This weekend saw 20 teams from across the UK come together for this year's Junior Outdoor Nationals held in Manchester. The weather was pretty good, albeit for the odd shower, the pitches were good and the location ideally placed next to an out of town leisure complex (bowling, food, etc...).
I'd never been to a Junior event before (having only taken up playing Ultimate after University) so didn't really know what to expect. The level of Ultimate was much higher than I had anticipated, partly due to players in their first year of university still being allowed to play (apparently if you don't turn 20 until next year, you are eligible). Regardless of this however, the standard was phenomenal, with teams made up of 7th graders and 8th graders all competing well against 12th and 13th year students.
In a previous post I had an uneducated stab in the dark about who may do well, and I was pretty much on the money. Airbadgers 1 from Exeter were there in an awesome final played against Strangers with Candy (as I understand it, a team from Brighton with players from Kent). The intensity was incredible, easily on-par with a top A-tour game. It was Strangers who won the game, beating a valiant Airbadgers team by 3 or 4 points.
As predicted Arctic 1 (from Arthur Terry School in Sutton Coldfield) did very well, taking the third spot behind Strangers and Airbadgers and ahead of fourth placed NC Hammer (tbc). Hotly tipped, although newly formed Flux had a tricky time at the weekend, and came sixth behind well drilled Manor. Perhaps it was Manor's massive sideline support that gave them the edge. Local friends, the Psychodelic Rhinos, with superstar Timmy T, did well and won the Plate final (photo courtesy of Carla Link).
I had gone up to Manchester with my local team Evolution (from Aylesford School, Warwick). We did really well, with a good showing against some great teams, including Flux and Rhinos; and two very close games against Calday and Airbadgers 2. A cross-over against Arctic 4 saw Evolution secure 16th seed at the end of saturday's play.
Sunday started with a very hard game against Catch Those in the 9-16 bracket. Catch Those began the game with just 5 players, and managed to keep the score close, only 4-3 down when the rest of their team arrived. A great final few points ensued, with Catch Those eventually winning 6-5. Subseqent close loses against Arctic 3 and Airbadgers 2 meant Evo finished in 16th place, higher than their 2008 placing. Props to Emily Ogden for winning Evo Club Player and to MVP Charly Hesketh. (photo courtesy of Ali D)
Over the course of the weekend I was continually impressed with all of the junior players. I reckon if my local Open side played these teams, we'd get beaten by lots of them! I was particularly impressed by spirit winners Airbadgers 3, it looked like they were all 7th-year students, all of whom were pivoting wonderfully, with great fakes and awesome disc skills. They'll certainly be a team to look out for next year.
There was one small controversy over the weekend about players 'picking up' for teams. I'm not entirely sure of the in's and out's of the issue, but as I understand it some players, instead of playing for their local side, chose to play for a top team. I don't think there is anything in the rules against this, much like in UKUA Open Tour you are permitted to play for any club team you choose.
To quote George Rambo-Ryder; "I thought the idea was that we WEREN'T having 'super teams' at Junior Nationals?".
Like I said, I don't know all the details but I guess it raises the issue of teams and their catchment areas. The Rylands tournament, also held at the Parrs Wood Manchester venue, was a tournament where the teams were made up of teams with strict geographical catchment areas. It was the North who were victorious with the Midlands coming in second place. It would be interesting to see how the Open A-Tour would finish if players only played for their local side.
Overall 2009's Junior Nationals were a great success and I had a throughly enjoyable weekend, am now looking forward to seeing how teams improve in time for the 2010 event. Also, good luck to all the Juniors going out to Vienna.
Food for Thought...
> Should Junior Nationals 2010 insist on players playing for their most local established side, or should it remain like Open Tour where you can play for anyone you wish (should Open Tour have geo-based rules)?
> Should the age-limit for Junior events be lowered from under-20's, to people in Year 13 or less? (thus preventing first year university players from being eligible).
