London Calling - Open Preview

The club season is upon us! James Burbidge takes a look at the competition heading to the open division this weekend.

Returning to St Albans, Tour 1, this year's London Calling sees over 70 teams entered into the open division with 10 coming from overseas.

At the top of the pack, four teams will hope to prove themselves the best of the best in Europe: Clapham, Chevron Action Flash, Bad Skid and Flying Angels Bern. London Calling will doubtless provide top competition for these teams as they prepare for the big one: the World Club Championships in August.

Reigning National and European champions Clapham have split their team into two like last year (an O-line and a D-line), and are using the competition as the final part of a long and heated selection process. Captain Marc 'Britney' Guilbert returns to lead a club firmly focused on a peak in Lecco and will be hoping that his teams can meet in the final this year, rather than the semi. With no major player movement out, and more top recruits coming in – notably Ollie Gordon from Chevron, Matt Parslow and James Baron from Fire – they may find that the toughest competition is also the most familiar.

Photo courtesy of Graham Bailey.

Dear C Tour: Why Trialling Might Be Worth A Shot

Harry Mason sends a message to all trialling hopefuls in 2014...

Trials season is approaching. For many hopeful players, they'll be turned away, having gained experience from the trials but that's it for the year. Some players, having worked their way up the tours (or been on the training squad last year) might have their eyes on finally breaking the squad. And, just occasionally, there'll be an amateur who dares to dream big.

Last year, I was one such hopeful. In 2012, I played just one open tour. C tour. We battled well and were proud of how we’d done, and I enjoyed playing with them. I wasn’t the best player, I wasn’t able to single-handedly swing games, and at times I was a liability. Yet still I dreamed.

In C tour, I don't think it's unfair to say that sometimes you have to avoid putting certain team-mates in certain situations, I personally wasn’t trusted with the disc as much for any assists, and in the wind everything went to chaos. At A-Tour and Euros, there isn’t that luxury. You have to trust every team-mate. And I did. I can’t identify anyone whom I would be uncomfortable giving the disc to and in return really didn’t want to be the one player they couldn’t trust. After those games I finally realised I could be trusted. That it wasn't beyond me.

Harry Mason skying for DED Mixed at MT3 in 2013. Photo courtesy of Graham Bailey.

So, swallowing my fears and with a scared lump in my throat I applied for DED open. I remember my heartbreak when injury knocked me out of the second trial. Then elation when, during the 3rd trial, Luke Tobiasiewicz came up, clipboard in hand, and said I was being strongly considered. Taking his advice I gave it my all.

A short while later, I received the email every C tour player would layout into a wall to receive. I had narrowly made the cut. Courtesy of a follow up email from Graham Bailey about how to improve (still flagged in my inbox) it was clear I was being taken on for my potential, not my current skill. This is the first difference I noticed: I was expected to have a much greater understanding of the mechanics of the game, I’d have to work harder, and be able to identify weakness in myself like I hadn't before.

I also trialled for DED mixed, and was told in no uncertain terms that, while they liked me and all that, I hadn't made the team. I was distraught, but looking at the squad I couldn't argue. However, thanks to international duties, they now needed an extra guy. I was brought in, permanently aware I was very much the final choice. That's how I started the season after 2 tough trials - a player taken for potential, and there to prove a point.

I’m not going to go through DED’s season - it was brilliant and painful in equal measure - but there are a few things to highlight. Mainly, everyone at top level is tough. There's no easy match ups. Small things (like being pumped up, or an extra half hour of drills beforehand) give big advantages in these situations. It was a lot more professional, a lot more marginal and there was never a game where I was allowed to come away thinking "they were the better team, there was no way we could have won". I wasn't taught to beat myself up, but in nearly every game I now knew there was always a chance, on a different day, that it could have been ours.

My very first A tour level game was vs Kapow! on a huge 3G indoor astro and I was scared. People at the top may not understand this, but there is still an aura and mythology surrounding A tour and it’s players. They’re supposed to be giants, faster than Grove Farm wind and, if not able to fly, then at least give gliding a dang good shot. A Kapow! player layout D-ing through me on my very first point didn't help. But it wasn't just the layout, it was the fact that it apparently meant nothing. It was expected, rather than anything spectacular, and that blindsided me at least as much as the actual play.

