TDDM Twitter Feed

Nation,

Great first day at cuc 2010.

Follow Tommy douglas on twitter @tddreamchine

CUC 2010 Preview

Nation,

After a weekend battling the flu, I regret not being able to provide a division by division preview of the CUC.

Fortunetly, a contributor from www.iamultimate.com has done a preview. Inmitation is the highest form of flattery when sincere, and the breakdown by the author is similar to mine. I encourage you to go over to the site and give it a read.

U-23 World Championship Update

Nation,

Quick update on our young stars:

• Canada is 5-1 in womens play after a 17-12 loss to Japan. The team squandered a 2-0 lead and was unable to come back. Canada's next game is against Ireland (2-4 record) before heading to the playoffs.
  
• Canada's mens squad is an impressive 6-0 and has enjoyed balanced scoring throughout the roster. Their next match is a quarterfinal match up with Switzerland.
  

The mens team can be followed via the following link

http://scores.wucc2010.com/?view=teamcard&Team=1282

The womens team can be followed via the following link:

http://scores.wucc2010.com/?view=teamcard&Team=1283

2010 Ontario Open Regionals

Nation,

Ontario Open Regionals are upon us this weekend. Waterloo is the host, and KW's WODS organization will do a fine job I am sure.

As an Ultimate Canada board member and someone that works in the sport events business world, I see regionals as a very important thing for our sport. We should have regionals for every region, making it an important part of our Championship series. It's good for competition, and it's very alluring for businesss and cities/areas that want to bring ultimate to their communities. It should be a tournament and an event people want to be part of and see. Right now, we seem to be headed in a good direction with regionals. Notably, the maritime regionals had its best turnout on record this month. (PEI Ultimate readers, send me a Magnum PEI jersey!!) :)

My only hope is we can time regionals away from key tournaments (like No Borders, JazzFest, Team Canada tournaments) that take place in July each year. Perhaps setting up regionals in June might seem early to some but gives time for teams to properly prepare and regroup for August nationals.

Open Regionals- Preview

According the online schedule, we have the following teams:

• Phoenix (Ottawa)
• Moondoggies (Toronto/Various)
• Maverick (KW)
• Too Bad (Toronto)
• Grand Trunk (Toronto)
• Firebird (Ottawa)
  
• ROY (Toronto)
  

7 teams and 6 spots to nationals!!!

This might be the best group of seven teams at an Ontario regionals yet. Realistically, all teams could make the top 10 at nationals, but sadly one team won't get that chance.

Phoenix from Ottawa finished 2nd at CUC last year and just finished a trip to Worlds and a 2nd place finish at No Borders (despite missing many players during that weekend. The team is flat out strong this year, at the CUC and UPA/USA level. Injuries and absences might affect their performance this weekend, but the goal is simply to qualify and that should be an easy task.

Moondoggies from Toronto will most likely feature young, up and coming GOAT players with strong college/open players from the Vancouver/southwestern Ontario region. (If it is the same team that won No Borders last year). The CUC conflict with the Emerald City Classic might change the roster a bit.

Maverick from KW are having a great season. They finished 9th at CUT, 5th at No Surf, and won JazzFest. Like Phoenix and Moondoggies, they must qualify for nationals, gain intel on their opponents and avoid injuries at this home tournament.

Too Bad is always a tough team to gauge due to the fluidity of the roster. I must have stated that 900 times since I started this blog. If they are going to have strong ex UWO players like Rene Frye and Mike White to run down big hucks, they should figure to grab a spot to nationals.

Grand Trunk from Toronto continues to build towards nationals. 2009 CUC was a bit of a dissapointment for the squad, as they didn't fully capitalize on the evident talent they possessed. Their 2010 team looks very impressive again. Regionals should be a perfect gelling excercise.

Firebird of Ottawa is back after a one year hiatus, and they look like a young, strong club. Featuring a number of ex Phoenix players, the 'Bird had a very strong No Borders and should be a tough matchup with a full roster this weekend. Particular strong play recently has come from Colin Froats and Matt Godkey.

ROY of Toronto had a very strong Jazzfest and impressed many at No Borders this past weekend. Coaches Nate Brown and Brad Amson have done a good job of getting results out of a young athletic bunch.

World U-23 Championships- Team Canada Links

Nation,

The World U-23 championships take place this week in Florence, Italy.

Canada has both a mens and womens team entered.

The mens team can be followed via the following link

http://scores.wucc2010.com/?view=teamcard&Team=1282

The womens team can be followed via the following link:

http://scores.wucc2010.com/?view=teamcard&Team=1283

Will Canada Win?

Given that the US will not be attending the tournament, the questions to you the reader is simple:

• Will Canada win in Open and Womens respectively?
• If so, who will lead both squads
• Who will be Canada's best rivals with the Yankees absent?

Look forward to your analysis

No Borders 2010

Nation,

Just want to thank all participants for another outstanding No Borders tournament.

Special thanks to local league host OCUA and staff, our volunteers and my technical team (Matt Pinard, Jitka Licenik, and Carl Sharpe) and my TV color commentators (Justine Price, Mike Wronski and David Brook).

Also a big thank you to Five Ultimate (Who created an amazing lounge area and made a significant donation to the Team Canada junior ladies team) and our tournament sponsors.

Thanks,

Steven Trainor
Tournament Director
No Borders 2010

Newspaper Article

Ultimate took the front page of the City section in Ottawa's biggest newspaper:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/ultimate+players+come/3294083/story.html


TV Coverage of the Finals

From their website, womens final will be aired on the 22nd at 8:30pm:
http://www.rogerstv.com/option.asp?lid=12&rid=4&sid=82&cdate=7/22/2010

Mens final on the 24th at 2:30pm:
http://www.rogerstv.com/option.asp?lid=12&rid=4&sid=82&cdate=7/24/2010

Final Standings- Open

Open: http://scores.usaultimate.org/scores/#open/tournament/7608

This year, North Bay claimed the championship for the first time in 26 attempts. It was a star studded team that, along with Phoenix, provided an excellent final that I can't wait to watch without any distractions!

Also congratulations to Mule, which won the Sean Green Cup. Mule captain Dave Brown, a friend of Sean Green, was extremely pleased to win the trophy named in honor of his late friend for the first time.

1. Nads (North Bay/Toronto)
2. Phoenix (Ottawa)
3. Strike (Winnipeg)
4. GLUM (Ottawa)
5. Q (Quebec City)
6. Red Circus (Halifax)
7. Too Bad (Toronto)
8. Firebird (Ottawa)
9. Bloody Gary (Sherbrooke)
10. Team Canada East Jrs (Various)
11. Grand Trunk (Toronto)
11. Fuel (Toronto)
13. BDU (Ottawa)
14. LXG (Ottawa)
15. Max Power (Toronto)
16. ROY (Toronto)
17. Mule (Ottawa) - Sean Green Cup Winner
18. Fossil (Toronto)
19. Magma (Montreal)
20. Arrested Development (Ottawa)
21. Agony (Montreal)

Final Standings- Women
Womens: http://scores.usaultimate.org/scores/#womens/tournament/7616

Ottawa's best womens team has returned to the top of No Borders! Stella played a great tournament and saved their best for the Saturday showcase game and Sunday final versus Team Canada Juniors.

The tournament featured a number of young womens club teams that showed lots of promise and talent. In particular, new team EXO from Sherbrooke looked like a promising athletic squad.

1. Stella (Ottawa)
2. Team Canada U20 Women (Various)
3. Fusion (Winnipeg)
4. QUB (Quebec City)
5. Lily (Toronto)
6. Dame (Ottawa)
7. Salty (Halifax)
7. Missconnduct (Connecticut)
9. Exo (Sherbrooke)
10. Mystik (Montreal)
11. The New Black (Ottawa)
11. WTF (Brooklyn)
13. Scarlett (Ottawa)
14. Tempest (St John's)
15. FEISTY (Toronto)

Boston Invite 2010 Preview

Nation,

Attention Leominister MA! Make the beds at the motel 6 and clean the restaurant grills! Massachusetts prepares for an annual visit from Canadian open and women's teams. Boston invites some of the best teams north and south of the border for its tournament located in Devens.

