UKU Nationals Results

UKU Nationals were held in Southampton this weekend just past. Here's how it went...

Qualifying for EUCF 2014 held in Frankfurt are:

OPEN

1. Clapham (Elite Division)
 2. Chevron Action Flash (Elite Division)
3. EMO
4. Fire of London
5. Brighton 
6. Cambridge

WOMEN'S

1. Iceni 
2. SYC

MIXED

1. Birmingham Mixed
2. Pingu Jam  
3. Thundering Herd


Spirit of the Game winners were Flump,  Iceni and Brighton Breezy - congratulations! Full results including spirit can be found here.

Mark 'Fandango' Simpson goes all out for the D against EMO in the semi-finals. Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss.

Congratulations to Iceni and Clapham Ultimate for retaining the title in their respective divisions, and to the new Mixed Champions: Birmingham Mixed!

Watch Open semi-finals and finals for all divisions with commentary by David Pichler here.

You can also but footage VOD from PushPass, who have also published a Drama post following the possibility of Pingu Jam fielding a ineligible player.

For those who took part the results of the fantasy Ultimate can be found here. 

Look out for our EUCF preview coming soon...

Club or Country: An Irish Perspective

New contributor Brian 'Boyler' Boyle discusses Club or Country from an Irish perspective...

EUCR-S is happening in Nantes, France, this weekend and for the second year in a row, Ireland will only be represented by one club after two years previously of not being represented at all. Despite this, there is interest in Ireland next year not only to send an Open, Women’s and Mixed team to EUC, but also an Open and Women’s team to U23 Worlds. This begs a very important question that I think all Irish Ultimate players need to start asking themselves: why as a country are we willing to spend so much time, effort, and money to play for Ireland, when we are not willing to spend a fraction as much to play for our clubs?

The Case for Tour

Irish players are incredibly lucky to be so close to the UK and have the opportunity to play Tour for such a small cost in comparison to other European tournaments. The competition is of a high standard, and the chance for teams to improve on their final position from the year before will always be there as an incentive for clubs to compete year after year. There is also the thrill of playing against a team that you’ve never played before or never beaten before, and starting new rivalries outside of Ireland. If the spirit circles after matches are anything to go by, British teams are always happy to play Irish teams and I’m sure they would welcome more Irish competition at Tour. A player can also play all three Tours with an additional European tournament (be that EUCR, Windmill Windup, Cologne, etc.) for less money than an entire season with an Ireland National Team. Perhaps this is something to consider with trials coming up soon.

Ranelagh were the only Irish club to compete at all three UK Tours this year. The team sent two squads to Tour 2 and London Calling (Pictured). Photo courtesy of Mark Earley.

Open

Irish national teams are supposed to have as little effect on club Ultimate as possible, but this is never the case. The biggest hindrance to clubs during national team years is using Tour 1 and Tour 2 as warm up tournaments for EUC or WU23. If this continues next year one of two things will happen: either the club teams that go to Tour will under-perform because their key players are playing for Ireland, or the club teams that would normally go (or might want to go) won’t be able to because they don’t have enough players. Ireland is too small of a nation to sustain a Senior Open and U23 Open team as well as a competitive club scene.

There is something to be said for younger players playing for a National Team and becoming better players, and then making their club teams stronger in the future. I would argue that there is just as much to be said for a younger player joining a highly competitive team and playing club Ultimate in the UK and Europe. This also benefits more players directly and exposes more players to a higher level of Ultimate than one national team could ever do. Ireland teams are one-off and only last a year. Club teams (hopefully) last for years and years. Is it worth putting a club team on hold for an entire year just to benefit a few players? As a small nation our goals should be for more players playing more Ultimate, not fewer.

Women’s

Women’s Ultimate in Ireland has been growing stronger and stronger over the last few years, but Irish women’s teams are still under-represented at Tour. Most annoyingly, an Irish women’s club has still yet to compete in EUCR (UK Nationals). Despite this, our clubs have proved that they are able to compete at a high level, whether it be LMS winning several games at WUCC and going undefeated at Tour 2 (kept out of the top 4 since they didn’t compete at Tour 1), or Rebel Ultimate competing strongly at Tour 3. If these two clubs put the effort in next year they could both attend all three Tours and EUCR for less money than it would cost to represent Ireland at EUC in Copenhagen. In contrast, if there is an Irish women’s team next year the likelihood of a club going to all 3 Tours is slim to none, and Ireland will once again go unrepresented at EUCR in the Women’s division.

