UK Nationals 2024 - Explained (with previews)

Editor/Writer: Hazard 

Additional proofreading: Nick, Hurley

With UK Club Nationals coming up, it felt like a good time to write a small explainer to help everyone follow along with the results.

Nationals has undergone a few changes previously. 

Most significantly, it now consists only of 8 UK teams in each division! 

There's no Irish teams for the first time since 2016 (not including 2021), and each division now comprises only 8 teams. 

Also, there is now a Division 2 in Leicester for Mixed and Open. I'll cover that briefly too. 

Alright, let's go over the basics.

***

What - UKU Club Nationals (Mixed, Women's, Open divisions)

When - 6/7 July 2024

Where - Highfields Sports Complex, University of Nottingham, UK, NG7 2PS

Schedule? - Here (Pitch 1 are the streamed games)

Streaming? - For free on YouTube through ulti.tv (click on the "live" tab)

Saturday Streamed games:
9am - SMASH'D vs Alba (Open)
10:50 - Lemmings vs Reading (Mixed)
12:40 - SYC vs SMOG (Women's)
14:30 - Bristol vs SMOG (Open)
16:20 - HECK vs BN1 (Mixed)

Sunday Streamed Games:
9am: - Women's Semi-Final
10:40 - Mixed Semi-Final
12:20 - Women's Final
14:00 - Open Final
15:40 - Mixed Final

Who is there, and how did they qualify?

Open and Mixed teams qualified through two regional tournaments (North and South). 

The following teams will be at Nationals (North/South qualifiers shown as N/S, along with last year's results and the approximate team geographic base). I'll also include teams which have been present at multiple previous consecutive Nationals that aren't attending this year.

Mixed

1. Deep Space (1st, S, London)
2. Lemmings (2nd, N, Leamington)
3. Heck (New, N, Edinburgh)
4. Reading (4th, S, Reading)
5. GUX (5th, N, Glasgow)
6. BN1 (6th, S, Brighton)
7. Thundering Herd (8th, S, London)
8. Newcastle Brown (New, N, Newcastle)

Notable absentees - SMOG (3rd last year, Northern team focussing on Open/Women's this year), Oxford (9th last year, Division 2 this year)

Women's

1. Iceni (1st, London)
2. Bristol (2nd, Bristol)
3. LMU (3rd, LMU - London Masters Ultimate)
4. SYC (6th, London)
5. SMOG (New, Durham/Manchester)
6. Spice (4th, Midlands)
7. Horizon (9th, Yorkshire)
8. Chameleons (10th, Non-geo)

Notable absentees - SCRAM (7th last year, Scottish team which appears to have disbanded)

Open

1. Chevron Action Flash (1st, N, Nuneaton-ish)
2. Clapham (2nd, S, London)
3. Bristol (6th, S, Bristol)
4. Alba (3rd, N, Scotland)
5. SMASH'D (4th, S, London)
6. SMOG (New, N, Durham/Manchester)
7. LLLeeds (New, N, Leeds)
8. Ka-Pow! (10th, S, London)

Notable absentees - Reading (12th last year, Division 2 this year)

Previous UKU Nationals results (I actually had to dig a bit for these, I was also settling an argument)

2023
2022
2021
2020 (did not occur due to reasons mostly outside of UKU control)
2019
2018
2017
2016 (Mixed/Women's/Open)
2015 (Mixed/Women's/Open)
2014 (Mixed/Women's/Open)
2013 (Mixed/Women's/Open/Masters)
2010 (Women's/Open)

Standings only 2001-2017

Tournament Structure

Each division has the same format.

2x pools of 4 team
Semi finals (1-4 and 5-8)
Finals

Each team will only play 5 games in total, and must finish top two in their group for a chance at progressing

European qualification is no longer decided directly at Nationals, and so there will be no additional cross-games.

Interesting stories

Overall, the absence of the Irish team has to be the most notable change since previous years. There have been several strong Irish women's teams Gravity/FLAME/Rebel), with Gravity winning the division in 2019! Ranelagh, PELT, and XVI have been mainstays of the open division, however 3rd was the highest any team managed (Ranelagh in 2019, PELT in 2017). There have been Irish mixed teams, with Rebel achieving 2nd in 2018 the only notable finish I could find (I think it's fair to say the focus was more on Open/Women's). While they weren't there in 2021, this will be the first time since the 2015-16 season to have a full season with a UK-only Nationals.

The shrinking of the divisions to 8 teams is also a new change. Again, in 2021 each division only had 8 teams. However, this was expanded for both 2022 and 2023 (12 in open/mixed, 10 in women's). Last year also saw the first ever Division 2 Nationals (open-only), which has been expanded to included mixed this year, and seems to signal a permanent change in Nationals going forward.

