IFDA Newsletter
• Intereview with Steve Giguere of Lookfly • Cork’s Ultimate Domination • Johnny Chimpo • Lucy Barnes on quickness
CORK BLIMEY!
Contents The IFDA
3
By IFDA President David Perry
What have you ever done for ME?
5
By Gearoid O Fearghail
Cork Blimey
8
By Fergus McAuliffe, Robin Giller, Brian O’Callaghan, Deirdre O’Breasail and Ray Considine
How to Look fly
13
By Liz Schaffalitzky
Vox Poppers
18
We’re all the ref
19
Question by T. Wohr Game
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Chimpo….
20
By Simon Cocking
Dublin’s EUC bid
23
by Mark Earley
Playing Ultimate Abroad
26
By Liz Schaffalitzky
Improve Your Game
29
By Lucy Barnes
We’re all the ref, solution
32
Called by Dominick Smyth
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 1
Note from the Editor Hi and welcome to the all-new, but pretty much the same, IFDA Newsletter! I was a little apprehensive about taking on this task from Mark Earley, who has previously done a great job in putting the Newsletter together and has been much more involved in the IFDA and Ultimate community in Ireland than I have ever been! But thanks to help from himself, and especially from Ger and the IFDA press team, putting together this edition has been an interesting and rewarding experience. Everyone who I contacted about writing articles and getting involved has been only too happy to help, and I really hope that you enjoy what we’ve put together. We’ve some great articles and interviews in this issue. Learn about starting a Ultimate-related business from Steve Giguere of Lookfly. Build up your quickness with Lucy Barnes. Ponder the rise of Cork Ultimate. Find out why the Dublin EUC 2011 bid was such a fail. Sit down with a cup of tea and spit it straight back out when reading Simon’s take on Johnny Chimpo dominance. New font driving you crazy? Finding the layout a bit meh? I’m aiming to make the Newsletter more accessible to the Irish community, and would really love any feedback you have, any ideas for articles you would like to see, and to open up commentary between the newsletter and its readers. We’re not quite at the agony aunt page stage just yet (maybe I can persuade Breffers to take it on), but please get in touch by email or by the IFDA Facebook page and let us know what you think. If you’re interested in getting involved by writing articles or interviewing important people in Ultimate, get in touch!
Liz
Credits Editor:
Liz Schaffalitzky
Layout:
Gearoid O Fearghail
Cover Photo:
Brian O’Callaghan
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 2
THE IFDA The more you know... The current IFDA committee has been busy working away for the last six months. Now seems a perfect time to look back at what we’ve managed so far, and what we hope to do for the rest of our term. By IFDA President David Perry
As usual, a great chunk of IFDA time has been spent managing tournaments. We worked out the tournament calendar to keep it as manageable as possible for all players. Committee members directly ran three tournaments: the Beer and Rose Bowls, and All-Ireland Schools Indoor Championships. We also bid out the first All-Ireland Open Indoor Championships, as well as all college tournaments. We worked with Galway and Maynooth and added two new tournaments to the calendar.
excellent in taking the lead on compiling and auditing the IFDA accounts from the past two years. This is an absolutely essential step on the road to the IFDA being recognised by the Irish Sports Council as an official National Governing Body, which will secure government funding for Irish ultimate. The committee selected Ireland’s first National Selection Boards. These were introduced as a way of formalising the process of setting up Irish national teams, and making it as fair and transparent as possible. The National Selection Boards are in charge of picking the leadership for each Irish national team, approving squad plans and generally exercising oversight. We’ve tried to support newer teams as much as possible. Each member of the IFDA committee was assigned one of the relatively new college teams to check in on every month and assist. We’ve supplied free equipment to new teams where needed, such as Westside Ultimate.
There’s been a lot of IFDA admin work this year linked to our status as a registered comWe’ve placed a particular emphasis on pubpany. SJ (Monaghan), our Treasurer, has been licising ultimate in Ireland this year. Ger, the
The IFDA president makes a joke (Photograph: Eamonn Monaghan)
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The IFDA Women’s Coordinator, Caoimhe, has been heavily involved in assembling Ireland’s first Junior Women’s team, which will compete at the European Youth Ultimate Championships in Poland this August. We have a lot left to do over the next few months. In the short term, expect to see: revised and condensed university eligibility rules; confirmation of the venue and date for all 2012 intervarsity events; announcement of a new Mixed tournament; a national team structure for 2011/2012; first aid training for clubs; training weekends focused on Mixed ultimate; and finalisation of the Strategic Plan to guide development for the next five years.
A few other things to mention First, I think it’s important for players to remember that the IFDA provides an emergency fund to cover the cost of preliminary treatment for any injury that you’ve sustained while playing ultimate. We’ve intentionally put money into that fund so that players can get back out on their feet as quickly as possible- so, if you’re injured, don’t be hesitant and make sure to David representing France at EUC 07 enter a claim. The Fund is pointless if it’s not (photograph: Mark Earley) IFDA Press Secretary, has recruited a press team used! Here’s the information: http://www.irito assist in this regard. We’re making use of shultimate.com/ifda/emergency.php. Facebook and Twitter to spread updates about Secondly, remember also that the IFDA prothe sport and engage with existing players as vides grants for anything that can help develmuch as possible. There have been press releasop ultimate. Got an idea and need money to es for the national teams, and the press team implement it? Apply for a grant. Information is currently working on a press kit for distribuis here: http://www.irishultimate.com/ifda/ tion. There are also plans underway to record grants.php. high-quality footage of the national teams for promotional use, and hold a press day with the Finally, at present, ultimate in Ireland relies national teams. on the voluntary efforts of its players in order to develop. Any amount of time that you spend Linked to the above, Rob (Kane) is leading a spreading word of the sport or getting new playwebsite redesign team to make the IFDA webers involved helps tremendously. I really want site more accessible. One of the features will to see this sport develop and grow, and I have be a new system for ranking teams suggested by no doubt that most people who actively play in David Hammond- it keeps track of scores from Ireland feel the same. With that in mind, I’d all games to calculate the relative rankings of encourage you to think about what you can do each team across the country. to help, and do it. Stuck for ideas? Or have an idea but not sure how to implement it? Get in touch with me at president@irishultimate.com.
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 4
WHAT HAVE YOU EVER DONE FOR ME? look at the specific role of IFDA Committee members. Gearoid O Fearghail, IFDA press secretary extraordinaire, interviews himself to figure out what it is exactly that he does.
1) Get coverage on Ultimate out there for people who don’t know about ultimate
By Gearoid O Fearghail
You have a long history of volunteering for things, don’t you?
2) Let people know what the IFDA is doing
I do, it’s true. I can’t think of a single thing Why did you become press secretary? I’ve had an interest in where I haven’t put time into running events, improving the community, I enjoy helping to improve the things I take or whatever. My CV is one page of the usual part in and I saw some opportunities which the shite, and one page of volunteer experience! IFDA were missing out on and I thought that I I’ve worked on press things before, as part of might be of help. I felt that ultimate in Ireland an online community, and there’s a lot of crossgot no publicity and considering how kitsch it is, it should get SOME publicity. I also felt people over between them, I’ve found. I’ve worked on didn’t really understand what the IFDA does. I TV shows, magazines, podcasts, around a hundecided to try work as a press secretary, with dred tournaments, and been forced into managing a fair few teams. The one thing I’ve learnt two specific jobs
The printers rejected the cards with Gearoid’s face on them...