Claire Pugh competes for a disc against Rogue form Australia in WUCC, one of LMS’s three victories of the week. Photo courtesy of Mark Earley.

Solution

I can think of three possible solutions to the problem of National Teams damaging club teams in Ireland. I’m sure all three will be seen as dramatic by most Irish players, but I only pose them so people can start to discuss this issue which I feel has been going unnoticed. The first is to not send an Irish Open or Women’s team to EUC next year and to concentrate entirely on Club Ultimate. However, this would need the backing of the entire community as well as a concentrated effort to get as many teams to Tour next year as possible, which I see as fairly unlikely at present. The second is to allow National Teams as normal next year, but to ban them from competing at Tour for their warm-up tournaments. Personally I like this option, but with a lack of other affordable and high-standard tournaments available I don’t see it as very viable.

The third is to send club teams to represent Ireland in EUC. This would obviously have the least effect on club Ultimate in Ireland next year, though it is not without its drawbacks. To counteract these drawbacks, whichever club team gets chosen to represent Ireland could pick up a small number of players from other clubs who get the chance to play for Ireland without damaging their own clubs by losing too many members. Club teams already compete and train regularly, and players would not be forced to choose between their club and their national team. Most importantly, the national teams would be able to compete at Tour without preventing other club teams from also competing.

The Cost of an Ireland Jersey

Representing your country in sport is indisputably a great honour, but I think Irish Ultimate players need to ask themselves an important question: is it a great accomplishment? With such a small player base the best players in the country already know they will make the team before trying out. Until there are over a dozen highly competitive clubs in Ireland, playing for Ireland can arguably be seen as more of an ego-boost and selfish, especially when you’re playing Tour for Ireland and leaving your club-mates at home. When Ultimate in Ireland was much smaller, Irish national teams contributed immeasurably to make Irish Ultimate what it is today, but now by choosing to represent Ireland instead of your club you may be indirectly harming Irish Ultimate rather than helping it. As someone who has played for Ireland myself I won’t deny that it is an incredible experience, but think about this: if you consider the people who have played for Ireland more than once, there are currently more Ireland jerseys in Ireland than there are IFDA members.

Conclusions

If you’ve read this far than you have might have found a major flaw in my argument. The players who are willing to spend so much time and effort to play for Ireland are most likely already willing to put that effort into their clubs. It’s the less eager players who are not willing to travel to Tour. After all, there were no senior Ireland teams this year and numbers at Tour were still low. This is an inherent problem and we need some sort of system to incentivise or reward players for going to Tour. Until then, as this club season comes to an end and you start working on plans for next year I would urge any player who wants to get better or see their club get better to convince your teammates to compete for their club at Tour next year. If your club has an AGM at the end of the year, raise the question of what your team will do in order to make it to all three Tours next year. The costs of going may be minimal compared to the costs of not going.

Author's Note: I chose not to focus on Mixed Ultimate as I feel Irish mixed clubs and Mixed Tour is a separate issue worthy of a separate article. Also, while I am President of the Irish Flying Disc Association, the opinions expressed in this article are my own and not those of the IFDA as a whole.

Brian will be continuing to write for The Showgame as Irish correspondent - welcome on board! Do you have an opinion about Club or Country that you want to be heard? We are looking for more contributors to this popular discussion, so get in touch!

UKU Nationals 2014 - Preview

With the drama of Lecco now over the focus returns to domestic competition in Southampton at the UKU National Championships. 

Bristol will once again be looking for a long-wanted win over domestic rivals Iceni. Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss

Women's

This year the women's division grows by two teams to 8, allowing a group into knockout format in which the top two head straight to semi finals. Group A looks less likely to present any upsets as Iceni and Bristol will be hardened returning from the international competition of their WUCC campaigns. Relentless and Manchester will be hoping that tiredness and the dreaded 'double peak' seasons of their opposition will give them a look into the top 4. In Group B the qualifying teams seem are less easily predicted. Punt will be favourites to take the top spot, but have had close games this season against both SYC and Leeds, who will be scrapping hard with Dragon Knights and each other for the semi final spot. As well as a National title, teams are also competing for 2 coveted European qualification spots. That there are no further qualification chances after the final, the semis will come with an extra added dose of pressure for all teams involved.

