Cavalry more than validated their A Tour starting seeding, rising 8 seeds and finishing over Brighton, a top 4 team of recent years. Refreshed DED and Tooting squads both saw falls of 6 seeds - it will be interesting to see if the new faces on these squads will be able to return their teams to top 8 contention, or if their season will be more about staying in the A tour altogether.

With the current strength of the B Tour, teams traditionally used to A Tour ultimate such as BAF, Cambridge, Fire 2, Devon and Tooting may find re-qualification harder than ever before. The Tour season has got off to a strong start, but with shifting squads and various non club entries it is hard to get a picture of Nationals yet. Consistency is key to the Tour, and with competition rising at all levels, no game will be won easily in Nottingham.

Almost there, tomorrow we have saved the best till last: Women's review! Remember to like, share, comment and contribute! DP @ tSG. 

A Tough Pill to Swallow

Mark Earley kicks off our T1 review week with how the Irish lads did at London's Calling.

Three Irish teams travelled to London for UKU Tour 1 at the start of June and all three returned to Ireland licking their wounds and eagerly counting the days until their next outing. Tour is a tough animal – you show a weakness and you get savaged. No team gives you anything and the higher you go up the ladder, the stiffer the competition gets. Irish teams know this and it appeals to their stubborn, physical and hard-working approach to the sport. Indeed, much of what Irish Ultimate has achieved over the past decade has been built on foundations picked up over freezing cold weekends in Mansfield, sun drenched days in Cardiff and at windblown Brit Opens. So, why the poor results this time around? Well before trying to answer that let’s look at how the three teams fared.

Ireland U-23 Open went into B Tour expected to challenge for the title and with the added bonus of a run out against their British counterparts in a show game. Saturday went to plan, with no team able to run with them and they coasted into the quarters not having conceded more than 6 points in any one the game. The show game saw the highly fancied GB team rattled until half, which they took by 1 point, and after which they powered on to win the game 15-9. Ireland fought hard and showed athleticism, a decent work ethic and a sense of team that will stand to them in Toronto. However, on Sunday morning it all came apart in spectacular fashion. Complacency set in and LeedsLeedsLeeds took full advantage, racing to a 4-0 lead and not looking back. Ireland went on to win their final two games, both by a single point.

Highlights of the show game between Ireland U-23 & GB U-23

Lorcan Murray, one of the team’s captains, explained that they had got a lot from what he called ‘a disappointing but necessary lesson in what it takes to succeed in Toronto’. Murray went on to say that collectively they ‘realised the potential of our squad and what it felt like when we played to the best of our potential. More importantly we realised the difference between confidence (Saturday morning) and complacency (Sunday morning)’. Furthermore he said team chemistry was improving, something that will have a big part to play come July – ‘Coming away from our first tournament as a full squad there was a collective awareness of the personality of our team. Positivity is the fuel that fires us. When we're leading we're happy, joking and boisterous when we take big deficits we turned on each other and fell into the trap of our own frustrations’. The Irish youngsters will be back for Tour 2 where Murray says their goals are straightforward – ‘to go undefeated and get a shot at some Tour A standard opposition, but more vitally than that is our aim to maintain the attitude and approach we take when we are winning’.

Some of the U-23s pose with the St Albans Mayor

Ranelagh went into the weekend confident of returning to the top 8 where they made their presence felt last season, finishing an Irish-team-high of 5^th place. However, it just never quite clicked for the Dublin-based team. An opening day defeat to Chevvy was as heavy as it was hard to take. Unforced errors were punished by a smooth and confident Chevron O and suddenly the score was 5-0. Ranelagh regrouped but cough up that big a lead to any top 8 team and you won't be let back in. Next up were Brighton, a team Ranelagh beat for the first time in 2012. This time the Dubliners controlled the game from the start but come 12-9 and with the cap set at 13, two huge Brighton Ds and two uncharacteristic errors saw them snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A third flat display rounded out the day as Fire 1 ran Ranelagh ragged on the way to a 15-5 win. Vice-captain Sam Mehigan said of their day one opponents – ‘the standard in the top 8 was very high. Chevvy and Fire thoroughly outperformed us. They had strong defences and Chevvy especially had a very clinical offence’.