Canadian content will be in heavy supply this weekend.

Open

32 teams are in action, with 9 Canadian squads making the trip.

• Elite Pool includes GOAT (Tor), Phoenix (Ott) and Mephisto (Mtl)
• Other Pools include Firebird (Ott), Red Circus (Hfx), Grand Trunk (Tor), Demon (MTL), Bloody Gary (Sherbrooke) and Magma (Mtl)

Defending champs GOAT make their first appearance as a full squad this summer. Phoenix will be looking to build on a very strong 2nd place performance at CUT and some big wins against Bodhi and PoNY. Mephisto has 3 strong opponents on day one (Ironside, Pike/Philly combo team and Bodhi) and will look to beat seed.

This will be the first chance we get to see clubs like Firebird, Trunk, Circus and Demon compete in the same tournament, and we will have a better idea of where these teams are relative to each other.

So, who's going to win the Boston Invite this year?

Easterns Womens

With the Elite women's division previously played a few weeks ago, the eastern womens divisions will be the focus of women's play this weekend.

Canadian clubs QUB (Qc), Salty (Hfx) and Mystik (Mtl) are sending squads and are well ranked in the field of eight.

Mixed

8 teams in the coed division, with a Canadian team from Montreal (RIP).

Format is round robin and all teams seem full squad and highly competitive. It should be another excellent pre worlds tune up for RIP.

Team Canada U-23 Training Camp Report

Submitting Author: Alex Davis, Furious George

Canadian clubs were busy on the weekend of June 19-20, but some competed a little shorthanded while they lent some of their talent to U23 training camps in Vancouver. An elite constellation of young stars met here for two days of hard practice. Regrettably, I did not have the hours to study them all, but I can pass on some modest observations.


I stopped by the men's Saturday practice during a recovery jog (a cabin-feverish attempt to cope with a hamstring strain) to take a look at our prospects. I was immediately impressed by the fluidity and quality of play for a team that had been thrown together on short notice.

Soft-spoken coach Kevin Cheung (formerly of TFP and Furious George) instilled a sense of dedicated productivity into what time they had. I don't know how well it survived a subsequent night of socializing, but the vibe at the time was healthy and busy, with an excited touch of swagger. Skill-wise, most visible at the time I arrived was Jeremy Noorden's command of zone-busting blades. Noorden (USAU college all-region, NW) shows better in the university game than he does in the Open field in part because he can get away with more, and with this complement of receivers, his fearless overhead throws should serve him well against less experienced opponents in Europe.


I also noticed that the men's U23 contingent (that was present at the camp) is not a particularly tall team, with just a couple of players cresting 6'2”. I forgot to ask Cheung about this fact – whether it was a strategic calculation or mere coincidence. With the tall and lanky air force of the USA not in attendance, a shorter, faster roster may yield better match-ups against Japan and Colombia, among other opponents. Nevertheless, the U23 roster is full of deceptive deep and defensive threats, such as utility players Dre Gailits, Aaron Liu, Adrian Yearwood and Mark Lloyd. Underestimate them at your own risk.


On the following morning, Team Canada tested their skills against Furious George, inviting the usual brand of joking, shoving and screaming that comes from playing with some familiar match-ups. Morgan Hibbert's answer to a call by Bobo Eyrich abruptly ended an idyllic Sunday morning for some well-to-do Shaughnessy families.


Canada made a strong start, took advantage of some of the Monkey's lack of finesse and won the early break at 3-2. The two teams otherwise traded points while the Furious defense made adjustments. The Canadian deep defense, though comparatively dwarfed, was positioning quickly and correctly. Their offense shied away from the sidelines and emphatically centred the disc at every opportunity. This latter tactic played a crucial role early on, since it was surprisingly difficult to predict the next dump target; cutters sometimes exchanged dump priority with handlers midway into the stall count, and handlers began dump-cuts unconventionally far upfield. Thus, defenders who had lost sight of their relative positions repeatedly failed to contain unexpected dumps and breaks. Eventually, Furious adapted to this style of play and learned to pressure the resets, forcing turnovers. The Monkey went on to win 17-8.


Outstanding contributions were made by Yearwood's handler cutting, and throws by Noorden and McKnight. The latter two repeatedly made Mark Lloyd an offensive poster child by threading hammers and outside-ins into his hands. Defensively, Nate Dandurand's hustling mark made a strong impression on Furious handlers as well.


Some time ago, after the vote had passed to send teams to Florence, there was a lingering question that irked many of us. How would we assemble an all-star team with so little notice and so little money? Can we comfortably assemble a “national team” if we can't get certain luminaries on it? Eventually, I realized that the question itself was wrong. The chief obstacle any national team (any elite team) must face, I remembered, is its own collection of sense of worth. Every team I have ever played on (and in particular, the most successful ones) really amounted to just yet another group of guys trying to figure out how to play together – and the sooner we realized that, the better we became. When I look at this Team Canada, particularly after this scrimmage, I see faces not content merely to make the cut. One way or another, I don't think we can send a better team than one that looks like that. Good luck, gentlemen. The hunger to prove oneself, sometimes urgent, ravenous and insane, is the greatest weapon I have ever known in sport.

World Cup 2010- Putting the 'I' in Team

Nation,

I have been closely following the World Cup this year, as I often do. Once you put national jerseys on in any sport, I become infinitely more interested as many of us do. Every four years, North America tunes in to football/soccer and picks apart the aspects of the game we don't quite understand (The excitement when there are so few goals, lack of replay, the offside rules, the terrible diving and the ties).

For the first time, the World Cup is in Africa, South Africa to be exact. Do we need to have a world sporting event in a place that can't afford the 9 soccer stadiums built, that have cities so unsafe reporters (e.g. Stephen Brunt) are advised not to walk even three blocks without armed escort? That's a moral dilemna. A struggling population has embraced the World Cup, but it's like enjoying a wonderful meal before seeing the final bill. Nobody on this continent will be around for that moment of realization.

Yet we still love the World Cup, and watch it, and continue to support it. It seems like nothing can turn us off this event. We even seem to enjoy the drama of teams self combusting in the middle of the tournament.

Two games in and already teams are turning on each other and their management. Most notably is France. Les Bleus have seen a star player expelled from the team, a captain benched for game three, a player boycott of practice, and several admin and players publicly turning on their embattled coach. Raymond Domenech is certainly hard to love, and hasn't been shy to bash his players that he picked himself. What a mess after two games!

France is not alone. England to be on the verge of collapse and mutiny, less than a week after everyone sang the praise of their coach Capello. Host South Africa's players are yet another team questioning their coach.

Realistically, France benefited from an illegal goal to make the tournament, and they are not the same team that went to the World Cup Final in 2006 and won in 1998. Anyone remaining from those winning squads is four years older, and no replacement has been found for retired star Zinedine Zidane. England is feeling the heat from a soccer mad country, but they seem to be simply not good enough. And South Africa, how are players on the 83rd best team in the world complaining about their coach? They should be glad to be the host, and to have scored a goal!

What happened to 'Praise in Public, Scold in Private'? Everybody seems to be so quick to blame someone else for results that they haven't bothered to finish the tournament as a team. To me, that is a far worse crime than failing to perform.

As ultimate teams (both domestic or international), selfish finger pointing strife mid tournament is a terrible distraction that has very little chance of helping the situation. Commitment to the team, to the game plan (no plan works unless all are on board), and to the leadership is crucial to being a good team member and a person fans and teams can respect.

U23- Team Canada Womens Roster

Nation,

Several weeks ago Ultimate Canada announced the mens and womens rosters that will represent Canada at the inaugural u23 world championship in Florence, Italy. The tournament will be held July 19-25 2010.

