Sean rounds up what's happened at UK Nationals so far. Not too many big surprises, but some great games set up for tomorrow! Catch them on Ulti.TV's YouTube channel.
Sean discusses the women’s division at Nationals 2022 and speaks to four teams about what they are hoping for this weekend: Emily Potter from Spice, Lulu Boyd from SCRAM, Emma Healy and Lara Collier from Flame and Katie Allen from Horizon.
Bristol (1:46)
Iceni (3:40)
SYC (5:57)
LMU (8:17)
Spice (10:08)
SCRAM (24:39)
Gravity (34:38)
Flame (36:46)
Horizon (45:41)
Ladybugs (57: 11)
Predictions (58:23)
Sean talks about the mixed division at Nationals 2022, and speaks to Bex Palmer from Reading, Jimmy and Beth from Glasgow and Nate Sanders from Lemmings about their teams.
SMOG (0:50)
Reading (3:25)
Deep Space (10:55)
SMOG Rising (12:40)
Glasgow (14:13)
Lemmings (21:44)
Oxford (31:37)
Herd (32:50)
Birmingham (33:52)
Purple Cobras (35:00)
Nemesis (36:10)
Black Sheep (36:54)
Prediction (38:19)
Sean discusses the open division at Nationals 2022 and speaks to two people: Cameron Mackie about Alba and Aidan Kelly about Ranelagh and the other Irish teams coming over to Nottingham.
Ranelagh (1:44)
Alba (3:51)
Clapham (12:01)
Chevron (14:47)
Smash'D (16:29)
Devon (18:05)
XVI, Rebel and Tribe (19:26)
Bristol (33:19)
Reading (35:33)
EDI (36:45)
Prediction (38:00)
In this episode Sean speaks to three of the commentary team that will be covering tournaments this season about the European season we’ve seen so far. First, Ali Thomas discusses the Elite Invite in Bologna and the storylines coming out of there. Then Rachel Douglas talks about Tom’s Tourney and the surprising results that happened in Bruges, and finally Benjy Rees discusses watching the European Masters’ Championships in Wroclaw and what we might see heading into Masters Worlds in Limerick.
RUNDOWN
Quick rundown on what’s been going on around the UK (0:40)
A brief note about the GB World Games team and their scrimmages against France and Germany (2:59)
Ali Thomas on Elite Invite (5:07)
Rachel Douglas on Tom’s Tourney (14:52)
Benjy Rees on EMUCC (38:08)
In this episode Sean chats to Conrad Wilson and Connor McHale from Clapham Ultimate about the upcoming London Invite and what people can expect from this brand-new tournament. He also chats with them about Clapham's season and goals, and what they're all looking forward to this year. Sean also promises a full look back at everything he missed in the last month coming next week!
Tickets for London Invite can be bought here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/london-invite-tickets-305917496467
In this episode Sean speaks to Sam Vile, one of the people running the Great Britain World Games team, about how the team has come together. They talk about the trial process, how difficult it was to make selections and some of the philosophies that have been guiding Sam and Lucy Barnes, his coaching partner, as they prepare to take on the best in the world in Birmingham, Alabama.
RUNDOWN
How was it when you found out you would be leading the World Games bid, and how did that come about? (3:00)
How different is it to manage at the World Games? (4:30)
You had three larger pre-trials, how were preparations for that and sifting through the first group of people who applied (9:20)
Were you surprised by how some of the players took to mixed given the high concentration of single-gender-focused players at trials? (15:30)
Who did you have helping out at the trials, what was the process there? (20:38)
How was getting from the pre-trials number to the number you took to the final trial? (24:45)
How was the main trial from a management perspective? (28:48)
How was it from a playing perspective, and how was it separating those two factors? (34:15)
The importance of being a good teammate in the process (39:00)
There is now a final 14 and a training squad, which means you've made cuts. How was that process of getting to the training squad? (42:45)
How have the early preparations as a squad been? (53:53)
Have you discussed aims or goals at this stage? (59:29)
Has it been fun up to this point? (62:58)
Sam talks about picking a team and the way to talk about how other people might have done things (65:24)
Some discussion about Deep Space (70:32)
A word on finishing on the podium at the ShowGame Awards (73:26)
In this episode Sean talks about university women’s and men’s indoor nationals, as well as about the World Games trials that are going on this weekend. He also catches up with ShowGame uni writer Nick Byrne about his experience at Division 1 men’s nats with Strathclyde and what it was like playing the stacky English.
