Nationals – The ShowGame

Nationals 2022: Women’s preview

This season feels like the culmination of a change in the women’s division over the last three or four seasons. I has resulted in six or seven teams who have a legitimate argument as being realistic national champions (or, in some cases, EUCR winners). The teams at the top of the division have had quite strange seasons and so are coming in with different pressures and perspectives, with some teams having a lot more at stake than others. It should be the most interesting division in Nottingham and it doesn’t appear to be particularly close.

A ten team draw means two pools of five with 50-minute games on Saturday, with the top teams in each pool sitting out a round while the second and third placed teams cross over on Sunday. Those Sunday games are all 80 minutes long so will be a bit more like what the teams are used to. It means potentially seven games totalling 440 minutes for teams who need to play those crosses though, pretty heavy minutes with limited breaks.

Bristol

The defending champions have had a slightly up and down season largely driven by the lack of availability of their top players early in the year. At Windfarm they won the title after losing a game in the pool, beating SYC in the final, and then at London Invite they finished fifth (the highest-placed UK team) after two wins over Spice and a loss to Gravity. WUCC was a mixed bag but Molly Wedge was absolutely phenomenal, topping the per-game stats leaderboard in women’s. However, they will be without Wedge who is playing in the USA this weekend for Toronto 6ixers. Without her they still feature a great deal of quality; they still have Carla Link as well as players like Alice Beeching, Ruth Tayler, Lisa Hocking and Nat Oldfield, and the kind of collective confidence that comes with being reigning champs. They’ll be tough to beat, as always, but have lost part of their ceiling with Wedge unavailable.

Iceni

They beat Iceni last year in the final, 12-10. The teams have only met once this season in a tournament and Bristol again came away with the win, 14-11 in Cincinnati. The Londoners have had a bumpy season with an excellent first day at Windfarm then balanced out by a loss to SYC in the semi-final. Tom’s was a difficult return to European competition, two wins over SYC came along with a loss to Spice at London Invite while WUCC featured some good wins (including a tight one over Gravity) and performances alongside some dispiriting losses. They have the players to win games; Ellie Taylor, Karen Kwok, Fiona Kwan, Becky Thompson and Katie Flight were all on the World Games training squad, and they’ll add Hannahs Brew and Boddy and Grainne McCarthy to their Nationals squad after all three missed WUCC. The key question for them is whether they can consistently make the total add up to the sum of the parts. If so, they stand a real chance of winning their first title since 2017.

London Masters

Third place last season went to London Masters Ultimate, who focused on a different worlds to everyone else this season by going to Limerick for WMUCC instead. After making the top eight in Limerick they will be well-rested and prepared to take on the best in the UK again. It will be taking 18 players to Nationals, pretty much the largest team that they’ve brought to any event. That squad includes players like Jenna Thompson, Fran Scarampi and Claire Sharman so they have the ability to compete with anyone, especially with plenty of legs available. They have the kind of experience that you can’t buy and it could come in very handy in a field with such parity.

SYC

SYC have made some good additions but by and large this team features a lot of familiar SYC faces both on the field and on the sideline; James Burbidge has returned to be coach after a couple of seasons away. This season has, so far, continued the positivity of a strong finish to last. Not only have they defeated Iceni, knocking them off 10-8 in the semi-finals of Windfarm to progress to the final there (a close 11-9 loss to Bristol), but they finished WUCC as the top-ranked UK team (joint 27^th with Spice) and had some good results in tight games there, beating Gravity, SCRAM and Box. They faltered slightly at London Invite, finishing last, but on balance this season has definitely seemed more good than bad. They will come to Nationals with a lot of confidence and knowledge from WUCC that they can compete with and beat every team in the field. Rupal Ghelani will be the leader of the team both as captain and the biggest threat to opposing defences, but players like Tessa Jalink and Beth Jeffrey have continued to develop and make their mark on the team as the season has worn on and stalwarts like Caitlin Wilson. Kirsten Wells, Dianne Lopez and Eyan Sham will keep standards high. They haven’t made the final in a few years at this point, since they lost to Iceni in 2017, but this may be their best shot in some time and they are seeded first.

