Flatball puts the Ultimate in Ultimate Frisbee

In the world of university Ultimate Frisbee, the weekend of Outdoor Nationals is the focus of the entire year. Coveted BUCS points are up for grabs, and impressive medals validate the months of hard work and practice that it takes to even qualify for participation.

The St Andrews Open and Women’s teams diligently drilled and prepared throughout the academic year, preparing to dominate at Nationals. But for both the teams, the road was difficult and frustrating. Highlighted by a hugely disappointing regional tournament, the Open squad lost in sudden death to Aberdeen, and were forced to accept a 5^th place finish and a Division II qualification when the second day of the tournament was canceled due to weather.

The women also traveled to Nationals with a chip on their shoulder, having been predicted to finish no higher than 7^th place in a pre-tournament captain’s poll. “We were a bit shocked,” commented Women’s captain Annie Plasom-Scott. “We were going to be much more competitive (than their predicted place) and I know we’re good enough to be in the final playing to win the tournament.” The St Andrews ladies were led on the pitch by next year’s captain Carmen Cuesta Roca after Plasom-Scott underwent surgery on her ACL earlier this year. Fifth year Harriet Hopper and fourth year Ruby Russell were cornerstones of intensity, skill, and speed on a team filled with young talent. An additional boost was the inclusion of a second womens team from St Andrews, combined with ladies from the University of Heriot-Watt, a tea m affectionately named “Flat-Watt” or “Heri-Ball.”

Both teams wanted to begin the weekend strong with their first matches, and prove to themselves and the other university teams that St Andrews was looking to go deep in the tournament. This was something that, “didn’t really happen,” Open team captain Harry Glasspool remarked.

The women’s team fell on sudden death to a team from Durham, and the Open squad saw their attempt at a comeback crushed, also on sudden death, to a very athletic Loughborough University team. “It was a very frustrating game for us,” Glasspool added, “Loughborough had a hard time throwing the disc deep, but we weren’t turned on enough on defense and they kept beating us with short quick throws. They were more athletic and we let them play the way they wanted to, which is never going to be a good combination if you intend to win.”

But the open team just used the loss as motivation, and gained a needed confidence boost with a comfortable victory over Liverpool. The remaining squad in the four-team pool, Plymouth, then beat Loughborough, giving St Andrews a chance in their final game to top the pool and grab a coveted 2^nd seed. Glasspool laughs looking back, “We knew that since Plymouth beat Loughborough they would be a serious team, and they actually knocked us out of the Indoor Nationals earlier in the year so they knew they could beat us.”

A win by St Andrews would cause a three way tie for the pool, but if they won by anything under two points Plymouth would still top the pool based on score differential. St Andrews needed to perform, and perform they did. “Everyone played brilliantly, our long throwers did a fantastic job, and if Plymouth tried to take that away from us we worked the disc up the pitch with chilly, timed throws. On defense we stuck to our man, threw in the occasional zone, and didn’t give them anything.” St Andrews left the pitch with a six point victory, enough to win the pool and put them in great position for the elimination games of the second day.

The women’s team also responded to the pressure and handed Southampton a 6-3 loss, following this win with staying cool in the face of a tough Nottingham squad and pulling ahead on sudden death with a 5-4 win. In their fourth match of the day however, St Andrews was unable to hold on and fell again on sudden death, this time to Bangor. “It was a tough way to end the day, as any loss is, and it showed how intense the competition was and how closely matched many of the teams were,” noted Plasom-Scott. Both open and women’s teams finished the day in the top half of their tournaments, and both were aiming for the final.

The first match on the Sunday brought a familiar challenge for both teams: the open squad was to play Strathclyde, and the women drew Aberdeen. Friendly support is always a feature between Scottish teams at nationals, with other Scottish universities supporting each other against their English, Welsh, and Irish opponents. This year was no different, and the inter-Scottish games were punctuated by the bagpipe playing of second year Peter Worsley, an act which drew cheers from players and spectators alike. “It’s always great to see other Scottish unis doing well here at nationals, every Scottish uni was in the top half of their tournament, which is quite an achievement,” added Glasspool. St Andrews came out the better team in both cases, advancing the open team to the semi-finals and the women to the quarter-finals.

The open team then faced a solid, determined, and athletic Nottingham squad. Despite great play from Captain Glasspool, Vice-Captain Rob Sturrock, and several sensational catches by second year Miles Knight, St Andrews was unable to move the disc past the ‘arrowhead’ zone played by Nottingham. The loss prevented St Andrews from moving ahead to the final, and they finished the tournament with a relatively light-hearted game for third place against Imperial College London, ultimately falling short in that contest as well to conclude the weekend.

The women’s team meanwhile, were set for a re-match with Durham, and dashed to a four point victory over the team that narrowly edged St Andrews in the first contest of the tournament. However, the ladies were unable to use the momentum and fell to Edinburgh in their next contest. “Everyone played absolutely brilliantly,” Plasom-Scott noted, “I couldn’t have been more proud of how we performed. We just traded points all match, so in the end it was just the toss that decided it.” The ladies then lost to Newcastle and finished fourth overall.

“A fourth place finish for both teams is a great result,” said Glasspool. “And having our second team also play, and beat several first teams, shows how strong we are as a club and how much better we’ll be looking to do next year,” added Plasom-Scott.

Interested in getting involved next year? Check out Flatball’s Facebook page for more information.