Interview with UWIN Div 1 winning captain: Karina Aitkin

Writer: Nic
Editor: Hazard

Full Results

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Strathclyde dominated the indoor season this year, they took all three trophies; Mixed, Men’s and Women’s. I spoke to Karina from Strathclyde to find out how buzzed she and her whole squad are after the HUGE success!

Suprisingly, it's a picture of the UWIN-winning Strathclyde squad!
Photo Credit: Strathclyde Facebook Page

Nic

Tell us about yourself…

Karina

So I'm Karina, Women’s captain of Strathclyde!
I think it went incredibly well! We went in with the aim to win and we smashed it, I'm very proud of the women.

Nic

How happy is your whole squad for taking the three trophies home in Indoors?

Karina

We are extremely buzzed, as it’s a first for Strathclyde and we've been working really hard for it.

Nic

It has truly been amazing watching/hearing about you guys, not the underdogs but the team that people really wanted to win (besides their own). What gave you more advantage this year to take the glory?

Karina

It isn’t that different from last year's result as the women got second, but I think the overall success of Strath is the amount of work we've put in over the years and the depth we have in our team now.

Nic

You guys really do have an incredible depth to the squad, there aren’t many other teams like it but how did you prepare for the weekend?

Karina

We spent a lot of time training and playing together, we did some fitness-focused sessions and organised some friendlies against club teams too. The main thing for us was being motivated and getting lots of playing time together.

Nic

What went well for the team, besides winning of course?

Karina

Our main aim was to play our game no matter who we played and I think we did well in doing that. The belief we had in ourselves and in our teammates and I think this was key to our success.

Nic

Even though your whole team play such a huge part in how well you do, were there any particular standout players that really performed at the weekend?

Karina

Yes obviously I'm very proud of the whole team and I wouldn't pin our success on one player, but obviously the experience of players like Hayley Dalmon and Zsófi Marozsák really help the team, and with our younger players coming through so strongly I have high hope for Dark Horses's future!

Nic

What was your favourite game of the weekend?

Karina

Our quarter-final against Newcastle was one of our more intense and enjoyable games, and obviously the final as well!

Nic

Were there any highlights/best bits?

Karina

Highlights would have to include: Eleanor Smith’s callahan, which was epic; and the men coming from winning their final to support us in ours was great too.

Nic

What was the best thing to come out of the weekend?

Karina

Besides winning? Sardines in IKEA with the whole squad was definitely up there!

Nic

Considering how well you have done with the indoor circuit this year, how excited are you for the outdoor season?

Karina

I am really looking forward to the outdoor season - so much room to run around! I have high hopes for us but we still have some work to do, so we will be squeezing in those training sessions.

Nic

How did you find the spirit overall at the weekend? And what are your thoughts on spirit scores no longer being anonymous?

Karina

Spirit was good, there were a lot of teams we had fun playing against. Calls are always frustrating but I think everything was discussed and sorted quickly this weekend which is a nice change!

It doesn't bother me as it helps me remember who we played and if we get a lower or a higher than average score i can look back at the game and understand why.

Nic

Any advice for up-and-coming captains?

Karina

Advice I would give, as a new captain stepping into big shoes, would be to relax and have fun. Enjoy playing the sport with your team and you'll get the best results from them. Obviously everyone needs to work hard to achieve their goals and your job is to encourage them and their love of the sport! And it nevers hurts to have a few rounds of sardines in IKEA!

Nic

Any final thoughts?

Karina

I'm really proud of the girls and their hard work and very excited to see what the outdoor season holds for us!

Interview with UMIN Div 1 winning captain: Andrew Warnock

Writer/Editor: Hazard

Full Results

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Excerpt from Strathclyde’s post-UXIN win interview

Interviewer

Was Mixed Nationals your main hope for trophies for the year? Or do you think Strathclyde can do the triple with Men's and Women's Indoors as well?

Andrew

I see no reason every Nationals trophy shouldn't have Strathclyde on it by the end of the season.

