Writer: Hazard
Editor: Nic
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| Seb Allen (left) and Josh Awcock (right), European Champions |
Seb
Hi, I’m Seb, the GB U24 Open captain. Been playing Ultimate for around nine years now. Into my 6th year as a player for Chevron and 7th year in some form of GB Junior/U24 cycle.
Josh
Hiya, I'm Josh or more commonly known as Gingé, and I’m the Spirit captain for GB U24 Open. I started playing in year seven with Air Badgers, at my secondary school in Exeter. We went on to win 9 National titles with them across the board. I first played for GB in 2012 with U17s and have been involved in GB squads ever since, most recently winning Gold at euros with the seniors. I currently play for Devon and have been for the last 4/5 years.
Congratulations to both of you (and teammates Dec Cartwright and Josh “Salty” Eeles) on winning gold with the senior team at the European Championships! How will that experience help you and your team at U24 Worlds?
Seb
Thanks a lot! I think we can take confidence, particularly on defence. Josh for example spent time matching up against Holger Beuttenmüller and did a good job. If he can do it against him, he can take on any U24 player.
Josh
Thanks!! To help our team; the knowledge we can pass on of different game scenarios and a high level of professionalism. As a four we are playing well and from playing all of last week we are feeling fit and ready for another week. 💪
What are your feelings going into Worlds? Are you confident?
Josh
Feeling confident. We've got a good squad and after seeing our pool we feel like we can go far in the tournament. There will be some nerves flying around I reckon, with it being the first opportunity to play for GB for some of the team. I've got confidence in every member of the team to play their best, and smash it when out there.
Seb
Yep. Hopefully not in a cocky way, but we’ve been trying to instil a bit of arrogance about the quality we have. We know if we play well then we can challenge for medals. With the schedule being the way it is, we’ll be aiming for Top 3 in our pool.
What preparation have the GB U24 Men's team done in preparation for Worlds?
Seb
With players playing on various other GB teams (Beach, Juniors & Seniors) we’ve yet to really play a game as a full strength unit. We attended Tom’s Tourney with a depleted D line, then both Tours with a depleted O line. Trainings have taken place in Warwick every month, but it’ll be exciting to see how it all comes together next week.
Josh
We've had a fair few trainings but we haven't had one where the whole team has been there, so the first time we will be playing together is Worlds. If you've seen our Instagram you'll have seen a lot of pictures of the boys in the gym, and out running. As Seb said, we have been depleted at every tournament but it has definitely been a good experience to play against other top sides in Europe.
What do you reckon the score would be if you played the senior team? U24 eligible players play on U24s.
Seb
No wind - 15:10
Windy - 15-7
In pretty still conditions we’ve seen that we can trade out with Chevron at Tom’s Tourney. In wind the experience and throwing power just counts that bit more.
Josh
I'm in agreement with Seb, 15:10 I reckon. Would be a good, hard thought game throughout.
Who are your coaches, and how have they helped form the team?
Josh
We've only had Jon Pugh throughout the whole process. At trials there were a few additional staff helping out to pick the squad, but we've only had Pugh at trainings and tournaments. Pugh has recently added Ava Grossman to the management side and she'll be joining us out at Worlds to help us out as a team.
Seb
Yeah, Pugh’s been quite open to the team’s opinion throughout. Right at the start he wanted to know what the players from the previous cycle thought went right and what went wrong for that tournament, so we could make sure to learn for this one.
What has the team improved on for this cycle?
Josh
We've looked to improve on the level of professionalism and confidence in ourselves. As Seb has mentioned, it's a level of arrogance for us to keep playing strong throughout games rather than to let the other side in and make it a fight. We want to win cleanly and efficiently. We also want to have fun whilst playing, teams play best when having fun so we look to carry that throughout the whole week, not just on the pitch but also off the pitch.
Seb
We’ve inherently got a bit more cohesion on our O line with a large contingent from the bronze-winning U20 team in 2016. The same moves and offence from that team have been retained and so we know they work with the players we’ve got.
Josh
Our O line is looking strong, if we can connect well throughout the week we will be tough to beat.
Would you be in favour of running the Development program from last time again in future cycles?
Seb
Not personally. Weighing up the pros and cons from what I got out of it and seeing the minimal effect it’s had on university Ultimate, I think the time and cost that went into it far outweigh the benefits. It also delayed the final squad being confirmed so we were left with minimal game time before the tournament itself in that team.
Josh
I like the concept of it, it did help a lot of players to improve and have the chance to put on a GB jersey. As a team we could of had a lot more time playing together before we headed out to Worlds. If we could of had a tour season with the selected squad I feel like it would have worked out better.
Looking back at that U20 team, and your own experience of juniors - do you think we do a good job as a community of developing our junior players? And do you think that, due to juniors being only single gender, there's a tendency of players who started young to stay in single gender divisions?