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A little known fact about IFDA discs is their perfect balance (Photograph: Mark Earley) from this is that there is always a better man for a job. So I’ve gotten a press team of interested individuals together. By having four people working, we can get four times as much done.
try to add some good photos, and send it out to our press contacts. Or at least that’s the theory. For the moment, we’re only releasing a press release a month or so, mainly because writing press releases is a very boring thing.
What approaches have you taken to I also started an initiative to work on a new succeed in your jobs? website, and got some people together to work Promoting ultimate frisbee is actually quite a hard thing to do, despite my earlier thoughts that it would be quite easy! The biggest issue is a lack of money. Say I decided to give out free frisbees on Grafton Street: My entire annual budget would be spent in 20 minutes! I don’t have a small budget because of any low importance placed on my work by the treasurer, mind you, but just because there’s so little discretionary spending in the IFDA ( we only have 120 paying members, did you know!)
on it. But it became immediately apparent that I couldn’t afford the time to work on something like a big new professional website while in final year. But I set the process in motion, and work on that continues, under the enlightened stewardship of Robert Kane.
We’re also working on a press kit full of the information journalists need if they want to write about ultimate frisbee, such as an explanation of the sport, footage and photos of the sport in action, a list of events they should attend to try the sport out themselves, and most importantly, who they should contact with queries.
So, getting publicity: What I’ve done so far, along with my team of gallant volunteers, is to try and make what contacts that can be made With that done, the plan is to go harass a load in the media, to make up a mailing list. When of journalists with a good pitch. events happen, we make up a press release,
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 6
What have you done to tell people What are your plans for the next 6 about the IFDA? months?
The plan is to go harass a load of journalists with a good pitch...
Last year, the IFDA did a lot of Well, the main thing I plan to things to help the Irish ultimate do is to get some publicity for ulfrisbee community grow, but no one timate frisbee. There has been was aware that this stuff was being some coverage already in places, done. This led to the attitude that but that’s all been a case of them the IFDA isn’t that important, when approaching us. So far, myself it really is. If you had asked people and the press team have been what the IFDA did, they’d have seworking on setting up the systems rious difficulty answering you with required, but that should be done anything useful. So I took it upon by June, and from there on, it’s myself to get a better connection between the just a case of shaking hands and getting the players and the IFDA. By the end of the year, name out there. people will be know the IFDA constitution off by Gearóid’s IFDA press team is: heart! The most noticeable and successful thing I’ve done is to set up an IFDA Facebook page and IFDA twitter account. The old problem was that the IFDA only had 1 online method of communication, the mailing list, and only the more experienced players of Ultimate would be on the mailing list (not to mention the numerous issues with actually getting on the list). Compare this with Facebook, the most used website in the world. Since its set up in October, the page has gotten 420 members. In the past month we’ve gotten 100,000 unique views on posts, and 900 likes or comments on them.
Aoife Delany. Grainne McCarthy. Tendai Muzwidzwa. George Pardoe.
Best of all, Twitter can be used to update scores from tournaments. This means that people who can’t make the tournament can still find out what the score is. I think this has also been a great success this year, barring the now obligatory technical difficulty on Sunday morning. There are also plans afoot to get people more aware of some of the IFDA’s schemes, such as the emergency fund and the grant scheme. It seems people are aware of that these things exist, but no one is quite sure what they do.
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 7
CORK BLIMEY How UCC Ultimate became the top college team in Ireland.
The UCC 2007 team (Photograph: Mark Canning) By Fergus McAuliffe, Robin Giller, With no teams nearby to play against, how does Brian O’Callaghan, Deirdre O’Breasail it go from rank outsiders to first seeds at varand Ray Considine sity competitions in the same time? Is it just another club’s cycle of strength in the history of Varsity’s trophy, soon to fall away for a few UCC Ultimate shouldn’t work. It’s a small seasons, or is it something more? Like I said, club in the biggest county in Ireland, a county UCC Ultimate shouldn’t work. But on closer inthat’s competitive at every major sport. People spection it really should! come to UCC with aspirations of making the football or hockey or basketball team. Even the lesser known sports have an advantage: everyone knows about trampolining or Paintball, but what the hell is Ultimate Frisbee? Sure the video looks kind of cool and that girl at the club’s day counter is winking at me, but why would I want to play Frisbee over any of the other 60 or so sports on show? With all the competition and the lack of information, how does a club like UCC grow from a handful of casual members to near 80 players in less than ten years?
The club itself was Dave Rosenfeld’s idea. He was coming to Cork in pursuit of Murphys and a PhD in French Literature, and having played at a high level in the UK for a number of years, Dave was an Ultimate fanatic. He was quick, experienced and hucked like a demon (and he’ll still give you a run for your money in a pitch-length sprint). Things were slow at the beginning with practices run in groups of six and seven – mostly Dave’s mates I think. The odd exchange student from the states would float in an out of the club with fancy new throws and stories of layout Ds.
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 8
lot of individual talent in the team, we were never able to crack Varsities. In 2007, five or six of the core members of the team graduated, having never lifted that trophy. The player base was growing but it looked like Cork were on a slump again. In those early years, we put a lot of effort into promoting the club around the country: making sure we went to every tournament and league game on offer, and building Cork Open up to the marquee event in Irish Ultimate. We wanted everyone else to know that Cork were here and were a big part of a Dublin-centric Irish Ultimate scene. This was somewhat to the detriment of our efforts at promoting Ultimate in UCC, but that’s something that has since been put right. Though the club lost some of their big hitters in 2007, the increasing attendance at trainings week in, week out provided the base for the emergence of a stronger club. It also focused the attention on developing the club as a whole rather than relying on the same players, both on and off the field, to bring the club forward. A big recruitment push welcomed new members and encouraged them to take up positions of responsibility in the running of the club. Some of Steven Kehoe bids for the disc the names recruited were Ray Considine, Rich(Photograph: Mark Earley) But for the most part, people met up for a bit of ard Hobson, Meabh Boylan, Donal Murray, Mark a throw around while Dave devised his coaching Fanning, and Yasin Mammeri who would prove plan. to be key players and administrators in the future. This lay the foundation for UCC to become It was around 2003-4 when the club started more ambitious both in Ireland and beyond. to gain some momentum. There were a lot of new players coming through at that time: Mark In 2008 Leo Yoshida arrived into the Port of Canning, Tadhg Healy, Kieran and Robin Giller, Cork (kind of!), and the club made changes in Brian O’Callaghan, Peter Forde, Fergus McAu- coaching personnel which brought a new perliffe and Dee O’Breasail. Some strong American spective to the way trainings were conducted. pickups added to the team so that quality prac- Leo was a previous world club champion with tices with 20-30 players were happening almost his Canadian mixed team TFP, and the team’s weekly. Dave, as coach, did a lot of work on performances improved significantly not only skills and tactics in those years and the club because of Leo’s handling and superb abilities made a real tangible progression. We started to on field, but also because of the general conplay with structure and became competitive at fidence and belief that his teammates derived national level, losing the 2004 Intervarsity final from having such a player alongside them. Wincontroversially in sudden death to a formidable ning the inaugural Intervarsity League meant UCD side. We won a few trophies, mostly at in- UCC qualified for their first BUCS UK Open Outdoors competitions, but, although there was a door Nationals from which they came home with
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 9
UCC at Uni League 2011 (Photograph: Brian O Callaghan) stroyed. As a result, the squad had to go to great lengths in order to partake in even the most basic of training sessions. Sharing in this demanding experience gelled the team together more than ever before, so when they were unleashed on the outdoor IV scene, they were unleashed as a unit. After comprehensively The club had learned a lot from the experi- retaining their Intervarsity League title, they ence of its dramatic propulsion up the Varsity went on to finish 5th at UK Nationals, narrowly rankings in the 2008/09 season. The players losing their quarter final against the reigning had begun to develop a taste for success but champions but securing a record high placing retained a level of humility due to the painful for an Irish university in the process. The team IV final defeat. Fortunately, the majority of successfully carried this form into the Outdoor the squad members were still eligible for the IV weekend, banishing the memories of the pre2009/10 season, which meant that they could vious year by blitzing all before them to take prepare for the season with their sights set high home the Varsity trophy for the first time and from the outset. An improved amount of focus finishing the Open IV season unbeaten. The year and work ethic was instantly noticeable, with was capped off with the club named UCC’s Most each player’s skills, fitness and confidence in- Improved Club for 09/10. Things were certainly creasing week by week. Success at Indoor IVs moving up. in November provided unequivocal evidence One of the club’s greatest achievements that that the hard work was paying off. season was its off-field recruitment. The playThe week after that success, the city was ers’ confident, positive attitude proved infecflooded and the club’s training facilities de- tious during the recruitment drive, with more the Plate. It was good preparation for the Open Outdoor Intervarsities. Though UCC fielded a strong team at Intervarsities, it was not yet our time to take home the trophy, but the loss to Trinity in the final increased the hunger for Varsity success.