Ka-Pow's trials started last weekend, but who will make it from these young hopefuls? Photo courtesy of KaPow Ultimate. 

Distraught, I went to the experienced players for advice. Then, the impossible occurred. I started to get the disc, and pass it without being blocked. I got free occasionally! This wasn't supposed to happen. Not supposed to happen at all. The game was faster than I was used to - much faster - but it was still the game I knew. It wasn’t much, yet to me it was the world. We lost that game, but it still meant a lot as the biggest jump I have ever, and probably will ever get in Ultimate.

The other huge moment came when playing for DED mixed at tour 3. Our first game was against GB World Games. Always fun. This was at Cheltenham, the same venue and (I’m fairly sure) the same pitch I’d played my first ever game at Tour back in 2010. Now, 3 years later, I was playing the best in the country.

Again, we lost that game. Badly. The margin that those players had over me was, to say the least, humbling. (At most, soul crushing, but let’s ignore that). Yet, even playing against the royalty of Ultimate, you started to realise they were just players. Very, very good ones - clinical and dominant in equal measures - but players nonetheless. I actually managed to score (twice!), though mainly due to the throwing ability of my team mates (and being too insignificant to notice sneaking deep in a zone).

These games probably meant very little to most others involved. They were both games I lost, and very little was at stake for the result, so why should they mean anything to me? This season I played my first ever Club Nationals, and then my first ever Euros with DED Mixed. These tournaments were much more competitive, way more enjoyable and helped my physical skill improve far more than I can possibly measure. But it was those two games that let me break the mental barrier and say to myself that, yes, I had earned my place in high level Ultimate.

So, to all aspiring players let me tell you: it’s possible. I wasn’t the strongest player. I had to work harder than I’ve ever worked. I had to face the fact that, hey, Uni life was fun but, until exam time, it came second. But in one season I made the jump. It requires a lot of trust from the people picking. You'll have to face the fact the odds are against you, that it may not be your year. Well, it may not be, but it might be.

At the very least, like most times in Ultimate, it’s worth a bid.

Good luck to all players trialling over next few weeks!

The Grapevine - 20/12

The Grapevine this week has a lot going on...

Fire of London have opened their trial applications..

Post by Fire of London.

...as have Ka-Pow! who claim over 70 applicant already!

Post by Ka-Pow Ultimate.

Next up Shut Your Cake-hole ... sorry SYC have released a little photo montage from the 2013 season.

Finally my personal favourite. We see many foreign students playing Ultimate in UK Universities and one lucky Turkish player (Eylem Caner) did so with Sussex University in 2012. From there he has gone on to represent his country at ECBU in their very successful WFDF debut and about a year ago he created this wonderful mini-documentary about the love of the sport. Includes some great UK and European Ultimate clips plus interviews with some of the central characters in Brighton (and UK) Ultimate. TheShowGame is very proud to (re)present "Love at First Flight". 
Love at First Flight from Eylem Caner on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas everyone! 

DP @ tSG.

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The Grapevine - 15/11

Ultimate News from around the country and beyond...

WFDF have revealed which nations will be granted the additional bids for WUCC 2014...

Benji updates us with his throwing mechanics project...

Whilst Ultimate Rob posts on forehand mechanics from a different but still technical point of view...

Push Pass coverage of all 36 games from xEUCF is now online - check out a sly callahan by Kapow in this clip...

Tim Morrill has completed his tour of the UK and is soon to release the latest in his Ultimate Fitness Products - F.U.T.U.R.E 1.0...

Things have been a little quiet over the past few weeks at tSG but rest assured we are hard at work! Keep an eye out for new content in the coming weeks... - JCK@tSG

The Grapevine - 18/10

Here, there, everywhere; The Grapevine brings you bits of news from the week.


Over the first week of November KaPow and UK Ultimate are hosting Tim Morrill in London, Liverpool and Manchester. Tim will be leading sessions on fitness and strength work for Ultimate, sign up and get to it!

In this months UKU newsletter we got a reminder of all the indoor dates. If you haven't already update your calendar...

...making sure to add the UKU General Meeting on 9th November. We are the board of directors, get you vote in either in person or online for a new UKU resolution. 

Understanding Ultimate gives you some options for throwing if there are only two of you.