Team Canada-Women's Roster

The women's head coach is Danielle Fortin. Fortin, a club team player for Stella, Capitals and Lotus, won junior gold as a player in 2004 and will play for Lotus at the 2010 WUCC in Prague. Her experience as a coach/player coach includes several university national titles with the Ottawa Gee Gees and a 5th place world juniors result at the 2008 WUGC in Vancouver.

Her 21 player squad will include at least 6 ladies with world junior experience.

Players to watch include Jordan Meron of Western/Lotus (who scored an outstanding 29 goals at the 2008 world juniors), McGill captain and star Rachael Moens and former Ottawa Gee Gee/Stella Alex Benedict, a smooth handler with nice throws.

U23 WOMEN'S TEAM

Alex Benedict
Amanda Ho
Amy Zhou
Clancy Budiak-Jarvie
Geneva Locke
Jeannette Quach
Jenny Lo
Jordan Meron
Kaity Williams
Kat Lee
Lauren Romaniuk
Lindsay Olimer
Lydia Rasmusens
Maria Chau
Megan Thomas
Rachel Moens
Rena Kawabata
Sarah Bobak
Stephanie Mandal
Stephanie Salerno
Valerie Lefebvre

U23- Team Canada Open Roster

Nation,

Several weeks ago Ultimate Canada announced the mens and womens rosters that will represent Canada at the inaugural u23 world championship in Florence, Italy. The tournament will be held July 19-25 2010.

For various (and valid) reasons, The United States will not be fielding teams at this event, and Canada will only be sending teams in the men's and women's category. Regardless of the lack of US participation, this will be a unique opportunity for some very good players to represent our country at the national level.

Open Roster

The open team's head coach is the young but experienced Kevin Cheung, most notably from Team Fisher Price. Kevin's barely too old for the tournament himself, but he has national championships, a world clubs championship (Perth 2006) and a Worlds title (2008) on his resume already.

Cheung's roster is as follows

U23 OPEN TEAM (World JR year in brackets if applicable)

Cam Harris (2008)
Russell Street (2006)
Jeremy Norden
Will Ranson
Daniel Dantzig (2008)
Graham Landon
John Norris
Adrian Yearwood
Thomson McKnight
Richie Tam
Aaron Liu (2008)
Dave So
Scott Hislop (2006)
Andre Gailitis
Kevin Fong
Blair Underhill
Thomas Black (2008)
Gord Harrison
Kevin Horgan
Kielan Way (2006)
Mike Adams
Nathan Dandurand
Raynaldo Arteaga
Michael Jones
Ernie Lin (2006)
Andrew Watts
Bobo Eyrich
Mark Lloyd (2008)

Analysis

A very talented squad will represent our country in this division. Many of the players listed have assumed key roles with various college teams throughout the country and with club teams in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.

Clearly, past participation in world juniors was not a requirement for selection. This makes sense for several reasons

• Players start and stop playing during the 18-23 age period
• Some players peak and some plateau after junior age
• Sometimes junior selections are wrong (It's not easy!)
  

With so little time this summer for the team to practice and play together, you would think it would be a major challenge for team cohesion. However, looking at past world junior rosters, college experiences, and club play, we see that many of the players have experience with other members of this team.

For instance, the University of Western Sharks will be heavily represented by star handlers Mark Lloyd, Scott Hislop, Andrew Watts and the 6'6 Kevin Horgan.

National college champions Carleton Ravens will have speedy Rey ("Rey-Rey") Arteaga and the dominant Kielan Way (Phoenix newcomer Mike Adams is also on the roster). Toronto will have a slew of club players familiar with each other, notably Cam Harris, Adrian Yearwood, Daniel Dantzig, Thompson McKnight, and Michael Jones.

Bolstering the team will be emerging talents like Mephisto's Nathan Dandurand and Dalhousie star Bobo Eyrich.

Cheung has selected some players he is very familiar with as teammates. Hislop, Russell Street, Ernie Lin and Blair Underhill will be vital parts to a winning equation.

With United States out of the picture, Canada should be the pre tournament favorite to win the championship. (2nd in the 2006 and 2008 juniors). However, with many players new to the world stage, and the growing talent levels of teams outside of North America, Canada must be ready to deliver a strong performance in Florence.

Preview: Northern Flights 2010, No Surf 2010

Nation,

Ultimate action this weekend in North Bay and Cleveland.

Northern Flights

The 22nd annual Northern Flights tournament takes place in North Bay, Ontario this weekend.

18 teams are registered this year, comprised of a mix of touring, pickup, and local squads.

The tournament favorites are a GOAT/Lotus + friends squad named The Dockers, champions for the past two years and three out of the last four years.
No Surf- Open

Cleveland's big tournament has a strong pool of open teams.

In addition to a high number of Canadian teams, (Maverick, Too Bad, ROY, and Grand Trunk) the tournament has added some stronger US teams to the mix. These include 2009 USA finals team Madison Club, a split squad of fellow USA finalist Madcow, LouEVIL (KY), Direwolf (Pittsburgh) and the always gritty BearProof.

No Surf- Women

The women's bracket for No Surf is much smaller and much more modest than their open counterpart.

Canadian content will be represented by Lily of Toronto.

FlowerBowl 2010 Review- Open Elite Division

Author: Alex Davis, Furious George

Flowerbowl (June 5-6, 2010) is Vancouver's hometown showcase tournament, and the earliest of the season in Northwest. Its cachet rises and falls, depending on the year, the timing of the major heavyweight tournaments and the objectives of the nearest clubs. Regardless, it is Furious George's home turf, and every year the Monkey can be found there, plying its trade and tuning up for the season. This year, with the timing and costs of WUCC2010, U23s, and WJUCs, the tide of talent rolled back into Vancouver again, turning Flowerbowl once more into a pitched battle.

Elite Open Division- Pool Play

Blackfish

Vancouver's national-level touring team is farming a lot of talent this year, sending players to all three world championship events. The talent pipeline has been good to Blackfish, replacing graduated veterans with younger pick-ups like Gordon Harrison, Jordan Tessarolo and Bobo Eyrich. Still, losing two former captains to Furious makes it difficult to direct all that raw talent, so Blackfish can expect its early-season tournaments to be learning experiences. Although they struggled with better-honed opponents like Furious, Sockeye, and ECU they gave a solid showing in a loss against Rhino (8-12) and took wins from Winnipeg and UBC, going 2-4 in pool play.

Furious George

The Monkey's roster looks largely unchanged after 2009's changing of the guard, and skillwise, well ahead of the mark from last year at this time. Still, the majority of Furious' D-line joined Invictus for this weekend and left something of a skeleton crew to navigate six games of pool play. Nevertheless, Vancouver held the fort, going 5-1 with only one loss (12-10) against Sockeye in a turnover-heavy game that both sides admitted was stilted and uninspired. Setting themselves up for a rematch in the final, the Fish and the Monkey later delivered a real crowd-pleaser.

Sockeye

The Fish will never die, one has to conclude, as Seattle continues to find substitutes for each name-brand veteran who moves on. Sockeye has changed its roster quite a bit in the last two years, but they thrive anew every year. The Fish added to the weekend's identity-confusion by donning basketball singlets and playing as the "Seattle Hoops" for pool play. Despite an awkward first game against Furious, they pulled out a victory and came down hard on Invictus in the showcase game, going 6-0 before the final.

Emerald City Ultimate

ECU of Seattle is Danny Karlinsky's brainchild, combining elite ultimate with a mission of spirit and charity. To this end, he has recruited an impressive team, with veritable museum of stars past and present. Most of ECU's marquee players were not hand for the weekend, but ECU still played a fast and grinding game, quarterbacked alternately by Karlinsky and Jeremy Noorden.