Seb
I think some schools do a very good job. We both come from two of the best and, seeing five of my school alumni out there in Györ last week (a similar amount for Josh I think), shows that some development pathways work. Personally, I don’t know all the work the UKU does with schools around the country so don’t really have any more of an informed opinion on that.
Josh
Juniors in the last couple of years has reduced in numbers, with Air Badgers (my school) and Flux (Seb’s school) still producing quality players, lots of other teams are lacking numbers and that drive. Clubs these days are investing more in juniors as they come up through the ranks. I myself started quite young at Devon, and Devon are always looking to push juniors up into the highest level of club Ultimate, as are Chevy and other teams. There is potential for that to happen however, with the university scene as big as it is, and lots of teams having mixed teams as well, there is the potential for players to start playing more mixed.
Seb
And with reference to the single gender favouritism at a young age, I think that’s partly a positive thing. Mixed is a tough game to play, right. Trying to get school boys to not just throw to their male mate, disheartening their female teammates, would be tough. Single gender at school works with the option to diversify down the line.
Who were/are some role models that you looked up to, or still look up to?
Seb
Matt Beavan wasn’t a bad role model to have as the guy who introduced me to the sport. Our play styles have become quite similar so he’s good to learn off. On a more personal level, Dec Cartwright has always played on the same team as me since we picked up the sport. He has probably always been that tad bit better. That’s a good incentive to keep you going and improving.
Josh
Wouldn't say I have a particular role model, unless we are talking football then it's Steven Gerrard. Back to Ultimate, there are different aspects of people's game that I look up to and would want and strive to have. :ike to play defence like Ben Boz Burak, or throw like Josh Kyme, but no one person in particular.
What advice would you have for a young player hoping to apply for U24s next cycle?
Seb
Get out throwing and playing games, for whatever team you can. The standard of throwing in the UK is lower than a fair few European countries, so that’s an easy way to distinguish yourself. And then game IQ is something which although might not come through in a trial environment, it will definitely help you in the long run.
Josh
1) Apply. Some players are scared that it's a big jump, but younger players can and are competing at that level. We have 4/5 players who are quite young and have multiple cycles left so definitely worth applying.
2) Keep training hard, it’s the only way you're going to be able to keep competing is to keep training. People can take the mick but to be the best you've got to work hard and it will all pay off.
3) As Seb said, throw. Lots of juniors think because they've been playing for so long their throws are fine and don't need improving. Everyone can improve on there throwing and improve their tool box.
Quickfire questions:
Who on your team is going to be the breakout star this tournament? (The player everyone will know the name of by the end)
Seb
Ethan Morrell. Taking time off from his GCSE's to play Ultimate. Very, very good player.
Josh
Ethan Morrell. Gonna be a big player in years to come.
Which pair have the best on-field connection?
Josh
Definitely not Salty and Seb, don't know if they've connected a pass all season.
Seb
Probably Salty and Dec. Mutual respect for each other’s receding hairline.
Josh
Eddie Mason and Cam Samuels, their ongoing chess match has brought them very close and almost guaranteed to know each others next move on the pitch.
Which pair have the best off-field connection?
Seb
Ross Nugent and Fraser Stewart. I’ve no idea what each of them are saying but they seem to laugh.
Who is most spirited?
Seb
Max Craven.
Josh
Nathan Sanders, always willing to fill in the Spirit form.
Who is going to make the best play for the highlight reel?
Seb
I fully expect Salty to get put on a poster by some American and make it into a NKolakovic clip.
Josh
Either Tom Davies for rising like a salmon, or Adam Vaslet for making some ridiculous bid.
Who is the funniest?
Josh
Fraser Stewart, the Scottish accent makes it even better
Seb
Akito Oyama. His NSFW nickname gets me every time. Ask him about it.
Who is the player that is going to hype you up in the toughest games?
Josh
Ethan Morrell
Seb
Yeah he’ll do some mad play on D, throw the assist, then just shrug.
Who is the biggest coaches pet?
Seb
Probably Salty.
Josh
I would Jonah Varney as he's always showing what he's been up to in the group chat, but got to be Salty really.
You get to nick one player from U24 Mixed. Who do you take?
Josh
Jamie Rabbetts, would be a monster on our 6ft plus line.
Seb
Jo Lewis.
You pick one monster line to go out to win in sudden death. Who do you pick. You can pick yourselves.
Seb
Salty, Josh, Dec, Max, Joel Kelly, Ethan, then boot Pugh up and give him a run out.
Josh
Myself, Seb, Dec, Salty, Max, Ethan and Ben Wilson.
Seb
Bringing back the Wrocław team. Love it.
Any final words to the ans following you at home?
Josh
Up the kids.
Seb
UTK.
Seb
We are gonna be on the live stream as well, especially on the Wednesday so give us all the support by watching those games 💪
Good luck over in Germany GB! #oneGB