Spice

Spice have built on last year’s success extremely well so far this year. They had a decent Windfarm, losing close games to LMU, Masterclass and SMOG before turning the result around against LMU in the last game. Those are all good teams so close losses is certainly no shame in their first proper tournament together, and it was followed up by a decent showing at Windmill where they beat Gravity and came close to making the bracket before losing twice to Flame in the consolation games. At London Invite they beat Iceni for the first time, carrying positive energy into their WUCC campaign. It was there where their season took off. They beat Bristol later in the tournament on their way to joint 27^th(and second in spirit). All three of those wins were on universe point, showing the steely mentality needed to succeed in pressure situations. They won’t be a surprise to anyone this season, and their best players are now names that other teams will be planning to stop. Kate and Heather Gibson have been excellent this year, as well as Hannah Yorweth, Amy van Zyl and former SMOG and GB women’s player Alice Hanton. They can compete with anyone else in this division and will have their eyes firmly set on the top four.

SCRAM

Another team that had a pretty successful 2021 and have carried it into 2022. A sixth-place finish at Nationals originally seemed as though it would leave them disappointed but another place was eventually forthcoming so their season was centred, like many others, around Cincinnati. They finished a creditable 10^th at Tom’s Tourney but Windfarm saw them lose to Reading in the pre-quarter and to Flamingoes, a team made for the tournament, in the next round on their way to a disappointing 11^th overall. The season next saw an upturn with a great Windmill. They beat Gravity convincingly in their first game and then drew with Seagulls, one of the best teams in Europe, in eventually finishing seventh. They carried that momentum into WUCC where they beat Tabby Rosa and Malafama before losing two sudden death games to finish alongside Bristol, joint 31^st, breaking seed and finishing ahead of Iceni and Gravity. They may be missing some players after their WUCC campaign but they have some young players who have really developed since the club was started alongside stalwart handlers like Lulu Boyd and will be a tough matchup this weekend.

Dublin Gravity

Gravity are the reigning European bronze medallists and last time they came to UK Nationals, in 2019, they went home with the trophy. It’s been a difficult follow-up to their best season ever this year with some good results but some others that might indicate they’re struggling to all get on the same page as they were last season. They made the semis at London Invite, but finished outside the bracket in ninth at Windmill after losses to SCRAM, Flame and Spice in the first three rounds. At WUCC they had a difficult tournament, pushing Salty, SYC and Iceni hard but losing all three games and heading to the bottom bracket. There they finished in joint 37^th, a disappointment given the heights of the 2021 season. The team remains dangerous, though. Key handler Aine Gilheany is one of the best throwers in Europe and other players like her sister Clare, Jessica Chambers, Emily O’Brien and Helen Barron were crucial parts of the xEUCF bronze last season. Adding Masterclass players like Jen Kwan back to the roster will bolster them as well, and it would be foolish to count them out given their collective pedigree even if they haven’t had the kind of results they might have wanted so far this season. If anything, it makes them even more dangerous opponents.

Flame

Flame are very much the other end of the spectrum in terms of history in the UK and Europe. The team is still very new and has played only one tournament outside Ireland at this point. They went to Windmill and defeated fellow Irishwomen Gravity and Spice (twice) there, eventually finishing one spot below Gravity in tenth. Without Worlds to aim for they have been preparing for UK Nationals for several weeks and are excited to see what they can do against the field. They come with a lot of young, athletic and enthusiastic players alongside three former Rebel players in Brionagh and Emma Healy and coach Sinead Dunne. While they’re the least experienced of the contenders, they definitely have the skills to cause problems if Windmill is anything to go by.

Horizon

Horizon are a team from Yorkshire that has filled a gap left by the shrinking of numbers around Leeds. Many Leeds-only training weren’t getting numbers at training so groups from York and Sheffield were invited to join in. The team has been training together regularly since, rotating between the three cities, and entered three teams into Windfarm. While they won’t be aiming to win the tournament, they’re building something and with players like Katie Allen and Zarah Wright they have the talent to make sure every game is a tough one for their opponents.