Our european partners Get Horizontal are very lucky to be at the USA Ultimate Nationals which started yesterday. Make sure to read up on their page as well as the Ultiworld live update page. A great watch is the following video recapping yesterdays play, can you spot our exported players?

Spot the Brits, twins?! Video Courtesy of USA Ultimate.

How's your off season shaping up? DP @ tSG

The Grapevine - 04/10

The Grapevine - ultimate links and news from around the globe.

The UKU have released the known major outdoor dates ahead of next season  - fill your calendar's now!

In exciting news for Ultimate fitness freaks, Kapow Ultimate have released details of their one-off London based fitness sessions with Boston Brute Squad and Ironside trainer - Tim Morrill.

Understanding Ultimate takes a look at disc reading in the latest of many insightful posts.

Get Horizontal have released a recap of xEUCF, which amongst other things sends out a strong message regarding SOTG of this year's open division. 

Over the pond USA ultimate has been receiving recognition from mainstream media publications - check out these articles in TIME magazine and The Economist.

Well done to all British teams who entered xEUCF - keep an eye out for Bordeaux reviews and more on The ShowGame! - JCK @tSG

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.

UKU Regionals Preview - Greater London

James Burbidge tells us the London regionals story. Greater London has 5 bids for Nationals and will be held this Saturday.

With 5 qualifying spots, London is typically the richest Region in the country and for the past 3 years 4 teams from London have finished in the top 10 at Nationals.

With the uncontested top seed in the country ruling the roost in London, it’s unlikely that Clapham will lose a game at Regionals. Things get more interesting from then on. Fire are keen once again to get both squads to Nationals, and – going on results thus far this season – shouldn’t have much problem doing so. In fact the regional tournament structure should give Fire 1 the chance to prove to the heckling doubters their dominance over their second team – but you can bet that Fire 2 will be more fired up (excuse me) for that game than any other. Ka-Pow!, having come into a run of form (with the mooted return of Captain David Pichler), will also be out in force as all three teams battle for the higher positions that should give them better seeds and easier matches at Nationals.

Giacoma Maltman lays out for the D against his putative teammate Andy Mitchell (actually playing GBu23 here).
Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss via Blockstack.

Things get interesting when you look at the teams vying for the fifth spot – and depending on your taste, this could provide the most interesting story over the weekend. Teams in the hunt for that final spot will be perennial contenders (well, the last 3 years anyway) Tooting Tigers and Burro Electrico,* alongside a revived Flump team.

All three teams have had a topsy-turvy season so far, Flump rising unexpectedly quickly out of C-tour to the top section of B-tour, whilst (following Newtonian physics) Tooting have matched them with a fall from the middle of A-tour to the middle of B-tour. Burro have plodded along with solid results and unfavourable schedules that saw them finish ‘in A-tour’ at Tour 3. Burro has beaten Flump and Tooting this season, and Flump has beaten Tooting twice. To further complicate matters, both Tooting and Burro will be losing players to the mixed division and there are always late season injuries to be accounted for too. (One team who might be expected to make an experience in this area is ABH but they are focusing on mixed too.)

Chung Leung from Burro Electrico misses the goal at Tour 3. Photo courtesy of Louise Smith.

Further down the seeding will be some teams looking for a bit more pitch time together, the chance to play a big seed and perhaps even cause an upset for the 5^th spot. Whilst the teams entered haven’t yet been released, likely teams in this bracket include St Albans, Curve, and perhaps PAF. Iceni is not believed to have entered a team this year.

So there you have it – a Region that should provide some top-quality games between some of the best teams in the country, as well as a classic qualifying battle. Stay tuned for a schedule.

*Full disclosure! I captain this team. 

Five regions down, one to go. DP @ tSG. 

Tour 2 Review - A Tour (ft. Alex Cragg)

Josh Coxon Kelly tells us the tale of A tour at Nottingham including the inside story from one of the Fire 1 captains Alex Cragg.

Players and teams came to Nottingham expecting stormy weather and were not disappointed. A stiff wind all weekend and rushes of rain ensured that Tour 2 was a test of throwing skill and team strategy where patience and discipline would pay dividends. Such conditions are also ripe for upset - particularly on pitches with clear up/down wind orientation - and in this category the A tour didn’t disappoint.

