Women's Worlds
With all the talk about Worlds and the state of ultimate around the globe, there’s been surprisingly little discussion about the women’s division. Without a doubt, women’s ultimate is growing around the world with more people playing and with more teams competing at a higher level. WUGC 2008 was a testament to that growth. Of the fifteen countries represented, three had not sent teams to the last WUGC in Finland four years ago. Additionally, the caliber of play showcased athletes and teams that were quite talented—I would say that the top nine teams were better than the top nine teams at the UPA Club Championships, easily making this THE most competitive tournament around.
I wanted to make sure that the teams playing their hearts out this past week got some press, so here is a bit about each of the fourteen other women’s teams at Worlds. First, the teams the USA didn't play, then the teams we played in pool play, then the teams we played in bracket play.
Teams the USA Didn’t Play:
France – Props to the French women for making the trip half way across the world, especially considering the country didn’t send teams for every division (notably absent: a French open team). I didn’t get to watch these women play at all during the tournament, but they played incredibly tight games against both Colombia and Ireland. I will say that their blue and white warm-up jackets were hot commodities at trade night and I wasn’t lucky enough to score one.
Sweden – I remember playing a tight game against Sweden four years ago in Finland, so I was surprised to see the team’s results this year. The team seemed quite young compared to four years ago, so perhaps the country is in the process of passing the torch from a veteran crew to the younger leaders. Given that the Swedish open team also seems less competitive now than it was in the past, I wonder how ultimate is faring in Sweden in general these days. Hopefully all the new opportunities for international play in Europe will help the Swedish ultimate scene grow as well.
Colombia – The Colombian team was able to pick up Miranda Roth as one of its community player additions, although she was sidelined for much of the tournament with a slipped disc back injury. Ultimate in Colombia has grown by leaps and bounds recently, and the team was filled with athletic women coming from five different club teams, all willing to lay it on the line for their country. The team’s fast paced style helped them earn a surprise finish in the quarterfinals by beating Finland in a crossover game. Not bad for a team’s first appearance at a WUGC event! With the strength of the girls’ junior program, expect to see more good things from this team in the future…
Great Britain – Fury was lucky enough to play GB at CalStates back in June on the team’s North American tour, and they provided our closest game of that tournament. With solid handling and great receivers, GB has a pretty patient offense that allows its downfield cutters to get open for big yardage gaining cuts. The number of women who routinely make huge bids and athletic plays on the disc for this team is impressive—one of the more athletic teams at the tournament from top to bottom, I would say. Although losing in quarterfinals with three chances at game point must be terribly disappointing, the team has made huge strides in its cohesion and overall skill level from four years ago, aided in part by the creation of a British elite women’s league. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team wins Europeans this year.
Teams from Pool Play:
Mexico – this was the first year that Mexico sent a team to WUGC and I’m glad that Worlds was geographically close enough to enable the team to attend. The Mexican ultimate scene is still just getting off the ground, and the team benefited from picking-up two Texan players from the club team Showdown (Naz and Amanda Berens) to help boost their roster size and add some on-the-field leadership. Not as many women play athletics in Mexico as in many other countries, so the Mexican ultimate team included a number of women who had never played sports before finding ultimate. This is also the case for many women discovering ultimate for the first time at college in the U.S., and I’m always happy to hear of ultimate providing an athletic outlet for women that had never had any experience with sports before. The Mexicans had a number of handlers with solid disc skills and I can’t wait to see how far their team will progress in four years.
Switzerland – we had watched some game footage from 2007 Europeans of the Switzerland squad (where the Swiss took 3rd place) as preparation for our pool play game against them, and this team has a number of skilled players. Primarily playing a spread/horizontal stack offense, the team utilized break mark throws for big yard gainers and was not afraid to look deep—setting up most of their goals against us with long forehands. This team also won the Spirit Award for the tournament, a much deserved prize given what a pleasure the team was to play against. The team combined their competitive drive with a clear love of the game.
Ireland – Fury had played against the Irish women four years ago at the 2004 WUGC in Finland, so I can attest first hand to how much better the team is now. Four years ago, the Irish were best remembered for their youth, cheers, and winning the Spirit Award. Now, that team has matured into a squad that can consistently score points against the best teams in the world. Our 17-7 score against them this year felt like a completely different game than the 17-1 match we had in Finland. Benefiting from a coach (Lucy Barnes, formerly of Brute Squad) and the luxury of try-outs and regular training sessions, this team now takes itself seriously. Hopefully the women’s scene in the country continues to expand and get better in the coming years.