Chevron will once again be looking to end Clapham's reign. Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss

Open

The Open bracket once again features 16 regional qualifiers in a straight to knockout format. The top 6 teams will head to Europe, with the top 2 spots starting in the 'Elite' division. The final winner takes the first spot, but the second is open to poaching if the winner of the 3v4 and the loser of the final have not yet played, in which case an extra fixture will be played to determine who takes the final Elite division European qualification spot.

Clapham exceeded expectations in Lecco with their exhilarating yet crushing quarter-final loss in sudden death to eventual and repeating World Champions, Revolver. Southampton is familiar ground for domination for this team, and they will look to carry their good form into a 14th consecutive title. They are favourites but with every successive victory comes more pressure to maintain this record. Their route will likely see them face either Brighton or Fire, both teams who will be more than keen to exploit any pressure cracks in the Clapham game. Emo and Chevron are on course to meet on the other side of the bracket, with Devon or Manchester and CUlt looking to trip up the Northern division champions after their 17th place Worlds finish. Up and coming EMO will only have swelled in confidence after a taste of la dolce vita breaking into the top 16, scoring big wins against Freespeed and Melbourne Juggernaut, who knocked Chevron out of the championship bracket. If it happens, this semi is set to be a crowd-pleaser. The 5v6 will not be a 'game-to-go' to Europe, as both teams qualify, but this will in turn hike up the pressure on the preceding two games.

Herd and JR will be battling once again for European qualification. Photo Courtesy of Andrew Moss

Mixed

The 8 team Mixed Nationals tournament offers 3 qualification spots for Europeans, and a notable lack of all of the four british WUCC contenders with Bear Cavalry, Black Eagles, CUlt, and RGS. Thundering Herd are a longstanding committed mixed team and will be looking to take this opportunity to rise back to the top of the mixed pile, but they won't get there easily. Brighton boast one of the largest Ultimate communities outside of London as well as years of pedigree at mixed, and teams such as Pingu Jam, JR and Birmingham will all be bringing young and tight-knit rosters. Curve, ABH and Flyght Club are all longstanding clubs with new talent as well as experienced regulars to draw from, and will also be looking to sneak the wins needed to make the semis bracket. The movement of personnel to the Open and Women's divisions makes it tough to predict any of the games in this division, but all teams will be excited by the open field as well as the relatively high number of European qualification spots.    

Keep an eye on the schedule links for results from the weekend, as well as live streaming provided for the Open semis, and Open and Women's finals.  UTC have created a fantasy ultimate - check it out here! Finally, this tournament will feature a trial of non-anonymous Spirit voting for each team.

As always, best of luck from The Showgame to all teams competing this weekend!

Stay tuned for some more Nationals coverage addressing some of the controversies surrounding this year's event...

WUCC Results Day Five - Friday 8th

With only finals left to play we look back at a strong British showing at the 2014 World Club Championships...

Women's

Iceni finish 11th overall with a decisive win over U de Cologne and sustained and confirmed their European dominance throughout the week. Whilst the highest placed European team, they will be frustrated to not have made it into quarter finals, and also by their results against North American competition with scorelines that do not represent the potential of this team.

Win 17 - 6 vs. U. de. Cologne (GER) 

Nice Bristols had a tough week with only 3 wins against Rogue (AUS), Brilliance (RUS), and YAKA (FRA) to finish in 22nd. Whilst they missed out on top 16, they will be happy to have improved on their seeding by 2 and will undoubtedly come home with a huge amount of international experience that puts their squad in good stead for years to come.

Win 13 - 11 vs. YAKA (FRA)
Lose 10 - 16 vs. E6 (SWE)

LMS also beat their seeding to move from 30th to 24th. Whilst they may be gutted to lose out in sudden death to CUSB shout in bracket play, they will be happy with big wins over Rogue (AUS), Brilliance (RUS) and Nice Bristols.

Lose 9 - 17 vs. E6 (SWE)

Lose 7 - 12 vs. YAKA (FRA)


Open

Clapham secure 5th place in dramatic style with Rob Schumacher getting the game winning block in sudden death against Furious George. Whilst the team will be rightly disappointed about not making Semi-finals, this is a landmark Worlds campaign for Clapham as they suffer a single defeat by one point to the defending World Champions, as well as a first (and convincing) victory over Buzz Bullets. They are the highest finisher of all European teams.