RUNDOWN
Division one women’s (0:29)
Division two women’s (3:00)
Division two men’s (4:10)
Division one men’s, and a chat with Nick (5:15)
Who’s favourite for mixed indoor nationals? (13:05)
The strength in depth of a few teams, particularly Loughborough (15:11)
World Games trials this weekend in Edinburgh (17:38)
We are back! After a break following the awards Sean talks about the news that has gone on in the last month or so, previews some stuff we have coming up and discusses the new structure of the season very briefly. We'll be bringing you more views from a wide variety of people on this new structure soon and speaking to teams and players that will be playing at European and World level this year. Plus details on the Best Play award!
In this episode Sean speaks to Iceni's Becky Thompson about the issue with women from SMOG and the Yindoors tournament. SMOG published an article on their website today about the discrimination they challenged at Yindoors and how it affected them, and Sean and Becky discuss the situation, what we should learn from it and where we should go from here. They also discuss some of the news around UK ultimate at the back end of the pod.
RUNDOWN
A quick recap on the situation (2:00)
Becky’s reaction to the article, and her experiences of everyday sexism (3:34)
The importance of transparency and openness (9:16)
What is it that we all should learn from this? (11:03)
Becky’s message to the women involved (17:20)
Some news and notes on WUCC, European Indoors and the World Games trials (18:41)
Quick update on the ShowGame awards (24:15)
A very full episode this time around as Sean discusses the latest news on WUCC, the return of university frisbee and speaks to the first GB captain of the 2022 international cycle, Eyan Sham of GB beach women’s. He speaks to Magnus Oakes and Tanny Karimi about university regionals as well, so there’s something for everyone in this one! We’re still looking for some uni reporters so drop us a line if you fancy it.
RUNDOWN
WUCC news - more spots in mixed and women’s (0:14)
Uni fris returns with UXIRs, Sean covers the West Midlands and Wales tournament (3:55)
Magnus Oakes on the East and London region (7:30)
Tanny Karimi on Yorkshire and the East Midlands (13:58)
Eyan Sham on putting together a beach team amid COVID and looking forward to Los Angeles (21:18)
In this episode Sean discusses WUCC bids and the possibility that Great Britain gets more bids. It's important to note again that this is speculation, it is not sourced! Rule 5.7 says that you start from fourth at WUCC down, hence discounting the nations who already have three bids. He also talks to Iceni player Kathryn Elsby about what the World Games trials were like and how high the standard was, as well as what it was like playing elite women’s for the first time last season. There’s also a very brief mention of uni fris at the end of the pod - more to follow!
RUNDOWN
WUCC bids have been confirmed after the first round of allocations after some drop outs. How likely is more bids in each division? (0:36)
Kathryn Elsby on World Games trials and Iceni (16:41)
A quick nod to uni regionals happening this weekend (25:15)
In this episode Sean covers the news about the bids for WUCC being released and what it might mean for UK and Irish ultimate, recaps what happened at the mixed masters qualifiers in Leicester and then speaks to Aine Gilheany from Gravity and Max Larkinson from Smash’D about their xEUCF performances. He also talks about the busy time coming up in UK ultimate over the next few weeks, with uni fris starting back up and trial season beginning in earnest. If any students want to get involved with our university coverage, get in touch! There's also a brief mention of the Ultiworld membership drive, along with the Ulti.TV Patreon - support them both if you're able to!
RUNDOWN
WUCC bids announced (0:29)
WMUCC qualifiers recap (4:25)
Aine Gilheany from Dublin Gravity (10:40)
Max Larkinson from Smash’D (25:49)
Ultiworld membership drive - go and take a look! (39:33)
What’s coming up in the next few weeks, and students get in touch if you want to help cover uni fris! (40:24)
In this episode Sean discusses what’s going on in UK ultimate at the moment, taking a look back at xEUCF in Bruges and also looking forward to the masters qualification games this weekend. Then he talks to Helen Thompson from SMOG and from the University of Sheffield about playing Not Uni Nationals a few weeks back and what the uni season might look like this year.
RUNDOWN
How the UK and Irish teams did at xEUCF (0:14)
What it’s like working a tournament like xEUCF (7:01)
A brief look at mixed masters’ qualifiers this weekend (10:44)
Helen Thompson on university ultimate and playing with SMOG (14:23)
This week Sean spoke to Si Hill from UK Ultimate again for another check in, this time about the 2021 season and what we might be seeing in 2022. They talk about nationals, WUCC places seemingly reducing from the three per division the UK had in 2018, whether the system this season worked and what changes might be coming in future. There’s also some chat about the GB programme restarting in 2022 and how he’s feeling about the game in the UK after such a tough year.