I'd never been to a Junior event before (having only taken up playing Ultimate after University) so didn't really know what to expect. The level of Ultimate was much higher than I had anticipated, partly due to players in their first year of university still being allowed to play (apparently if you don't turn 20 until next year, you are eligible). Regardless of this however, the standard was phenomenal, with teams made up of 7th graders and 8th graders all competing well against 12th and 13th year students.
In a previous post I had an uneducated stab in the dark about who may do well, and I was pretty much on the money. Airbadgers 1 from Exeter were there in an awesome final played against Strangers with Candy (as I understand it, a team from Brighton with players from Kent). The intensity was incredible, easily on-par with a top A-tour game. It was Strangers who won the game, beating a valiant Airbadgers team by 3 or 4 points.
As predicted Arctic 1 (from Arthur Terry School in Sutton Coldfield) did very well, taking the third spot behind Strangers and Airbadgers and ahead of fourth placed NC Hammer (tbc). Hotly tipped, although newly formed Flux had a tricky time at the weekend, and came sixth behind well drilled Manor. Perhaps it was Manor's massive sideline support that gave them the edge. Local friends, the Psychodelic Rhinos, with superstar Timmy T, did well and won the Plate final (photo courtesy of Carla Link).I had gone up to Manchester with my local team Evolution (from Aylesford School, Warwick). We did really well, with a good showing against some great teams, including Flux and Rhinos; and two very close games against Calday and Airbadgers 2. A cross-over against Arctic 4 saw Evolution secure 16th seed at the end of saturday's play.
Sunday started with a very hard game against Catch Those in the 9-16 bracket. Catch Those began the game with just 5 players, and managed to keep the score close, only 4-3 down when the rest of their team arrived. A great final few points ensued, with Catch Those eventually winning 6-5. Subseqent close loses against Arctic 3 and Airbadgers 2 meant Evo finished in 16th place, higher than their 2008 placing. Props to Emily Ogden for winning Evo Club Player and to MVP Charly Hesketh. (photo courtesy of Ali D)Over the course of the weekend I was continually impressed with all of the junior players. I reckon if my local Open side played these teams, we'd get beaten by lots of them! I was particularly impressed by spirit winners Airbadgers 3, it looked like they were all 7th-year students, all of whom were pivoting wonderfully, with great fakes and awesome disc skills. They'll certainly be a team to look out for next year.
There was one small controversy over the weekend about players 'picking up' for teams. I'm not entirely sure of the in's and out's of the issue, but as I understand it some players, instead of playing for their local side, chose to play for a top team. I don't think there is anything in the rules against this, much like in UKUA Open Tour you are permitted to play for any club team you choose.
To quote George Rambo-Ryder; "I thought the idea was that we WEREN'T having 'super teams' at Junior Nationals?".
Like I said, I don't know all the details but I guess it raises the issue of teams and their catchment areas. The Rylands tournament, also held at the Parrs Wood Manchester venue, was a tournament where the teams were made up of teams with strict geographical catchment areas. It was the North who were victorious with the Midlands coming in second place. It would be interesting to see how the Open A-Tour would finish if players only played for their local side.
Overall 2009's Junior Nationals were a great success and I had a throughly enjoyable weekend, am now looking forward to seeing how teams improve in time for the 2010 event. Also, good luck to all the Juniors going out to Vienna.
Food for Thought...
> Should Junior Nationals 2010 insist on players playing for their most local established side, or should it remain like Open Tour where you can play for anyone you wish (should Open Tour have geo-based rules)?
> Should the age-limit for Junior events be lowered from under-20's, to people in Year 13 or less? (thus preventing first year university players from being eligible).
1 comment:
To be fair, there was no 'local' team the Kent guys could've played for anyway - they didn't have enough for a team of their own, and Strangers with Candy were the nearest junior club to them. A lot of people seem to have misunderstood this situation for some reason.
Post a Comment