Rhino

Rhino of Portland, Oregon, grows steadily more dangerous a threat every year. Franchise player Matt Melius is difficult to contain, and when working in combination with deep-strike Tim, the offense never shies away from a late huck at the endzone.


Winnipeg U35 Junior All-Stars

Keeping TDs and captains everywhere guessing as to the true meaning of this moniker, a General Strike contingent landed in Vancouver and picked up local talent (notables Andy Siy & Pat Dowler, to name a couple) to enjoy some early-season competition against the Northwest. They impressed with an uncanny ability to score on fast and flat hucks despite surging crosswinds, but their greatest victory of the weekend may have been convincing Tyler Kinley of Sockeye and Danny Karlinsky of ECU that they were in fact a national team of sorts (no kidding).

3-Coiler

Another mysterious name for the weekend, the scatologically inclined "3-Coiler" was in fact Calgary's Invictus, with most of its WUCC roster on hand to practice as a team. Invictus has drawn heavily on Edmonton and Vancouver for players, producing a team that may yet prove to be a real contender in Prague if it can sync up its different components and personalities. Invictus went 3-3 in pool play, losing only to better-prepared teams Sockeye, Rhino, and Furious George -- the latter in a predictably fierce and spirited game that forced the tired Monkey to run. Invictus suffered a bad rout in the showcase game against Sockeye, in which the Fish exploited both offensive and defensive miscues. Tyler Kinley later observed, "they aren't short on talent, just on chemistry."

UBC Alumni

A handful of UBC T-Birds rounded out the elite men's bracket with their style of casual, fast-and-loose weekend ultimate. A note of caution if you meet them on the field: they may not look too serious, but standouts Eamonn Watson, Mike Aizawa, Blair Hole, and Jordan McPhee, all of TFP 2008 fame, will punish a lazy defense and put you back in your place.

Sunday Playoffs

After six games in pool play, all teams were ranked and paired into finals. The tournament final put Furious George against Sockeye once more, but this time, the Fish graciously agreed to play against Vancouver's full roster now that Invictus had released them for the day.

The game played out in exciting fashion, with Seattle scoring breaks early and late, whilst Vancouver took a strong lead in the middle stretch. Both teams played hard, fast and efficiently, in contrast to their earlier match. While Furious converted on some high-pressure turnovers, Sockeye could not force the same back on the Monkey, who used a combination of creative throws and deep looks (in particular to Andrew Lugsdin) to escape the Seattle defense.

Sockeye mounted a trademark late-game comeback that recently won the final for them at TEP Medellin, but this time Vancouver closed out the game at 15-12 -- the first time they have defeated Sockeye since WUGCs in 2008.

Dropping the 'F Bomb'

Nation,

There's a new coed team from the Maritimes that will be looking to qualify for CUC 2010.

F-Bomb, as coach Scott Underwood pointed out, played at Mixed Easterns. Their weekend was summed up by their coach:

"F Bomb from Saint John NB attended their first international tournament with a pre-seeding of 31/32. We went 2-1 in pool play, won our crossover against a tough Boston club OTP to finish Saturday 3-1 and advance to the top pool. Sunday we hit a tough schedule, running into Slow White X who made the finals. Overall, we improved our ranking to a tie for 13th."

Here is their team website. It will be interesting to see how this team fares against other east Canadian teams (especially Fredericton's SPAWN) in their bid to qualify for Sherbrooke.

Weekend Warrior- You Pick It!

Nation,

This past weekend saw several strong performances from Canadian squads in tournaments south of the border.

In Cazenovia (CUT), Phoenix of Ottawa made it to the tournament final for the first time since 2005. On Saturday, they narrowly beat out split squad GOAT 12-11, lost 13-7 to the pool's top seed Bodhi and then beat Philly Open by a score of 10-9. Two wins by a single point each= two wins and a likely trip to quarters.

Maverick of Kitchener-Waterloo had a great weekend as well. They won their Saturday pool with a smooth 3-0 record. Starting the day with a narrow 12-11 win over Thrown Together, they then "upped their game" to beat more established teams Sons of Liberty (13-8) and Medicine Men (13-9). Maverick lost their pre quarters to Goat split squad (Y), but garnered top seed for the consolation quarters.

On Sunday, Maverick and Phoenix continued to impress. Maverick defeated Eastern Motors (14-11), Medicine Men (15-9) before defeating New York's Replicants (One of last year's surprise teams) in the consolation final to finish 9th.

Phoenix had won their pre quarters over Super Seed, and went to work in a tough quarters match with PoNY. Ottawa won 12-10 and met a very tough Bodhi in the semi. Bodhi, who had beaten Phoenix the day before, wasn't able to recapture that success on day two. Phoenix pulled off the upset (15-11) before losing to Ironside (15-5) in the final.

Both GOAT split squads went 0-3 on day one and lost their respective quarters.

Over in Boston at Mixed Easterns, three Canadian teams were duking it out in their respective pools. Tournament top seed RIP went 2-1 on day one, as did ONYX of Quebec City. Spawn of Fredericton went 0-3 in a challenging pool.

Our Canadian squads showed promise in their crossover games. ONYX had an impressive win over a Slow White split squad (15-8) and took top seed into Sunday's championship bracket. Spawn managed to win their crossover to join RIP and ONYX in the pre quarters.

Sunday clearly belonged to ONYX. They won their pre-quarters over Pandemic (15-8) before easily handling RIP in the quarterfinals (15-5). The beat Slow White split squad X in the semis (13-8) and Slow White Y in the final by a score of 12-10.

Who was the Weekend Warrior?

The poll question to the right of this article asks: Which team was the Weekend Warrior for June 5-6th?

Without any results from the Boston Invite Elite women's tournament being available, we still have several Canadian teams that turned some heads on the past weekend.

On the men's side, Phoenix went to the finals at CUT for the first time in five years. They also beat teams (PoNY and Bodhi) that have been very tough foes in past years and will be barriers to USA finals qualification.

On the other had, Maverick from K-W really threw down the gauntlet this weekend. They are not in the elite levels yet, but their wins over Eastern Motors FB, Sons of Liberty, Medicine Men and the Replicants in their first major US tournament is very impressive for a first year club (technically).

And then we have ONYX. RIP is the first Canadian team I can recall entering the tournament with top seed. ONYX is definitely the first squad from Canada to win the whole tournament since I have been playing/blogging.

It's an impressive victory and feat. But should we be really shocked with ONYX exploits? Before their loss to Chaos in the wet and windy CUC 2009 finals, this team looked almost unstoppable last summer.

Have your vote and your say about the most impressive Canadian performance last weekend!

Brute Squad Vs All Stars Showcase, Mixed Easterns and Gender Blender

Nation,

It's going to be a busy weekend for Canadian teams and American teams in the eastern region.
In addition to CUT, which we already previewed, we have coed and elite women's action in Boston, and we have the always popular Gender Blender.

Boston Invite- Elite Women's Tournament and Showcase.

According to the upa site and the BUDA site, it's going to be a great weekend for women's ultimate in beantown. The elite women's bracket of the annual Boston Invite is held on its own this weekend.

Brute Squad, 2nd at USA nationals last year and headed to worlds, will play a friday showcase game at Tufts Bello Field.

Brute Squad vs. International All-Star Conglomeration (7:30pm - 9:00pm)

Canadian teams are Lotus (Toronto/Ottawa) and Stella (Ottawa). Two UK teams and a new team from North Carolina (Phoenix) will be in action as well.

Mixed Easterns

Boston's Annual coed tournament is also taking place this weekend. 32 teams will be in action.

Canada should be well represented. RIP from Montreal holds the number one tournament seed, which might be the first time a Canadian team has had such a distinction at this tournament. (Respect!). ONYX from Quebec City is the top seed in their pool. Finally, SPAWN from Fredericton New Brunswick is going to have a great Saturday playing strong teams like Quiet Coyote and Ballometrics.

Gender Blender

North America's party tournament enters its 14th year and once again, the event will be taking place in Fergus Ontario.

