Previously on What Went Down at UXIR 2019...

Editors: Clackers / Nic

There’s a nip to the air, the clocks have gone back, and it can only mean one thing… The indoor season is underway! University Mixed Indoor Regionals has just passed, it’s the first chance of the academic year for universities to prove themselves against their local competitors. Regionals always has a few surprises, and this year is no exception. We have  summarised your results and scrutinise your region to bring you a run down on what happened. First, we begin all the way up in Scotland, where a certain university manage to reign another year longer.

Full results

Spirit

Photo: Loughborough Students Ultimate

The only club in the UK where two teams have qualified for University Mixed Nationals this year.

Scotland – Strathclyde stay strong!

Writer: Ed Graham

Results:

1. Strathclyde 1

2. Glasgow 1

3. St Andrews 1 

------------

4. Edinburgh 1

5. Dundee 1

6. Heriot-Watt 1

-------------

7. Aberdeen 1

8. Stirling 1

Strathclyde proved themselves worthy of retaining their top seed in the Scottish region but, they did not go unbeaten on their journey. A loss to Glasgow in the pool stages was their only disappointment however, comfortable victories against Stirling and Edinburgh saw them through to the final, and a rematch against Glasgow. This game got intense and could only finish on universe point, which allowed Strathclyde to utilize their skill and call themselves the Scottish Champions for the second year in a row. Glasgow are still heading to Division 1, they fought off the likes of Aberdeen and Dundee to earn their place. Edinburgh topped their pool on Saturday with convincing wins all round but found tougher opposition on Sunday, losing key games to Strathclyde and then St Andrews in the game-to-go (to Division 1). Giving them a 4th place finish, and the top spot heading to Division 2 from Scotland. St Andrews had a strong performance and came out on top when it mattered, especially in the game-to-go (to Division 1), where they won 8-7 over Edinburgh.

Two more spots going to Division 2 remained after Edinburgh. Dundee taking victory over Aberdeen secured their place but, in a final game-to-go, it appeared that Nationals was not for Aberdeen as they lost against Heriot-Watt in their last game of the weekend. The Scottish universities are always a force at Nationals and this year will be no different. Keep an eye out, as the top three teams of this region will be looking to push for the top prize once more.

The North – Newcastle push to victory.

Writer: Hately

Results:

1. Newcastle 1

2. LJMU

3. Durham 1

---------------

4. Liverpool 1

5. Lancaster 1

6. Northumbria 1

----------------

7. Durham 2

8. Newcastle 2

The biggest surprise of the weekend was Manchester 1. They’ve had a tough time of late, with a large proportion of the first team players (Steve Dixon, Robbie Kyme, Natasha Torres-Coote) graduating, and leaving university Ultimate behind. A lack of cutting-edge play saw them lose three pool games and eliminated from Nationals contention before the Sunday knockout stages began. Although they had a big win; including comfortably beating Northumbria (who qualified for Division 2) in their last pool game.

The remainder of the region played out more predictably. Newcastle 1; utilising their range of strong women, carried a winning streak throughout all of their games. Lancaster 1 were the other stand-out team from Pool A; they ended up in second place. The second pool finished with LJMU comfortably at the top, primarily through patient offence looking to isolate athletic female receivers downfield. Their only close pool games were a 9-9 draw vs Liverpool 1 and a 5-4 victory over Durham 1, who finished second and third in Pool B, respectively.

The knockout stages saw Liverpool 1 throw away a four-break lead against a resurgent Newcastle 1 to lose by one, and a confident 8-6 victory for LJMU over Lancaster 1. Newcastle eventually ran out the final as champions, winning 10-7 vs LJMU. An exhausted Liverpool dropped down to forth missing out on Division 1 qualification due to a 12-3 loss in a rematch vs Durham, whilst Lancaster settled in fifth. Northumbria took the final spot going to Division 2, winning the game-to-go 9-8 against a strong Durham 2.

The three teams that qualified for Division 1 can look forward to Nationals knowing that there will be squads capable of playing at an equally competitive level. All have both strong women and men however, the depth of their rosters will be challenged. Durham to finish top 8 is a safe bet; assuming their mental game holds out, and both LJMU and Newcastle to avoid the bottom four. 

Dream Line: Will Collier (Durham), Kate Gibson (Newcastle), Tom Jackson (LJMU), Grace Prior (LJMU), Emily Atkinson (Newcastle)

Yorkshire and East Midlands – Nottingham power through the region.