Pictured: A lot of gold medals for Strathclyde
Photo Credit: Iain Chalmers

Hazard

Let's start with a quick introduction. Who are you, and why do you refuse to let anyone else win titles?

Andrew

I'm Andrew Warnock the Strath captain. We got tired of being the nearly team so took our fingers out our asses and used them to throw lots of scoobas instead. Apparently that wins indoors

Hazard

What is the big difference with the Strathclyde team this year?

Andrew

Everyone in the team is one year better and has played together one year longer. It helps we had minimal graduates but having 4 guys and 2 of the girls playing at worlds makes players just a little better. Getting over the hurdle and winning the first Nats title at UXIN helped show ourselves we were pretty sick as well

Hazard

Do you think that playing good Mixed Ultimate helps you play good Men's Ultimate as well?

Andrew

The Strath brand of indoors is played pretty similarly across all divisions so it just means more time playing the systems we run together. But at mixed we let the girls do most of the heavy lifting as there is no team that compares to them at the moment (hence the actual domination at women's nationals). Our guys didn't make things as easy having 3 universe point games on the Sunday. Not that us winning was ever in doubt of course...

Hazard

One small note on that before I move on to your team - how much of a difference does it make not having Women's and Men's in the same venue? Did it give the tournament a different atmosphere to previous years?

Andrew

I think it's pretty obvious the best venues available are in Scotland not even because it's not hard court but also for the fact that you can have multiple divisions in one place. If UMWON is always in Nottingham would it be so bad to always have UMWIN in Glasgow? I could rant for ages how terrible I think hard court is and how having a brick wall surrounding the pitch is stupid but I won't...
Despite being in a different venue to the women, our women's team still drove over in one of their breaks to watch our quarter final, and then we made it to them to watch their actual final. That team mentality is a big reason for Strath dominance right now.

Hazard

#strathclydedominance

So, three sudden death wins - in the quarters, semis and final. (8-7 vs Bath, 10-9 vs Birmingham, 8-7 vs UCL). Could you give a quick rundown of each game, and how you kept grinding out wins against such good teams?

Andrew

We were a little slow to the Bath game and probably underestimated them because they didn't look great on Saturday, but I think in the first 6 points there might not have been any turns. But they got the first break and we really struggled to turn them for the whole game. We grinded till 7-7 and after the buzzer they had possession and we were ready to drive back to Scotland. But they must have felt the vibrations of universe more than us because we forced a throwaway which we converted and we absolutely scraped through that by the skin of our teeth.

Andrew

Birmingham were awesome at the start of our game and eventually went 8-5 up, but we then had a 4 point roll before just about seeing the game out. One of the spicier games I've been apart of but another game we just found a way to win somehow.

Andrew

The final was great fun to be a part of especially as the crowd watching saw UCL as the villains and us as the sort of peoples champions (I heard other people say it so I'm allowed to say that). But again we had a bit of a lull and found ourselves 7-5 down this time, basically because Axel and CJ from UCL are tall boys that can jump. We started to make a comeback then Giorgio Cabrera got a huge D on our endzone which we put in speedily to take it to universe. And after forcing another throwaway from them Mackie sent a blade up to the gods which William Watt plucked out for the win. Maybe not the choice I'd have wanted him to take but it doesn't matter how you win. It's worth saying as well the spirit was really good in that game despite their reputation!

Hazard

Clearly they thought so too - they called it a positive atmosphere despite the stakes in their spirit feedback. Any thoughts on the fact you can now see which team said what for spirit? Or any spirit comments in general?

Andrew

Don't really know why you couldn't see it before. For there to be be anonymity in spirit results completely contradicts the whole point in scoring teams so it seems a logical step. Also means that if there are genuine things that a team needs to address it can be easier to do so. Yey spirit

Hazard

We've mentioned some of your team as we've gone, but is there anyone in particular you think really stepped up on your team this weekend?