Moving onto the more specific stories in each division. I will include predictions, but being honest, I am very out of the loop with how teams are looking this year (particularly in the Women's division) so please do not view it as an informed opinion - I just know the article is more fun if I include them. Plus, with only 8 teams in a division, how wrong can I really be?

Mixed

Last time: SMOG had been mixed champion for three Nationals in a row (2019, 2021, 2022). They had also won their regional final fairly comfortably against Lemmings (11-6). In the southern region, Reading had overcome Deep Space (14-11). The 2022 final was also Reading vs SMOG, and everyone kind of expected it would be again. As a result, both the semi-finals being the exact opposite results of the regional finals (Lemmings 15-9 SMOG, Deep Space 12-8 Reading) was not the kind of upset anyone had on the cards. Deep Space then won the final 12-7, and proved it wasn't a fluke by winning EUCF as well.

SMOG have been part of the mixed division since 2016, so their absence (and SMOG 2's absence) sees a chance for a non-Reading/Deep Space/Lemmings team to make top 4, something that hasn't happened since 2018!

Heck beat fellow Scottish team GUX in the only notable regional upset. This makes them by far the highest debutant team at Nationals, and in a great position to make semi-finals (considering the format), although BN1 might prove an interesting challenge. 

The big teams in the division though are definitely Lemmings, Reading, and Deep Space. All previous finalists, with Reading and Deep Space both previous winners. Deep Space have the easier group, but Lemmings/Reading can both earn an easier semi-final if they top their pool.

Thundering Herd also continue to uphold their reputation as one of the most historic clubs in the division. They've attended almost every Nationals in the modern format (except 2017/2019), including a top-2 finish in the first year (2012). Interesting, that was also the year that Newcastle Brown last made an appearance mixed Nationals (although they did represent in the open division last year).

Prediction

1. Deep Space
2. Reading
3. Lemmings
4. BN1
5. GUX
6. Heck
7. Newcastle Brown
8. Thundering Herd

Women's

Last time: After only finishing 5th in 2022, Iceni returned to their former selves by going undefeated and beating Bristol 13-10 in the final. It was actually a pool rematch, in fact with all three top teams coming from the same pool (the other team being 2022 winners LMU). 

It is probably worth noting that the only teams in three years to get any Ws against Iceni/LMU/Bristol are Gravity and SYC (both vs Bristol, 2022). Iceni/LMU/Bristol have also won the last three championships, and come into this tournament as top 3 seeds again. It feels like we have a top 3 in UK women's Ultimate right now. However, the new SMOG women's team will prove a new challenge for them this year, as it contains many former mixed National champions. 

Spice/SYC have been on the heels of the others for many years now (at least, as far as UK Nationals are concerned - they finished as the highest UK Women's teams at WUCC 2022). Both teams have been consistent Nationals contenders since their founding. Neither team has ever finished below 6th, although neither team has claimed the title either - although SYC did make the final in 2017 and 2014.

Horizon and Chameleons wrap up the list. Horizon has attended the last two Nationals and had close games against the teams just above them while comfortably beating the team below. They've not quite been able to break into that tier yet, but will certainly be looking to keep it competitive across the bracket. Chameleons also entered last year, although they serve more as an accessible open-to-all team and so will be looking to pick up their first win this year.

Prediction

1. Iceni
2. LMU
3. SMOG
4. Bristol
5. SYC
6. Spice
7. Horizon
8. Chameleons

Open

Last time: There's only one real story that can headline. Chevron Action Flash won the final 12-11, upsetting a decades-long Clapham reign. As far back as the rankings go, you can find Clapham's name at the top, and also Chevron's name in second place most of the time (with occasional appearances of Alba, Fire, and Leeds). Chevron have been fighting for the championship for the longest time and, last year, they finally achieved it. It is worth noting that Clapham then won EUCF last year, but regardless, the UK Nationals streak was broken.

So, this time, Clapham are likely out to get it back. They'll have to see off Alba (who made the 2022 final), SMASH'D (who've finished top 5 for three years running), and Leeds (who make their first Nationals since 2018). 

Chevron have Bristol (who managed to upset Ranelagh in the pool stages last year), the new SMOG open team (again, containing many mixed National champions), and Ka-Pow! (who peaked at 4th in 2016). 

The fight for top 4 of SMASH'D vs Alba and SMOG vs Bristol are likely to be the highlights of the Saturday, although there's always a chance for a Leeds/Ka-Pow! upset (ed's note - I am playing for Leeds and previously played for Ka-Pow!).

The hot money is on a Chevron vs Clapham rematch this year, especially considering Chevron beat Alba 15-6 in their regional final. Don't count out the other teams but, if it happens again, expect both teams to be going for it with everything.