Win 17 - 12 vs. Buzz Bullets (JPN)
Win 17 - 16 vs. Furious George (CAN)

EMO found difficulty in their 9-16 bracket before closing the tournament on a sudden death win to finish 15th. The young Midlands squad have shown their worth at this tournament and undeniably stepped up once again with victories against Freespeed and Juggernaut. They smashed their seeding in a very competitive division and will be looking to continue their late surge up the rankings of British and European ultimate as the season continues.

Lose 11 - 17 vs. Ragnarok (DEN)
Win 17 - 16 vs. Juggernaut (AUS) 

Chevron beat Freespeed in their final game to finish 17th, also in dramatic fashion with Marky 'JL' Fandango taking the final point of the tournament with a layout callahan against the European Silver Medallists. This team will be disappointed to lose out on a top 16 finish, but show promise and grit to finish the tournament with only two losses at the hands of Juggernaut, and Clapham.

Win 16 - 14 vs. Tchac (FRA)

Win 16 - 13 vs. Freespeed (SUI)

Ranelagh had a brutal tournament to say the least with only two victories late in the tournament over FAB and in their final game against Mor ho! to finish 43rd. As tough as it is to face defeat on such a stage, the Dubliners will only gain from the lessons they learned in Lecco. Check out A Ranelagh Player to get a closer look at their Worlds campaign. Also took Spirit in the Open Division! Congrats!

Lose 17 - 11 vs. Gigolo (UKR)

Win 17 - 7 vs. Mor ho! (CZE)


Mixed

Cambridge are the Cinderella team of the competition. Despite a pre-tournament friendly win against Bear Cavalry the team went to Lecco seemingly as GB's second best mixed team. This was emphatically overturned by a pre-quarter meeting between the two teams, which Cambridge one in sudden death to proceed to the top 8 bracket, and knock out their British rivals in the process. Going on to finish 6th with only North American competition above them, the midlands team will be rightly delighted with their showing in Lecco.

Win 16 - 11 vs. Hanabi (JPN)

Lose 13 - 7 vs. Union (CAN)

Bear Cavalry fell short in the cruellest way at the hands of domestic rivals, finishing 12th. Their final game loss by one point to a team they had previously beaten will be tough to take, but the Warwick alumni team will nevertheless be proud of showing themselves a serious force capable of competing on the world stage.

Lose 13 - 17 vs. Wildcard (USA)

Lose 14 - 15 vs. Gecko (CAN) finishing 12th.

RGS missed their seeding by one after two losses on the home straight to finish 28th. The squad showed their quality as they challenged finalists Polar Bears (USA) early in the tournament, but were unable to creep up into the 17-24 bracket.

Lose 14 - 15 vs. Grandmaster Flash (POL)
Lose 15 - 17 vs. Catchup Graz (AUT)

Black Eagles notched a win over RGS and bared their teeth in opening game against eventual 4th place finishers Team Fisher Price (CAN). Their finish at 37th with two decisive victories suggest a much higher placement could have been within their grasps.

Win 16 - 12 vs. China United Ultimate Party (PRC)
Win 17 - 12 vs. Outsiderz (CZE)


Women's Masters

ROBOT Finished 5th overall, narrowly missing out on the championship bracket. Their victory over eventual Bronze medallists Golden Girls (GER) suggests this finish to be deceptive in a division which, perhaps other than the North American finalists, was very closely matched.


Masters

Zimmer finish 7th overall after falling to eventual finalists FIGJAM (CAN) in the quarter finals. Whilst they couldn't overcome FIGJAM or Surly (USA), their early tournament win over Vigi (JAP, 6th) and decisive victories over all other competition add up to a strong showing. 

Lose 17 - 12 vs. Surly (USA)
Win 17 - 10 vs. UFO Masters (FIN) 

BAF achieved strong wins as well as two sudden death losses first to UFO Masters (FIN) and then in their last game to Ultimate Vibration (FRA). They finish their tough campaign in 12th. 

Lose 13 - 17 vs. Wolpertinger (GER)
Lose 14 - 15 vs. Ultimate Vibration (FRA)

Finals - live streamed by Skyd Magazine

Women's - Seattle Riot (USA) vs. San Francisco Fury (USA) (10:30am BST)
Open - San Francisco Revolver (USA) vs. Seattle Sockeye (USA) (16:00pm BST)
Mixed - Polar Bears (USA) vs. Drag'n Thrust (USA) (13:15pm BST)
Women's Masters - Vintage (CAN) 17 - 13 Godiva (USA)
Masters - Boneyard (USA) 17 - 8 FIGJAM (CAN)

That's all from the tSG coverage of WUCC 2014. Congratulations to all UK players and teams for a fantastic showing!