Peter Forde of Ranelagh holsters the throw to Sam Mehigan

Day two was a welcome improvement for a Ranelagh team missing a couple of players, but once again it began on the wrong foot with a sudden death loss to a wily Bear Cavalry team, lead by a virtuoso performance by Dave Tyler - capped off with a point block and layout grab in the final point. DED bore the brunt of Ranelagh’s frustrations and were beaten 15-6, a result Mehigan was pleased with. ‘DED beat us a few times last season in games we still carry with us but after four straight losses on the weekend, they got the wrong end of our frustration and we beat them by a large margin’. That left an all-Irish battle for 13^th place. Mehigan explained how the win went for his team – ‘The last game of the weekend was the 1st ever meeting of Ranelagh and Rebel on foreign shores. The first half saw lots of trading with each team having a few small runs and thus the lead changed hands a few times. The second half saw a Ranelagh run that got us a margin which we managed to hold onto to win by 6’.

Looking back on the weekend the team will be disappointed having been beaten badly by two top teams and losing closely to teams they would prefer to be beating. According to Mehigan they will be back with renewed focus come Tour 2 – ‘We didn't do as well as we feel we could have, so it was a bit disappointing. After just two days for the dust to settle it's too soon to have identified our goals, but for sure we'll be looking to get our performance consistently to the level we showed in patches at Tour 1’.

Rebel Ultimate and Irish Mixed Beach team player Darragh Kelleher goes up

Rebel will arguably be the least concerned with their results this being their debut in the A Tour and only the start of their season. The Cork outfit are consistently raising the bar for others in Ireland, thrive on new challenges and have many of the UCC Ultimate team on their roster so it came as little surprise to see them competing in the top bracket of UK Ultimate. They approached the tournament looking to make 9^th place their own but, much like Ranelagh, shipped a couple of heavy losses that disrupted their plans. With a somewhat depleted roster due to the Irish U-23s team presence, a certain team member sleeping in and a couple of late injuries the Corkonians struggled with numbers.

On Saturday the team in red made light work of both Devon 1 and Tooting Tigers but lost heavily to Bear Cavalry and as a result faced a tricky crossover against Brighton on Sunday morning. The southern English team beat the southern Irish team by a big margin meaning Fire 2 were their next opponents. Rebel regrouped and got involved in a dogfight with the London team. After a few tight calls and a turn by each team the sudden death point finished in Rebels favour and the ‘Irish Classico’, as detailed earlier, was on. A tight first half ended with an injury to leader Brian O'Callaghan and Ranelagh never looked back.

Rebel & Ranelagh team photo - a rarity! 

Speaking to Donal Murray, one of the team’s leadership, he was pleased with the weekend as a whole, specifically as a way of bedding in new players – ‘The weekend was all that we could have hoped for: a smoothly run tournament, beautiful weather, and tough long games against teams we knew well, not so well, or not at all. Some of our players got some knocks or had a few niggles, but nobody got badly injured during the tournament. As well as our regulars, some players were making their Rebel debut, some their Rebel comeback, while others just finished exams. We didn’t have strategies and systems drilled in, but we had a few talks before and during the weekend on team goals, individual goals, and the attitude we expected.  We were quite happy with how our teammates improved with these over the weekend’.

He added that there was work to do – ‘Our goal of 9th didn’t quite materialise, but a mixture of results ensured a thorough investigation of where we’re currently at as an open team and as a club’. Murray was impressed with the standard of the Tour – ‘Every team we played had some fantastic athleticism, great throws and clear systems. Some had lines, some had their own rotation system, some had clearly defined plays and defences while others had looser styles. It was great to play against some players who have become household names, to still see women compete in the open division at A tour, to see a very high standard of spirit with this year’s new rules, and to finally get a crack of A tour teams’. While Rebel wont be back for Tour 2 as it’s too close to their annual trip to Amsterdam for Windmill Windup, they hope to make Tour 3; 'Our goal is the same as always, finish as high as possible and improve as individuals and as a team.  One or two more specific goals will be specified to the players in trainings and in the run up to the tournament’.

There’s no doubting the talent pool in Ireland, nor the enthusiasm but Tour 1 will surely have blunted some of the Irish confidence. In terms of the reasons, they are many - from injuries to complacency - but as each captain/leader has made clear, the teams will come back with renewed determination looking to get back on the horse, so to speak! It will be very interesting to see how the rest of the Tour pans out. 

Photos courtesy of Niall McCarney, Cynthia Lo & Andrew Moss
Video courtesy of Felix Shardlow at Push Pass Productions

Look forward to seeing Irish teams at T2 and hearing more from Mark! Like, share and more in the right hand pane, more T1 reviews coming up. DP @ tSG.