Thursday, August 2, 2007

Nationals Open Preview- East Coast Teams

Contrary to Western and Upper/Lower Canada opinion, The east coast of Canada does not include Quebec or Ontario. Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island form said coast. While I'm on the subject please do yourself a favor and refrain from calling Newfoundlanders "Maritimers". I digress.

Halifax hosted CUC 2006 and, by most accounts, did a solid job. This year, they are represented at Nationals by Red Circus. The other maritime bid is from Fredericton, a team called SWASS.

Red Circus

Team History: 4th season

Team Results:
Boston Invite- 15th (tied with Phoenix)
- Beat GT and Red Tide

No Borders (Ottawa)- 13th

Team Leaders:
Ramsey Wright, Dave Lutwick, Steve Creaser, and Mike Lovas.

Players to Watch for:
  • A lot of raw talent and a few key vets that get the job done.
  • Long term, Look to have some solid juniors coming up the ranks (despite the jr.s team folding for this years CUC
Analysis:

Based in Halifax, Red Circus benefits from a pool of potential players from 4 Colleges/Universities in the city. As a former member of the original Dalhousie team, I can tell you that Halifax has produced some solid players in the last seven seasons. However, retention of players is difficult.

This year's Red Circus team has the talent to contend at Nationals with those aiming at a quarterfinals spot.
With one of the game's best throwers in Ramsay Wright, Red Circus will aim for 'main tent' status.

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SWASS


Team History: 2+ Years

Team Results:
2007 Montreal Jazzfest: 19th (2-4)
2006 Nationals: 12th (0-7)

Team Leaders: ?

Players to Watch for: Everyone?

Analysis:

Last year's nationals was a learning experience for this team. Given the team has no website or team contacts via the Fredericton Ultimate association, I had to find their results this year. The only major eastern tournament that they have attended is Jazzfest. They lost 13-8 in one of those games to ROY, while finishing 19th in the tourney.

While little is know about this team, expect some players from Moncton and surrounding areas to help bolster the team.

2 comments:

jlo said...

Apparently Hogel isnt worthy of mention.

Sport Management Steven said...

Jason Lobb, you picky man.

That wasn't my writeup. I gave the teams the chance to write their own writeup, and most took it. After that, local sources, personal experience playing against them, and web searching were used.

Matt Hogel is a new player on Circus this year, and he brings a lot of experience from Queens and 2 years with Phoenix.

He also has the trademarked scorpion defensive move.