Pool A saw Clapham and GB u23 looking to hold onto the top two seeds in a straight to semis schedule. The meeting of these two teams was closer than at Tour 1, but despite an early lead due to an excellent start by GB, clapham showed their consistency and improved steadily throughout the game to come out victorious once again. Neither Ranelagh or KaPow managed to break into the top 2 of the pool, and a 10-9 loss in their match-up to Ranelagh saw the bottom two in the pool switch seeds.

Michael Speer (GB U23) bids on Matt Dathan (KaPow) in the pool stages. Photo courtesy of Graham Bailey.

In Pool B a reduced Chevron squad make light work of opposition including an opening grudge match against Fire (in recent seasons a frequent matchup, this was the first time the squads had met since Fire’s victory in the 2012 Nationals semi-final). Chevron came out strong and didn’t let up, winning 15-6 in a game that was to be ominous of Fire’s weekend to come. EMO held seed in a dramatic win against a stuttering Fire squad, confirming their place in the top 4 for a second tour running, a win that could turn out to have serious implications in terms of tour rankings for WUCC 2014...

Chevron stayed clinical despite the wind and repeated their tour 1 quarter final victory over the u23s on Sunday, this time for a place in the final to play Clapham. However Chevron’s high retention performances would not continue into the last game of the weekend. Clapham brought a smart game that capitalised early and played through the Chevron zone in both directions. Down early, Chevron were unable to recover and didn’t manage to adapt their more conservative playing style to the worsening conditions as well as their London rivals, who emerged comfortable winners.

Fire veteran Lewis Glover does just enough to beat David Ray (Leeds).
Photo Courtesy of Graham Bailey.

Movement from the second 8 was to create arguably the most dramatic storylines of this tour however, as a Devon squad bolstered by returning players (including Chevron D-line star Ben Hall) completed a dramatic victory over Fire 1 on Sunday morning in the crossover for top 8. Players arriving early at the food and physio tents were treated to a sudden death comeback victory for Devon featuring a completed world’s greatest and the most emphatic of celebrations as Fire’s weekend took a further turn for the worse.

Manchester converted their qualification, avoiding the relegation fate shared by BAF, Cambridge and Glasgow. The highest climber from the second 8 was Fire 2, who after beating KaPow found themselves in the top 8, eventually finishing one place above their first team. 
Fire 1 have long been a firm top 4 team, and have been no stranger to finals at Tour, Nationals and even European championships in the last 5 years. Dropping out of the top 8 is the first significant movement of one the top 3 teams of recent A-tour history - tSG spoke to captain Alex Cragg to gain some insight into the weekend’s events...

Quite a few of the results at tour 2 were obviously disappointing for you and your team. What do you think happened to cause the upsets?

We'd had a slightly lower finish than we'd hoped for at Tour 1, even given the international teams, but we knew we had the ability to play at the top; taking a strong Bad Skid to sudden death proved that.

Unfortunately, that confidence backfired and we presumed our games were foregone conclusions. We failed to take the Chevron game as enough of a sign that wasn't going to be the case. People wanted to beat us more than we wanted to beat them; our heads weren't in the right place and we lacked focus causing too many individual errors, which crippled any tactical adjustments.

Another problem was that we tried to play Ultimate... Some people might scoff at that, but we undervalued territory in those conditions. We know how to play through a zone, but it was only half way through the Devon game, 6 points down, that we started to play to our real strengths.

What actions did you take to turn around the team’s mentality after these losses?

We made sure that our pre-game preparation consisted of much more throwing, getting people's self belief back. We needed to salvage something from the weekend, and putting the prospect of losing all our games into context helped bring back some desire to win.

We'd probably placed too much focus on the bigger picture of World's qualification, so we brought things back to focus on one game at a time.

Unexpected losses are undeniably difficult to take, but they can give an opportunity to learn about your team - what lessons did you take from tour 2?

The main thing I think we learnt is that we probably haven't been exploiting our individual strengths enough, instead focussing on a team ethos that has seen some people's roles mutate.

Every single player was hugely disappointed with the weeked, and I think everyone's taking a bit more personal responsibility since then. We all know we can do better. We'll be a very different team at Tour 3 and Nationals.

The second team’s squad has been strong at all showings this year and performed very well to qualify for the top 8 in Nottingham - will this see much change in players between the teams for Tour 3?

Fire 2 have been brilliant this year. A lot of people wrote them off after last year, but they've proven that to have been a blip in a very strong history for a second team. They're definitely on track for their season goal of taking one of the 6 Euro's spots.