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The club also increased its training schedule to cope with the fruits of the recruitment drive. On many occasions, the club ran 10 sessions a week across 1st team, beginner, ladies, fitness and schools sessions. On an average week, approximately 120 UCC students and school pupils were being coached. In total the club ran 7 tournaments, an unheard of amount The 10/11 season is one that is characterised for a club in Irish by two things: continuity and improvement. ultimate. This reenormous The new leadership felt the weight of ex- quired pectation heavy on their shoulders, and were dedication and orfrom anxious that the standards on-field and off-field ganisation would remain as high as the previous season so many people. that success would continue. Once achieveOn the field, sucment levels were on a par, the leaders of the cesses continued, club looked to improve as much as possible. with the club retaining all IV trophies won in athletic beginners attracted than ever before. The potential of these recruits was confirmed by their impressive success at UCD Beginners. Despite the fact that half of the IV winning team were leaving UCC that year, the proficiency of the recruitment drive meant that the club could prepare for the following season with very large and talented squad once again.
This season the club embarked on an unparalleled schools development program, which now coaches approximately 60 schools students in the Cork area each week. The Ireland Junior ladies team for this summer is a prime example of the success of the schools program, with 90% of the team members trained in Cork schools.
120 UCC students and school p u p i l s were being coached.
the 09/10 season, and adding the Developmental and Whacking Day Open division trophies to their cabinet. Marked improvement in the ladies side also occurred, with the ladies team reaching both IV finals for the first time ever. Considering that the ladies side of the club had for so long been very small, this was a great
Steven Kehoe almost gets an interception on Trinity College’s Cian Quinn (Photograph: Mark Earley)
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 11
achievement. At the season’s end, UCC teams had competed in every IV final across Open indoor and outdoor, University League, Ladies indoor and outdoor, Developmental and Mixed. The club twice travelled to the UK, holding 7th seed at Mixed indoor nationals, and winning the plate (9th) in division 1 of Open outdoor nationals.
members need encouragement and a chance to make a difference. Will UCC Ultimate continue with its recent successful? Only time will tell, but with a strong focus on recruitment, training and schools work it, UCC Ultimate is definitely trying.
The highpoint of the season for many people was when the University awarded the club the title of Club of the Year. This was a fantastic achievement considering this award was typically won by the “big” clubs. Names etched on the trophy include, on multiple occasions, Rugby, Hurling, Gaelic Football, Soccer and Hockey. To have the endeavours of the club recognised in such a fashion by non-ultimate players was something that will stick in the minds of all those involved. So should UCC Ultimate work? A sport played in a very athletic county that loves to compete. A club with access to facilities and resources to have many trainings each week and separate trainings for separate teams. A club in a very large college which offers many long term degrees and postgraduate options. A club with training facilities close to college, in a city where everything is within walk-able distance. A club that has developed a large rivalry amongst its own players partly due to the county mix present in UCC, and also has a huge rivalry between everyone else. Every club will have opportunities and threats to success. UCC Ultimate has looked at both. Mistakes have been made but with planning, reflection, and buckets of hard work and commitment UCC Ultimate has strived to be the best it can be and recently things have worked. College clubs are often susceptible to huge changes of membership, (especially one with a large Erasmus contingent), which brings the strong likelihood of change in how the club is run once the new committee are voted in at each AGM. This is difficult for those who have invested so much time into the club into the past, but everyone understands that a large club needs lots of members involved, and new
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 12
HOW TO LOOK FLY And now a word from our sponsors... Lookfly were recently awarded the contract to supply the 3 Irish teams with kit for the upcoming European Championships in Slovenia. We chatted with Steve Giguere, the Director of Lookfly, about setting up an Ultimate-related business, and how it feels to be kitting out Ireland again. By Liz Schaffalitzky
The impression I get from the bio on your website (www.lookfly.com) is that Lookfly started out predominantly as a hobby rather than a business venture. When did you realise that there was the potential to bring it further? It did start as a hobby at the end of 2000 but that followed on from it simply being a solution to a problem, that being to get some uniforms for our own team. Once we had some success with that and others teams expressed interest in it, it progressed from there into what was just ‘beer money’ for about a year. The turning point, where it became real, was when my typical day was waking up at 6am, going to manufacturing for 6:30am to collect any orders, dropping them at the printer and then going to work for 9am. At lunch I’d go to the guy who did the numbering and get the shirts from the previous day, pack them up and send them. At night I did emails. It was hectic. The hobby had become a 2nd job. The timing was right when I met my current partner Allison and she wasn’t happy with her current job. She decided to quit her job and see if Lookfly could get big enough to sustain itself. This was about a year and a half later. That was when we registered properly as a company and started to really take it seriously with Alli working on it full-time
Steve Giguere poses in the sun (Photograph: Tom Styles) while I still worked at my regular job to support us. Any money made went back into improving the business or improving the Ultimate scene.
