CUC 2011- Women's Division Preview

Nation,

I am happy to present my women`s preview.

Let me say this first... CUC lost some very strong teams to regional competition this year. Lotus and Zephyr, and even spunky Lily will not be at CUC. Two of these teams went to worlds last year! It is great that the fight for bids is tight, but it sucks for those teams. The lessons learned is simple: pressure your region`s strongest teams to attend CUC annually instead of showing up in a worlds year and "stealing" other`s bids.

2011 CUC Preview- Women's

The Favorites

Two teams stand out as finals candidates- Traffic of Vancouver and Capitals of Ottawa/ Toronto

What everyone really wants to know is... Can the Capitals seal the deal this time? In 2007, they dominated all summer, and in the CUC final suffered a match up issue that they could not rectify ( Does anyone else remember that tall blonde from Traffic running deep early and often) and had some disappointing uncharacteristic performances from key players.

A lot has happened since that failure for Capitals. They have finished 2nd at USA championships last year, and they have used the club and university systems to add new talent and experience to their roster.

Traffic will be no slouch either. They still have the swagger, and they have a great talent pool in the Vancouver area as well.

The goal for both teams- Use their depth to get through the first three days, stay injury free and rested for finals.

The Challengers

PPF (Kitchener Waterloo)

Watching their final at No Borders versus Capitals, I saw leadership, skill, and athletic talent. More than previous years. I also saw more potential than what has been shown. This team should aim to be in the semis and give Capitals and Traffic lots of trouble. That will mean they need to be better with the disc and fight the mental barriers that come with trying to upset.

Dame (Ottawa)

You gotta love a local story. Made up of Stella, Capitals, and Fuse leaders/stars of the past, this will be a very talented squad.

Cohesive, talented, and blessed with some speedsters like Sue Sallaj Ginn and Jamie Collins , Dame prefers the humble "awh shucks" vibe and it works for them.

The core of team leadership is really savvy, and given the talent at their disposal, they might make things interesting all weekend.

Storm (Montreal)

Losing many players to coed, we are reminded that Storm was the 2010 CUC champ, is always a presence at CUC semis, and will be a force in 2011.

Enough said. :)

Fusion (Winnipeg)

Stable leadership, good juniors program, and no coed teams to sap their talent pool means Fusion could look to strike into quarters and semis.

QUB (Quebec City)

This program has continually been working on making the jump to the top level. It will be very interesting to see if this is the year that next step is taken

Wild Rose (Alberta)

Really unsure what to expect from this squad.

Vintage (Montreal)

Like Dame, a collection of former local stars that made up past Storm and other squads.

If the weather is rough, expect strong handling teams like this to benefit and compliment their talent base.

Stella (Ottawa)

One of the proudest names in ultimate, they were roughed up at regionals this year. There is no denying it.

However, the team has strong talent to rely on, and will welcome the local support which is sure to follow them every time they play.

Salty (Halifax)

Always a bubble challenger, Salty has the same development issues as Red Circus (Players coming and leaving the city often based on school), but a full squad for Halifax's team means they can play spoiler this year.

EXO (Sherbrooke)

I saw this young team play last year at No Borders. It looked like the makings of a very good program. No doubt, one that needed some experience and skill development, but gave a glimpse of better things to come in the future (Think PPF in 2008).

2011 CUC Preview - Open Division

This preview is dedicated to all the friends and readers that have asked me to post since my hiatus. I really appreciate the feedback, and wish I had more time to write.

Nation,

The nation's best players are coming to Ottawa this week for the Canadian Ultimate Championships.

Yes, the best players. This is a worlds qualifying year, and although the location for worlds is earthquake and radiation contaminated Japan, everyone seems very eager to be the team to represent Canada in their respective division.

In order to preview, I think it is important to focus on the following things

• Past worlds qualifying results this decade
• Past results this year
• Team rosters (that we know of)
  

As you know, I always try to "go positive", and I certainly try to avoid cliches and conventional wisdom when possible.

Open Division- 2011 Preview

It's going to be an exciting year. It's probably the deepest field of teams we have seen at nationals.

If you expect a new team to emerge and upset either GOAT and Furious in the finals, you might be disappointed. Many of the teams that could have pulled off this trick have been hurt by key losses, Phoenix has lost many players to GOAT or coed squad Trainwreck. Mephisto has been devastated by the loss of key players to coed squad ODYSSEY. General Strike might challenge, but the loss of Mark Lloyd to GOAT smarts.

It looks like a two horse race. I will personally enjoy watching how it enfolds.

The schedule is posted here. Team Profiles are below.
_________________________________________________________________
Pool A

GOAT (Toronto)

Fresh off a No Borders title, and a win over Furious at Colorado, hopes are very high for the team. Expect them to be in the finals.

Most impressive at No Borders 2011? 19 year old Tim Tsang. The pulls, the confidence with the disc, attention to coaching he was given, and his Swagger really stood out in the finals.

The Ghosts (Calgary)

Let's be honest, we don't know much about this team, or the status of ultimate in Calgary.

I think we would all love Calgary to become a more stable ultimate market with open, women's, and coed squads that make it to nationals annually.

Feed The Geese (Toronto)

A squad of solid former GOAT and Grand Trunk players. The talent is there to beat almost any team in this tournament.

Can this team hold up over three days versus teams that have practiced much longer than they have?

Their match up against The Ghosts will be the key tilt of day one in the entire division.

Newfoundland Liberation Army (St John's)

These guys are awesome, and I hope this will be an excellent experience that they can take back to Newfoundland and the rest of their leagues.

