Aidan Kelly previews this weekend’s Irish Women’s Nationals, and sees a potential upset brewing.
This weekend, Dublin’s fair city is due to welcome female Ultimate players from across the country as it plays host to only the second ever stand-alone Women’s All-Ireland Ultimate Championships.
Before 2016, the event had been packaged alongside its Open counterpart. However, in an effort to promote Women’s Ultimate in the country, as well as removing any conflicts around teams with male coaches having to pick between playing or coaching, the first ever WAIUC was hosted by Uproar in Maynooth last year. The event was a huge success and saw Rebel Ultimate claim their first ever title in the division, seeing off the heavy threat of Dublin Gravity in the final.
The scene has witnessed a number of changes in the last twelve months. Last year we saw seven teams from five clubs, while this time around there are six from three. While Dublin Youth Unicorns, Jabba the Huck and UPELT are out this year, we’ve been struck by a newcomer in the form of BOLT. While it’s obviously sad to see fewer teams in the division, the fact all three clubs entered are fielding two teams each shows the strength in depth that these sides are creating.
With days to go, all early signs point to a repeat of last year’s finale. Both Rebel and Gravity have had strong seasons so far, with the Cork ladies previously travelling over to Tour 2 and the Dubliners fighting it out with some of Europe’s best over at Windmill and Disc Days Cologne during the summer.
Rebel, captained by the current IFDA Female Player of the Year Rosie O’Mahony, will no doubt be hungry to repeat their successes from last season and with the ever-united core of players developed by the dominating varsity team, University College Cork, it will take massive performances from their rivals to steal the crown. The champions also currently hold an impressive record against Gravity, having already beaten them a few weeks back at Munster Munch, an invitational Women’s tournament hosted by the Ireland Junior Women. And, with EUCR also just around the corner, I feel that the girls from ‘The People’s Republic’ will look to use this weekend as a strong base for their preparations.
However, it needs to be said that Gravity, led by the team of Sinead ‘Shinners’ O’Flemming and Kate Boylan, have had a very interesting shake-up this term. Since the collapse of former champions Jabba the Huck, the club has stepped forth as the only Women’s team in Dublin, allowing for many of Jabba’s top players and young college starlets to integrate into the ranks. This added depth, along with the addition of renowned coach Ian French, has meant that Gravigals are as serious a threat to Rebel’s title hopes as they have ever been. Should these two teams make the final, as many may predict, it’s going to be a hell of a showdown between Ireland’s finest. If Gravity can flawlessly execute their game plan when it counts, I can see them bringing the gold medals home to Doyle’s Pub come Saturday night.
Looking to provide a shock are newcomers to the division in the form of BOLT Ultimate. An amalgamation of ladies from PELT (Limerick) and Tribe Ultimate (Galway) in the west, this young club will need to pull out something big to conduct an upset on the big two. The brainchild of seasoned Ireland international Aine Ahern, this thunderous crew are hoping to surge through their opposition and make a name for themselves. While the potential goal of toppling their more established rivals might be out of their reach for year one, I forecast that this storm creeping in from the west will look to show what they’re made of as they descend upon Dublin.