Prediction

1. Clapham
2. Chevron
3. Alba
4. Bristol
5. SMASH'D
6. SMOG
7. Ka-Pow!
8. Leeds

Division 2

Tournament Info? - Here

Location: University of Leicester Sports Ground, Leicester, UK, LE2 4DS

Schedule? - Here

2023 Results? - Here

After its debut last year with just an open division, the Division 2 championship returns with a mixed division as well! 

Mixed

1. Flyght (11th Div 1, N, Nottingham)
2. Sheffield Steal (New, N, Sheffield)
3. Oxford (9th Div 1, S, Oxford)
4. GUXYZ (New, N, Glasgow - GUX 2nd team)
5. Thundering Herd 2 (New, S, London)
6. Contested (New, N, non-geo)

Interestingly, 4 of the eligible Northern mixed teams took up the call but only 2 of the eligible southern ones, with Solent and Zoo (who finished above Oxford and TH2) not attending. However, it is the first year of the division and all teams here finished ahead of at least three other teams in their region.

Flyght and Oxford suffer from the shrinking of Division 1 to find themselves in Division 2 this year - with Oxford part of the upper division since 2021 (finishing 6th/5th/9th). However, Flyght were the team with better results at regionals, only narrowly missing out 10-7 vs GUX on a place in Division 1. Steal also only lost 11-8 vs Newcastle Brown. Flyght then handily dispatched Steal 15-5, emphatically earning their top seed here.

TH2 and GUXYZ both form second-teams to help expand out the division - potentially giving value to the tournament as a space to allow clubs to grow bigger. Contested are more of a "friend-team", but fill out the tournament after a decent regional performance. It is worth noting that Brum-ish (a Birmingham/Some team mix) finished below Contested and GUXYZ, but did play both teams twice and won/lost against both teams, just in the wrong order for final placement.

The tournament will be a single 6-team pool, followed by a final 1 vs 2 game. I will be accused of bias if I predict Oxford first, so please appreciate the restraint I'm showing here.

Predictions

1. Flyght
2. Oxford
3. Sheffield Steal
4. Thundering Herd 2
5. GUXYZ
6. Contested

Open

1. Solent (7th Div 2, S, Southampton)
2. Manchester (4th Div 2, N, Manchester)
3. Lemmings (2nd Div 2, N, Leamington)
4. Fire of London (3rd Div 2, S, London)
5. Devon (1st Div 2, S, Devon)
6. Cambridge (8th Div 2, N, Cambridge)
7. EDI (5th Div 2, N, Edinburgh) 
8. Reading (12th Div 1, S, Reading)
9. Bristol 2 (New, S, Bristol)
10. Sheffield Steal (6th Div 2, N, Sheffield)

Interestingly, only one team drops down into Div 2 from last year (Reading), and only one brand new team joins the crew (Bristol 2). The division stays at 10-teams strong, with a lot of repetition from last year. Surprisingly, no team from last year made the jump to Div 1 either, although that might be more due to the "Leeds" team last year (Yorkshire Ultimate) declining a spot in Division 2. Additionally, only one team from each region declined a spot this year (Newcastle and Brighton), indicating teams are now factoring in Division 2 as part of their yearly plans.

Solent and Fire were both sudden-death losses away from making Div 1 this year (11-12 vs SMASH'D and 10-11 vs Ka-Pow! respectively), meaning both teams have to be favourites in Division 2 - especially Solent who later beat Fire 14-9 in the final seeding game. Additionally, Devon only lost 10-11 to SMASH'D in the group stages. In contrast in the north, Manchester lost 11-15 to Leeds and 7-10 to SMOG, with no other team coming noticeably close to the Div 1 counterparts (a surprise 7-10 result by EDI vs Leeds not withstanding).

It should be noted that there are a lot of second teams here (or open teams with a mixed-team counterpart). This makes predictions hard, as Lemmings, Reading, Steal, and Bristol all have a separate player pool influencing their team selection, which makes regionals/nationals roster lists more variable. Solent, Manchester, Fire, and Devon have all shown they can match up with Div 1 teams though, while many of the others show solid results either this year or last.

The tournament is two 5-team pools, followed by 3vs6/7vs10 crossovers, then semis and finals.

Predictions

1. Solent
2. Manchester
3. Devon
4. Fire
5. Reading
6. Cambridge
7. Lemmings
8. EDI
9. Bristol 2
10. Sheffield Steal

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.

The Lowdown: Division 2 Indoors Nationals (Women's and Men's)

Writer: Andy Eck
Editor: Hazard

Disclaimer: Show Game unfortunately only had one writer (me) playing at the whole of UMWIN Div 2, so both, the women's side in particular, are going to have to be more of a series of bullet point impressions rather than an exhaustive report. If you think we've missed something glaring or just want to start a chat about something that caught your eye, please leave a comment below.

