What did I miss? 3 EUCF games that are worth a (re)watch

Editor:hazard

We asked three of the full-time commentators from Ulti.tv/fanseat.com to let give us the low down on which games you have to watch from EUCF (the European Championships). Between them they helped bring you commentary on pretty much every one of the countless streamed games throughout the three day tournament, so you can guarantee that these picks are the cream of the crop.

Thanks to Fanseat, have been streamed for free on the Fanseat facebook page as well! The final game can be viewed with a subscription on Fanseat's rewatch platform. If you enjoy this article format, let us know and we can try to produce more articles like this!

Wrocław produced some beautiful Ultimate at EUCF
Photo: harry.t.mason on instagram

Commentator: Stefan Rappazzo

Game: Iznogood (France) vs Mooncatchers (Belgium)
Division: Open
Stage: Pool Game
Link: Fanseat or Facebook (free to watch)

This had a great vibe. Both teams made note of their familiarity with one another in our pre-game chats, and you could sense a hint of bitterness in their rivalry.  Iznogood and Mooncatchers would both finish in the top 8, and this game would set the tone for the final placing difference between them. The French side looked great and played an entertaining game with long cuts, creative breaks and a flurry of deep shots.  They looked the class of the contest, until time was no longer on their side. With a 4-point advantage at 12-8, the hard cap blew and Izno would be presented 4 game point opportunities. The Belgians lifted, and some clutch playmaking came from their young stars, as they extended 3 points in a row to take it to Universe Point.  Make sure you check this one to see who takes it, and to get a great look of two of Europe's finest Open teams.

Flow and Glasgow warm up in the Olympic Stadium
Photo: harry.t.mason on instagram

Commentator: Benjamin Rees

Game: Glasgow (UK) vs Flow Wrocław (Poland)

Division: Mixed

Stage: Pool Game

Link: Fanseat.com or Facebook (free to watch)

This is a game that felt like a real showcase game. In terms of the game play, it’s a very tight contest with neither side ever more than one break to the good, big plays on both sides with standout performances from Melancon-Fournier and Ridley for the Scots and Specjal being a statistical monster for the Poles. Despite the on-pitch action, everything that happens off the pitch might be what propelled this game to a highlight of the weekend. The last game of the day, the setting was the spectacular Olympic Stadium, under floodlights, with a partisan hometown crowd cheering on their local charges, and the addition of the roving on-field mic meaning you can hear in detail the discussions and sidelines from both sides adds another aspect to the atmosphere and the spectacle. Watching it back you can feel the energy which was so present in the stadium on that brisk Friday night. It really had that ‘big fight feel’ people talk about. Both sides forced their fair share of turns, but when it came down to sudden death which side was able to pull themselves over the precipice? Well, there’s only one way to find out…

Iceni and CUSB congratulate at the end of a hard fought game (score has been expertly concealed)
Photo: Iceni Ultimate Facebook

Commentator: Hilary Hulmes

Game: CUSB Shout (Italy) v Iceni (UK)

Division: Women’s

Stage: Gold Medal Match

Link: Fanseat.com

If there was only one reason to watch this game (which there isn’t) it would be to witness an epic moment from Joanna Rowbury, where she contorts her body around her defender to score. But thankfully, that’s not the only reason to watch.

For both teams they had a lot on the line. Iceni were runners-up last year at EUCF and weren’t willing to go down without a fight. It was a turbulent season for them, losing to fellow UK rivals Nice Bristols several times throughout the year. The club’s shift in strategy from relying on star player lineups towards working through all their players was seen as the source of their seesaw results.

Across the pond, CUSB Shout had been gearing up for months in anticipation for this tournament. With full time coaches and a huge support from the sideline they were hungry to come away with gold.

This game had everything, nail biting score lines, huge plays, massive layouts and big blocks. Yet it was also a genuine representation of how much European women’s Ultimate has developed to become bigger, better and even more hotly contested than ever before!