One of our ideas for the year was to allow each team to have its own identity, which has included playing and drilling in those teams at training sessions. This builds up the relationships players need to do well.

However, there has been a small amount of movement, with 2 players coming up from Fire 2. We've also moved a couple of Fire 1 players into the seconds to give them more experience playing against top 4 competition (with Fire 1 being locked out).

Outside of players will there be any significant shift in Fire’s approach to Tour 3 and the rest of the season?

Absolutely. After quite a few roster changes from last year, it's taken some time for everyone to find their role and for us to play in the best way to exploit our strengths. I think our experience at Tour 2 has brought us together more, and our passion and desire to win has only grown. We've also restructured how we call lines, which has lead to much better performances in training.

What are your team goals for Nationals and Europeans?

Barring a huge upset at Tour 3, we've now missed out on our first shot at World's qualification. There's enough time before Nationals to put everything we've learnt about ourselves into practice, and, like last year, our target is to make the final of Nationals and win. After that we'll have to see about Europeans. We've learnt to not look too far in the future!

Fire of London.

There is all to play for in the final tour of the season. Fire 1 will be looking to turn their season around in the lead up to Nationals. Clapham will be missing stars with the absence of World Games squad players, and Chevron, U23 and EMO will be looking to capitalise on this to hand them their first loss of the season. Ranelagh found the form they were looking for in Nottingham rising to 5th, but with the recent events at Tour 2 all A tour teams will be fighting hard for that giant killing that will send them up the rankings.

A Tour movers. Courtesy of Wayne Retter.

All ready for a heatwave in Cardiff? Don't forget your suncream and hats! Like, share, contribute and tweet! DP @ tSG.

Open and Women's Tour - T2 Preview

Josh Coxon Kelly brings us the OWT2 preview for the upcoming tour event in Nottingham.

The Grove Farm fields in Nottingham are all set to host the second major tournament of the UK open and women's season, with players flocking from across the country to take part in the huge 80-team tournament that is OWT2.

With the European visitors returned to the mainland the schedule returns to its more familiar domestic team list, although perhaps in a slightly shuffled lineup to past seasons...

Iceni have kept their stronghold at the top of the women's game in the UK - early looks at Bristol and SYC show teams that have come back stronger than last year with experienced veterans complemented well by young talent benefitting from their involvement in the U23 process. R.O.B.O.T impressed in London but theirs and Yaka's absences leave a space in the top 4 for Punt, who will be looking to defend their position against a rebranded Brighton - Seven Sisters and a rebuilding Leeds.

Last year's Open top 4 of Clapham, Chevron Fire and Brighton has been invaded by the GBU23 force and excitingly also by EMO - arguably justifying Joe Wynder's heated and public defence of his team following The Secret Frizzer's Tour 1 preview (which prompted this interview). With the EMO captain returning to club duties for this Tour, EMO are looking to hold onto their place amongst the UK elite, but will face stiff competition from Fire, Brighton and Kapow and Ranelagh - all teams who will not wrongly be fighting for a top 2 pool placing and in the straight-to semi's format. Victory from Clapham will also win them the Tour - needless to say there are enough targets on their back. Could a pool play rematch against GBU23 (10:40 Pitch 15) see an early upset?

Ireland U23 showed in the Tour 1 show game that they have the fight and the skills to run with A tour teams, matching the GB squad for the majority of the first half. They will need to use this lesson in consistency to grow at Tour 2 if they want to come out on top of the dogfight that is this year's B tour - but this will be no mean feat with teams such as Tooting, Reading and Jest Ridisculous in hot pursuit, as well as strong C tour promotions in Flump and Birmingham, who have leapt to 8th and 10th seed respectively.

The fight for B tour qualification will be equally tense as Curve, Saints, St. Albans and Trigger Happy look to recover from gutting quarter final losses in London (Trigger Happy falling short by a single point in a sudden-death thriller). The 28 strong C-Tour looks as competitive as it's ever been, and such depth running right through the tournament can be nothing but good news as the increased competition for qualification only continues to make it tighter at the top.

Excited? So are we!! Use the #ukut2 hashtag for results and news over the weekend. Come talk to us if you have any feedback and see you in Nottingham! DP @ tSG.