The Ultimate community is a relatively small target population, were you surprised that Lookfly became a sustainable business? Do you think there was anything unique about the Ultimate community that made this possible? Are we surprised? Absolutely! So are most of the people at my previous job with Motorola who keep asking me if I’m doing this ‘full-time?!”. When we started, almost 10 years ago, there was only about 2 or 3 teams that wore technical tops to play in. Top teams like Fusion played
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 13
Steve playing for the GB masters beach team who won silver at worlds in 2008. Their jerseys were all designed and printed by lookfly. (Photograph: UK Ultimate) in mirky green cotton t shirts. It was only really Clapham and BAF who started to sport a more professional appearance. That started the ball rolling and people suddenly realised it was much nicer to play in proper gear. To answer your question about the Ultimate community, almost every sport has a culture and sports brands associated with it. I think that the introduction of a dedicated Ultimate brand in the UK was pretty cool! People who play Ultimate are often open minded people who are accepting of new ideas and difference ways of thinking. The idea that a company could exist locally, and be dedicated to like-minded individuals in such a small market was exciting. If it weren’t for the support of the players we certainly would not be here today.
ethically sound, Lookfly has also more recently made an effort to increase its ‘Green’ credentials ( wind-powered HQ, almost paperless company, and also using NewLife(TM) fabric made from recycled plastic). How do you think this has impacted your business? Do the extra costs discourage orders, or is the Ultimate community (arguably comprised largely with middle-class hippies) the ideal place for this type of operation?
The biggest impact our eco-ethical ethos has had on our business has been on our costs. Getting fabric made and garments manufactured all costs more as a result. That doesn’t mean our pricing reflects this though. We price all of our gear competitively against other Ultimate While always trying to maintain a ‘no brands and that means lower margins. That sweat shop rule’ to keep your products mean’s doing more(community support, spon-
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sorships, advertising and development) with less unfortunately. We did a small poll recently to find out what our more eco-ethical business model meant to people and to see if it was important enough to our customers to pay that little bit extra for it. The results were somewhat varied. Most people like our ethos but weren’t willing to pay more for it...yet. Some said they would use that factor as a tie breaker if they were undecided about who to order with. That’s encouraging! Although Ultimate does draw in a certain amount of the ‘middle class hippy’, the fashions in Ultimate are largely led by the student and recent grad population. That group of players doesn’t have the expendable income that the older players might. With Ultimate expanding as quickly as it is, the youth population is outweighing the hippies. As a result, we need to acknowledge that and keep pricing competitive until we feel we can start to price our garments in such a way that reflects our internal costs. Our manufacturing policies are something we feel strongly about and aren’t something we’re going to change. We do hope that, slowly but surely, more people see the way we do business as a good thing and that hopefully we’re influencing change for the better.
And it probably helps you sleep at night too! You mentioned there your involvement with the ultimate community, which I think is one of the great things about Lookfly as a company. You sponsor events and initiatives by providing prizes (such as to our own Photo Competition, thanks for that!), run the hugely successful Copa Cobana tournament (http://www.thecopa.co.uk/) and you yourself have become a bit of an ‘Ulti-Celeb’ (along with Tom Styles) with Blockstack TV (http://www.blockstack.tv/). Was it a conscious decision to market yourselves in this way? No. Next question please :). Really though... you’ve mentioned three things that are meant to be (but often get intertwined), totally separate. I started getting into Copa Cabana before Lookfly. BlockStack was really a Tom Styles
company from the early Noughties that we resurrected to do some fun and more gorilla style media for Ultimate events. (no spelling error there...we aren’t hardcore enough to be called guerilla media). They’re all just projects spawned from a love for the sport. What is conscious marketing for Lookfly? No. In fact I make a very conscious point to not use either thing as a venue to push Lookfly. It either even came across that way I feel they would lose credibility for the amazing and fun things they are.
You have a very personal and ‘handson’ approach to your company, do you think this has helped you to secure customer loyalty? I’m pleased you kept this question in after my being so poor as answering your questions. Being personal is a by-product of us being such a small company. We’re involved in every little aspect from the yarn choices and pattern design to the grunt work of putting numbers on to each individual garment. I have to thank Allison for most of the hard work in terms of building customer loyalty. She’s a superstar at keeping customers happy with great communication throughout the whole complicated ordering process.
I’m guessing that the lead up to summer and big events is your busiest time in terms of orders and manufacturing, would you consider the winter months your ‘off-season’, or are there specific jobs you work on in that time? Actually our off season happens during August and September when all of the summer orders are complete, most of the big events are over and the student aren’t back yet. As winter approaches a whole new aspect of the job starts up with the return of the University teams. A scene that is slowly surpassing the size of the summer Tour crowd!
When/If you have time-off, is it still fun to attend tournaments and play Ultimate, or is it a case that it’s a little
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too close to your work? Do you even consider tournaments time off? It is rare I play a tournament with no Lookfly connection at all. When it happens it’s nice actually. Most years I put the Glastonbury event aside as a non-Lookfly event. I consider it time off. Allison doesn’t. :). We do live and breathe the sport so it can be overwhelming at times. I hope I never find it too close to work or unfun.
You were awarded the contract to supply kit to the Irish teams this year for EUC. How does it feel to be linked to, arguably, the most Spirited country in the world? Arguably! Ireland has the best track record for spirit, period. About 7 years ago Ireland would sweep Spirit prizes but lose games. Now they still maintain that same level of high spirit and fair play but are competitive. Teams who previously only saw Ireland as a team to share a drink with, are now also fearing that game against The EUC 2004 Ireland women’s team whose Jerseys were also made by Lookfly. How times sure have changed! (Photograph: Mark Earley) them the next day. In short...we’re stoked to be linked with Ireland. Who wouldn’t be!?
our stable. We’ve already got great arrangements with the teams that we find important.
You had previously kitted out Ireland How important are national team confor 03/04, but missed out on the optracts to the company? portunity in 07/08. Was there anything Simple question; complex answer. Each Na- taken or learned from missing out on tional team contract has a different meaning that occasion that you think lead to to us. We’ve covered off why we love Ireland wining the contract this year? above. We also do a lot of work with the GB team as you know. They’re the largest squad in Europe, the scene we work in and have the most contact with. They have been really great to us over the years. That’s a relationship that is mutually beneficial. We both help each other develop. We do some work with other countries like Germany as well. We have a good relationship with the DFV and enjoy going to events there. We don’t pursue contracts with countries we don’t feel we can establish a relationship with. It’s not important to us to get National team contracts just to have National teams in
We don’t fight for contracts that hard. Frankly, our business model doesn’t give us the margins to do that. We feel our service and quality is what wins contracts for us. That goes not only for National teams but for Clubs as well. There’s been plenty of times when teams have tried us, gone to try a competitor and decided that they rather just work with us. It’s easier and better in our opinion. At least we hope it is. If anyone reading this thinks it isn’t, please let us know! The instance you mention was pretty historic. 2003 was such a different time for Lookfly. It was pretty cool to have Ireland
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has our first National squad. 2007/8 wasn’t really anybody’s fault. I don’t think we were approached that year until it was rather late. A problem that the organisers fixed this year and it’s going really well!
Any differences between working with Ireland this time round in comparison to 8 years ago? Haha! Everybody is more organised. I can’t stress this change enough. How’s that?
MUCH MUCH MORE ORGANISED!!!