Enjoyed these? Then CUSB vs Bad Skid (Men's semi-final), Rebel vs Disc'over (Mixed bronze medal match) and Troubles vs Brilliance (Women's pool game) might also be worth a watch, the last game being free on the Fanseat Facebook page

Friendly Arguments #2: Which non-Clapham team will do best at EUCF? + Best Coach, Best Indoors O Strat

Until I get more people volunteering to edit/run these, this is the banner I'm using. No regrets.

Editor/Chair*: hazard

Contributors: GeorgeJorgensen, MJB, hogi
*Due to issues beyond our control, a few people have had to dive in and out of the chat at points. We’ve tried to fix it in editing, but this piece is going to be a bit more scattered/short than usual. Hopefully this means that there’s lots more to add as comments after the piece!

hazard

Welcome to friendly arguments! In this format, three talented and reasonable people fiercely debate some of the hottest issues in Ultimate. We’d love to hear your thoughts on who won, and different answers you’d have given.

On the table today:

Which non-Clapham team from EUCR-W will do best at EUCF?

Who is the best coach in UK/Ireland?

What is the best offensive strategy for indoors?

I’ll be chairing/judging today. I’ll be going on who gives the best argument in my opinion, rather than just the option I agree with most.

We’ll start by having our participants introduce themselves, so you know who they are and any bias they have in their arguments.

GeorgeJorgensen

Reasonable?

hazard

A subtle and hopeful hint

GeorgeJorgensen

Hi, I will be playing for PELT at Euros, played for FIRE at US Open, but mostly play for JR.

hogi

Hi, I’m Hogi. Played with Clapham and Herd this year. Perpetually broken, good behind a camera 🎥

MJB

I'm Matt, I play for Reading and I like to complain.

hazard

Good summary. Let's go.

Which non-Clapham team will do best at EUCF? 

Let’s have some opening arguments.

GeorgeJorgensen

Well, I feel I have to just go *discs out and say that it is going to be PELT.

*ed’s note: sports equipment changed for censorship reasons

MJB

I am going to argue for Chevron because I think they've had a great year. Also a couple of their European rivals are missing EUCF so that can only help. George picking PELT only strengthens my resolve.

hogi

I would back Iceni. I think they’ve had good results this year, even with a big roster turnover. Some big games haven’t gone their way but they were a very different team at Worlds than they were at Tom’s Tourney for example. I think their players have more experience winning games at Euros than some of the other qualifiers across the various divisions and that can’t be overlooked.

hazard

So, to summarise. George: PELT, MJB: Chevy, Hogi: Iceni.

GeorgeJorgensen

Ha it will come as little to no surprise that my argument is based almost entirely on how good it will be if I am right. High risk, high reward. Same reason I have been betting on Curve for promotion for years.

hazard

Who is missing MJB?

MJB

Tchac and Ragnarok both finished higher than Chev at EUCF 2017 (Rag beating them in the round of 16). So that's two fewer teams they'd have to beat.

I think Chevron are a slicker operation this year, and I think there will be top european teams that would be vulnerable to an ambitious Chevy. Buuuut I think could also have been said of other years too. I don't think they'll medal but I do think they'd beat PELT again.

GeorgeJorgensen

I think the PELT team that I know are precisely good at taking down the big names. Unpredictable, very energetic and really stubborn. I will couple with that with calling a lucky route to a medal.

I would personally love a Chevron vs PELT game. As I mentioned the last time we had a chat about this, I think they looked really good at Nationals.  In poor weather, in a situation PELT can play zone, I think almost any game is winnable. But the depth of Chevron's roster in flat conditions would take the edge over us.

Depth and overall fitness...

hogi

PELT are a funny one at times. They had a great Windmill last year for example but then lost to someone I wouldn’t have said they would lose to at Euros (FWD>>>)? I agree with George that on their day PELT can take down anyone so just depends how they show up.