WUCC Results Day Four - Thursday 7th

Keeping you up to date with how the UK teams get on today...

Women's
Final games in the power pools with quarters later.

Iceni
Lose 13 - 7 vs. Scandal (USA)
Lose 11 - 17 vs Fusion (CAN)

Nice Bristols
Lose 11 - 17 vs. LMS
Lose 7 - 17 vs MUD

LMS
Win 17 - 11 vs. Nice Bristols
Lose 14 - 15 vs CUSB Shout

Open
Today sees the pre-quarters and quarter finals.

Clapham
Win 17 - 11 vs. EMO
Lose QF 16 - 17 vs Revolver (USA)

Chevron
Win 17 - 15 vs. Frizzly Bears (GER)

EMO
Lose 11 - 17 vs. Clapham
Lose 11 - 12 vs. Lucky Grass (RUS)

Ranelagh
Win 15 - 9 vs. Wildcard (NZL)
Win 15 - 13 vs. Flying Angels Bern (SUI)

Mixed
Pre-quarters and quarter finals.

Bear Cavalry
Lose 14 - 15 vs. Cambridge
Win 17 - 12 vs Heidees Mixed (GER)

Cambridge
Win 15 - 14 vs. Bear Cavalry, and move on to quarter finals.
Lose 12 - 17 vs Drag'n Thrust (USA)

RGS
Win 17 - 12 vs. Vaasa Saints

Black Eagles
Lose 13 - 17 vs. Hippo

Women's Masters
Last day of round robin.

ROBOT
Win 12 - 10 vs. Golden Girls
Lose 9 - 15 vs. Godiva

Masters
Quarter finals.

Zimmer
Lose 17 - 15 vs. FigJam

BAF
Win 17 - 10 vs. Mucche - Ult. Bergamo.

Excitement Elsewhere

Buzz Bullets come back from 14 - 11 to win in double game point. 

Clapham take the top seed Revolver to universe point in their quarter final. 

WUCC Results Day Three - Wednesday 6th

Keeping you up to date with how the UK teams get on today...

Women's
All still to play for with more games from power pools tomorrow.

Iceni
Win 13 - 11 vs. Cosmic Girls (RUS)
Loss 6 -15 vs. Showdown (USA)

Nice Bristols
Win 13 - 8 vs. Brilliance (RUS)

LMS
Win 15 - 10 vs. Rogue (AUS)

Open
Familiar faces as Clapham and Chevron find themselves in the same power pool, where both will be looking to overcome Melbourne's Juggernaut as well as each other.

Clapham - Undefeated, up into top 16 where they face EMO.
Win 15 - 12 vs. Juggernaut (AUS)
Win 15 - 11 vs. Chevron (UK) 

Chevron  - Down into 17-24 bracket
Lose 15 - 11 vs. Clapham (UK)
Lose 12 -15 vs. Juggernaut (AUS)

EMO - Up into top 16 to play Clapham

Lose 11 - 14 vs. Furious George (CAN)

Win 15 - 11 vs. Freespeed (SUI) 

Ranelagh
Lose 11 -15 vs. Prague Devils (CZE)

Mixed

Bear Cavalry - Undefeated, up to top 16.
Win 12 - 11 vs. Gecko (CAN)
Win 15 - 12 vs. Croccali (ITA) 

Cambridge - Up into top 16.
Win 14 -13 vs. IKU! (Japan)
Lose 8 -15 vs. Team Fisher Price (USA)

RGS
Win 12 - 6 vs. Panthers Bern (SUI)
Lose 12 -15 vs. Black Eagles (UK)

Black Eagles
Win 15 - 12 vs. RGS (UK)

Women's Masters

ROBOT
Win 15 - 13 vs. Sanz (JPN)
vs. Vintage (CAN)

Masters

Zimmer
Win 15 - 8 vs. UFO Masters (FIN) move into 1-16 playoffs
Win 17 - 6 vs MTX (MEX) - Undefeated, up to top 8.

BAF
Lose 15 - 7 vs. Surly (USA) move into 1-16 playoffs
Lose 16 - 17 vs UFO Masters (FIN) - Down to 9-16 bracket.


Excitement Elsewhere

In the Women's Division, Scandal narrowly avoid an upset beating Texas Showdown (feat. Bex Forth) 12-11.

Ragnarok (feat. Alex Cragg) beat CUSB in a tight game to guarantee top 16 and pre-quarter against Jonny Bravo.