Where do you think the future lies for Lookfly? Any exclusives you can give us? I wish I knew. We still seem to fly by the seat of our pants. We lead sometimes, like with our 100% recycled gear (that Ireland will be wearing this year!). Other times we take leads from the industry and our competition. Currently we’re looking to improve our sublimation to lower the price, and also work to improve the quality and softness of our recycled yarn. Recycled light weight sports fabrics are pretty new not just to the Ultimate market but on a worldwide scale. I just read that the new 2011 Nike Arsenal shirt was made out of plastic bottles. Furious George and Chevron were wearing Lookfly shirts from recycled bottles last year. We just got prototypes of some base-layers into stock that are 90% recycled plastic and feel a bit like merino wool. Very cool! If there’s anything readers might like to see us work on, just let us know!
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VOX POPPERS What is your best Ultimate-related memory? In another new feature of the newsletter, we put a question to randomly selected members of the community.
My favourite is from college. Was playing in a big tournament and giving it socks and got a My best ultimate memory so far has to be my layout D. Our team tradition was when you got first ever point at my first competition this year a layout D you got to rip off one of the sleeves at Whacking Day 2010 in DCU. And getting the of our ‘uniform’ tshirt. Very proud moment and MVP award really made it one of my best sport- wearing that (now that I think about, horrible looking) one-sleeved T-shirt felt like a huge ing moments ever! achievement. Lee, South Dublin Katie, Dublin Well, my best Ultimate related memory is from Florence, when I was playing with the mixed under 23’s. After dinner, the brilliant craic we used to have messing about in the swimming pool, from laying out into the pool catching the disc, to a good old game of ‘mingle mingle’. One particular moment springs to mind however: Martin ‘Juno’ Kelly (WIT) doing the penguin walk into the pool, hopping out and ingeniously exclaiming that he hoped ‘no blind people saw that’ !! Honestly, along with the other girls on the team, I can safely say I have never laughed so much in a week. I did not come home with cramps or stiffness from playing, I came home with a ridiculously sore stomach from laughing at Juno!
European championships in 2007, open division, Ireland versus Denmark. We were massive underdogs and we won. And it was a really clean game the way I remember it - so few stoppages and discussions. I like that. (Brian’s account of the game is at http://irishultimate.com/resources/talking_article.php?HuddleID=84, Ireland won 19-18). Seamus,Cork/Dublin
Hayley, Tralee/Cork
Meeting Heather and mischievous hucking on Trinity’s beloved rugby pitch with David Perry Redmond, Currently Galway
There was one point that I grabbed a high disc in the end zone and I remember the entire hall exploding.
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So my best memory of Frisbee has to be when I played with Limerick during Whacking Day two years ago. The team was really short on numbers and I was freelance so they were eager to have me. The girls were all wonderful, so welcoming and very grateful that I played with them. We fought really hard all day and got to the final! There was one point that I grabbed a high disc in the end zone and I remember the entire hall exploding (probably not as dramatic as that but it felt like it!). We ended up winning the tournament. However there was a problem. Since I had already played Whacking Day when I was 16, and summer league, that qualified me as an experienced player which meant we would be deducted points, losing the final. I felt TERRIBLE. If I had known I was counted as an experienced player, I would have said something, but I didn’t think it counted since I hadn’t played in 2 years. Anyways I was distraught, feeling I had wrecked the team’s chances.
The team were unbelievable. They were just glad to play, winning wasn’t their highlight. We talked to the other finalists and they were so cool about it. It didn’t matter, they had a great tournament regardless, and everyone else there said that it wasn’t a big deal, we just played well and deserved to win. Never before have I been so overwhelmed by a group of people. No one seemed that upset by it, everyone was amazingly kind and reassuring, all that mattered was that Limerick got to play and there was a high-spirited final. The fact that this technicality was overlooked for the benefit of the team and the tournament, is exactly the essence of Ultimate Frisbee that I have come to adore, play and enjoy. Gráinne, Dublin
WE’RE ALL THE REF This is a new feature to help with those awkward on-field situations where you are always right and the other person is always wrong. Any comments, go to our Facebook page. The Situation A game is being played on portapitches on a windy day. A player catches a disc out the back of the endzone, but the wind has dragged the line into an ellipse which marks him. Has he scored?
For the solution to the situation, go to page 32.
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JOHNNY, JOHNNY, JOHNNY, CHIMPO…. As news spread that the Johnny Chimpo Collective and Institute for Higher Thought and Learning has disbanded, we thought it appropriate to get an insight into a team that divided opinion throughout the community. Mostly between themselves and everyone else. Here’s their take on the labels, the haters, and wearing orange… By Simon Cocking
Ireland’s most hated team? What a load of bollocks! Sort of. For almost 5 years JC were Ireland’s top team, unbeaten against Irish opposition in all tournaments played in Ireland. And yet…And yet…
were still gutted to lose a close semi to Broc (for the first time). Nothing ever lasts for ever, and JC’s days are perhaps done or terminally limited, unless there is an orange renaissance – You might ask ‘How could this team have been don’t count your chickens yet! For now though hated? They were simply a cut above the rest.’ we can definitely say the Chimps are in a fallow However, the two orange flags with numerous period. black stars symbolising previous tournament Why play in Orange? wins was probably only the start of reasons why people may not have liked us. Players wearing Orange was chosen with the same cocky but gorilla suits. The cocky guys, constantly rolling logical thinking: If we chose a colour that no up, and saying things like ‘You’ve been aped!’ one else plays in then we will never have to didn’t help. The completely unhelpful and un- change our shirts. informative website, with hilarious and entertaining banter about Super, Broc, and the JC Why no proper shirts? Institute for higher thought and learning. This wasn’t a team you sent an email to, asking if After a while this kind of became a badge you could play for them: you had to be asked. of honour and perhaps a statement too: Your So yes, I can see why the orange tide may have team may have nice matching shirts, but we’re been unpopular. still going to wipe the floor with you. As time passed it became too late to get them made. To be good, to be the best, there has to be a I would have liked to have a JC shirt. Instead degree of confidence and even arrogance: You it was a question of scouring the charity shops still have to prove it every time you get onto for truly horrible items of clothing; disgusting the pitch. And we did prove it, and we did want stuff but with that winning orange colour. This to do it again. Having won Cork four times we led to some magnificently vibrant tops: Hawai-
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In some ways it was never necessary to have a loud demonstrative captain. When you have six people on your team who have captained the Irish open team, as well as a few more who had captained other Irish national teams, the quality was clearly there. Almost everyone who played for JC has also represented Ireland at international level. Several more will probably go on to captain Ireland as well.