Ladybugs

Ladybugs are a team made up of women in London. The players come from a variety of teams; Zoo, Herd, WILD and others, and the main aim for them is to continue gathering experience at the top level. It’s likely that it’ll be a pretty tough weekend for the Bugs but winning isn’t the point here really. Accessing the top level of the sport is very difficult for players in any division who don’t make those top teams either because they didn’t make the team this time around or there isn’t one within a reasonable distance to where they live. These women will all get a chance to play at the top level and hopefully they have a good time and learn loads. They have some good players as well, with some GB under-20s and Reading, SYC and MESH player Mariana Larroque.

So, we’ve gone through the teams. Who’s going to win?

Prediction

It’s a running joke that I am very bad at predictions. That being said, this is without a doubt the most difficult tournament I have ever tried to predict. There’s good arguments for pretty much everyone involved and I can talk myself in and out of knots with every single team. So I am going on gut feeling and just throwing out the top 10 I am expecting and let’s see what happens:

LMU
Bristol
Iceni
Gravity
SYC
Spice
Flame
SCRAM
Horizon
Ladybugs

I feel terrible about this top 10. I can already tell it’s wrong but I also can’t find a less wrong outcome. This weekend will be fantastic and tense and exciting and I cannot wait.

Nationals 2022: Mixed preview

The mixed division was exciting at the top last season with a slightly unexpected semi final result and some very good streamed games at the end of the weekend. This season there are four extra teams and it looks like the depth is also a bit better with enough teams to make the races for the title and the fourth spot at Euros intriguing.

The schedule will see the bottom four go to a pool while the top two in each will go directly to quarters and play out from there.

SMOG

SMOG are the reigning champions and definitely one of the favourites for the title. They’ve won two in a row, they have great athletes at every spot and they have generally played together for years so have really strong chemistry. However, they have had a mixed season by their lofty standards. They finished a very strong fourth at Windmill but had a tough draw in the pre-quarters at WUCC and after losing that seemingly struggled to pick themselves back up. They eventually ended up in 27th which is far below where they would have hoped to be. This is a great chance for them to show that they remain the best team around and set themselves up for a shot at European glory, where they’ve generally struggled in the past.

Reading

The other favourite will be Reading. They finished eighth at Windmill and then went and repeated that feat in Cincinnati, coming a few points away from being the first European semi-finalists in mixed. After such a fantastic high it might be difficult to come back down to earth and play in the UK again. Regionals was a slight hiccup as they lost on universe point to Deep Space in a shorter game, but without several key players that doesn’t feel a true representation of who this team is. With everyone back and everyone firing they’ll be ready to aim for the top of the division for the first time since 2016.

Deep Space

Last year’s losing finalists finished 21st at WUCC (and finished third in spirit) so had a really positive tournament overall. They also won regionals and finished 13th at Windmill so this has been a good season so far. They’re second seeds here and will very likely play Reading in the semi on Sunday morning, a repeat of last year’s game but with a very different looking squad for the Londoners. The team overall is a bit younger this year with key roles for newcomers like Akito Oyama, Tom Davies and Alvaro Iturmendi. Leila Denniston still provides her all around excellence as well, and Allie Thacker might be the fastest woman in the division so watch out for her as she continues improving. This is a squad that can compete this year but also one that has some room to grow and develop, and could well be even better in a couple of years than they are now.

SMOG Rising

Fourth place is the final Euros spot and that will be tightly contested. SMOG Rising are the incumbents, going to WUCC this season and finishing in 29th. Making the top 32 was a really good achievement for what is a young team, and the performances of players like Alex Plant-Hately, Ollie Tanner-Smith and Amy Constantine was a real positive for Rising and SMOG more widely. Playing teams like Mixtape and Hybrid will have been an incredible learning experience for all these players as well. However, they did finish fourth at Windfarm, below Lemmings who made the final. SMOG has had two teams in the top four for two nationals in a row but this time around there’s real competition and Rising will need to perform well to keep that streak going and book their spot in Caorle.

Glasgow

Lemmings would have been the next team on my list before regionals, but Glasgow made the final against SMOG with a brilliant comeback to pre-Covid levels for them. A team with a history of being very solid and making nationals, last season was tough for them but they have come out of it with a team capable of mixing it with the top teams and competing for a European spot. They don’t have a huge amount of games to look back on this season as a result of some travel issues but given their performance at regionals they are clearly a team to be taken seriously. A quarter against Lemmings looks on the cards and that is potentially going to be a classic given how the teams play; both are unafraid of the huck.