WUCC Results Day Two - Tuesday 5th

For those less Twitter-literate, keeping you up to date with how the UK teams get on today in Lecco. Scores will be updated as they come in, so keep an eye out...

Today's play follows the Sunday schedule with only minor changes.

Women's

Iceni (8th)
Win 15 - 4 vs. Prague Devils (CZE, 23rd)

Nice Bristols (24th)  - Coming third in pool puts them in lower power pools.
Lose 15  - 2 vs. Traffic (CAN, 7th) 

LMS Ultimate (30th)
Win 12 - 7 vs. Brilliance (RUS, 14th)

Open

NEWS: Potential schedule change going forward. Top 2 from each pool will enter into 8 power pools of 3 teams. Top 2 of the power pools go to top 16 play-offs. Important implication is that some groups will be 1st-1st-2nd seeds, and some will be 1st-2nd-2nd; substantial considering that only the top 2 proceed from power pools to final 16. Please note - this change is yet to be confirmed.

Clapham (8th) - Top the pool 3 - 0 going into power pools.

Win 15 - 7 vs. KFUM Orebro (SWE, 32nd) 

Chevron (12th) - Top the pool 3 - 0 going into power pools with game against Clapham tomorrow.
Win 15 - 13 vs. Heidees (GER, 36th) 

EMO (22nd) - Take 2nd in pool and head to power pools as a 2nd seed.
Win 14 - 9 vs. Crackerjacks (SIN, 46th)
Win 14-10 vs. Iznogood (FRA, 27th) 

Ranelagh (41st)
Lose 11 - 15 vs. Mephisto (CAN, 17th)

WUCC Results Day One - Monday 4th

Keeping you up to date with how the UK teams got on today...

Things eventually got off to a boggy start in Lecco today after games from Monday were rescheduled due to waterlogged fields. Here's how the home teams got on.
Full results are here.

Women's

Iceni seem comfortable as they take two wins, Bristol take 1 W 1 L, and LMS take a loss to the experienced Woodchicas.

Iceni (8th)
Win 15 - 5 vs. Athletico (FIN, 23rd)
Win 14 - 10 vs. ZUF (SUI, 9th)

Nice Bristols (24th)
Lose 9 - 14 vs. U de Cologne (GER, 10th)
Win 13 - 9 vs. Rogue (AUS, 26th)

Little Miss Sunshine (30th)
Lose 9 - 15 vs. Woodchicas (GER, 19th) 

WUCC 2014 Women's Division Preview: Nice Bristols

Lauren Bryant previews Nice Bristols as the second and final Women's team going WUCC.

Nice Bristols playing YAKA at London's Calling this season. Photo courtesy of Andrew Moss.

UKU Tour 3 Review

David Pryce, Fiona Kwan, Thomas Cliff and Christopher Bell review Tour 3 with some insight into the rest of the season...

Full standings can be found here for Women's and here for Open. But what happened in Cardiff?

Women's Tour - Fiona Kwan

UKU Women's Tour Top 8 

1. Punt
2. SYC

3. ROBOT

4. LLLeeds

5. Phoenix London

6. Iceni

7. Relentless

8. Brighton Pretty

After 3 rounds of fierce contest featuring local favourites and some great input from international competition, the 2014 Tour season has come to an end. We've seen highs and lows, wins and losses, and our fair share of universe points. But sadly, the bakery is now closed. No more bagels.

This review will itself be a review of the finals for the top 6. There have been some great match-ups this season, as more and more team find themselves in contention to win - 4 different teams featured in the 3 Tour finals, Iceni and Punt being the only teams to appear more than once. 

Iceni's absence at Tour 3 was to the advantage of other top level teams who came out hard  vying for the Tour 3 trophy, and the UKU title. Here's how it all went down...

WUCC 2014 Women's Division Preview: Iceni

Lauren Bryant starts off the Women's Division WUCC Previews with National and European Champions Iceni.

Iceni trying to close the gap at the US Open. Photo courtesy of CMBTcreative.

UKU University Women's Outdoor Nationals Preview

Elly White introduces the competition for University Women's Outdoor Nationals

This weekend sees the biggest ever University Women’s Outdoor Nationals with over 30 teams heading to Manchester.