Men's Indoor Nationals Division 2

Full Results

Spirit

Preview

1. Nottingham

2. Liverpool

3. Reading

---

4. LSE

5. Liverpool John Moores

6. Dundee

7. Bath 2

8. Heriot-Watt

---

9. Nottingham Trent

10. Swansea

11. Exeter

12. Sheffield Hallam

13. Hertfordshire (Spirit)

---

14. Chichester

15. Warwick 2

16. Strathclyde 2

Proving they can even win at venues that aren't Wind Farm, Nottingham took home the Men's Div. 2 trophy
Photo Credit: Nottingham Facebook Page

Going by initial seedings, the UKU initial tournament seedings predicted the eventual top 8 at UMIN Div 2 slightly better than Show Game, 6 to 5. However, our writer Alun Pinder did beat UKU in correctly predicting Nottingham's top finish at this tournament. Nottingham went undefeated, though they had some close calls, just barely managing to edge out Reading in pools and winning on universe vs Liverpool in the final. I could write a paragraph on that final point alone. There were many turns on both sides, but while Liverpool went in big on the explosive passes 1v1 in the endzone from midfield, they could not overcome Nottingham's more methodical small ball approach. Nottingham were perhaps bolstered by a large squad, enough for two full lines or more. By the end of the tournament and with the final point running deep into overtime, the difference in stamina showed.

That's not to say Liverpool had a bad weekend, though they probably hoped for more on Saturday. They held 7th seed in initial pools losing only to Swansea (Huh??? Don't worry, that's not a typo. We'll come back to this.). In power pools they were soundly defeated 10-6 by Nottingham and only just lost to Reading to again hold seed. But that's good enough for Saturday if you're nearly unstoppable on Sunday. They easily slapped Exeter out of top 8 contention in their crossover, and ended Dundee's finals ambitions in bracket play. They then revenge-killed Reading 10-9 on their way to only just miss out on the top spot. The team largely fed the disc to Will Carter and let him direct the offence, often looking to their tall endzone player for quick scores. They had the third best overall seed improvement at +5, and though they didn't get the title this time, they should be happy with that result.

But if you're talking about overall seeding improvement, then you've got to mention Bath 2, who gained an incredible +9 seeds to place 7th at Div 2. They're the best indoor university second team in the whole of the UK. They did better than expected on Saturday, defeating Chichester in pools and Sheffield Hallam in power pools, but their big jump came from defeating Swansea in the 5v12 crossover. It really goes to show the depth of Bath's program. Their 1st team came 5th at Div 1 and the outdoors team has been dominant for a few years now.

Okay, and now we come to Swansea*. Stop the ride, I'd like to get off now, please. This team seesawed all over the tournament. They came in to the tournament 13th which seemed right given their regionals performance. But after pools they'd defeated Hertfordshire, tournament runners up Liverpool, and the original #1 seed Nottingham Trent (all by a single point) to claim top seed. They were then promptly dismantled by Reading and Nottingham 5-11 and 4-11 in power pools, falling to 5th . On Sunday, they went ahead and chumped their crossover vs Bath 2 and plummeted to 12th . They then beat Warwick 2, a team they'd previously lost to at regionals, eventually landing in at 10th overall. This kind of wild inconsistency might be what you get when you run vert, ISO, weave, match D, 3 and 4 man wall, and two or three different zone looks. Maybe focus on a couple of the good ones for next time?

And that's Men's Div 2! Special shout-out to Hertfordshire for winning spirit. And if we're missing something big, the comment section is right there.

*This writer plays for Swansea, but doesn't particularly mind being seen as biased, so criticise away!

Women's Indoor Nationals Division 2

Full Results

Spirit

1. Oxford Brookes

2. Surrey

3. Durham

---

4. Sheffield Hallam

5. Sheffield

6. Exeter

7. Warwick

8. St. Andrews 2

---

9. LSE

10. Cambridge

11. Chichester

12. Stirling (Spirit)

13. Manchester

---

14. Glasgow 2

15. Edinburgh 2

16. Strathclyde 2

Oxford Brookes win the inaugural Women's Division 2 Indoor trophy
Photo Credit: Erin McGready

It sure was convenient having the Women's Division 2 competition at the same venue as the Men's! Again though, since we only had one writer available at these tournaments, this discussion will have to be more of a broad strokes overview than in depth analysis.

The first year for UWIN Div 2! It took awhile, but we're all glad it's finally arrived. The experience gained at nationals is sure to filter back to the individual regions, creating a positive feedback loop where teams get stronger every year. The women accustomed to attending Division 1 Nationals should beware. In three or four years, I could see many of these teams developing strong programs.