A bunch of c@@ts or not? For now the Cork 07 YouTube video may stand as the watchable highlight of JC’s golden years (thanks Darron Costello). With 3,000 views and counting, it is the most watched Irish Ultimate video to date, and they can’t all of have been JC players. At JC’s prime, to date, we played aggressively: high-pressured defence and quickflowing offense. A large part of the audience was with us for the Cork 2007 final. Even on match point the disc was played quickly and aggressively, resulting in one final, glorious, successfully run-down huck to win the tournament. We were heavily out-numbered, with only ten players to the opposition’s (FUF from Belgium) 5 stars for their 5 tournament victories fourteen or fifteen, most of whom were a lot (Photograph: Mark Earley) taller than our players. We also had four playian, silk, shiny, all sorts. You were part of the ers whose combined ages were over 150 years! pirate ethos. Players would compete at each Despite this we played well, brilliantly perhaps, tournament to pull out their latest, fantastical- aided by Hag having one of his amazing non-horly tasteless gear. Marko in his reversed Bomber monal days. At the end, the organisers seemed jacket began the trend really. truly grateful for such a good final, which naturally requires two top teams to be playing in it: There was a sense of humour running throughUs and FUF. I think people were excited to see out the whole thing. This was why it was so fun good quality Ultimate played here Ireland. to play for JC. It also made it easier to integrate random, high quality pick-ups into the So *shock horror!* JC not a bunch of team. They were there for the craic - and winning made it more fun again - but there was also c@@ts? generally a good laugh going on. A good laugh, Perhaps we shouldn’t go that far. In Ultimate but still incapable of turning down the intenhowever, Spirit can often be confused with besity. Players wanted to be on the pitch, wanted ing good losers. JC had no interest in winning to score, get the D. Even if it was already 14-0, Spirit, which is not to say that we were a team playing against Cork 3; like a dog chasing a ball that made crappy or bad calls - we didn’t. Some we still wanted that disc. of our more vocal players may have got under the skin of opposition players, and equally we How many national captains on the would call what we saw. The thing is, we were team? about winning tournaments, not friends. To
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win, to be the top of your game, your sport, you have to go in focused. Believing, even assuming, that you will be there in the last game of the weekend. It’s simply part of playing to win, rather than just showing up to take part. To then brand the team ‘Ireland’s Most Hated Team’ seems to have missed the point. Irish Ultimate needed to move out of a single team monopoly, when Dublin and Ireland were virtually interchangeable. JC, Irelands nontraining all conquering dark side, were necessary for Broc, Cork, Jabba and all the rest to rise up against. In time another great team will emerge and be all conquering for a while. For me, I will revel in enjoying watching them play the best Ultimate in Ireland. To hate them would seem like begrudgery.
Above: Alan Doyle prepares a heist.
Thanks for the opportunity to have been a part of this period in the ever upward growth of Irish Ultimate, because this who has ultimately benefitted.
Below: Simon Cocking gets a throw past Accrington Stanley in the final. (Photographs: Mark Earley)
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DUBLIN’S EUC BID An interview with Dominick Smyth A reflective interview on Dublin’s failed bid to host EUC 2011 with the head of the bid committee, Dominck Smyth.
to take charge of the bid, or even the possibility of him flying over to work on it. My conversations with him got me thinking and started me talking with some others in Dublin.
by Mark Earley
Once the idea was formed and a team was together what were your next steps?
You were recently part of a team who I’d say the first issue we talked about was drew up a bid to host the European Ultimate Championships here in Dublin. “Where”. The ground work had been done for Limerick but the guys I was talking with, Paul How did that process come about? Limerick Jim had been interested in bidding for EUC for some time. I had spoken with him about it while I was in office and had been to Limerick for a site visit and meeting with some UL staff about the venture. At the time, I didn’t think it was something the IFDA was ready to be part of as I felt our resources and man power could be better used on other projects. Jim kept working on the bid and towards the end of last summer, when he began making plans to move back to America, he began the process of handing over the leadership of the Limerick bid to some of the other players involved in UL.
Cronin, yourself [Mark Earley], David Perry, were all in Dublin. It didn’t make a lot of sense to us to take on a project in Limerick while we were here and so we looked into other possible locations closer to home. Paul suggested Tyman Park in Tallaght, David suggested UCD and I was keen on DCU. We were all happy with any of these venues as they were places we could work with and were accessible to us for planning and meetings. We agreed to look in to each venue in terms of pitches, accommodation and food options. We all figured these were the three big things we’d need to know about before we went any further.
What was the most difficult part of These guys did what they could for the bid but the process? I got the impression that they realised it was turning out to be a bigger project than they had While we were ready to put leg work in to reimagined. They were very mature and admitsearching all the possible venues, our time line ted as much early rather than let things drag was changed due to one of the other bidders on. being ready to submit. We thus found ourselves Unfortunately that left the European Ultimate with only a few weeks to put all the critical inFederation in a bad position. They were eager formation in place. to find a host for EUC and currently had a venue Budgets for: pitch hire; rooms; meal plans; enand a proposal from Ireland but no one to make tertainment; ceremonies; awards; show games; it happen. As President of the IFDA, the chair player packs; first aid; sponsorship. While none of EUC asked for my thoughts on finding others of these on their own were too difficult a topic
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800 people at a time. Unfortunately Ireland is quite an expensive country and the cost of student rooms and local hotels, along with the number of rooms available at each price level, counted against us when direct comparisons were being made.
What did you learn, both personally and as a group, from the experience? One of the nice things I learnt was the power that hosting an event of this magnitude brings. It was very eye opening to see how external parties responded to the prospect of the event We had suppliers ready to offer a variety of reduced and free merchandise for exclusive rights to the event; Previously unavailable pitches were now there for our use and we were on the verge of bringing a captive audience of 1400 from all over Europe to Dublin.
Dominick was recently caught up in an Ultileaks scandal, but close aides deny allegations that this affected Dublin’s EUC bid. (Photographs: Ultileaks) to research and cost, trying to do all of them in a short space of time made the project very real and very daunting.
In terms of lessons learned about bidding, I’d say time is all important. Working with venues and accommodation suppliers to have enough space available requires giving them a lot of notice. By planning ahead, organisers are in a much better position to find the best prices, negotiate with potential suppliers and not have to worry about deadlines looming over their head.
Do you think that Ireland will be capable to host a major tournament in the future?
I think Ireland is capable of hosting a big tournament To be brutally honest I think it but unfortuwas the cost of accommodation. Everything else that we were nately I think able to provide was top notch. the prices Having an excess of pitches on two adjacent sites; University will make it campus as tournament central unlikely. for information and events and a Obviously the group was very disappointed with the bid’s failure. What do you think were the main reasons behind this?
I think Ireland is definitely capable of hosting a tournament but unfortunately I think the prices will make it unlikely. We can only hope that some location (more than likely a university or boarding school) while be so interested in the event and the number of people coming in that they would be willing to reduce their prices.
perfect canteen able to cater for
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hindsight, what would it be? To be honest, given the position we were in
If so, what advice would you have for when we started putting the bid together, I was a budding TD team? really happy with how it all turned out. There It has to be a team. There are so many things to be considered that no one person can look at all of them while putting the bid together. Something that you did for our bid, which I think would have been invaluable had we won, was get input and comments from the multitude of players that would be attending.
were some things beyond our control but we had covered a lot of facets of what we felt would have been a very good event. So no, I don’t think I would have changed anything.
Finally, having seen the Slovenian bid win and now begin to work towards the tournament, what are your thoughts I’m not saying you will be able to do every- about the job they’ve done thus far?
thing people ask for but there are people out there who can suggest things that even a well rounded team may not have considered.