GeorgeJorgensen

And just won Irish Nationals (if that adds any weight to my case)

hogi

The way both teams have played this year, Chev would beat PELT. This game already happened at Worlds remember, I think Chev seemed more athletic in that game and ran PELT ragged. Very different rosters, mind you, so maybe not as relevant 🤷

This is a hard one to be honest. Chevy have had a great season. Can’t take that away from them. Whatever it is, they haven’t been able to get the results against most other teams for a while at Euros. As a Clapham player, dare I say I’d like to see them do well this year? Yeah, why not, sure; they’ve worked hard and this year and they’re progressing and it’s good to see that paying off so best of luck to them.

MJB

Historically they have not been able to bring it in Europe but I think they are a slicker outfit this year.

Deciding between Iceni and Chev is tricky.

GeorgeJorgensen

Iceni is quite a bold call. Not Bristols?

hogi

Think it comes back to my point about knowing how to win at Euros. I think Bristol have had a great year. They’re athletic and making the plays at times they need to. But they don’t have the experience of winning at Euros and I would think a simple transition zone would snuff most of their initiations, especially when they play iso.

GeorgeJorgensen

I am such a sucker for the underdog though and wanting hunger to win out against experience. Same reason I want the Rockets to win the NBA title.

hogi

If you were up for a true underdog, George, you’d vote for Gravity here.

GeorgeJorgensen

Only way is down for that team.

hogi

That or Bleagles in a bigger surprise than John Cena returning and winning the Royal Rumble in 2008 👋

hazard

…Gravity aren’t going, I believe. Glasgow did get a wildcard spot, but all twelve team spots are filled on the site for the Women’s roster.

hogi

Oh yah... 2 bids. 🐀🐀

GeorgeJorgensen

There is nothing I like less as a JR player than to see Glasgow get a wildcard spot.

hogi

For the record... I did say Iceni or Chev in my first response to Harry, so I’ve just picked the spicier choice for arguments sake.

MJB

Ice have been dropping the odd game for a while, but they did seem to stop the bleeding at worlds and finish as highest UK women's team, and as Hogi says, losing talent matters less on a very deep team. I think my rationale behind my decision to back Chevy is mainly a narrative one; resurgent Chevron over Iceni stopping the decline. Additional factors include; Chev's sideline heckle game, my girlfriend playing for Nice Bristols, and wanting Chev to do well this year so it'll be even more glorious when Reading eventually tear down the last stronghold of the non-training, non-geo mono team.

GeorgeJorgensen

No love in-chat for Reading. Sure that goes against some of Hazard's rules...

hazard

If our captain doesn’t pick us then I’m happy to follow his lead.

hogi

Iceni are just a solid group. They lost some good talent, sure, but they have a lot of weapons in the likes of Jenna, Jackie, Maya, Coops, who have been doing it for years. They have other players taken on bigger roles this year then like Sophie Wharton and Randi Burns (two of Quartet’s finest at DGC2018) and, to stop name dropping, I just think they have an all round solid crew with good experience and good leaders.

Without seeing their Euros roster, I’m confident they can play their game and get Ws against anyone on their day. Especially when you consider some of the highest level games we’ve seen this year in Europe, eg the Windmill final which was a turnfest between Mainzelmädchen und Atlético.

hazard

Fact check: Jenna, Jackie, Maya and Coops all seem to be back for EUCF (or just rostered for fun).

Closing the argument there. I’m giving the first point to Hogi - I got some good specifics at the end and some good reasons why, even if he did nearly manage to argue in favour of Chev.

Best coach in UK/Ireland?

GeorgeJorgensen

I didn't realise we could win points.

Im repping midlands with - Brummie (Sion Scone).

I have only had limited experience of him coaching me but I think he has one of the best sports minds and a good online blog. He never gives it any of this 'proper ultimate' rubbish and just focuses on points that will help teams win. I know there was some controversy around how he was coaching the U24s recently but all the negative stuff I kind of approve of. "He was quite aggressive about some things"; yeah damn right. "He didn't always listen to player opinions"; why would he, he knows better than you...

hogi

I heard some grumblings too about negative comments coming from the sideline quite often 😬. I can be fiery at the best of times myself but you gain absolutely nothing by effectively telling a player “you messed up” after they mess up. It would take a stupid or self centred player to not realise and admit their error.