What struck me about these women's teams was that they were all built in fundamentally the same way. That is to say, most if not all of the teams relied on one or two core handlers who were clearly a cut above the rest of the team to set up big gainers downfield to less experienced players and then get free for a quick, easy dump pass. The two teams in the final, Oxford Brookes and Surrey, were particularly good examples of this. Although I'm not sure, as Show Game was unable to write a preview for Div 2, I believe the captain of Oxford Brookes (Erin McGready) is their only player with multiple years of competitive ultimate experience. Not only that, if I'm to believe what I've been told, she cobbled together the team out of some of her netball teammates! It's just incredible that they've managed to get to Nationals, let alone win Div 2. Amazing work.

Similarly, Camilla Spearing of Surrey has built the entire team from the ground up over the past two or three years. Without a women's team and the then new BUCS league preventing her from playing in the Men's outdoor league, she was forced to build a team herself and it's clear her efforts are paying off. In the final, Surrey used a slick ISO to weave play to try to put the disc more frequently in the hands of their star players. Unfortunately, they suffered from rushing the pass at the endzone and in the end weren't able to complete as many points as Oxford Brookes.

Scotland had a rough weekend at Div 2 with Glasgow 2, Edinburgh 2, and Strathclyde 2 finishing bottom three. Although Strathclyde has gone from strength to strength this indoors season, winning the triple crown of Women's, Men's, and Mixed, Scotland have suffered something of a reversion to the mean this season overall. Their mind boggling 11 bids to UWIN Div 1 and 2 will be reduced to a still impressive 8. They'll be disappointed, but you can't keep the Scots down for long. We'll see them challenging for those bids again next year.

And that's Women's Div 2! Special shout-out to Sterling for winning spirit. Comments encouraged.

What Went Down At: UWON 2017/18

Chair: ali (Cambridge)

Editor: gyanhan (Oxford)

Contributors: AnnieB (Edinburgh Alum), k-j (Durham), Becky Greenwood (Loughborough), Louise Webster (Stirling), Clackers
Additional Contributions - Nina Montaña Brown (UCL)
Additional Editing: Hazard

Talking points:

Edinburgh claim gold and Div. 1 spirit
UCL make their second final in a row at UWON
Birmingham get caught by Cardiff and/or the schedule
How was spirit this weekend?
Oxford fall from Div 1 final last year to Div 2 final this year
Regionals on Saturday – did we like it? Did it work? Who was it unfair to?

Women’s leadership workshop, run by Chesca Tyler-Weddell – how was that? 
Gender equity – Women’s Div 2 winners get medals, but no BUCS points – shoutout to some of the Oxford men for giving their Div 2 silver medals to the ladies.

Links:
The ShowGame's Women's Preview
The Cutting Lane Floor's interview with winning Edinburgh captains Kate Staffor and Kathleen Beekmann

Spirit
Schedule

Final Results:

Division 1
1. Edinburgh (Spirit Winners, Scottish Champions*)
2. UCL (Eastern Champions*)
3. Bath (Western Champions*)
4. Glasgow
5= Strathclyde
5= Newcastle 1
7= Imperial
7= Cardiff
9= Birmingham
9= Leeds
11= Hertfordshire
11= Huddersfield (Northern Champions*)
13. Loughborough
14. Warwick
15. Southampton
16. St. Andrews
---

Division 2

1. Cambridge

2. Oxford

3. Swansea

4. Durham 1

5= Reading

5= Sheffield

7= Sussex

7= Kent

9= Exeter

9= Nottingham

11= Stirling

11= Bristol

13. Brunel

14. Durham 2 (Spirit Winners, Top 2nd Team)

15. Newcastle 2

16. York 

*These are the teams that won their initial regional bracket, and so can be considered winners of their "regionals". Aside from Huddersfield (who finished below Newcastle/Leeds), they were also the teams that achieved the highest final rank for their region.

ali

A (mainly!) sunny weekend saw both Regionals and Nationals squeezed in. Edinburgh took home gold in Div 1, Cambridge in Div 2. AnnieB, can you give us the inside scoop on Ro Sham's success, and/or any gossip from the weekend?

AnnieB

The inside scoop on Edinburgh can be seen with one look at the roster! That is one seriously talented squad. Edinburgh have been consistently top 5 for the past many years, and if they hadn't grabbed that top spot I would have been very surprised. 

ali

Any idea what changed between this year and last year? (Edinburgh were third last year, losing to Oxford in the semi)

AnnieB

Oooh that's awkward... the difference is I left.  And the addition of Lulu Boyd and Helena Slater (GB, Ireland, Black Eagles etc) definitely boosted them! Edinburgh have also been cultivating their upcoming talent and it's certainly paying off. Unlucky wind at last year's semi kept Edinburgh out of the final, and there was disappointment about that, so with a strong squad they were really going for it. They were confident going in as well!