Leamington Lemmings

Lemmings are also going to be in the mix for Euros spots. They were missing a few people at regionals but will be back at something near full strength this time around and will be really aiming to solidify their progress over the last couple of years with a Euros spot. Nate Sanders has been the leader of the team for some time but there are other very strong players on this roster with Tyler East and Persephone Pantling back from starring roles at JJUC and Megan Daly and Amelia Edwards still on the roster this season. They are optimistic and have high hopes, and the fourth spot is absolutely not out of reach. These three teams are very closely matched and there’ll be some tight games.

Oxford

Oxford have been very solid in the mixed division for a few years now. Consistently making life difficult for the teams above them and churning out wins against the teams around them, they finished sixth last season and will be aiming to be in the mix for quarterfinals again this year. They play very good D, mixing tight match that makes it difficult to reset with a good zone that lets teams make plenty of passes in the middle before locking down on the sidelines. Key players like Anthony Howgego, Serena de Nahlik and Maks Tobiasiewicz will make a difference but their strength is their lack of weak links. Everyone contributes and everyone runs hard.

Thundering Herd

Herd have started preparations in earnest relatively late as many players had been focusing on WMUCC (me included). The teams split into Her and He at Windfarm to work on connections there and finished in the top eight at YDG. Regionals was a decent performance, holding seed and reaching nationals after a universe-point game against Oxford and some competitive games against teams that finished just outside the qualification spots. The team should be good enough for quarters but will face a tough game against Birmingham in the pool to earn that spot.

Birmingham

Birmingham have been in a similar boat to Herd. Some of their main players were in Limerick so their preparation has been held back but over the last few months they’ve been able to get more at trainings and so were able to churn out some good results at regionals. They’re bringing a very similar team to the one that competed at regionals so they’ve built some level of consistency with each other now, and will undoubtedly be physical and competitive as Birmingham teams always are. They’re the first of the teams seeded bottom in their pool but they’ll definitely be looking at their first game, against Herd, as a winnable one to try and nab a spot in quarters and stay out of the bottom four.

Purple Cobras

Cobras missed out on nationals initially but made the field after no Irish teams entered. They are a team of players from a number of different places that have been a good outdoor team for a few seasons now after starting out playing more indoors. They were tough opponents at regionals and pushed the teams above them in stretches, showing the ability to make good plays and to challenge teams defensively. They have a tough pool against the two SMOG teams but I’m sure they’re looking forward to playing on this stage.

Nemesis

This team is something of a blind spot for me, I will admit. They are a team of young players from Durham university who have done extremely well to qualify for nationals. Their pool is a very interesting one with Glasgow and Oxford providing tough opposition but missing SMOG, Reading and Deep Space means it feels a little like anything could happen. I doubt Nemesis can win the pool given the results at regionals and the experience gulf they’re going to have to bridge but we shall see!

Black Sheep

Black Sheep are making their second appearance at nationals, having made it in 2018. They are another team that has had a disrupted build-up but have done well in recruitment after Covid. They have a number of young players from schools and universities in the area and players who will be playing their first nationals with plenty of room to grow – players like Ben and Kieran Tempest, Pete Smart and Naomi Jesse. Making the field was a pleasant surprise, and the focus for Sheep will I’m sure be on enjoying the experience, playing as hard and spirited as usual and in developing some of the exciting young players on their roster.

Prediction

I think the pools will hold to seed (Herd bias acknowledged). SMOG, Deep Space and Reading should come through their quarters pretty unscathed but the Glasgow vs Lemmings game will be fascinating. I am going with Lemmings based on what I’ve seen of them but Glasgow will be feeling just as confident heading into the game. That means semis of SMOG vs Lemmings and Deep Space vs Reading. I’ll take a Reading vs SMOG final, with Reading winning. I’d say Glasgow and Rising will come through their semis and a game between the two would be fascinating again. I will back Glasgow here given how they did at regionals, and I would back Deep Space to beat Lemmings this time around. That would set us up for another Glasgow vs Lemmings game in the game to go to Euros. I’ll back Lemmings again, but beating a good team twice at one tournament is very tough.