Drink challenges, costumes, skills competitions, and camping are a staple of the event. There will be footage from some of the games live via the internet on iamultimate.com! Including the 9/10 play off, the semi’s and the finals.

On the side from all the fun, games will also be played and the schedule has many Canadian squads. Touring clubs BFC, Big Fish and Big Hammers will be in action. Long time Blender teams like The Bad Larrys and Force Gnome represent Toronto and Ottawa (respectively) with pride.

CUT 2010- The Big Boys are Back for the Summer!

Nation,

The big boys of the north east hit the field in the sleepy upstate New York area of Cazenovia. I hate to give away Ottawa trade secrets, but if you are looking for a great post game/ tournament meal, take the detour to Syracuse for Dinosaur BBQ. The food is amazing, and the atmosphere is truly unique.

CUT annually serves as the first major open tournament in the region for the summer, and this year is no exception.

Here is a preview of the elite pools and other Canadian squads.

Pool A

Ironside (Boston)- A deserving top seed. 3rd at USA nationals last year (still getting used to the name change), 2nd the year before, and going to Worlds in Prague as a potential championship favorite.

GOAT Y (Toronto)- Split squad from Toronto's best. 12th at USA nats last year, 6th in 2008 and 3rd in 2007. Toronto understands the season is a marathon and not a sprint, and continues to use the early schedule to make the best decisions for the fall.

PONY (NYC)- I think we'd all have to agree that PONY is one of the best teams not to make USA nationals last fall.

Mephisto (Montreal)- The defending Canadian national champions will have no shortage of day one competition.

Pool B

Bodhi (Amherst)- It was just 2008 that Bodhi was a relative unknown, trouncing teams in the early season tournaments and their seeds sky rocketed accordingly. The team had a great 2009 season, making it to the UPA finals and finished 11th. They're very young, they've already made it to the show, they have a pipeline of talent in Amherst, how can they not be excited about their 2010 prospects? I am.

Goat X (Toronto)- Second split squad from Hogtown. Toronto's three team open system had a very strong tryout process with large numbers of players trying out.

Philly Open (NJ/PA)- A new team building on players from New Jersey (Pike) and Philly Love (Philadelphia). Pike went to USA finals last year and finished 16th, so this merger team might be a huge boost in their ability to compete at the next level.

Phoenix (Ottawa)- 2009 saw many changes for the Ottawa open program. Many players departed and the second team was lost for the season due to numbers. That being said, Phoenix had a strong summer and fall performance, with a best ever 2nd place finish at CUC 2009. They clearly battled hard at each tournament and got the most out of their squad.

In 2010, Firebird is back, and top team Phoenix has one of their strongest rosters- ever. It was a very tough year to make the squad. One of the biggest surprises was Jan Gorski. After experience with Carleton University and a brief tenure with Firebird in 2008, Gorski played with coed team Liquid in Kitchener-Waterloo. That benefit of a change of scenery (and improvement in fitness evidenced through tryout tests) seems to have made a great change in his game.

Other Canadian Squads

Maverick (Kitchener Waterloo)- As the web site states, "2010 will be Maverick`s first year as an organized, competitive Open team, the first such team in Southwestern Ontario. In previous years we have played as a pick-up team under the name Medicare."

I guess this was an inevitable step (dissolution of coed team Liquid) given Liquid's failure to secure a worlds bid last year and Medicare's strong performances in 2008 tournaments like No Borders and Jazz.

Players of note include but are not limited to Andrew Higgins, Carson Turner (ex Phoenix and World Juniors), Tom Dowler and Trevor Henry (2009 Gender Blender 'Fastest Man').

USA College Championships 2010

Nation,

The USA college championships just wrapped up this weekend, and the lack of Canadian teams leads to a wane in interest in this side of the border.

However, our lack of interest is not shared by the many players and fans that took part, anxiously watched/followed and covered the event. Many great reports on the men's and women's tournament are on the USA ultimate web site.

On the men's side, Florida won the title with a 15-12 victory over Carleton College. In the past five years, Florida has won two championships, while also finishing second and third. Four semi finals appearances in five years with two titles might not make them a "dynasty" in many people's eyes, but clearly the University of Florida has built a great program and it will be interesting to see if this team can continue to excel at this level.

On the ladies' side, Oregon entered as the top seed in the tournament and won the championship with a victory over University of California Santa Barbara. Oregon clearly was the class of the division this year, allowing no more than 9 points per game in the tournament, with several routs in pool play action. Given the suspension of the men's program last year, we can hope that the women's title will help foster better relations between the school and the Oregon frisbee team.

Congrats to Oregon and Florida on your national titles!

'USA Ultimate' Lunched- May Tournament Reviews

Nation,

On May 24th, The Ultimate Players Association officially became USA Ultimate. This took place soon after CUPA became Ultimate Canada and launched its new site.
I don't think this was a major surprise to many. The new name, new logo and new website seem to be a fit for both organizations.

It seems from their communications that USA ultimate will continue with the status quo as it relates to their college and club series, specifically as it relates to Canadian teams participation.

Finally, CUPA and UPA won't have to explain to other members of the sports world that they are the national sport organization, and not a player's union. :)

Tournaments in May

KN in Montreal noted I forgot to review the recent Bell Crack Coed Classic in Philly and the women's section of the White Mountain Open. I had some problems with score reporter opening both of those tournaments.. previously, and apologize for the slight.

Bell Crack Coed Classic- May 15-16, 2010

Four of Ontario and Quebec's finest coed teams were active in this year's tournament.

• Denoiret from Montreal, a mixture of Mephisto and Storm players entered as the third seed in their four team pool. They went 3-0 in day one pool play, beating tournament top seed Quiet Coyote 15-9.
  
• RIP from Montreal also beat their seed and went 3-0 in pool play
• ONYX from Quebec City entered as the highest Canadian seed and won their pool with a 3-0 record.
• Monster from Toronto, one of Hogtown's strongest coed teams annually, went 1-2 in pool play and lost the crossover to get into the quarters by a single point. They later went on to win the B Consolation bracket on Sunday.
  

Three of the four Canadian squads advanced to the quarterfinals, and all of the easily moved on to the semis. Denoiret edged out ONYX in one semi, while RIP won their semi to nab a place in the finals.

In the all Canadian final, scratch that, all province of Quebec final, scratch that, all Montreal final, Denoiret defeated RIP 15-6. Perhaps these two teams could have a rematch before Mephisto, Storm and RIP all head to Prague to represent our country.

Overall, some fantastic performances by Canadian teams in a tough early tournament.

White Mountain Open- Women's Division- May 22-23 2010

Four Canadian squads were involved in New Hampshire at WMO.

Storm of Montreal entered as the number 2 tournament seed. They rolled on day one, going 4-0 in strong fashion.

QUB of Quebec City entered as the second seed in their pool and went 3-1 in pool play. They had a tough result versus top seed bent but set themselves up for a favorable quarterfinal with three very lopsided victories.

Mystik of Montreal held their seed in day one pool play. Their win over Dartmouth cemented their place in the quarters versus QUB.

Chikitas of Sherbrooke, also called EXO, qualified for a play in game to make the quarters with a 1-3 record in pool play. They won the play in game, but unfortunately they landed in a matchup with Bent, NYC's finest women's squad.

In the Sunday play. Storm and QUB advanced to the semis with victories. Chikitas and Mystik lost their respective quarters, and then lost in the consolation semi finals.

Storm beat another Hatch split squad team to advance to the finals, while QUB bowed out quickly to Bent in the other semi.

No score is reported for the final, but Bent's facebook site reports a 13-11 victory for NYC, and BENT leaves Hanover as 2010 champs.

White Mountain Mephisto Magic!

Nation,

Some great pics of TUF 2010 are available via Corry Berghout's site.

Teams are still in the tryout mode or the feeling out mode of the summer touring season, but we're finally starting to get some tournament results in on the new upa score reporter site.