Italy – We have a player on loan from the Italians, and it was great to be able to show them how valuable Manu Argilli is to our team. The Italian team this year was significantly younger than the team was four years ago, but the squad benefited from its first coach and all 17 players worked hard for the game they obviously love. In our post-game huddle, the Italians passed out fliers for Paganello and their beaming smiles while talking about the infamous beach tournament makes me want to save up for the trip more than ever.
New Zealand – I was surprised to learn that the last time New Zealand sent a team to the WUGC was in 1994. As a result of lack of recent international results, the team was seeded towards the bottom of the draw, so they made quite a splash by going all the way to the quarterfinals. The team ran a German-iso-type offense with three handlers across, one isolated cutter in the middle of the field, and three other cutters positioned across the field further away. What made this offensive set work for the team was the strength of its handlers’ break mark throws. USA’s marks were challenged so much by New Zealand’s yard-gaining inside-out and around breaks that we had to make a number of defensive adjustments during the game to try and contain their throwers. I also have to say that our post-game huddle and games with the Kiwis were top notch.
Finland – After winning Europeans last year and earning the silver at the 2004 WUGC, we knew that the Finns would be formidable opponents. We didn’t have much opportunity to scout them before our game on Monday, so we had to adjust our match-ups and defensive schemes throughout the game—a tactic that could have served to keep them off-balance as we were constantly changing our D. This team has some of the most precise deep throwers I’ve played against—a deadly combination when you figure that they also have a bevy of tall, athletic receivers. Running a horizontal stack, the Finnish downfield cutters seemed to have endless space to work with, putting a lot of pressure on one-on-one defensive assignments. I know that the Finns were disappointed with their performance against us, but I was truly shocked that the team didn’t make the quarterfinals. I thought the skill on the team was easily on the caliber of teams that have made the semifinals of the UPA Championships in the past. I guess it’s a testament to the level of play at the tournament that such a talented team was squeezed out of the top eight.
Australia – Fury had the pleasure of playing the Aussies in an exhibition match before Worlds began, making them one of the few teams at the tournament that we knew our match-ups for ahead of time. Another tall team that runs extremely hard, Australia had a number of offensive weapons that were difficult to contain. Defensively, the team’s 1-3-3 or “Puppy” zone caused problems for teams and guaranteed a few turnovers a game for the Aussies. This was a good example of a defense resting on the shoulders of personnel, as the main marker in the zone had a smothering, aggressive mark that was very difficult to break once it was set. Another thing that really struck me about this team was its perseverance through an entire game. They really never let up and managed to have come from behind wins on double game point against both Zeitgeist and Riot in their pre-Worlds tour and against Great Britain in the quarterfinals in Vancouver. Those victories show an impressive amount of heart and desire that is even more amazing considering the team was a national team that had a limited time playing together before Worlds.
Teams from Bracket Play:
Germany (Quarterfinals) – The team’s statistics showed that a few players on Germany bore the brunt of the workload for this team, and those players were quite good. The term “workhorse” instantly comes to mind in describing their cutters—always on the move attacking space after space for the entire possession. Combine that cutting ethic with quick disc movement by the handlers, and you have a formidable offense to contend with. Our quarterfinals game was a bit lopsided against them as their defense wasn’t able to generate many turnovers against us, but they challenged the Canadians earlier in the week and definitely deserved their quarterfinal berth.
Canada (Semifinals) – After being Regional rivals with the Vancouver women forever, Team Canada was definitely the team that we knew the best of all the teams at Worlds. While that may have helped with our match-ups, we were definitely caught off guard by the fire they brought to our semifinals game—enabling them to instantly go up 3-0. The team’s six out-of-province players definitely helped the squad by adding handling skills, defensive intensity, and great cutting to a team already full of great handlers, savvy defenders, and athletic cutters. Our game was a battle every step of the way until we earned a couple breaks with an unconventional zone, but I expect Traffic to be extra motivated in its hunt for a UPA medal now that the players have had the bitter-sweet taste of bronze.