Reading
SMOG
Deep Space
Lemmings
Glasgow
Rising
Oxford
Herd
Birmingham
Purple Cobras
Nemesis
Black Sheep

Nationals 2022: Open preview

The open division will see some radical change this season. The schedule sets up a new final, one that will not see Clapham play Chevron, for the first time since 2012. The last time a team made its first appearance in the final was 2006 when Fire made the big game. There have only ever been four teams that have made it – Leeds are the other in the early part of the 2000s – so whoever makes the final will be the fifth. Clearly this is a fairly big moment historically. Given that, let’s go through the teams starting with the two that seem primed to compete for that final spot.

Ranelagh

Ranelagh are probably the slight favourites. They come in with pedigree that no team other than Clapham can match over the last year or so. They finished fourth at xEUCF and have performed well at Elite Invite, London Invite and WUCC this season. One of their wins at WUCC was a 15-9 win over Alba, something to bear in mind. The team for the weekend includes plenty of the big names that featured in the xEUCF run, including key handler Ferdia Rogers and dynamic cutters Sam Murphy, Tadhg Deevy and Jack McNamara. The team works well together, will be fit and confident after a promising season so far and have history in their sights. They’ll also have coach Ian French back patrolling the sidelines (alongside assistants Sarah Melvin and Leo Micklem) after he missed WUCC. If his presence is worth even a few points over the weekend it could be the difference between the back door games for Euros spots and a shot at the trophy.

Alba

The Scots have been building their name for a couple of seasons and have continued to succeed at a high level this season. They made quarters at Tom’s, pushed teams at London Invite and had a good WUCC too. A disappointing Windfarm is a slightly odd blot on the copybook but they were without several key O line players last time out in Nottingham so it’s not truly representative of the team. Regionals saw them beat Chevron for the first time, 14-10, although both sides were missing players following WUCC. The Cammys, Agnew and Mackie, will be crucial as usual along with the other big names throughout the roster – Andy Dick, Andy Boxall, Ross Nugent, Joel Terry and Ian Tait just to pick a few out. This is a team that has been built with the aim of winning Nationals, and this is their best chance yet to make the big game.

Clapham

Clapham haven’t lost at Nationals, not in the 20 years this tournament has run, and have very rarely been run close. That’s particularly true in the last few years where they seem to break other teams in the second half, running away with it at the first sight of any kind of weakness. This season started with some wobbles but they won Windmill and London Invite before finishing third at WUCC, a decent way to get over those wobbles with split squads. They’ll have their sights firmly set on more domestic and European glory. There’s not much point talking about individual players because everyone on the roster is capable of hurting teams but stopping the D line offence is going to be the biggest problem for Clapham’s opponents, even without Will Rowledge who’s recovering from injury. A mention, though, for Oscar Modiano who has become a real lynchpin of the D line once they get disc in hand and has had a really good season.

Chevron

Chevron are not dead and buried, though. This season they’ve shown on several occasions that they’re still one of the better teams in Europe. They were sixth at Tom’s, beat Gentle, performed well at London Invite and finished sixth again at Windmill. WUCC was a disappointment but every game was close. There are still the same excellent players here that have been around for a while – Josh Kyme, Tom Hodgett, Steve Kolthammer, Ben Burak and plenty of others – and newer additions like Josh East, Robbie Haines, Ethan Morrell and Sam Cameron have added further quality. The schedule sets them up for the toughest semi they could have asked for, but even if they don’t manage to overcome the Clapham hurdle that they’ve never been able to overcome, they will still get a Euros spot and will be heading to Italy if they want to be. They have a record over the last 20 years to be very proud of and not making the final will be a hit to that pride. They’ll have something to prove this season and given that I’m sure will be difficult for anyone to play against.

Smash’D

Smash’D will be in Chevron’s pool and will be raring to go to try and take that semifinal spot. Last season was a good start but coming so close to semis and missing out on universe point against Devon will have stung. This season Smash’D have finished third at Windfarm, 11th at Windmill, 17th at Tom’s and reached the final of regionals. They’ve had good results and seem to be progressing to the next level where they can really compete regularly with the best teams. Chevron will still be favourites, of course, but the young silverbacks will be a stiff test. With six Euros spots I’d put my money on them making another trip to Euros in a few weeks where they can defend their spirit title and try to turn some of the close losses they had last year into wins and push up the rankings. They’ve shown this season that they’re certainly capable of that.