One of the front runners this year, and a team that was mentioned by nearly every team in the questionnaire is Birmingham. The ladies have had a very successful season, getting silver at UWIN and gold at UMON, and are coming into UWON with a very talented squad that could secure themselves another gold. From what I’ve heard, the entire team are star players in their own right, but there are a few that have been specifically mentioned. GB U23 players Grace and Kim Owens' connection will be difficult to stop, as will rising star and GB U20 player Jess Cowley. There is also a boost from Tilly Salter who has spent a year playing with Saucy Nancy, the college team from Iowa who came 3rd at USA College Championships last year. All of this adds up to a pretty formidable team that I predict to make the semis at least.

Sussex Mohawks will be looking to win UWON for the 4th year in a row, an incredible feat and something definitely within their grasp. They will be very used to playing together after sending a team to the Irish outdoor tournament The Siege of Limerick. Players to look out for are Megan Hurst throwing to Starzy Riordan-Eva and also vice-captain Rachel Clark. For the second year in a row they are fielding a second team, which shows the depth that their women’s club has. Like Birmingham, I will be very surprised if Mohawks don’t make the top four.

Leeds are another team that will expect to do really well. They have train often as a team, and 6 of them are part of the LLLeeds squad this season. Captain Claire Taylor’s strong and versatile throws will be brought down by Ruth Lowe, Alice Beeching and Rachel Finch, all up and coming LLL superstars. Leeds have entered a second team this year, something Claire says was helped by prioritising women’s trainings and games over mixed when recruiting women.

University of Leeds Women regroup in the huddle.

Durham is another University that has benefitted from LLL selections this year, and this will be evident in Sarah Clear's and Mark Clark's throws as well as Fi Rae's receiving. They also benefit from the retention of Rebecca Devine, who went to Euros with DED last summer; a formidable lefty handler with pin-point hucks. Durham are another team to enter a second team this year, again suggesting good squad depth as well as a head start on development for next year's team.

Bangor are the third Northern team to feature club players from Leeds, and after impressive indoor results will be looking to build on their 10th place finish from last year. Ava Grossman, Harriet Brown and Louise Ryan all have throws to watch out for. The North was a strong region at UWIN, coming in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th and I expect this strength to continue outdoors. Manchester have many of their girls training regularly with the new Manchester Women’s Ultimate club team and Sheffield have the top handling combination of Kat Cheng (LLL) and Charis Lestrange.

Scotland are a consistently strong region across divisions, and Dundee and Edinburgh were both mentioned in a lot of preview questionnaires as the ones to look out for. Dundee have had a very successful season so far, winning UWIN and coming second at UMON, and look like they could continue this streak at UWON. On the Edinburgh team, Abbie Dutton's cutting as well as the handling of Carissa Tong and Gale Hunter will be formidable for any opponents looking to take down Ro Sham Bo.

Nottingham had a huge team last year and retained a lot of these players, leading to an experienced team this year, including Kirsten Wells of Manchester Women’s Ultimate. A combination of the successful season they have already had and the return of their captain Trina Lam will no doubt see Nottingham challenge hard and achieve a high finishing position.

Also boasting a large roster are the London combination team of UCL, Imperial and Kings. The unfortunate timings of their exams have meant none of the individual Universities could field enough for a team. This is obviously a shame for all three, especially UCL, who had such a strong presence at SEUWIR. People are unsure what to expect from this combination team, which reportedly will feature Iceni and SYC club players as well as some new players from the different Universities. It will be interesting to see how this all comes together in one team, nobody really knows what to expect as none of UCL, Imperial or Kings are regular faces at UWON, but their top players definitely have the experience to make this a successful team.

As well as fighting it out for the top spots, this weekend will be a great chance for second teams and beginners to experience playing competitive outdoors. Three second teams are entered this year (Sussex, Leeds and Durham) which is such a positive things for women’s University Ultimate and will provide all these girls with great exposure to the sport and experience of a more competitive environment. Combine this with the high standards we will see from all the tops teams and it looks like it’s shaping to be a fantastic weekend.

Here are my predictions for the top 5:

1. Sussex

2. Birmingham

3. Leeds

4. Edinburgh

5. Durham

Once again, Good luck from The ShowGame to all players competing at University Nationals this weekend!

London Women’s Ultimate Forum

Charlie Blair gives us the lowdown on the meeting of London Women's Ultimate Forum a couple weeks ago.

Ten years ago London was host to a mere 24 female Ultimate players.  The establishment of the women’s Tour opened the door for growth by providing the opportunity for women not merely to play at a competitive and athletic level against one another, but facilitated both the incentive and necessity for other teams to strive to regularly train at such a level.  As such we have witnessed Tour participation swell from only seven teams in 2004 to twenty-one in 2013, four of which represented the capital.