Writer: Maya Israel

Results:

1. Nottingham 1

2. Loughborough 1

3. Sheffield 1

4. Huddersfield 1

-----------------

5. Leeds 1

6. Loughborough 2

------------------

7. Leicester 1

8. Nottingham Trent 1

If it was predicted who would finish at the top; Loughborough 1 and Sheffield 1 would be right up there taking into account their fifth and ninth place finish at Nationals last year, and Huddersfield 1 and Nottingham 1 would have been battling for the last Division 1 places. 

These predictions didn’t quite pan out, although the top 4 were the same. Nottingham 1 shocked everyone on Saturday, capping Loughborough 1 15-6, to top their pool. In retrospect, having lost half of last year’s team, including both captains, Loughborough 1 were due to have a tougher weekend than usual. Huddersfield, on the other hand, powered through their pool, despite having only two girls on Saturday, meaning they were beating teams whilst only having four players on the pitch for half of their games! 

Loughborough 1’s earlier loss to Nottingham meant they had a slightly tougher journey to the final however, following a win over Sheffield in their semi; Loughborough failed to prevail over Nottingham for a second time and finished in second place. Sheffield 1 achieved third place after managing to overcome Huddersfield’s three pass scores with clinical defence. And Huddersfield put up a fight against a formidable Leeds team in the game-to-go (to Division 1), clutching the final Division 1 space on universe point.

Loughborough 2 deservingly took the second and final Division 2 spot having played exceedingly well all weekend, and are the only second team to qualify for Nationals in the country this year.

West Midlands and Wales – Birmingham squeeze ahead…

Writer: Hately

Results:

1. Birmingham 1

2. Warwick 1

3. Cardiff 1

-------------------

4. Bangor 1

5. Aberystwyth 1

----------------------

6. Swansea 1

7. Birmingham 2

8. Warwick 2

The West Midlands and Wales region contains some of the largest clubs in UK University Ultimate, with Warwick, Birmingham and Cardiff all providing a wealth of squads in this year’s competition. With the additional presence of Bangor, Swansea and Aberystwyth all battling for 5 Nationals spots, this year’s Regionals was always going to be close. Birmingham managed to improve on last year’s second place finish to clinch their region. Whilst last year they lost out to Bangor on universe, instead they held their nerve and defeated Warwick in the same manner. This is a credit to the depth and hard work of the Birmingham club, to lose key players such as Eddie Mason, Adam Vaslet and Georgia Morrison, and yet still improve on their results from last year.

If Birmingham have maintained their strength, then Warwick have matched them step for step. Whilst Warwick again lost to Birmingham in the final game of the weekend, the deficit was reduced from 4 to a single point when compared with last year. Their only loss of the whole weekend, and confirming them a spot at Division 1 Nationals.

The final Division 1 place was snapped up by Cardiff, narrowly missing out on the final. They comfortably dealt with a Bangor squad in transition, in the game-to-go (to Division 1). Bangor, perhaps paying the price for a lack of experience besides the top of their roster, will still be pleased to be leaving with a ticket to Division 2. Fifth place was claimed by Aberystwyth, who saw off a challenge from Swansea to claim the final Division 2 spot. Swansea had an easier route to the game (a 10-0 victory over Warwick 2) but were unable to recreate this form for the big occasion.

East and London – Can’t upturn UCL?

Writer: Maya Israel

Results:

1. UCL 1

2. KCL 1

----------------

3. Hertfordshire 1

4. Cambridge 1

----------------

5. Brunel 1

6. UCL 2

7. Cambridge 2

8. LSE 1

Considering the East and London region, University College London (UCL) 1 and King’s College London (KCL) 1 seemed obvious contenders for Division 1 spots, both being strong teams who finished second and sixth at Nationals last year, respectively. Which teams would qualify for Division 2 was less certain, but it was shocking that neither teams who snagged those places last year, LSE 1 and Imperial 1, were able to do so again.

On the Saturday, Hertfordshire, who just missed out on a Division 2 spot last year, managed to top their pool, beating Imperial 1. Cambridge, who finished sixth last year, also topped their pool, beating LSE 1 in a close game. On Sunday, UCL and KCL convincingly paved their ways to Division 1, whilst Hertfordshire and Cambridge pushed Brunel and UCL 2 out of reach of Division 2. Surprisingly Imperial 1 and LSE 1 did not fare so well this year, falling to eighth and ninth.

Overall, the Silverbacks (UCL) proved there’s no one in the region close to their standard at this present time. They’ll definitely be in contention for one of the top spots at Nationals again this year.

The South West – Exeter back on top(?)