Japan (Finals) – There’s no doubt that the Japanese were our biggest rivals this year. After being rather humiliated by them in March at the Dream Cup, we dedicated hours and hours to studying game film to identify their offensive strategies and top players’ preferences, improving our fitness to be able to run with them, and practicing our offensive sets that were going to be needed against their zone and poaching D. Despite all that preparation, the average quickness on that team still surpasses ours, we still struggled against their zone during their come-back in our cross-over game on Wednesday (we were up 10-6, but lost 15-14), and their handlers still made minced meat of some of our marks. Losing those two games was probably the biggest reason we were able to come out on top in the finals—it’s much easier to overanalyze your losses than your wins and we were able to rally around the small adjustments we identified after our crossover loss. There is no doubt that across the board, the Japanese team is extremely talented. The precision, decision making, and execution of the team’s handlers are tremendous and the downfield cutters make well-timed cut after well-timed cut, all at breakneck speed. Both our crossover and finals games against them had a number of turnovers, but many of those were forced by incredible defensive efforts and I have a virtual highlight reel still running in my head from the number of plays made by both teams in those games. It’s great that so many of those moments were captured in photographs and on film as I’ll want to relive the battle for years to come. I’m incredibly honored to wear the #5 jersey I traded for with the Japanese captain this year.
I could go on and on about my teammates on Team USA as well, but this post has already become long enough. Suffice it to say that I’m incredibly proud of the way that every person on the team came together and contributed to the team effort. Earning gold at a WUGC has been something Fury has been working towards since 2000, and it’s so amazing to finally realize that dream. Luckily, our performance at Worlds was not flawless and we still have lots to work on to keep our focus sharp for the upcoming UPA Series. Let’s see if we can find that elusive double peak…
I wanted to make sure that the teams playing their hearts out this past week got some press, so here is a bit about each of the fourteen other women’s teams at Worlds. First, the teams the USA didn't play, then the teams we played in pool play, then the teams we played in bracket play.
Teams the USA Didn’t Play:
France – Props to the French women for making the trip half way across the world, especially considering the country didn’t send teams for every division (notably absent: a French open team). I didn’t get to watch these women play at all during the tournament, but they played incredibly tight games against both Colombia and Ireland. I will say that their blue and white warm-up jackets were hot commodities at trade night and I wasn’t lucky enough to score one.
Sweden – I remember playing a tight game against Sweden four years ago in Finland, so I was surprised to see the team’s results this year. The team seemed quite young compared to four years ago, so perhaps the country is in the process of passing the torch from a veteran crew to the younger leaders. Given that the Swedish open team also seems less competitive now than it was in the past, I wonder how ultimate is faring in Sweden in general these days. Hopefully all the new opportunities for international play in Europe will help the Swedish ultimate scene grow as well.
Colombia – The Colombian team was able to pick up Miranda Roth as one of its community player additions, although she was sidelined for much of the tournament with a slipped disc back injury. Ultimate in Colombia has grown by leaps and bounds recently, and the team was filled with athletic women coming from five different club teams, all willing to lay it on the line for their country. The team’s fast paced style helped them earn a surprise finish in the quarterfinals by beating Finland in a crossover game. Not bad for a team’s first appearance at a WUGC event! With the strength of the girls’ junior program, expect to see more good things from this team in the future…
Great Britain – Fury was lucky enough to play GB at CalStates back in June on the team’s North American tour, and they provided our closest game of that tournament. With solid handling and great receivers, GB has a pretty patient offense that allows its downfield cutters to get open for big yardage gaining cuts. The number of women who routinely make huge bids and athletic plays on the disc for this team is impressive—one of the more athletic teams at the tournament from top to bottom, I would say. Although losing in quarterfinals with three chances at game point must be terribly disappointing, the team has made huge strides in its cohesion and overall skill level from four years ago, aided in part by the creation of a British elite women’s league. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team wins Europeans this year.
Teams from Pool Play:
Mexico – this was the first year that Mexico sent a team to WUGC and I’m glad that Worlds was geographically close enough to enable the team to attend. The Mexican ultimate scene is still just getting off the ground, and the team benefited from picking-up two Texan players from the club team Showdown (Naz and Amanda Berens) to help boost their roster size and add some on-the-field leadership. Not as many women play athletics in Mexico as in many other countries, so the Mexican ultimate team included a number of women who had never played sports before finding ultimate. This is also the case for many women discovering ultimate for the first time at college in the U.S., and I’m always happy to hear of ultimate providing an athletic outlet for women that had never had any experience with sports before. The Mexicans had a number of handlers with solid disc skills and I can’t wait to see how far their team will progress in four years.