Whilst on the surface this may seem somewhat impressive, a simple comparison with the growth in Open and the fact that only Iceni and SYC attended Nationals highlights the lack of sustainability that London clubs - indeed clubs nationwide - outside of the top tier appear to be suffering from. Thus, despite a steady increase in female participation, our club infrastructure, and thus our development, remains weak.

It is why at the beginning of this month, representatives of London based women’s clubs and those interested and/or affiliated to their development gathered for an open forum to evaluate the current situation. They included: Iceni, SYC, Crown Jewels, Curve, Discie Chicks and a new team, so nascent yet to be named! In addition there was university representation from Kings, UCL and Imperial. It was incredible alone to have a whole cohort of women representing their interests in London, a decade since Alia Ayub and Laura Pearce encouraged women in the UK to talk about what they want from Ultimate for the first time, which led to the inception of the Women’s Tour and the appointment of the first ever UKU Women’s Coordinator.

Representation from all over the London club and university scene.

The enthusiastic reception of such a forum itself was inspiring. It demonstrated a genuine concern and passion amongst so many. More importantly, it gave an insight into a real and existing demand for women’s Ultimate.  Based on the figures provided, we can estimate the London female player base to currently be between 150-200 women, easily. That in itself is at least 10 Tour teams! However there remains women’s teams wanting to compete at Tour events that aren’t getting enough players, whilst at the same time, there are clubs who boast 70 Facebook members, yet too often can only field a handful of players at trainings.

In learning that the capital bares so much promise before we’ve even considered recruiting afresh, it is therefore more important than ever that we engage with the ‘needs-gaps’ hindering our clubs.

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!

Development Versus Winning: The Importance of Pitch Time

Sophie Edmondson starts off the new Discussion section with a look at squad sizing and its implication for player development...

Looking back over last season, something that’s puzzling me is something I’ve not given much thought before now. Perhaps it’s because 2013 was my first time at the helm of a club team. This is the first time I’ve realised just how important squad size is. On the surface the topic of squad size sounds pretty dull but it has lots of layers to it. No doubt there are lots of teams and individuals out there that have different experiences and opinions on what works best.

I write from the viewpoint of the women’s division on the UK domestic tour and at xEUCF 2013. I haven’t done a ton of homework collecting stats from each team about who played when and where, nor have I acted upon the knowledge that Iceni significantly shortened their lines in the final at Europeans last year. I’m sure had I done this a few home truths would be revealed both statistically and anecdotally but that’s still up for discussion.

At the LLLeeds Ladies AGM last year it was clear that 2013 was going to be a fresh start and the drive for new players was a priority. Turns out there’s a lot of female frisbee talent in the north and luckily trials were packed out. In summary: we settled with a squad of 22 which quickly went down to a tour team of 17 through unfortunate injuries and drop-outs.

Leeds Women at London's Calling 2013. Photo courtesy of David Sparks.

The Grapevine - 10/01 tSG Special

The Grapevine this week looks forward to what we have in store and some cool announcements plus some other fun stuff from the week.

To herald in the new year we have a new About page, go see! Note that we still don't have a correspondent for the Mixed division and we want one. Do you play at mixed tour and want to report on the upcoming season? Contact us now! 

We have also recently got rid of the twitter to FB page link less annoying retweet posts and more personalised posts, please follow us on twitter and make sure to like the FB page for more tSG action. 

Next week sees the official announcement and opening of our new 'Discussion' section as mentioned in Ultimatum 2013.

With the season starting soon Charlie Blair looks back at 2013 and ahead to what looks to be a massive 2014. Watch out for James Burbidge's Open division 2013 review and 2014 preview.

Now for some news from the rest of the world:

We love Women's ultimate here at tSG and we really enjoyed this weeks viral piece on Ultiworld. From Brute Squad (Boston, USA) and recent Whitecaps triallist Emily Baecher writes about how we can't measure Women using the same points of reference as Men in ultimate and how Women's Ultimate IS a sport it it's own right! 

To further promote our sport please vote for the Team USA World Games team for World Games team of the 2013. Let's admit, they rocked and we want Ultimate to win this. Vote daily until your computer breaks! 

Post by World Flying Disc Federation.

Super exciting! Keep on commenting, sharing and reading!

DP @ tSG.