This past weekend, the White Mountain Open took place in Hanover NH. Despite having a population of roughly 11,000, it's highly regarded as a place to live, and there is just enough to see and do for a weekend. It's a beautiful little area for a tournament.

6 Canadian teams were in action, as well as a number of highly regarded teams in the north east region.

Magma of Montreal had a tough Saturday in a very tough pool. They did not manage to score more than 5 points in any of their games. Any team would have tempered expectations if your schedule read: Sons of Liberty, Q, Chuck Wagon and a Bodhi split squad.

Q from Quebec City is back after a two year absence, and that is a welcome site for Canadian open ultimate. Q put up strong fights against Bodhi and SOL, and lost a heartbreaking one point loss to Chuckwagon. Expect this team to improve throughout the season.

Firebird from Ottawa has returned this season after a one year hiatus. Despite struggling against a Bodhi split squad, the team manage to pound Red Tide 13-2, the first time Firebird has beaten Portland's finest open club.

Demon from Montreal, coming off a fantastic 2009 season, went 1-3 record on day one. Demon had a tough day against their A team Mephisto and strong New York club Replicants, but handled Dartmouth Plane Train easily and lost a one pointer against Sherbrooke.

Bloody Gary is a new open team from Sherbrooke... building on the past juniors and coed development in that city. Bloody Gary had a great first weekend, going 2-2 on day and beating Montreal's Demon by one. I smell a rivalry in the making!!

Mephisto of Montreal (defending CUC champs) had a strong weekend. They breezed through day one play in three of their games, and beat the Replicants 14-12 in a strong pool match up.

In the championship bracket....

Mephisto was the only Canadian team in the quarterfinals. They easily outscored a Bodhi split squad and Sons of liberty to advance to the final.

The finals pitted Bodhi Y versus Mephisto. Montreal was able to take home the WMO crown with a single point win over the boys from the Boston area.

A small victory on the road to Prague Preparation! Next major open tournament in the area will be CUT in Cazenovia, NY.

Toronto Ultimate Festival 2010 Preview

Nation,

The first major outdoor tournament of the season in the Upper/Lower Canada region takes place this weekend. It's used as either a tune up tournament for teams recently formulated, or as a final tryout out for players looking to make a team/program.

The 2010 version of the Toronto Ultimate Festival (TUF) promises to be one of the stronger editions in recent years.

Open

8 of the 14 teams in the division will be from Toronto. The open program in Toronto, GOAT/Grand Trunk/ROY, will be entering 5 teams. Other local teams include Too Bad, Fuel, and Fossil.

Ottawa, Montreal, and Waterloo have decided to participate this year, and as such add some great teams to the pool.

National champion Mephisto from Montreal begins its title defense this weekend, and will be joined by affiliate Demon.

Ottawa will be sending two Phoenix squads and Firebird, which makes its return after a one year hiatus.

Maverick is a new open team from Kitchener-Waterloo. The new team played well as an open team (Medicare) at both Jazzfest and No Borders last year, and will be a strong opponent this weekend.

Womens

There are three local teams from Toronto, with one Lotus team (defending national champions) and two Lily squads.

Ottawa is sending both their A and B squads to the event, and Montreal is sending Storm as a representative.

PPF from K-W should also be a very strong entry this season, benefiting from the folding of coed powerhouse Liquid from the same city.

A team from Peterbourough is listed. No team name is given, but I hope this team is the start of a regular women's team from this city. It's ultimate, so maybe it's just a ringer team from somewhere else.

Mixed

Usually the strength of the TUF tournament, the division has 27 teams this year but is missing some of the key coed teams in the region. (Gecko, RIP, etc)

Monster, Bytown Flatball Club, Mayhem, Big Fish and Big Hammers will be introducing their 2010 squads. Tundra will be continuing their tryouts with split squads entered.

After a great experience last year, Saint John's (Newfoundland) will be sending two squads this year. Currently, there is no word on whether the team will employ the services of Gavin "Zone Buster" Thompson this year.

2010 Junior National Teams

Nation,

Ultimate Canada released the rosters of the open and women's 2010 Junior National Teams.

These players will represent Canada in Germany at the WFDF World Junior Ultimate Championships August 2-7, 2010.


Junior OpenJunior Women's

Head Coach: Kirk Nylen Assistant Coach: Patrick Mooney	Head Coach: Stephanie Chow Assistant Coach: Dan Byma
Ben Mussell Ethan Kovacs Evan Cole Fred Lam Greg Moore Hollis Maradyn-Jowsey Isaiah Masek-Kelly Joel Ruelens-Lepoutre Keanen Grant Kevin Greer Marc-Andre Perreault Myles Sinclair Nick Boucher Nima Mostaghimi Quin Rusnak Robert Schmidt Ryan Kremsater Tim Tsang Willem Konrad	Chantal Africa Jessica Chen Mira Donaldson Laura Hatch Katherine Ho Lauren Kimura Jacqueline Kwok Amira Maddison Kayla Pangos Aya Peloquin Dominique Rioux Adrianna Rowe Katie Scarth Kaylee Sparks Gera Stancheva Erica Tucker Nicole Vidal Olana Wach Claire Williams Lisa Wong
Alternates Gregory Loscin Jackson Byrne Kyle Patrick Thomas Canale	Alternates Sara Lawlor Emily Lublow Rebecca Saaltink Helen Thompson Jo-Hannah Yeo

Team Manager: A.J. Sainsbury

March Madness- Things picking up in the Ultimate Scene!

Nation,

The world of ultimate is starting to buzz again as teams have already begin to announce final rosters for World Clubs and UPA College sectionals are mere weeks away

WUCC and U-19, U-23 and other Canadian Buzz

Teams are at various stages of organization for WUCC. Rumors about where certain Furious or GOAT players are headed for the Prague tourney are now being realized as fact (Andrew Lugsdin to Mephisto, various Furious players to Invictus, Blackfish players to GLUM) or fiction.

Kudos to Phoenix of Ottawa for being so early with naming their team. It would have been easy for them to delay naming their team in the hopes of landing some of the big names out there still available, but instead they went local and loyal to the players who helped them win their bid. And they spared themselves the ordeal of being "disc teased"by superstars.

U-19 tryouts will be starting soon in various cities, and men's coaches Kirk Nylen and Pat Mooney are in fact implementing some base testing measurements (40, shuttle drill, vertical, etc). These numbers will assist them in the tryout process and be very valuable to Ultimate Canada to compare to future years. Finally, we'll be able to quantify it when people say "Players are getting bigger/faster".

U-23 coaches and team manager will be selected this week. Tryout dates have already been tentatively set by Ultimate Canada.

There is also rumors that Furious George will attend Canadian Nationals in Sherbrooke this year, while Lotus will most likely not. Let the dominoes fall...
UPA College Sectionals

Is your college team representing Canada in the UPA college series. Send me an e-mail with your team preview!!!

College sectionals begin on April 10. After Roll Call this weekend, I will have a Canadian specific preview on both the men's and women's division.

Other News

It's been brought to my attention that Cultimate is taking over the running of the Emerald City Classic. I don't know the people of Cultimate personally, but they organize over 10 tournaments per year, and they are famous for trying to create a elite championship tournament series separate from the UPA before.

Most of the comments I have gotten about Cultimate is that of concern, and many question whether this group will be able to continue the reputation and standards of ECC.


Possibility that a very key member of North Carolina women's team Backhoe will be starting a new team, possibly sharing the same team name as Ottawa men's team Phoenix.

Backhoe has long been a UPA finals club trying to take the next step and challenge Fury and Riot. A new team and the loss of a key teammate might not be good news for the team.

Intelligence in Ultimate- Is it Valued Enough?

Nation,

Every year the NFL carries out an extensive "combine" of potential NFL draft prospects. It has been formed into a profitable sport event that has extensive TV coverage and is fodder for pre draft discussion and hype.