We got in touch with Nejc, Klemen and Ana as soon as we could after the hosting was announced. We tried to share some of the insights My final piece of advice is to be mindful of the we’d been able to make and also let them know type of competitors you are catering for. Trim- some of the plans that we had had. They lismings are nice and will no doubt be appreciated tened very graciously and I trust they have but if the big three of fields, food and accom- done what they felt was necessary with what modation aren’t taken care of, no amount of we shared. window dressing will make your tournament a success. To be completely honest though, once the bid was awarded elsewhere, I kind of stopped payOkay, what did you think were the ing attention. I had training to do, work outs main stumbling blocks during your bid- to complete and trials to attend. I’ve been lucky enough to get selected to the Open team ding process? that will be competing so all I care about now Just the one - time. We knew going in to it is working hard with the team and getting over that everything would be rushed but I don’t there to represent Ireland. think we realised the time delays we would encounter setting up meetings, getting responses from people and shopping around for options. The tournament will be what it will, the pitchThe lateness of our inquiries meant that the accommodation office in DCU already had other bookings, which meant we had to look at a larger number of hotel rooms but because we had to have a budget asap, we weren’t in a position to haggle or shop around.
es will be located and positioned as they are and food will be served at appropriate times. I’ll be there as part of a 60 strong Irish contingent and we will do everything we can to represent our country and enjoy ourselves while we are there.
The more time a bidding group has to look at their options, the more likely they are to get the best prices to achieve the most of what they want to achieve.
Many thanks for your time. Take care and good luck on the pitch!
If you could change anything about the bid, with the wonderful benefit of
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PLAYING ULTIMATE ABROAD a look into the Irish Ultimate Diaspora This editions interview is with Rory Do you think now that those were fair Kavanagh. Rory began playing Ulti- assessments? mate in Ireland with Pen15 in 2005, playing with DCU, The Binge? and Yes. Bravas have a lot of history and there’s Johnny Chimpo along the way. He a very big social side to the team, and not the played with Ireland Open team at EUC getting wasted and scoring everyone way of 2007, and has been selected to play Irish Ultimate, more that the team is more than for Ireland Open again this year. Rory a club to some people. They are quite laid back took some time out from his busy in many ways, there was no definitive style of schedule of growing facial hair to be play, most players showed up 15 minutes late for training and training would consist of a few interviewed for this piece. non-related drills that would have nothing to By Liz Schaffalitzky do with the game at the end of training. The problem is that because the team was so successful for many years at winning domestic tournaments, they never really had to define a You moved to Barcelona in 2009, what style of play or become more rigorous with their were your expectations of playing ulti- trainings. More recently as other Spanish teams have caught up, Bravas have become a bit lost mate there? and have found it difficult to adapt. So when I I knew I wasn’t moving here for the quality arrived, the assessment was correct: trainings of the ultimate, if that’s what you’re asking. I 2 pints please had been in touch with Shane Reilly, of DCU and (Photograph: Mark Earley) Binge? fame, who was on Erasmus here when I moved over. He gave me a brief introduction; were fun but flakey, and well below the stanBarcelona had two club teams in the city, Pa- dard of the teams I had trained with in Dublin. tatas Bravas and Peixets (Who were relatively new). Both are at al lower standard than the You say ‘when I arrived’, have things clubs in Dublin. Shane played for Bravas and changed since then? recommended I do the same. I had never played against either teams before, only their neighThings have changed. Last year, myself and bours Disterics from Girona, and thought if the two fellow Bravas set up a new team. I stole the standard was really bad, I could always com- model of Dublin Ultimate, and created a highmute there for a good game. When I arrived I ly competitive open grass team, that allowed wasn’t expecting very much in the way of stan- players to continue playing with their own dard of teams and players, but I was excited at clubs, but also giving them a chance to train to the chance to play in a different environment compete at a higher level. We had some issues and learn from different styles and ideas. with Bravas when we were getting started, but we’re up and running now with weekly training and Tom’s Tourney and Windmill Windup this summer. We named the team Catalyst, because we wanted to change how ultimate was played
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here and because of the play of Catalunya in the name. There was a gap in the market and I think that we have created an outlet for competitive Open players that didn’t exist before.
is there more of an emphasis on clubs?
There is not one single university team in Spain! Only clubs, and usually there is one in each city with a few exceptions. This means that unlike Ireland, there is no annual influx on In terms of the scene in Barcelona, new players to the community. Instead clubs would there be many other ex-pats grow organically and randomly throughout playing there? What language do peo- the year. Since most clubs have somewhat of ple train and play in, Spanish or Cata- a monopoly in their city their numbers a quite lan? healthy. Bravas (Both A & B teams) have 71 regThere are loads of ex pats playing here and istered members. Each club will usually play quite a high turnover of players as well. The Open Mixed and Womens. Just after I arrived, majority play with Bravas because of their rep- a Hat League aimed at new players was started utation. About two thirds of Bravas were not to attract new players to the sport and has been born in Spain. There are the usual waves of quite successful and growing, but I have no idea yank students who come in for a semester or why there is a complete lack of University level two, but Barcelona is a very international city, ultimate. so there is a great mix of European and Latin American players who live here. Most Bravas training sessions are done in Spanish, with big chunks explained in English to accommodate. Beers after practice are usually a mix of English or Spanish depending on who’s there at any I’m guessing that indoors probably given day. The Irish have been represented in the past by Donall McCann and Shane Reilly, and isn’t something played in Spain due to currently myself and Kevin Timoney. I run Cata- the weather and player base then. Is lyst in English. Peixets, play in Spanish (I be- beach therefore more popular than in lieve) and Disterics and the other clubs outside Ireland? of the city are all exclusively Catalan Nope, no indoors, lots of beach. The great thing about beach ultimate is that it’s free. What’s the make-up of the rest of the There’s not much grass here, and if you want player base in Spain? Is it similar to Ire- a playable pitch you have to pay. Bravas train
land with the strong university base, or
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every Sunday on a huge beach in Castedefells, about 25 mins from the City. Sundays are great, training in the sun in the afternoon, then a swim followed by a beer in Bañosca. Slightly better than cold muddy pick-up in Herbie followed by an overpriced pint in McCloskeys.
In general I miss the structure that Irish Ultimate has. We are still a small community, but there are structures in place that will help us to continue growing. University teams churn out talented players in a highly competitive environment year after year. This is something that is really missing here. Also, the National Teams But only slightly. What do you set up is something that is very commendable, reckon Spain’s chances are for EUC the IFDA and the individual’s involved have done 2011? They’ve entered teams in both a great job in putting structure behind national the Open and Mixed division. Are their teams, which will allow the players on these teams based in particular city, or did teams to grow and learn at the highest levels.
everyone have a chance to try out?
As well as the following;
I know very little about the set up for Spain 1. Heckling at EUC. All I’ve heard is bad feedback from my teammates about the selection process. Lots 2. Having lots of grass to play on. of painfully detailed surveys, and measured fit3. Phrases like “Put it in the mixer!” ness / endurance tests, followed by a very long period of silence. There are some very talented 4. Post Training Chicken Fillet rolls with Taco players here, and they have the potential to do Sauce quite well but given their lack of experience at EUC I would say they will find it tough will suf5. Post Tournament Zaytoon & Buckfast fer from a lack of structure and composure at 6. Playing Tour “We beat Leeds!” that level. 7. Brian McDevitt wrecking the buzz.
Apart from over-priced pints in McCluskeys, is there anything else you The age-old tradition of Irish slagging: miss from Ireland ultimate-wise that something they will never get right in you can’t get in Spain? Europe. Thanks for your time Rory.