GeorgeJorgensen

I also love a good bit of sideline shade throwing.

hogi

Good thing you didn’t vote for yourself then 😂

GeorgeJorgensen

Ha, I don't think any of my team would rightly let me call myself a coach. Do not think I can do justice to Brummie's CV. Certainly not in comparison there.

hogi

I’m going with Ian French, AKA Frenchi. He is just a really good coach. He’s currently coaching Gravity and he’s the Ireland Women’s coach for EUC next year. His history as a coach speaks for itself really:

Uni - he experienced good success with Trinity nearing the end of their Men’s team’s streak on the title, he brought UCD to a number of Men’s finals including a Nats title in 2014, and two mixed Nats titles in 2012 and 2014.

Until very recently he was a long term Jabba player coach, he got them to multiple Mixed Nats titles, a 2013 Men’s final and a Men’s title in 2015. He’s coached the Jabba women’s team to multiple national titles too. With the Irish Mixed team in 2015, he coached the team to a 28-2 season and European silver medals, winning Windmill and Dublin’s Golden Cup that year too. Most recently he’s been Gravity Women’s coach as they won back-to-back Women’s Nats titles and a third place finish at UK Nats 2018.

So yeah, that’s his CV and I’ve probably missed some stuff too.

hazard

For those who don’t have anything else to do today, here’s a lot of reading from Brummie (Subscription only).

hogi

I’m sure all the Irish readers are thinking Leo Yoshida should be in the conversation. I’d agree with that too but I think Ian has been around more consistently for the last while so I’ll stick with him even if Leo has a crazy good resumé too.

hazard

I’ll add in the quick one - Brummie coached GB Men to silver in 2012. And the World Games team in 2013.

hogi

Coached the GB Men to silver in 2011 at Euros too. Some saw it as a mistake for him to play the year after when it was apparent that he brought a lot of value as a non-playing coach. Their opinions, not mine. I can see the appeal of playing for sure. I think the now move to having more non player coaches is good for the sport and there were definitely fewer in 2012 (at least at club level as I know a good few countries had them in Sakai). Tough call for Brummie to make I’d say, but can see the appeal as I said.

GeorgeJorgensen

I'd like to add shade throwing grumbly sideline to the positives column. If I may...

Also, playing against Brummie he gave EMO a hard time for disregarding our 4-1-2 iso as "stupid" instead of adjusting their play. After this dressing down they turned the game around completely and spanked us. I think that might have been the first ever Fog Lane.

hogi

I think Ian’s line calling and player management are v. good. You always know where you stand with him too. He’s great to discuss the game with and spend extra time pre/post training working on small fixes.

Case in point, at EUC in 2015, we (Ireland Mixed) went into the week with 9 healthy players as Rob Holland broke his wrist/arm pre tournament, then on Day 1 Brían Henderson dislocated his shoulder... then on Day 3 Ian Fox torn ankle ligaments (I think?). So we’re down to 7 healthy blokes for another 4 days and he got us to the final by managing game time and picking the right tactics for us to utilise our women’s superior ability and to save our guys legs. This included him playing a few points here or there (thankfully we had registered him as a player), but largely he didn’t really put a foot wrong that week (until he did in the warm-up of the final and got injured).

GeorgeJorgensen

I have never liked warm ups.

hazard

So, for Brummie you’re saying he should have stopped being a playing coach earlier, and Frenchy you’re saying he’s good because he re-became a playing coach? If I were to compose a very sketchy strawman, that is.

hogi

Brummie didn’t NEED to play. GB had a big ol’ squad. Frenchi had a squad of 7 guys to play Mixed for 4-5 days so it made sense to play some points to save the legs of his players

hazard

Sweet. Point to George, since Brummie can pick enough players for a tournament then. Although I did really like Hogi’s argument, and I may be over-correcting for my personal preference for coaching being more interactive/discursive.