Editor's Note: You can find out more about Edinburgh's weekend by reading our interview with the captains! In addition, we weren't able to discuss UCL's great weekend in our chat at time of publishing. As such, we're very grateful to UCL player Nina Montaña Brown for calling us out and giving us this small summary:

Congratulations to Edinburgh for taking the tournament, and Bath for the sick weekend - it was an absolute pleasure to play such high standard, hotly contested women’s Ultimate this weekend, with some nail-biting finishes in the final four. However, is there nothing noteworthy about UCL making the final two years in a row? No mention about Alicia Claire Tan (SYC, GB U24) for her sick handling despite playing with a broken hand? Or the fact the team has a whole club (women’s club!) player line, between SYC and Chaos? I find it a strange journalistic choice to not talk about the final or acknowledge the athletes that took silver in the women’s division. Since there isn’t a peep about UCL in this article I’m going to give a shoutout to my teammates because they totally deserve it! 

Ruth Kilsby (Texas Melee, Chaos) for her tireless deep cuts, Angelica Kristen Yeo (Chaos) for her uplifting and confident captaining (so proud to have seen her grown so much this year in the leadership!), Emma Oh Chun Jing (Chaos), excelling in the deep zone whether it were taking down some huge throws or D-ing them out of the sky and Jia Yi Thed (Chaos), always there for the continuation. Jessie Gold Low, working the zone all weekend, playing through injury. YanWen Chong - best sideline. Our freshers, Sheryl Wylie and Miyen Ho, free literally all the time, with great cutting timing and continuation, and Yuxi Loo (Chaos), run-through Ds all day.

Edinburgh were leaps ahead this weekend.
Photo by Sam Mouat for the ShowGame

ali

Awesome stuff. Unfortunately I don't think I can ask any of you what it was like playing them, since they only played two non-Scottish teams during the weekend, which brings me onto...scheduling!

What were people's thoughts on the Regionals/Nationals structure? Did it work? Did you get to play a mix of teams? Did you feel like your seeding screwed you over?

Becky Greenwood

Had we had a proper Regionals I think it is safe to say the weekend may have looked differently across the whole of the women’s division!

gyanhan

I thought the regional brackets worked out pretty well for the East, the 3 teams that went to Div 1 (UCL, Imperial and Herts) deserved the places. Cambridge and Oxford probably feel hard done by the number of Div 1 bids the East had, but that’s a different problem altogether.

Becky Greenwood

Speaking for the Loughborough women - we definitely loved having to fight for every game one step at a time with the knockout format!

gyanhan

The Nationals structure with straight knockouts probably screwed overall seeding over by a bit (e.g. Birmingham finished 9th, might have finished top 8 otherwise), but I thought it was a decent way to arrange things given the situation.

Becky Greenwood

To be honest I was impressed with the scheduling! I think it could be safe to say that the women’s teams got separated into two divisions better than the guys did throughout BUCS! 

AnnieB

I know you covered this is the men's chat, but kudos to the team for arranging the format - it was a tricky situation with no real right solution!

ali

It was a bit of a shame some teams only got to play two Regionals games as well. But I doubt there would have been another way to do it except have Saturday be Swiss Draw, which is always carnage.

gyanhan

I had a 5 hour 20 min break between games on the Saturday, never had that at a uni tournament before and it was lovely, got to watch so many other people play haha :p

ali

Is that really a good thing though? Such a huge gap?

gyanhan

Well probably not in terms of keeping the team going and all with momentum but I didn’t mind, the pros outweighed the cons.

ali

Kent apparently also had a huge gap, as did the team they were going to play next, there was a pitch free so they asked the TDs if they could play it early but were told no...

gyanhan

Also seeing as this is my last ever UK uni tournament, I had a good time chatting with everyone I had met over the years.

ali

Did anyone go to the Women's Leadership workshop?

AnnieB

I wasn't at Nationals this weekend, but I highly approve of the idea!! 

gyanhan

I went for the one at 12:45

ali

Want to give us a summary? 

gyanhan

Our captain strongly encouraged the team to go, we had about 3/4 of the team there J As well as much of Durham 2, Nottingham and Cambridge. The format was basically that they split us into 8 groups to discuss 8 questions about women in leadership such as “Does a good leader have to be a great frisbee player?” “What makes a good female leader?” etc. And then each team presented and the room would discuss it for a while, it was nice to see people sharing their own experiences.

I’m not fully sure what the aim of the session was, whether it was more of a feedback collecting thing for UKU or a session for us as women to think about our role in the ultimate community.

But I left the session feeling that hey, I’m not the only one who has faced these problems as a female leader in ultimate, and it was nice to see others who had the same problems and hear their suggestions. Someone suggested that there should be a network for female leaders to share their questions and solutions with each other which was a lovely idea.