Writer: Nate Sanders

Results:

1. Exeter 1

2. Bath 1

----------------

3. Bristol 1

4. UWE 1

----------------

5. Plymouth 1

6. Exeter 2

7. Southampton 1

8. Bristol 2

Exeter have done one better than last year and toppled Bath in the final to complete an undefeated weekend and take the first Division 1 spot. Exeter have always been at the top end of this tournament with wins in 2015 and 2016, they’ll be overjoyed to add this one to their collection. Bath had a strong weekend, but it wasn’t enough to take home a trophy. Exeter found a run of form in the final, thanks to some clutch grabs and big blocks, and were one point up at the hooter. Bath had one possession to take the game to universe point, but a miscommunication left them looking onto the game-to-go (to Division 1) against Bristol.

Coming third was Bristol, they held seed through the groups but couldn’t get past Bath 1 in the semi-final. This game saw both teams up at various stages throughout the game, but Bath took the game by 2 points. The game-to-go to Division 1 was almost a carbon copy of their earlier foray. Bristol lost only to Bath 1 all weekend; however twice is one time too many for a spot in Division 1 and Bristol take the first Division 2 spot. Taking the final Division 2 spot was UWE, with their trademark zone and polytechnic flair, they saw off almost everyone they faced. UWE continue their recent trend of qualifying for Nationals, there could be big things on the horizon for them.

Plymouth 1 missed out after losing the game to go against UWE. Plymouth’s new style of handler weave seems to have served them well this year, which helped them see off Southampton in the quarterfinals. But Plymouth falls just shy of qualifying for Nationals this time round. Southampton finished seventh for the second year in a row despite starting out seeded third.

Dream Line: me.

The South East – Sussex are back!

Writer: Hazard

Results:

1. Sussex 1

2. Surrey 1

3. Chichester

---------

4. Oxford 1

5. Reading 1

----------

6. Oxford 2

7. Brighton

8. Sussex 2

Last year, Reading won the region, with Surrey coming second and Oxford 1 rounding off the Division 1 teams. Brighton claimed a strong forth, and Sussex beat Oxford 2 in the game to go to Division 2 Nationals. Chichester and Portsmouth rounded off the top 8.

Woking hasn’t really been known for much since it got itself a mention in the Domesday Book in 1086, but now it can be known as the place where SEUXIR 2019 occurred and some teams made Nationals and some didn’t. A lot of teams had suffered graduations since last year, and so the seedings seemed a lot more volatile this year than in previous years.

Oxford had claimed initial top seed, likely by dint of being the only team to make the journey up to St. Andrew’s for UXON in the previous season. Starting out, there were quite a few upsets: Chichester beat Oxford 1 and drew with Sussex 1; bottom seed Sussex 2 finished top eight after beating Oxford Brookes and Kent; and last year’s winners Reading only narrowly made top 8 themselves, despite being ran close by Surrey 2. Also, Oxford 2 initially made top 4 after beating Brighton in the first game on Sunday.

On Sunday, things began to settle a bit more. Sussex continued to play big plays. They got the title. Surrey did whatever they do because in three years I’ve not played them and I’m starting to think it’s personal. They got second. Chichester showed a marked improvement from last year and used a combination of hard defence and overheads to take third and the final Division 1 spot. Oxford 1 fairly handily made their way up the rankings (including beating their second team) but couldn’t finish the job as Chichester dispatched them for a second time in the game-to-go to Division 1. Reading finally started to gel to fight their way up the rankings, beat Brighton on the second time of asking, and eked out a sudden-death win against Oxford 2 to win the game-to-go to Division 2, despite throwing a callahan in the dying embers of the game.

Dream line (3 men / 3 women): Charlie Butt (Sussex), Ben Peppiatt (Reading), Jonah Varney (Surrey), Molly White (Brighton), Vicki James (Chichester), Camilla Spearing (Surrey)

There you have it, Regionals in a (fairly large) nutshell. Many surprising differences compared to last year, a testament to how closely fought the tournaments are but what do you think? Is it the amount of graduating players or the development of Ultimate in general? All that’s left is to wish everyone luck for Nationals, when we will all descend to the Midlands to battle it out to win our respective divisions.

How a good player can become elite

Editor/Writer: Hazard

How does a good player make the leap to the elite level? What separates those players who are solid enough from those players who can be depended on when the going gets tough against all opponents? To find out those things you'd need to be an elite-level player. An elite-level player willing to impart their knowledge and wisdom to the world.

Well, fortunately for you all, I found some.

The conclusion: in addition to training at the highest level you can, some of the best things you can do revolve around what you do off the field. I've summarised the quotes (of which there was a lot of overlap) with some editorialising of my own below.


1. Throw. Lots.
Go throw. If you throw 20 mins 2 times a week focused you can be the best thrower at uni level if you do it for a couple semesters - Axel Ahmala, Clapham

Don't be fannying around doing anything else if you can't throw a decent forehand (or) break a force consistently. - Hannah Brew, GB Women/Iceni

This was by far the most dominant advice. It can't be underestimated how important throwing skills are. The more you can improve your throws - and learn the muscle memory to execute said throws - the more you can improve the range of options on field and the more mental processing power you can use to assess the validity of those options.