MJB

I don't have much experience of playing under any of the big coaching names in the UK, and certainly none for Ireland. The reputations of Megan Hurst, Callum Spiers & Chesca Weddell come to mind, been told James Freeman was good, and I've heard mixed reviews about Brummie - although he's certainly got the best CV.

I'll contribute instead a little grumble about the state of coaching in the UK - it sucks. I'm only really interested in reading what US coaches have to say because there's actual initiative, creativity and nuance there. Generally it feels like we UK coaches all teach the same things, and it's certainly not because we've got all the right answers and best practices. We have a dearth of coaches in top level ultimate; the combo of having so few, and ones we do have often being player-captain-coaches, is stunting real innovation because we're too busy trying to create cookie-cutter players that know just enough to play on our teams.

More club teams need coaches and assistant coaches, and those club teams need to appreciate them. More university teams need to ask for and appoint coaches. If you were good at uni there's a very good chance you ran or facilitated some drills, a training or helped plan a season, maybe you captained and called lines or whatever. Anyone can do those, that's just admin. Find a club and coach! or find a club that has a coach and help out! Raising the average ultimate literacy in the UK scene will help a great deal.

We need to build a coaching culture in our sport before we can get to all the really interesting strategy and tactics; half of that is getting more coaches more often, and the other half is getting ultimate players to be more coachable (which is another separate and longer grumble).

hazard

Alright, that might be a longer grumble we publish another time. Let’s close now.

What is the best indoors offence?

hogi

So long as the other team was adamant about playing person D, 2-1-2 iso. Easily messed up by a zone.

hazard

We’re assuming the other team is playing properly, so no indoor zones. That’s essentially like giving up. Come at me indoor fans.

hogi

Ballincollig play a clean as hell 2-1-2, see Irish Nats final 2017 vs Blade.

GeorgeJorgensen

I think I would play my offense in both situations. 3-1-1. For a few reasons.

hogi

Surely having 3 at the back is cloggy AF*?

*ed’s note: as frick

GeorgeJorgensen

Firstly, we all know that you can win by just putting it to your big lads. With a good thrower you can basically get 2 options for a break score. If they mark out your 'iso' you can throw it straight to the endzone. It can sometimes feel a little tight but you so so rarely have to move it between you.

hogi

I’d be playing a 1-2-2 against an iso in any case.

GeorgeJorgensen

The other reason I like 3-1-1 is it stops quick scores dead in their tracks. Because 3 people should be between anyone and the endzone in the case of a turnover.

3-1-1 also provides the opportunity to completely embarrass teams that poach it wrong. In a mixed scenario I find that if you put a lady in the endzone, people will leave them, and then get scored on quickly. I just can't turn down an offense that makes other teams feel bad about themselves.

MJB

The humble Ho stack was good enough for World Men’s Indoor Champions 2018, Revolver. (Also indoors blows)

hazard

Ok. Ending it now. Making the call, but I’ll add for our readers that I decided that just having a tall person to chuck it to didn’t technically count as a tactic, due to not being specific enough. This despite broad agreement in our chat that it was one of the best tactics.

Final snap decision - points to George for final one. I’ve actually played that stack an made that exact shot, and I can confirm it is immensely satisfying. Although I’d love to see a 3-1-1 vs 2-1-2. Also, bonus points to everyone for not picking sidestack.

This closes out our piece. As said at the start, I think there’s a lot more discussion to be had on all of these points, so I’d love to read any comments you all have on reddit/facebook/blogger. What arguments would you have made? Did I judge any of these incorrectly? If you enjoy these pieces and would like to be involved in one in future, do drop us a line.