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IMPROVE YOUR GAME Training for Quickness The great Lucy Barnes, coach of LMS, Ireland Women 08, and previous captain of Brute Squad (ranked 4th in the World) talks through the importance of quickness and how to build it into your game. By Lucy Barnes
Why Quickness? The fastest player on the pitch tends to get a lot of credit, as they’re streaking deep to catch a huck. The best thrower on the pitch likewise, as they break the force or send the aforementioned huck. Even endurance gets its credit as the player still fresh at the end of a long weekend is able to take over and dominate finals games. These elements of the game are critical, and in consequence aspiring players spend a lot of time working on their throws, speed and fitness. But here I want to highlight another element of the athletic toolkit that ultimate uses, which perhaps gets less attention: quickness.Â
open by miles on offense), nor their best thrower (stop them getting the disc in a strong position; put on a good force). The player who is hardest to guard is the player who has superior quickness. On offense, it translates to being able to set up the most convincing cuts- both by selling good fakes with changes of direction, but also in getting a metre or so of separation from the first few steps: even a faster playWhat do I mean by quickness? er will struggle to close that distance over the It is not just another word for speed- how length of the average cut. On defence, quickfast you are running in a straight line. What I ness is even more critical. Quickness allows mean by quickness is how fast players are in a you to react to any fake your offensive player much smaller space: the first three steps of ac- makes, as well as to have the confidence to dicceleration, deceleration, as well as the ability tate in one direction with the knowledge that your first steps out of the turn will allow you to to change direction quickly. win the race back to where you pushed the cutter. On the force, quick feet allow you to cover Why should you care? more of the field. Second, working on quickThere are two main reasons: first, the player ness will make you a better athlete - developing on the opposing team who I least like to guard the strength and coordination to get quicker is is not their fastest player (use your body to take a base for speed, better throws, not to mention away their long cuts; sell them a fake and be injury prevention.
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ting yourself in a position where you can use these big muscles to help you: this is your basic athletic stance. Knees bent, on your toes, weight centred, ready to go in any direction. As you put this stance into motion, two things that you can never do too much of is getting low to the ground any time you want to accelerate or turn, (by bending your knees, not leaning over from your back!) and following your head. This second part may sound silly, but your head is heavy, and your body is set up to want to move in the direction you are facing. So get your head turned around to where you want to go as early as possible, and follow it. When accelerating for your first few steps, you need to be looking forward (not at the disc, wherever that may be!).
2. Footwork
The Building Blocks Where does quickness come from? Some part of quickness is implied by what people just consider to be basic athleticism: balance, coordination, and body control. But just like throwing, fitness and running speed, while people will start out with different levels of quickness, it can be trained. It may sound stupid, but thinking about whether you look like an athlete on the field can be helpful in developing running, jumping, turning form that will make you quicker. So, do you look like an athlete?
No matter how good your stance and your balance, you will clearly fall down if you try to accelerate without moving your feet. So quickness requires a lot of attention to footwork. Again we can break this down into two parts.
First, being able to move your feet as quickly as possible through the steps that you need to make; and second, training the muscle memory to make your steps the most efficient ones. An example here probably illustrates the point best: think about the motion that you make in transitioning from back-pedaling, to sprinting forward in the same direction (your player is heading deep, and at first you can keep up while facing him and the disc, but at some point you need to turn 180 degrees and run with him). 1. Balance How can you make this turn as quickly as possible? From our first point, you need to be able Eventually we want to be able to move in any to get your feet turned around quickly, and to direction, from any position, and an important push through the first few accelerating steps part of doing this quickly is not falling down. of your forward sprint. From the second, you Balance has a lot of different elements, but should be able to turn 180 degrees in two steps: core strength, especially in the glutes and hips, the first opens up your hips to their new direchelps. Although quick feet do not necessarily tion, and with the second step you are already need a lot of power, a critical part of quick- sprinting off. Without thinking about this, and ness is balance, and balance starts with core working on it, it’s likely that you spend two exstrength - so quickness starts with the core. tra steps as your hips gradually come around, The second part of staying balanced is put- turning a few degrees with each step.
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These two elements- balance and footworkare the building blocks on which quick feet, good acceleration and turning, are based. The final element for quickness is to realize that both of these elements, plus acceleration and deceleration themselves, can be trained and improved. Below are a few exercises and drills that may help -- there are all kinds of things you can do so these are just a few examples. A big part will also be played by thinking about your stance and your footwork at all times when you’re playing, and even in warm ups and fitness and games.
Some Drills for Quickness
there are so many drills you could do, the most basic of which is just skipping (with a rope). Ladder drills are also really good for this. If you don’t have a ladder or a skipping rope, you can do jumps over a line, and other variations- perhaps something like this:
DOT DRILL Imagine 5 dots arranged like the 5-side of a die. You are going to start with your feet apart and jump through the dots: (1) facing forward at all times, starting legs apart, jump to the middle “dot”, then split to the far pair of dots (“split-together-split”)
CORE: GLUTE MED
(2) on your left foot only, go around the dots in a figure 8; repeat on your right foot only, and The glute med basically keeps your knees in with both feet jumping together line and are a really critical piece of all the (3) split-together-split, but with a 180 turn movements that you need for quickness. So: Lie when you reach the far dots (so, start split; jump on your side with knees bent and feet together (supporting your head with your arm). Keeping together; jump split; jump turn; jump feet toyour back straight, and not rolling backwards, gether; jump split; jump turn, and you’re back open up your top knee from your bottom, keep- to the start. A video is here: ing your feet together. See here for a video: http://brutesquad.multiply.com/video/ item/72/dot_drill.avi http://youtu.be/ucfqiQI8X5Y
BALANCE start out by just balancing on one foot... basically anything standing on one leg (for example, yoga poses) will help! Here’s an example: FOUR CONE DRILL: this is four one-legged half-squats, with the non-standing leg pointed out to four imaginary cones at the corners of a box around you. So stand on your left leg, point your right leg to `north west’, squat down and come back up. Then your right leg goes to point ‘northeast’, ‘southeast’, ‘southwest’. Focus on staying balanced, and don’t put your right leg down between squats. Here’s a video: http://brutesquad.multiply.com/video/ item/64/4_cone_drill.avi
FAST FEET:
Roger Beatty works up a sweat on the ladders (Photograph: Mark Earley)
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 31
WE’RE ALL THE REF The solution The Situation A game is being played on portapitches on a windy day. A player catches a disc out the back of the endzone, but the wind has dragged the line into an ellipse which marks him. Has he scored?
The Call - Out of Bounds. Rule 2.1: The playing field is a rectangle 100m long and 37m wide. 2.3: The perimeter lines are not part of the playing field.
Thus, the fact that the line has moved does not change the dimensions of the pitch.Something I would consider (and this is prompted by years of people shouting “check feet” on unlined pitches) is what adjustments the receiver had made on account of the line. Did they make an effort to get their foot down before the line or did they simply catch and land without any thought. If they made an effort, and it is feasible that their effort could have got them in if the line was correct, then I would be inclined to return the disc to the thrower and resume at whatever the stall count had been. If they didn’t make any effort, or if no amount of effort would have got them in on correct lines, than I would stand by the call of out of bounds. Called by Dominick Smyth
Do you have an interesting conundrum to challenge our refs with? If so, send it to ifdanewsletter@gmail.com and the best submissions will be put in the next newsletter.
IFDA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 page 32