Players are weighed, measured and fitted. They are poked, prodded, and sampled. They sprint, run, jump, listen to beeps and read charts. They dash, cut, catch, tackle, and block. It's a very complete process. Everything is taped and technologies (Dartfish) are used to analyze players.

In fact, if I am selected to help with Team Canada U-23 team, any type of tryouts will borrow from these types of combines. Limited by manpower and funds, it might simply be a case of videotaping and coding all scrimmages in the tryouts, and recording vital sprint, shuttle, and jump stats for each player. These "stats" shouldn't decide a players fate.. but they can help put a true numerical value for comparison and it can be used over time to see the development of players and the ultimate development system. (e.g. Are the athletes getting better)

The NFL and IQ- The Wonderlic Test

I have never played Football but it fascinates me that one of the most barbaric sports in the world is so sophisticated in planning, preparation and evaluation of its players. It is very impressive.

The NFL understands the importance of athleticism. Seeing them overlook Heisman Trophy winners and college championship players for division three players from small town Arkansas is done for a reason- They understand the link between winning and various player traits.

One of these traits is intelligence. They use a simple IQ test called the Wonderlic to get a measure of how well each NFL prospect will be able to mentally understand and adapt to the rigors of the NFL game.

Wonderlic is used in many professions as well. Getting a score of 10 out of 50 means a person is literate. Below that score of 10 suggests a person might be mentally challenged. The average participant scores a rating of 24

Here is an article on the scores for this year's best QB prospects. It also lists some of the current NFL Starting QBs and great past QBs for reference.

What has the NFL learned from this process?

• Intelligence certainly helps, but it is not the lone factor in deciding stardom
  
• Players with low Wonderlic scores have a tough time playing the game despite any great physical dominace (Vince Young, who originally scored a 6 in his test, and is alleged to have gotten someone else to write the retest in which he scored a 15)

Player scores in the Wonderlic vary by position. Some positions have higher averages than others. Here is the breakdown:

• Offensive tackle – 26
• Center – 25
• Quarterback – 24
• Guard – 23
• Tight end – 22
• Safety – 19
• Linebacker – 19
• Cornerback – 18
• Wide receiver – 17
• Fullback – 17
• Halfback – 16

Back to Ultimate- How do We Value Intelligence?

With respect to ultimate, our tryout process are a little more primitive. They usually involve tryouts where most of the spots are already decided before the tryouts (Few teams are upfront with that) and the majority of the spots are available for the following

• Tall people
• Athletic and Fast people
• Flavor of the month (Those who make a few big d's or layouts at the tryouts, someone new in town, etc)
• In co-ed it sometimes simply comes down to romantic relationships
  

One of the reasons for this is the majority of captains who serve as leaders or coaches are handler types. I hypothesize that they have longer careers, and assume such roles of leadership. Asking these people to pick players who can/might replace them on the field is a tough task. Naturally they will pick players that compliment their importance to the team. This is understandable, simple human nature. That doesn't mean it is best for the team though.

I can say with some pride that the teams I played for or lead did place value on the mental makeup of a player and intelligence. Just like "you can't teach tall", you'll also be hard pressed to teach players how to think, read and react both on and off the field if they have a limited amount of grey matter to work with.

Along with cognitive ability, emotional intelligence is very important in picking your ultimate team. It's a long season with ups and downs, and few things disrupt a team faster than people who can't keep their own goals and emotions in check for the team.

Yes, there are many "smart" people in ultimate. However, there are many great stories of incredibly smart people who cannot relate to the real world, let alone teammates. Their inability to read and react to teammates is not helpful to team success.

Failing Wonderlic exams for your tryouts, I pose some simple guidelines to use in spring tryouts

• Value the cognitive ability of players being considered
• Take the time to correctly know and understand the emotional intelligence of people you are considering.
  
• Be very clear about the goals of the team and the expectations of how players will carry themselves.
  
• Have leaders that talk the talk and walk the walk (competent leaders in their roles who carry themselves well)

I look forward to reader feedback on the importance of IQ in ultimate.

Team Fundraising- What Works, and What is Acceptable

Nation,

There are three world championships this summer. The implications of these events include but are limited to the following.

• Some very good ultimate is going to be played
• Some very deserving players are going to get some great experience
• We're going to take the temperature of Canada's competitiveness at the world stage and who the emerging countries are

And...

• Players will be scrambling to raise funds
• We as a community will be exposed to a number of fund raising schemes and efforts.

Yesterday, I was asked to assist one of our Canadian clubs by taking part in an orange order (Mephisto is the team, if you are interested in buying some contact them). I have not been involved in the "buying oranges"game since I was in grade four. I remember the school fund raising oranges being of good quality, but even grade four me knew that I was selling a product that people could get in a more timely and cost effective manner. The chocolate bar racket was much better for the school, the sellers and the buyers, but it became less popular as getting kids pimping chocolate became less acceptable socially.

It doesn't stop at oranges. Fund raising efforts have included the following

• Teams running their own tournaments for profit
• Raffle tickets
  
• Illegal poker tournaments
  
• March Madness and other fantasy pools
  
• Selling Live strong rip off bracelets (That has ceased thankfully)
• Calenders (Most notably Storm of 2004)

All of the fund raising schemes appear to be the quick hit easy to plan and make happen projects. Unfortunately.. most of these projects end up merely taking money out of the pockets of loved ones and ultimate community. That raises a moral dilemma for people who think.

So, I ask you the reader to tell me

• What is the Return On Investment for these Projects? Do people do them because they actually make money?
• Which activities have worked the best for you or your team in the past?

Just some Friday Banter in Early March

Nation,

Where have all the bloggers gone during the off-season?

First Jeters left his post early last year and hasn't returned. The Huddle has not put out anything new all year. MSSUI was a classic example of a hype site with a bad name and even worse dedication follow through (started in 2008.. no new articles since 2008). Parinella has been the most active blog whose posts I consider a must read.

As for me, I've been silent as well. Partly because some of the Ultimate Canada groups I am working on with require me to be silent. Partly because work and life have been pretty hectic as of late. However, all excuses have to be put aside when I get e-mails from readers like this.

"Dude that was one hell of a break on the blog...I felt like an abandoned child in a mall"

I'm not just a deadbeat blogger.. I'm also a terrible parent. Let's make some amends then shall we?

U-23 Worlds- Go of No Go?

It's a go. Men's and Women's divisions.

A very tough decision for Ultimate Canada. Here is why:

• WFDF really rushed the decision to move forward on this tournament. No real bid process was followed.
  
• The USA has pulled out for some very valid reasons.
  
• Other countries were slow to commit
  
• The tournament directory team looks a little inexperienced and their ability to carry about such a tournament at an International level is question.

We had a tremendous amount of feedback from players interested in attending. Hopefully that will remain the case when these players must spend money to travel and train with Team Canada. (Interest does not always equal to Commitment in ultimate).

Personally, I have put my name in for the Team Manager and Coaching positions. I feel like my experience working with the Operations section of the Canadian Olympic Committee for the 2008 games should be a strong case for the Manager position. Visas, accreditation, travel, accommodation, and tryout processes are all "little things" that are surprisingly important.

Coaching wise, I'd love to get a chance to coach some of the under 23 players who have expressed interest. Who wouldn"t? The players I've seen through college and open play are talented and have the ability to carry out gameplans and schemes. U-19 and U-23 National Teams are a great way to prepare these players for future development and World/Club level participation.

Olympic Thoughts.. and dispelling Olympic Dreams

Nation,

I'm off to Vancouver tomorrow to watch some Olympic action live, meet some old COC colleagues. I will try and post anything interesting while I am there.

So far, here are my thoughts as a viewer

• I feel for the VANOC people that have to deal with the thrashing from hostile media, protesters over weather, accessibility and plain bad luck (Zamboni breaking down yesterday at the long track speed skating oval). When things happen at an event, despite the best efforts, you simply have to solve the problem and take crap from people regardless of how fair it is.