What Went Down At: EUCF Mixed (from an EUCR-C perspective)

This piece is complementary to the discussion piece on EUCF Mixed held by our British contributors, and seeks to answer the question posed by Ultiworld about why one region was so strong. As GRUT (1st), Colorado (2nd) and Hässliche Erdferkel (4th) all came from the same qualifying region (EUCR-c), we were really interested to hear their perspectives on the tournament. Here are some short interviews held with each team's Facebook page. Enjoy!

GRUT

How satisfying was it to come away with gold this time, after coming so close in 2016?

Winning gold this year felt great. It was very different from last year: we didn't qualify for EUCF, we got there by luck. Back then there was no pressure, nobody knew us, and that made us play better. Until the final. The zone D from Reading, the wind, the nerves, all made us play so much worse than we were capable of. This year was different. We won Windmill, we were in the spotlights. There was more pressure. To beat Reading in the pool, Hässliche on universe in the semis, and Colorado in the final - it felt like a reward for our season.

Do you feel the strength of your region (with teams such as Colorado and Hässliche) has helped you develop and get stronger? Or is there another key to your success?

Our region is very strong indeed. Don't forget to mention Mainzelrenner who are also on the top level in Germany. I do think that helps us to improve but I think our biggest key to success is that we play with our whole squad. We are not a Mixed team based on good male players (Erdferkel & Colorado are) and we play with the whole team. Male and female.

How do you encourage discipline and patience with such a young, athletic squad?

We don't really encourage discipline and patience. We did practice our zone offence in the only practice we had before EUCF. Also, we are all getting older and our stupid errors have decreased a lot over the last few years.

What are your opinions overall on the mixed division at EUCF?

Pretty strong. Nice to see lots of upsets happening in both pools.

What did you think of Spirit circles before the game?

We didn't do them all the time but when we did it was fine. Nothing too special.

Anything else - any players/coaches you'd like to give special thanks to?

Our coach Jeroen Oort helped us during the tournament. He helps us mentally before, during and after games and he makes sure the team stays together.

GRUT and Colorado push each other to the limit in the EUCF final.
Photo from the EUF Facebook page, by Get Horizontal's Quentin DLT. 

Colorado*

How did you feel about finishing second? Was it more/less than you were expecting? Or just annoying to be so close to keeping GRUT away from the title?

We knew we could be strong and went into the tournament with the goal of getting into semis. This task was hard enough as only two teams of both initial pools could make it. Losing against SMOG on Saturday showed how tough this task was going to be. The next day we went into our fifth (!) match against Hässliche Erdferkel Marburg this season. Record so far: 3-1 with a bitter universe loss in finals at Nationals. This time, we played one of our best games this season, especially mentally. Erdferkel winning over SMOG made the three-way tie perfect, going badly for SMOG. 

Playing Reading in semi-finals was a surprise for us. Since this was the first time in ages that Colorado was playing highly competitive Ultimate, we didn’t really know what to expect from the reigning champions. Taking the game to universe showed how close this game was and that the top teams are really on one level. We had played GRUT only once before (at Regionals this year, where we lost on universe point). We went into the game knowing that we could beat GRUT but that we would have to play our best. In the end we could not quite keep up with the youngsters and they totally deserve the title. We are really happy finishing second at Euros, it met our expectations very well.

Do you feel the strength of your region (with teams such as GRUT and Hässliche) has helped you develop or get any stronger? Or is there another key to your success?

Playing strong opponents is the best way of preparing to play against strong opponents. Having National Qualifiers early this season made us confident going into what was to come. Every tight game makes a team stronger. We also had friendlies with French Champions Strasbourg twice in order to practise playing at a high level. Personally I think having good games all season makes a team gradually better. But making a good team a title contender takes a very talented coach. Ours knows what the team has to improve on and knows every player's strengths and weaknesses. Making the right long and short term decisions all season long really is what makes us so strong - at least in my eyes.

What do you think will be the key taking Gold at next year's Euros? Or is it all about WUCC for your team?

Having rewatched the final already the key of winning is making less mistakes than the opponent we had some uncommon errors like drops and mis-throws.