They are going to be hard pressed in such a great field of teams, but are the frontrunners to legitimately win the spirit prize
_________________________________________________________________
Pool B Furious George (Vancouver)

We know they will be great. The old stalwarts are gone to Masters, so the new players will get the opportunity and task to bring home the Worlds bid.

Maverick (Kitchener/Waterloo)

I like this team. I like Andrew Higgins overall play and leadership, I like the speed of Shaw Dungate, and I like the overall team talent level.

Semis? Maybe.

Q (Quebec City)

Another team I have always liked. They would be a lot stronger if their local coed team wasn't so strong (featuring lots of former Q guys).

You better understand how to play against this team on defence, because they run the handler cuts as well as anyone.

NADS

I often wonder where North Bay ultimate will be in 5 years. For many years it has been an overachieving city, developing great teams and great players (some playing for GOAT and Furious this year)

A good friend once used the phrase "good at ultimate" to describe teams like NADS. They don't practice 3 times a week, train all year round, or attend tournaments. However, they can roll out of bed and beat the very teams that do work so hard. Experience and athleticism will again serve them well, but it will be much tougher than in years past.

_________________________________________________________________
Pool C

Phoenix (Ottawa)

This team lost in the semis at CUC 2010 by one single point to Mephisto. The lost the 2009 CUC final by one point to Mephisto.

The team has lost several key players in 2011 (The Alexanader family, Kielan Way, Reynaldo Arteaga, Dave Janssen, Simon Teather, Colin Green, etc).

However, the team continues to be a strong threat for a semis berth at CUC. There is still a core of experience talent and a large group of emerging players. One player to watch is Nick Boucher, still juniors aged but playing Phoenix after dominating at World Juniors last year.

Blackfish (Vancouver)

I understand that this team has lost a lot of players to graduation (Furious), but this team really is the perfect example of why people can't judge a "B Team".

This team will be tough, benefiting from their regional competition and local talent pipelines. It will be interesting to see how they match up with both Phoenix and Grand Trunk.

Grand Trunk (Toronto)

Very strong in 2010, Grand Trunk hopes to repeat its success in 2011.

Losing many players to Feed The Geese, Grand Trunk has retooled with new players, and will feature sibling giants Kevin and Ben Horgan. Kevin, of UWO and Team Canada U-23 fame, will be tough to match up with. You can't teach tall!

Too Bad (Toronto)

Every nationals, it seems like the pick up format of Too Bad gets harder and harder to qualify for nationals and be a top 8 factor.

Squeaking in to nationals with NADS, Too Bad will have many solid veterans, and at the very least will be a factor in the consolation bracket.
_________________________________________________________________
Pool D

General Strike (Winnipeg)
The team that impressed Furious George's Andrew Lugsdin the most in CUC 2007 has the top seed in its pool.

An excellent juniors program, stable leadership, and strong past results position this team well for a quarterfinals spot.

Mephisto (Montreal)

What a great history this team has. 2009 CUC champs, finalists last year, and many top 4 finishes over the past two decades.

Losing many players to co-ed, Mephisto has to moderate their expectations this year. The 2011 squad did win the Quebec regionals title, and will aim to take their familiar spot in CUC semis.

Bloody Gary (Sherbrooke)

Do not be fooled by their seed- This team could be in quarter finals as easily as they could play for 13th.

It's been an up and down touring season for this team. Most of their games against CUC teams have been close games.

Red Circus (Halifax)

Red Circus, a regular factor at CUC, had a strong Boston Invite. Conversely, they had a very tough No Borders 2011 effort.

The program relies on university students in the area, and less on the junior and league programs. Getting players like Ramsey Wright or Matt Hogel is a great help, but these players rarely stay in the town after school is done. In order for Halifax to improve CUC chances every year, they need to change that recruiting mix.

Halifax's finest have to beat Bloody Gary to stay in the power pools on day 2.

Open Division- The Past

2003- Montreal

GOAT and Furious meet in the finals. Furious spanks GOAT in the finals by a score of 17-6.

At the height of their UPA dominance, Furious is a dominant team with dominant players. The final featured two excellent teams, but Furious seemed to surprise the GOAT offense and force
turnovers.

No other teams challenged the top two teams. Furious was the champ, and no one was close.

2007- Toronto

Four years have past, and the top two teams in the country are still standing at the finals.

GOAT had great hopes as the host squad, entering the final with many positive results leading up to the tournament. Defeating Furious in Vancouver at the Flowerbowl 2007 final. They were a revamped team, featuring many young players who would lead the team for years, and John Hassell was entering his prime as the star of the team, someone recognized as one of the best players in the world.

Whether intentional or not, GOAT adapted and learned from the 2003 finals. They adopted the multi team integrated program (First introduced by David Brook in Ottawa) and used Grand Trunk and Roy to harvest players that were younger, faster, and taller. University programs in their regions also developed players, as GOAT players got involved. This made them more competitive at UPA events and leveled the playing field with Furious.

Furious did not adopt the B team system quite as quickly, but they still had many advantages. Vancouver still had generational talents Andrew Lugsdin, Aaron Cruickshank, and Mike Grant. They also had a solid university program and a juniors program piping out talent. Vancouver also drew players from other cities for real life reasons (work, quality of life in the city, etc).

The much anticipated final was a wet affair. Advantage Vancouver. Although the teams were much more evenly matched this time around, Vancouver proved to be the better team on the day, in the conditions given, and emerged as champions again.

Overall, the division saw improvement in terms of overall depth. Mephisto, Invictus, and General Strike were able to give Furious and GOAT tough matches.

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!