Andrew

Everyone on the team did exactly the role they needed to which is why we were successful. I'll shout out my JTM Laurens Kok though as a 2nd year for being thrown in the deep end and just seamlessly fitting into the team (If you ever see him, please help convince him to ditch Basketball)

Hazard

I know when I asked you after UXIN, you said you saw no reason every Nationals trophy shouldn't have Strathclyde on it by the end of the season.

I'm guessing you still feel that way, but mind if I ask you ranking UWON, UMON and UWON in terms of how confident you feel of taking them home?

Andrew

Builders have already been called to extend the trophy cabinet

Hazard

Nice. Any final thoughts or things to say?

Andrew

3 down, 3 to go

Oh and also it turns out Wonderwall IS the best pre-game song!!

Hazard

It's certainly nice to go into universe point on defence, knowing that today is gonna be the day when they're going to throw it back to you.

Andrew

mic drop

Interview with UWIN Div. 2 winning captain: Erin McGready

Writer: Nic

Editor: Hazard

Full Results
Spirit

Oxford Brookes’ women have made history in being the first ever Division 2 Women’s Indoor Nationals Champions! Captained by Erin McGready, this team really developed and progressed as a team over the weekend, and they couldn’t be any more chuffed. Read on to see what Erin has got to say about the experience...

Despite a small squad, Brookes managed to come home with victory
Photo Credit: Erin McGready

Nic

Tell me about yourself…

Erin

Hi, I’m Erin. I’m captain of Oxford Brookes Ultimate team. I’ve played Ultimate for 7 years. I started playing at school with Evolution, I have previously and will be this year playing for GB. I played for Reading at the World Club Championships last year and have played with Hydra in the past too.

Nic

How do you feel the weekend went for your team?

Erin

We went in to the weekend as a learning and developing team as most of the players are beginners with less than a years experience. As the games progressed we found our flow and challenged some of the better, well known teams which gave us the confidence to come out stronger and compete at a higher standard. Overall, very proud of how all our team played and the results showed this.

Nic

Besides winning, what was the best thing to come out of the weekend?

Erin

The growing confidence of the girls from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon improved massively, which then increased the moral of the team; enabling everyone to play with more determination.

Nic

What were your favourite games and why?

Erin

Exeter - went on knowing it was going to be a tough game. But we came out and played our best offence, hard work paid off. 

Sheffield Hallam - a similar team, with lots of beginner but a great game of Ultimate. 

Surrey - really spirited team, played them twice. Always a fun team to play against. Even in the final, spirits were high from both teams.

Nic

What was the biggest success of the weekend (what went well and was key to winning)?

Erin

Having fun, keeping our heads up, playing to learn and increase experience.

Nic

How did you train and prepare for the weekend?

Erin

Lots of throwing practice, match defence, playing games against our Men's BUCS team!

Nic

How did the women fair against the Men’s team?

Erin

They give us a good run, a fair contested game. They keep us on our toes and making it difficult to defend their overhead game!

Nic

Are you playing outdoors this year?

Erin

No sadly we have not entered outdoors.

Nic

That’s a shame. How come?

Erin

Sadly we don’t have enough girls to enter outdoors, we only had six players on the Sunday.

Nic

Do you have any ideas/advice for any (potential) captains on increasing team numbers and developing the sport, especially Women’s?

Erin

As the sport is growing, numbers are increasing. Also by winning this weekend I hope it will help promote Ultimate as a sport and eventually increase the numbers of women playing.

Nic

As I imagine, your whole team played their part. Was there any particular player that really helped the team?

Erin

Everyone played so well and definitely played their part throughout the weekend. Jemma Chapman was an asset to the team with her strong cuts and great grabs.

Nic

How was the spirit over the weekend?

Erin

Generally spirit was great, nothing too standout.

Nic

Your team was the first ever team to win Division 2 Women’s Nationals, and you played against strong competition. What did winning mean to your team?

Erin

A big confidence boost to go forward. Shows that beginners and a small squad of 6 can push the top teams.

Nic

Anything to add…

Erin

Yes, that’s amazing. I didn’t know it was the first ever Division 2 Women’s Nationals! The team really have made great progression, I am so proud of them all.