This year our main goal was to qualify for World's next year. WUCC will be what we put our focus on. EUCF is a nice preparation on the one hand and fighting for a title there is a good finish to the season.

What are your overall opinions on the Mixed Division at EUCF?

We had great games that were hard fought but nevertheless highly spirited. At Nationals we had games where we dominated our opponent and they couldn’t keep up with us. At Euros (most) games are hard fought scrimmages. Having a strong opponent every game is what we came for and is what we got.

What did you think of the pre-game Spirit circles?

Getting in touch with the other team and introducing yourself is a really good idea. Usually only the captains meet. Now everyone hears what the other team is expecting Spirit-wise. I'd be happy to see pre-game Spirit circles more often in the future.

*Colorado's Facebook page/EUF results also list them as Gummibärchen Ultimate Karlsruhe, for those wanting to look them up. This interview was actually held directly with Colorado player Malte Voss, rather than the team Facebook page, as per their wishes.

Colorado return the favour to GRUT in a close final.
Photo by Get Horizontal's Quentin DLT.

Hässliche Erdferkel Marburg

How did you feel about finishing 4th? Was it more/less than you were expecting? Or just annoying to be so close?

We had mixed feelings after finishing 4th. Coming into the season we didn't expect things to go that well. After we lost some players who left Marburg we had a few kind of rebuild years in which we aimed to integrate new additions, have a good team structure with a new leadership and play our best, whatever that might be. Quarters, maybe semis at Nationals was the goal, but no focus at the European series.

After Nationals and EUCR-C went surprisingly well, we knew that we were able to compete with our region's best opponents and our expectations for EUCF developed. But contrary to GRUT or Colorado we didn't play the season with a constant squad. For example, we only had13 players at the first weekend of German Nationals and EUCR-C, so we knew that lack of chemistry could be an issue. Under these circumstances 4th place is absolutely a success! But after being so close to the final and a clear loss in the third place game it didn't feel as good as it should.

Do you feel the strength of your region (with teams such as GRUT and Colorado) has helped you develop or get any stronger? Or is there another key to your success?

I think it's more the strength of Germany than of the Central region because we get a lot of reps against other good German teams like Mainz, Stuttgart, and Düsseldorf throughout the season, and we only play GRUT (who seemed to be the only real not-German competitor for the last two years) once a year at EUCR (and maybe a second time at EUCF). But, of course, teams like Colorado, GRUT and also Mainz are the opponents you have to consider when you’re looking to improve your team. 

In my opinion the relatively strong German Mixed club teams clearly profit from the fact that German Mixed Nationals aren't at the same time as Open/Women's Nationals, like they are in the UK. There are many players (and some of Germany's best) who play both Mixed and single gender, and maybe wouldn't if they had to choose.

What do you think will be the key to breaking back into those medal spots next year Euros?

Probably the key will be to have a constant squad next season which consists mostly or totally of players who played last season. We had this kind of continuity 2015/16 and it led to a breakout season in 2016/17.

What are your overall opinions on the mixed division at EUCF?

We got the impression of an increase in quality and balance compared to 2016. Great to have a lot of tight matches! Looking at the age of GRUT's players they will probably improve steadily over the next few years and it will be challenging for all the other teams to keep up with them.

What did you think of the pre-game spirit circles?

Pre-game spirit circles... we just did it once and don't have anything bad to say about the idea. But our feeling is that it isn't that necessary if teams don't have any kind of bad history against each other or there haven’t been spirit issues in the past. We prefer a short chat between the spirit captains before the game if things are expected to go well. And we had good experiences.

Anything else? (People/teams/coaches you'd like to give special thanks to)

Thanks to you for increasing the coverage, really appreciate that! Congrats to GRUT on a deserved title! See you all in 2018, we're hungry for the final.

Hässliche take a creative approach onto the field in their bronze medal match vs Reading.
Photo by Get Horizontal's Quentin DLT.