Devon

Devon are the last UK team that I would say are favourites to be in the top six. They’ve had a sustained run of success as being one of the top teams in the country for four or five seasons now and have continued to be at that level in 2022. They finished 20th at Windmill and 7th at Windfarm, both a little lower than would have been expected, but rebounded well to finish third at Regionals. Armed with some excellent athletes as usual, the team plays together well and really fights for each other. Players like Richard Coward

XVI

The second team from Dublin haven’t come to the UK in a while but last time they did they made the top eight. They finished one spot below Devon at Windmill so clearly will bring a team with talent who can cause problems for teams. They did decently at Euros last season as well, and will be aiming to return this year. Ciaran Costello has played for Ireland and will be someone teams need to keep an eye on.

Rebel

The men from Cork finished eighth at Windfarm and beat Bristol on universe along the way. We’ve seen them on these shores in the past with ludicrously short lines and still succeeding, so with a bigger squad and a fresh start it will be interesting to see how well they do. They’ll have a strong long game and will be aggressive on D, and they will be in the mix for Euros spots.

Tribe

I know much less about Tribe than the other teams as usually they focus on mixed and have rarely come over to play in the UK. They also haven’t gone to any European tournaments this year so I’m flying blind slightly, but they did well at Irish nationals and pushed a good PELT team very hard so they’re clearly not to be underestimated. They make up a pretty crowded middle with the other Irish teams and Bristol and will be keen to make a good first impression at nats.

Bristol

Bristol have been developing the open side of the club for a number of years and are now at the point where they are a solid nationals team. When looking at the regionals line up I basically pencilled them in as a dead cert, such is the reputation and cache they have built up in the last two seasons. They went to Tom’s this season and played in a strong Div 2, then finished ninth at Windfarm. They beat Devon for the first time this season in a warm up game, but lost the 3/4 at regionals 15-10. They’ve shown that they have talent and they have the ability to string a game or two together that can really stand up to teams like Devon and those seeded a few places above them. It’s not outside the realms of possibility that Bristol snatch a euros spot, or are at least in contention late on Sunday. That it’s plausible is great credit to the work that’s being done by everyone involved in coaching, leading and developing players in Bristol.

Reading

Reading will feature a number of talented and experienced players but the best male players in the club will be competing for gold in the mixed division. The depth in Reading is such that they could easily have a team in each division, and in fairness Bristol only beat Reading 9-8 at regionals so if I’m saying Bristol can do it then Reading should be able to as well, but the other common opponent results at regionals indicate to me that it was a slightly off game for Bristol and Reading had a stormer. They won’t be a pushover, a Reading team never is, but I would have them outside the running for Euros.

EDI

EDI have done fantastically well to qualify, overcoming Manchester in their semi on universe and then blowing away Yorkshire to take the final northern spot. Another team with a club higher up the rankings in close proximity, they have maintained a core for a few seasons and have been able to generate good momentum. Windfarm was a slight disappointment with a loss to the Brown sending them lower than they would have wanted, but they rallied well and seized their spot in Nottingham. Four Scottish teams at nationals shows just how strong Scottish ultimate is at the moment and despite a difficult pool EDI will no doubt give it everything they’ve got.

Prediction

The winner isn’t really very interesting here. The real intrigue starts at 2. I think Ranelagh will beat Alba, and then I think Chev will be able to get revenge for the northern final. That’s my top four. Lower down, I think the four teams in contention will be Smash’D, Devon, Rebel and XVI. The way the schedule has shaken out, it looks as though Devon and Smash’D will play again late on Saturday and the winner will be in prime position to try and get a Euros berth. I’ll back Smash’D there after the lessons they learned last year. I think Smash’D will beat XVI in my hypothetical 5/6 which means I have Devon against XVI in the game to go. That will be a good one, given how close these teams seem. I’ll back Devon since they always seem to find a way to win the games that really matter when their backs are against the wall. Which means I have it as:

Clapham
Ranelagh
Chev
Alba
Smash’D
Devon
XVI
Rebel
Bristol
Reading
Tribe
EDI

Turns out it might be interesting after all!

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