Fog Lane Cup Review - setting the stage for a truly open season...

Josh Coxon Kelly reviews the primary domestic warmup for the club open season.

Last weekend saw the second ever Fog Lane Cup take place at Stanley Lane Sports Ground in Chippenham. A stiff but unpredictable breeze and occasional rain made for testing conditions, and an opportunity for teams to break in rusty winter skill sets and new tactics alike.

Pool stages on Saturday saw two upsets from Fire 2, who showed grit and tenacity to come out with sudden death victories over both Kapow and Devon, earning themselves second in the group and a hard fought semi-finals berth. Chevron won-out, although not without fight from their opposition, which included a Kapow team hungry to improve on a tense 15-13 quarter final loss at 2012 Nationals. The London outfit were unable to improve upon last year's effort however, and Chevron proceeded to top the group.

The other side of the draw saw Fire 1 and GBU23 in a battle to top the group on Sunday morning. After dispatching EMO and Devon 2 decisively (both games got to score cap at 15-2) the Under 23s had made their statement and were ready to take their first scalp as a new team. However they found themselves up against an experienced Fire squad who, unflustered by the GB unit took an early lead, and held out for the win.

GB didn't stay dejected for long however, and made their way past Chevron in their semi-final for a chance of victory at their first ever tournament. In a game that was not lacking in familiarity between players (no less than 9 of the full U23 team are part of this year's Chevron squad), the game nevertheless saw an exciting and fiercely competitive matchup, as both teams tested the opposing offences with an array of defensive looks. Both teams showed an ability to work the disc upwind from the first pull, with GB earning an upwind break to start. Chevron replied with a break of their own, but eventually the GB D-line brought a strong that proved too strong for the Chevron rainbow. Trading stopped after the first half as GB became increasingly efficient at converting their turns as they took the momentum for the second half against a stuttering Chevron, and eventually the game.

Fire fought Fire in the other semi-final, in a training ground match-up for a final spot. Fire 1 commanded an expected lead early on, and despite a late surge from Fire 2 (characteristic of their performance throughout this tournament), they were unable to repeat the comebacks of the previous day against their first team. With Fire 1 now down to 9 men due to injury, permission was given by the TD for the two London squads to join forces to take on the GBU23 once again.

With the earlier result still fresh in both teams' minds, both sides were fighting for something in the final - Fire for consolidation of their earlier victory, and GB for vengeance. Despite a strong start from both, it wasn't long before the game was slipping from the Fire squad. With the largest squad of the tournament at 21, GB didn't waste a body as they brought a combination of athletic defence on the pitch and full-squad noise from the sideline, mounting an all-out assault on the Fire Offense. This time it proved enough, and the GB D-line showed the dominance of earlier games to take the game away convincingly 13-6.

GB U23 win Fog Lane Cup 2013. Photo courtesy of Harry Slinger-Thompson

The GB team succeeded in winning their first tournament together, and they will look to continue this winning form as they compete in the coming Open Tours 1 and 2, and finally in Toronto this July. In terms of club it was a tournament of statements. Fire 1 and Chevron topped the pack after GB, but did not yet find themselves in a rematch of last year's National semi-final. The two teams will almost certainly meet this season, but at what point? With such a short preview of the coming tour season it's difficult to make predictions, but this weekend also suggests that Manchester Ultimate are looking to overtake northern rivals Leeds in their pursuit for a top 8 A-tour position. Kapow are clearly out to prove right many people's suspicions that they can run with the top teams in the country. A tour regulars Devon, EMO and Leeds have shown that they are all preparing hard for the coming season, but will they be able to hold off the ever increasing competition from new teams? With the inclusion of GBU23 as well as European teams at London Calling, it looks like we're set up for an exciting start to the open season regardless.

Final Results (Spirit scores)

1. GB u23 (9.8)

2. Fire 1 (11.5)

3. Chevron (11)

4. Man-up (10.8)

5. Fire 2 (10.3)

6. Ka-pow (11.1)

7. Leeds (11)

8. EMO (11.1)

9. Devon (11.6)

10. Devon 2 (11.6)

Note - some of the final games were rearranged to avoid replays, hence final positions.

Open Tour will start in two weekends time with London's Calling and expect battles all over. Look out for our previews for both Open and Women's divisions. REMEMBER; like, share, comment and contribute! tSG