It is important to realise that not all throwing sessions are equal. The important part of Axel's advice is "focused". Think about what range you are throwing, and work out what range you can achieve with different throws consistently. Improve that. As Hannah said, the type of throw is also important. Practice breaks, and make sure your core skills are up to scratch. This is not to say more unusual throws aren't occasionally valid, but if you want to become an elite player, your fundamentals need to be solid.


2. Find a place to do sprints. Work on your movement.
Run more track than you think you need to. - Connor McHale, GB Men/Clapham

Know how to turn efficiently. - Hannah Brew, GB Women/Iceni (paraphrase)

I don't know about you, but when I watch track events at the Olympics, I don't often see them looking wildly around in the air. Half a second can make a big difference when chasing down a disc or following a player, and every deviation you have to take from proper sprinting form is one that is going to slow you down.

Of course, for that deviation to really affect you, you need to have good form in the first place. It's actually not the most natural movement to turn quickly with a jab step, or to keep your hips pointed forward while glancing over your shoulder to keep an eye on the disc. Again, like with throwing, the more you can commit form to muscle memory, the more it will pay off on field. 


3. "Lift heavy things" - Anon

You don't really need to know much about elite players to know they spend a lot of time working on strength and conditioning. Not only does this help prevent injury (meaning more time can be spent on field practising), but being faster and stronger is obviously an advantage in any sport.

This was actually the piece of advice that I was worst at implementing. The gym seemed like a scary place to me, and while I would (very) occasionally go with friends, I was petrified of going on my own and of injuring myself/looking like a fool. So I have every sympathy for players in a similar position.

I wont give advice about what S&C you should do - I'm still learning that side of things. But my advice for how to start doing it: find a friend and set up a schedule (nothing is as powerful as habit), look up YouTube videos videos, and try to build some sort of exercise plan you can stick to. Some people take to S&C easily. Some people don't. But it is a very useful tool in becoming a better player, so it's worth pushing yourself to do.

With that said, don't let this become the be-all and end-all. Fitness is good, but it's part of the whole picture:

Turn one (probably two) of your weekly fitness sessions into throwing/disc-based fitness sessions. Teammates want the elite with disc in hand during crunch time. - Josh Briggs, GB Men/Clapham


4. Self-reflection makes a better player

I naturally reflect on how I played quite a lot...take a focus from your reflection into your practice. - Alice Hanton, GB Women/Leeds

Ask people who are better for feedback and advice. Most people will give it to you, and you shouldn't be scared to ask. - Someone who decided not to give their name.

How do we improve? Only by realising our mistakes, and working to correct that behaviour. The easiest way to do this? Talk to people. Create goals for yourself, and then check if you meet them. This will take different forms for different people. I've known some people keep a diary, and others who hated it (cheers for the honesty Axel). I'll often chat with people in the car on the way back home, asking what a highlight was (some people need to reflect on the good things they do), and something they need to improve (other people need the other thing).

But to be able to self reflect properly, you need to know what good Ultimate looks like, and whether that matches how you play. I'm very lucky - for me, commentating is actually a very good chance to critically analyse play and recognise things I want to implement in future. But even just on the sideline at tournaments, you can recognise impressive play. What anon says is very valid though - we are a community, and we're actually very willing to help each other out. Don't be afraid to ask people for advice, both for yourself and for what they think good Ultimate looks like.

5. Have fun, and find out what motivates you

Keep playing fun things too though. Don't be a loser. - Rupal Ghelani, SYC/all the GBs.

If you look cool while doing it, it was the correct choice. - Andrew Warnock, Alba

Ok, so I'm a little bit tongue in cheek for using these quotes, but for me they do highlight something important. There are different reasons people play Ultimate, but for those elite players, they usually have a clear philosophy as for why. Some athletes play to win games, some only care about winning trophies, some play to perform the best they possibly can. On another level, some like very prescriptive play, others like more freedom and creativity.

All of them, at some level, enjoy what they do and are motivated to get better. I've known a lot of players get fatigue after finishing a high level tournament because they weren't actually enjoying themselves. You have to know what motivates you as a player, because it is a lot of effort to make the jump to the elite, and it wont come without effort. Often, that does involve, at some level, having fun.

A shot of SMOG 1 vs Deep Space at UKU Nationals.
Players from both teams put in a lot of work behind the scenes to reach the level they're at today.
Photo Credit: Sam Mouat for the ShowGame