• At the last Olympics, Canada converted only 30% of the world championships medals they won leading up to the games. The USA converted 120%. This is something that the sport pych. team for Team Canada was well aware of and trying to solve. We'll see how our conversion rate works this time around

• Jennifer Heil really wanted that gold medal in Canada for Canada. She also wanted to be famous forever.

• I often find myself reminding others who sigh in disgust at Canadians who finished 16th in the Olympics that so many of these events are split second differences that determine final place, and so few of us will ever be 16th best in the world at anything. Makes you think differently.

• It really seems like the action has been slow... but I assume more events will take place as we enter the first full weekend

The Old Olympic Debate- Sigh.........

It never fails. Every Olympics, ultimate open forums are clogged with "Why isn't Ultimate an Olympic Sport?".

I could go on with reasons why this discussion is foolish. The infancy of the sport in terms of organization/recognition and rules, the fact we're not even really a sport in Sport Canada's mind, the politics of the IOC, the sheer size of the Olympics as it is and the competition to get in.. I digress.

I understand that we have a great sport here, and I know we outsold Rugby 7s at World Games last year and they were just selected for the summer games, but we have to be realistic. Wondering why the game isn't in the Greatest show in the world when you can't find it at any major multi sport games level (Provincial games, national games, etc) at levels far below the Olympic Games.

I feel like a killjoy... so I will throw the dreamers a bone

Did anyone ever think that we would get our first gold medal in Canada by a Canadian in a sport that wasn't an Olympic sport until 1992 and wasn't created formally until the 1960's?

Maybe Ultimate has hope some day.

World Junior 2010 Tryout Information

Nation,

The recruitment and tryout process for selecting Team Canada men's and women's World Junior teams is well under way. The tournament will be held August 3-7 in Heilbronn, Germany.

The coaches for the mens team are as follows: (teamcanada.jrmen@gmail.com)

• Kirk Nylen- Head Coach
• Patrick Mooney - Assistant Coach

Facebook Presence found here

The coaches for the womens team are: (teamcanada.jrwomen@gmail.com )

• Stephanie Chow- Head Coach
• Dan Byma- Assistant Coach

Who Can Apply?

If you are born in 1991 or later then you are eligible to represent your country at the World Jr. Ultimate Championships in Heilbronn, Germany (Aug 2-7th).

Applications and details regarding tryouts for Team Canada Jr men and Jr women are now available here:
http://www.canadianultimate.com/WJUC2010.html

We encourage all those interested to apply and look forward to seeing you at one of the three tryouts.

Vancouver 2010 Games- Be Part of the Opening Ceremony!!

Nation,

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games start next Friday and my wife has asked me to post this:

Sign up to be part of the Opening Ceremony!

Canada wants to welcome the world and—for the first time ever—people all over the world can become part of the Games. On February 12 during the Opening Ceremony, an official Olympic souvenir will be sent out digitally to those that want to be part of the action.

Everyone who is watching, listening, or reading about their favorite athletes or their most inspirational story, can receive a unique memento that will be sent out while billions of eyes are focused on the Opening Ceremony.

To be part of it, go to code.vancouver2010.com, which is the official digital and cultural interaction site of the 2010 Winter Games. Just click on the invite, sign up, and you’ll be ready to go on February 12, 2010.

Signing up is also your ticket to a global social media event that will give you the opportunity to be a virtual participant in the Closing Ceremony.

Cheer on your country, and become part of history.

I'm Back.... CUPA name Change.. World Clubs

Nation,

I apologize for a huge blog vacation I took. There has been a lot going on in Canadian ultimate during the off season.

Please note I'm probably going to be pretty terse in this review. Apologies in advance to my more "diplomatic" readers.

CUPA becomes Ultimate Canada

Just wanted to bring it to everyone's attention that Canadian Ultimate Players Association is now legally called Ultimate Canada.

Excited about the name change, and I am glad my friends in sport will stop asking me why the national sport organization sounds like a players union. :)

World Ultimate Club Championships

This issue was simple: WFDF had decentralized the roster rules for teams/countries for the upcoming championships in Prague, Czech Republic. They left the rules for composition of teams up to the national organizations. Teams representing our country can look as much or as little as the club that won the right to go to WUCC. (In canada, you had to be at CUC 2009).

Personally, I find this decentralization of roster requirements for a world championship a major mistake by WFDF. Downright stupid really. I still am struggling to find the reason why.

Having this thrown on the NSO's, Ultimate Canada assigned the task of handling roster rules to our competition committee. The committee, which I chair, is made up of competitive players of varying experiences both on and off the field. We had extensive discussion on this, and tried to cover every single point and counter point.

It would have been EASIER if WFDF had told us we had to set roster requirements, and we could have set clear rules before CUC 2009. Of course, WFDF couldn't do this. That would take some leadership.

Teams had to play in CUC 2009 in order to qualify for World Clubs. Teams knew this heading into the summer season. Despite this, some teams ditched nationals to play at the Emerald City Classic. Should we allow players who didn't attend nationals to be part of the World Club Experience? Opinions from those outside the board were polarized, ranging from giving Furious and GOAT their own bids and private jets to shutting all non CUC 2009 players out altogether. (A little puffery there on my account regarding the private jet.. just trying to keep this discussion light)

If we make rules too easy for roster requirements, good players who went to CUC 2009 and qualified for worlds would be ditched for better players who did not attend CUC 2009. If we make rules too strict, we'll get tremendous flack and we'll handcuffed captains/coaches of teams going to Prague.

In the end, we came up with a decent solution. Moving forward, I believe we need to make world clubs bids and player eligibility contingent on CUC series participation (regionals and nationals in the year leading up to World Clubs). Executing these incentives, in partnership with changing the culture and quality of the CUC series, will be vital to ensuring better attendance at our national championships from our elite teams.

WUCC PROPOSAL

PRINCIPLES
Provide rules to support Canadian club teams attending the WUCC instead of all-star teams. In doing so, rules should accommodate the regular changes a team’s roster undergoes from year-to-year. Provide a policy that is fair to all Canadian ultimate players.

PLAYER CLASSES
Please note that while Ultimate Canada may not have any roster restrictions for the number of players from a certain player class, the WFDF has a roster limit of 28 players.

GENERAL REQUIREMENT
Canadian teams attending the WUCC must have a number of Class A players equal to the lesser of the following numbers:

a) 12
b) 50% of the number of players on the team's 2009 CUC roster.

Example a) If a team's 2009 CUC roster had 26 players then they would require 12 class A players (50% of 26 is 13, so we use the lower value of 12).

Example b) If a team's 2009 CUC roster had 19 players then they would require 10 class A players (50% of 19 is 9.5 rounded up to 10 which is lower than 12).

Class A (Regular players): A member of the club who was on the club’s 2008 CUC series roster and/or the club’s 2009 CUC series roster. There are no restrictions on the number of Class A players on a team’s WUCC roster.

Class B (Practicing players): A member of the Club who:

a) has been playing with the Club since May 1st, 2010, and has not
competed in that team’s division (i.e., Open, Mixed, Women’s, Masters,

Juniors) at a National Championship or WFDF Sanctioned Regional
tournament or series with any other team during that time.

b) practices with the team and has attended two team events (training
camps/ practice weekends or tournaments) since January 1, 2010, with
at least 1 event being a tournament.
c) meets one of the following criteria: Canadian citizen, Canadian
permanent resident, Canadian work visa holder or Canadian student visa
holder.
There are no restrictions on the number of Class B players on a team’s
WUCC roster.

Class C (Other players): A player who does not meet the requirements

for Class A or B. Class C players must meet one of the following
criteria: Canadian citizen, Canadian permanent resident, Canadian work
visa holder or Canadian student visa holder. Teams are restricted to
three (3) Class C players.