I think there could have been a clearer aim of the session, but as a start it was great to gather all these women together in the same room, some who were already in leadership positions, and others who would one day be. One of the freshers on our team who came along actually said on Sunday that the forum had been her highlight of the weekend, she never really thought so much about the big picture before as a female player playing ultimate, and she was really inspired.

There was a big focus on gender equity this weekend, from the leadership workshop to the shirts in the VC-Lookfly store
Photo by Alice Hanton for the ShowGame

AnnieB

Well put :)

ali

It was the first one, I think it was advertised on BritDisc but they might do well to reach out to captains as well.

gyanhan

Some of the UKU staff who were asking about the scores also went around telling people about the forum, someone came to remind us and was really pleased that we were all going :p.  It was also posted in all the regional facebook groups, though for better attendance they could have put word out much earlier once they knew they were going to hold them.

Becky Greenwood

I would be interested to go next time! I didn’t know it was on this time round!

ali

This year was my first time playing Div. 2, and I thought the Spirit was so much better than in Div. 1. How were everyone else's spirit experiences?

Becky Greenwood

As I wasn’t playing due to injury, I don’t have the best perspective but I thought the teams were well spirited throughout Div. 1.

gyanhan

Glasgow had a really low score, anyone knows what happened there?

AnnieB

When I joined Edinburgh they were really concentrating on improving their spirit and reputation so I'm so pleased to see that pay off!

ali

Huddersfield and Glasgow are both very physical teams, I'm not surprised to see them at the bottom but it is a shame. Not to say that Spirit in Div. 1 last year was bad, but in Div. 2 this year we did actual calls and fun slaps after games.

Ok, let's move on to everyone's favourite part of Nottingham - the wind. How much did it affect everyone this weekend (if at all)?

Becky Greenwood

We definitely struggled in the wind and there were teams there who dealt with it a lot better than us.

gyanhan 

Saturday was really un-windy, and the wind on Sunday definitely isn’t the worst I’ve seen at Nottingham. We managed to put in upwind breaks on Sunday and the wind was definitely present enough for breaks to generally come in pairs, but didn’t stop the other team from also putting in upwind breaks. The crosswind was a bit more tricky in our last game, especially having played upwind-downwind all weekend, Oxford was at a bit of a loss.

Becky Greenwood

Talking about the wind - the handler of Cardiff, Jo Lewis, does wonders for the team, and it goes to show just how much having confidence to throw in the wind benefits a team overall! Congrats to them for having a super successful weekend.

ali

Yes, Cardiff beat Birmingham convincingly, mainly on the strength of being able to huck upwind.

Jo Lewis is a useful thrower to have on your side.
Photo by Alberto Rossi for the ShowGame

ali

Before we do individual team stuff does anyone want to talk about any aspects of Div 1?

AnnieB

Yes - Strathclyde was an unfortunate victim of scheduling! They really could've been top 4 and the way things played out meant they couldn't break in. Unfortunate for them as they are an excellent team.

ali

Oh no they had to play Edinburgh twice, that's brutal.

AnnieB

Totally brutal. Had things happened otherwise it might have been Edi-Strath final!!

gyanhan

I watched some of the Strathclyde-Edin quarter final on Saturday, it was really really close. They were tied for ages before Edinburgh got double breaks to take the game. Both teams were playing zone, and both teams were really working through it well, just down to the last throw that didn’t come off for Strath as successfully. My impression of the game was also that Strathclyde was very Katie-Hayley dominant (not saying there’s anything wrong with that when you’ve got such an incredible dynamic duo), while Edinburgh used the entire team more effectively.

ali

Alright, honourable mentions to Bath and Huddersfield for both massively improving on their seeds from last year, they’ve both got some stellar players and I hope they keep it up next year.

Becky do you want to round out Div. 1 with your experience of the weekend?

gyanhan

I am actually kinda surprised how well Huddersfield did... I thought they were just an indoor team :p

ali

I think a lot of the Castaway girls play football as well, lots of transferable skills.

Becky Greenwood

I thought Bath were amazing. They just have an amazing women’s club and also a very successful men’s team. To be able to be that successful on both sides of the club is inspiring and I hope it pushes other teams to follow suit. The women thoroughly deserved both the bronze medals they’ve won this year and it’s been so much fun playing against them.

Becky Greenwood

I though the Loughborough women did really well and the wins that we had were full of grit and grind. As it was the first time we were actually playing together, it was so good to see all the girls playing in their own element by the end of the weekend. The way we played at the start of the weekend and the way we played at the end of the weekend looked like two completely different teams!

Stand out players include Kathryn Styles on the handler side of the disc, fantastic breaks all weekend. Same with Annie Wood, she’s only really been playing for one year but has incredible spatial awareness and some money zone offence! On the cutting side, stand out players include Zoe Stratton-Knowles who brought down everything in the air and was a force on D. It’s a shame to see these three players go at the end of the season but everything they have contributed to the club has been amazing and they will be massively missed!