Switzerland – we had watched some game footage from 2007 Europeans of the Switzerland squad (where the Swiss took 3rd place) as preparation for our pool play game against them, and this team has a number of skilled players. Primarily playing a spread/horizontal stack offense, the team utilized break mark throws for big yard gainers and was not afraid to look deep—setting up most of their goals against us with long forehands. This team also won the Spirit Award for the tournament, a much deserved prize given what a pleasure the team was to play against. The team combined their competitive drive with a clear love of the game.
Ireland – Fury had played against the Irish women four years ago at the 2004 WUGC in Finland, so I can attest first hand to how much better the team is now. Four years ago, the Irish were best remembered for their youth, cheers, and winning the Spirit Award. Now, that team has matured into a squad that can consistently score points against the best teams in the world. Our 17-7 score against them this year felt like a completely different game than the 17-1 match we had in Finland. Benefiting from a coach (Lucy Barnes, formerly of Brute Squad) and the luxury of try-outs and regular training sessions, this team now takes itself seriously. Hopefully the women’s scene in the country continues to expand and get better in the coming years.
Italy – We have a player on loan from the Italians, and it was great to be able to show them how valuable Manu Argilli is to our team. The Italian team this year was significantly younger than the team was four years ago, but the squad benefited from its first coach and all 17 players worked hard for the game they obviously love. In our post-game huddle, the Italians passed out fliers for Paganello and their beaming smiles while talking about the infamous beach tournament makes me want to save up for the trip more than ever.
New Zealand – I was surprised to learn that the last time New Zealand sent a team to the WUGC was in 1994. As a result of lack of recent international results, the team was seeded towards the bottom of the draw, so they made quite a splash by going all the way to the quarterfinals. The team ran a German-iso-type offense with three handlers across, one isolated cutter in the middle of the field, and three other cutters positioned across the field further away. What made this offensive set work for the team was the strength of its handlers’ break mark throws. USA’s marks were challenged so much by New Zealand’s yard-gaining inside-out and around breaks that we had to make a number of defensive adjustments during the game to try and contain their throwers. I also have to say that our post-game huddle and games with the Kiwis were top notch.
Finland – After winning Europeans last year and earning the silver at the 2004 WUGC, we knew that the Finns would be formidable opponents. We didn’t have much opportunity to scout them before our game on Monday, so we had to adjust our match-ups and defensive schemes throughout the game—a tactic that could have served to keep them off-balance as we were constantly changing our D. This team has some of the most precise deep throwers I’ve played against—a deadly combination when you figure that they also have a bevy of tall, athletic receivers. Running a horizontal stack, the Finnish downfield cutters seemed to have endless space to work with, putting a lot of pressure on one-on-one defensive assignments. I know that the Finns were disappointed with their performance against us, but I was truly shocked that the team didn’t make the quarterfinals. I thought the skill on the team was easily on the caliber of teams that have made the semifinals of the UPA Championships in the past. I guess it’s a testament to the level of play at the tournament that such a talented team was squeezed out of the top eight.
Australia – Fury had the pleasure of playing the Aussies in an exhibition match before Worlds began, making them one of the few teams at the tournament that we knew our match-ups for ahead of time. Another tall team that runs extremely hard, Australia had a number of offensive weapons that were difficult to contain. Defensively, the team’s 1-3-3 or “Puppy” zone caused problems for teams and guaranteed a few turnovers a game for the Aussies. This was a good example of a defense resting on the shoulders of personnel, as the main marker in the zone had a smothering, aggressive mark that was very difficult to break once it was set. Another thing that really struck me about this team was its perseverance through an entire game. They really never let up and managed to have come from behind wins on double game point against both Zeitgeist and Riot in their pre-Worlds tour and against Great Britain in the quarterfinals in Vancouver. Those victories show an impressive amount of heart and desire that is even more amazing considering the team was a national team that had a limited time playing together before Worlds.