RUNDOWN
How was nationals? (0:45)
Did the three equal divisions work, and is there any prospect of keeping it balanced out? (3:29)
The league and the cup were put in place this season, how did you think they went? (5:38)
Would you make the same decision again with SMOG women and Mighty Hucks in their respective leagues? (15:51)
What do you think the system might look like in 2022? Will the challenge league keep its place in the structure? (21:15)
How many places are we looking at for WUCC, is there any indication yet from WFDF? (38:21)
WMUCC is also next year, any news there? Happy to see a qualification process? (41:03)
Will there be any detrimental effect to EUCF places in 2022 based on this season? Bids are traditionally based on previous year’s results and we are only sending two open teams this year (42:39)
GB beach and indoors trials are soon, World Games trials are in October. How are you feeling about GB coming back? (45:35)
How are you feeling about the World Games process and how it’s coming together given the different process that was taken to get here? (48:55)
Si thanks the community for the support so far (51:59)
In this episode Sean speaks to Aine Gilheany from Gravity and Aidan Kelly from Ranelagh about All-Irelands last weekend, where both teams took home the title. Then Sean talks about what the three Irish teams that have qualified for xEUCF in Bruges in October can expect when they come up against Europe’s best teams.
RUNDOWN
Aine Gilheany from Gravity (1:35)
Aidan Kelly from Ranelagh (9:42)
A brief discussion about the Irish teams in Europe (18:45)
This week Sean speaks to Rupal Ghelani, Eyan Sham and Amir Sudra about the MESH project and their upcoming showcase game, as well as to Áine Harte, the IFDA competitions director, about Irish nationals! As a reminder, tickets are available for MESH showcase now on their website, and the IFDA will be sharing links for women’s nationals ahead of the weekend!
RUNDOWN
Rupal, Eyan and Amir from MESH (2:00)
Aine Harte from the IFDA on Irish nats and their women’s streaming (24:17)
A quick preview on what might happen this weekend in Limerick (30:50)
And those all important links:
MESH: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-ultimate-mesh-showcase-game-2021-tickets-168739054053
IFDA stream: https://www.facebook.com/PunditArena/
In this bumper episode Sean is joined by commentators Tom Styles and Benjy Rees to discuss being back at a tournament for the first time in two years and what happened at Nationals 2021. They also discuss whether or not geo-teams are the best approach for sustained success, who might do well at WUCC in 2022 and thoughts on the recently-announced World Games selection process.
RUNDOWN
What was it like being back at a tournament? (1:04)
Was it easy to drop back into commentary? (3:07)
What did you think of Smash’D in their first season? (9:20)
How do we think Clapham are set up for xEUCF? (12:20)
Will Alba be able to get over the Chevron hurdle at some stage? (19:29)
What about Chevron, where do they go from here? Is it harder as a non-geo team?(23:15)
SMOG are clearly the best mixed team in the country, which goes against the geo-team structure we’ve discussed. Why is that? (28:53)
What does the strength of SMOG mean for other teams? How hard is it to sustain a team beyond one life cycle? (33:51)
A quick discussion about the World Games structure (37:17)
Deep Space and their season (42:25)
What do Bristol have that sets them up well for these big games? (44:24)
That’s three silvers in a row for Iceni - what steps do they need to take now? (50:28)
A great first season for LMU (57:18)
Will SYC be disappointed with Nationals, or was this a good showing? What comes next? (60:00)
Ulti.tv are running a Patreon programme to fund their great ultimate coverage - Tom and Benjy talk about the project and the team. Get involved! (67:16)
Is eight teams in all three divisions the way forward? (72:58)
A tired Sean reviews what happened on day one of UK nationals, with a quick update on a couple of games of note. Semi-finals tomorrow, with all finals streamed live on YouTube! Keep tuned to our social media channels and we'll try to keep you updated on what's going on with the non-streamed games.
In this episode Sean speaks to SMOG and GB women's player Rachel Naden about the women’s division at UK nationals! They talk about the standard of the women’s division overall this year, the teams that have qualified for nationals and the battle for the semi-final places in both pools. Sean also speaks to SOUL captain Abi Cohman,
RUNDOWN
How was playing in the women’s division with SMOG this year? (0:51)
Pool C (1:58)
Pool D (16:49)
The schedule