Becky Greenwood

Just in relation to Loughborough’s game against Warwick – I’d like to give a shoutout to, in my opinion, their standout player Hannah Yorwerth. Only in her first year but making all the big plays, definitely one to watch out for in the uni scene in the future!

ali

Ok, onto Div 2. k-j, you oversaw two Durham teams in the division, both with very different experiences. Are you happy with how the weekend went?

k-j

Without Regionals, it was very difficult to know what to expect coming into the weekend. We were definitely hoping that our 1sts would break into Div. 1, and were disappointed that on the back of two universe-point losses, and 2 matches where we bagelled the other team, we didn't make it there! But I could not be more proud of our 2nd team - it was the first tournament for all of them, and they won two games, AND they won spirit. So annoyed at scheduling, but proud of my teams!

ali

Durham 2 were amazing, they were swinging the disc better than some of the first teams we played!

k-j

Haha that is what happens when you force a team of beginners to train against an experienced first team! Proves how in just a year of hard training you can achieve so much. I think that both Newcastle and Durham getting out a 2nd team is a testament to how women's Ultimate is growing - neither team exactly caused an upset, but they deserved to be there.

Becky Greenwood

Shout out to Newcastle for testing us in that heat, a deserved top 5 finish for those girls who we've had some incredible match ups with all season. We had an amazing game against Durham 1, gutted for them to not make Div. 1 because they are such a fantastic team with some amazing players! Just a shame it was our first game of the weekend because the game could easily have gone either way!

Louise Webster

It was also the first time that Stirling women have been to Outdoor Nationals, and there were a few freshers on our team. We gained so much experience from it, especially being able to play teams out of Scotland as we don't have the experience the top Scottish teams do. It was great to just see such a large amount of teams especially ones involving freshers as I believe that's the best way to gain experience, through going to tournaments. We played Newcastle 2 and they were an inexperienced team but they put their all into the game.

ali

Ok, let's go through Oxford's weekend. WOW came second at UWON last year, and beat Cambridge in Varsity this year. At the risk of sounding harsh, what happened?

gyanhan

WOW had a really strong team last year, and have graduated most of the players from last year’s Nationals team, only two of them were there this weekend. We knew it was a development year, we knew we weren’t going to finish as highly this year for sure, we wanted to have a fun weekend and develop our newer players who would have to step up next year when many of the remaining experienced players, in particular handlers, would have left.

We beat Cambridge at Varsity when the wind died and your zone was no longer effective :p  Then we went on a giant 7-0 second half run to beat you guys then. Shame we didn’t figure out early enough how to tackle the crosswind to give you guys a closer final at UWON. Of course we would have loved to beat you guys again because #rivalry but, we are very very happy with our final placing, we had 2 incredible games on Sunday to even get to the finals where everyone really just stepped up and we had many upwind breaks that we wouldn’t even have thought we could achieve on Saturday. The team really came together on Sunday and all the newbies improved so much over the weekend.

Cambridge were focused on claiming those Div. 2 medals
Photo by Alice Hanton for the ShowGame

Clackers 

Can I give a shout out to Reading, who came =5th in Div 2 whilst only bringing 8 players, several of which were beginners

ali

Incredible effort, they iron-womanned at least one game on Saturday as well due to injury.

ali

Alright, thanks so much everyone! Before you go, can I please have a starting seven all-star line of players, and if you like, a hypothetical top 5 in a universe where Regionals went ahead and there was less chance for everyone to be screwed over by seedings.

gyanhan

Hypothetical top 5: Edinburgh, Strathclyde, UCL, Bath, Glasgow

k-j

She must get a bit tired of hearing it, but Rupal Ghelani remains one of the best players in university Ultimate, so she'd have to be on there! Helena Slater from Edinburgh; Jo Lewis from Cardiff; Amy van Zyl from Bath - then any three of my Durham gals and it's a killer line

Becky Greenwood

Rupal has been an absolutely incredible women’s captain this year and has truly transformed the women’s team - both off and on pitch! She will be massively missed within all of Haze!

She’s handed over being women’s captain to Laura Mott and Grace Wilkinson, which we are all extremely excited for.

gyanhan

Starting 7: Jo Lewis (Cardiff), Katie Flight (Strath), Alicia Tan (UCL), Helena Andres (Cambridge), Helena Slater (Edinburgh), Bea Perks (Bath), Ola Kulikowska (Hertsfordshire)

ali 

Alright, Div 2 powerline: Charlotte Marriott (Reading), Ali Thomas (Cambridge), Helena Andres (Cambridge), Immie Wong (Swansea), Rhiannon Lees (Durham 1), Nikki Bliss (Reading), Sarah-Jane Rodgers (Oxford)