Teams from Bracket Play:
Germany (Quarterfinals) – The team’s statistics showed that a few players on Germany bore the brunt of the workload for this team, and those players were quite good. The term “workhorse” instantly comes to mind in describing their cutters—always on the move attacking space after space for the entire possession. Combine that cutting ethic with quick disc movement by the handlers, and you have a formidable offense to contend with. Our quarterfinals game was a bit lopsided against them as their defense wasn’t able to generate many turnovers against us, but they challenged the Canadians earlier in the week and definitely deserved their quarterfinal berth.
Canada (Semifinals) – After being Regional rivals with the Vancouver women forever, Team Canada was definitely the team that we knew the best of all the teams at Worlds. While that may have helped with our match-ups, we were definitely caught off guard by the fire they brought to our semifinals game—enabling them to instantly go up 3-0. The team’s six out-of-province players definitely helped the squad by adding handling skills, defensive intensity, and great cutting to a team already full of great handlers, savvy defenders, and athletic cutters. Our game was a battle every step of the way until we earned a couple breaks with an unconventional zone, but I expect Traffic to be extra motivated in its hunt for a UPA medal now that the players have had the bitter-sweet taste of bronze.
Japan (Finals) – There’s no doubt that the Japanese were our biggest rivals this year. After being rather humiliated by them in March at the Dream Cup, we dedicated hours and hours to studying game film to identify their offensive strategies and top players’ preferences, improving our fitness to be able to run with them, and practicing our offensive sets that were going to be needed against their zone and poaching D. Despite all that preparation, the average quickness on that team still surpasses ours, we still struggled against their zone during their come-back in our cross-over game on Wednesday (we were up 10-6, but lost 15-14), and their handlers still made minced meat of some of our marks. Losing those two games was probably the biggest reason we were able to come out on top in the finals—it’s much easier to overanalyze your losses than your wins and we were able to rally around the small adjustments we identified after our crossover loss. There is no doubt that across the board, the Japanese team is extremely talented. The precision, decision making, and execution of the team’s handlers are tremendous and the downfield cutters make well-timed cut after well-timed cut, all at breakneck speed. Both our crossover and finals games against them had a number of turnovers, but many of those were forced by incredible defensive efforts and I have a virtual highlight reel still running in my head from the number of plays made by both teams in those games. It’s great that so many of those moments were captured in photographs and on film as I’ll want to relive the battle for years to come. I’m incredibly honored to wear the #5 jersey I traded for with the Japanese captain this year.
I could go on and on about my teammates on Team USA as well, but this post has already become long enough. Suffice it to say that I’m incredibly proud of the way that every person on the team came together and contributed to the team effort. Earning gold at a WUGC has been something Fury has been working towards since 2000, and it’s so amazing to finally realize that dream. Luckily, our performance at Worlds was not flawless and we still have lots to work on to keep our focus sharp for the upcoming UPA Series. Let’s see if we can find that elusive double peak…
posted by Gambler at 9:32 PM
7 Comments:
Good post, thanks for writing it up! I love hearing that international competition is strong, I think it points to the health of the sport. Congrats on the gold, it must be that much sweeter coming against such a tough field.
the kiwi ladies did pretty well in Perth, so they do have some recent international success. they were definitely underseeded, but that's going to happen when the seeds are done with 4 year old WUGC results.
Don't get me started on WFDF's seeding of WUGC! They basically did not count any results from non-WFDF events and did not factor in results from club Worlds.
Countries that had a national team playing in last year's EUC were able to have those results affect seeding, but teams outside of Europe had no opportunity to affect the seeding outside of the countries' finish four years ago at WUGC 2004. Since New Zealand didn't have a team represented in Finland, they were out of luck.
It seems to me that there must be a way of using more of the information that is out there to do seedings. 3 out of 4 Japanese teams were in the semis of WUCC 2006, and still Japan was stuck being seeded 4th at WUGC 2008.
I guess as long as the format allows every team an equal opportunity to beat their seed, then it's okay. Frustrating, but oh well.
Nice recap, and thanks for keeping the torch lit as far as women's online coverage. Congrats on your win; it was awesome to see you guys live on the webcast!
Congrats on the big win, and thanks so much for the detailed write up. When I really want to know what's going on in women's ultimate, this is where I look.
Nice work on the review of Worlds. I borrowed the format from your post and did likewise for the Open division. Thanks!
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