Nationals Round Up

We've been too busy recovering from Nationals here at the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion to do a bit of a round up, but thankfully the very fine Paul Keighley (Nats and UFNSW media guru) circulated a press release that covers lots of stuff!

More than 500 of Australia and New Zealand’s top Ultimate Frisbee players converged on Coffs Harbour this weekend for a unique sporting spectacle – the 2008 Australian Ultimate Championships.

“This has been a great event,” tournament director Simon Farrow said. “Everyone is having a fun time and there has been some very high quality ultimate for people to come and see.”

The tournament started on Thursday April 24 and concluded with the finals on Sunday April 27. It featured the top 16 men’s and 14 women’s teams from all over
Australia and New Zealand.

Highlights throughout the four days included:

* A Trans-Tasman ANZAC Day match during the evening on Friday April 25, a showcase game at BCU International Stadium featuring the Australian and New Zealand women’s teams. It was a hard fought match, with Australia emerging victorious 15 points to 5. It was great to see some international ultimate to get a taste of what is to come in August, when both Australia and New Zealand will send teams to Vancouver, Canada for the World Championships.

* Finals on Sunday April 27, where the top teams battled it out to be crowned
champions. The Open final was a tough match, with Fyshwick United (from the ACT) and Fakulti (from Sydney) trading points early on. Through some athletic layouts and aggressive defence, Fakulti gained a lead and won 15 points to 12. In the women’s final, Raging Wahine from New Zealand took out an early lead over Wildcard X-Factor (from Sydney) leading 8-3 at half time. Wildcard came back after the break, but eventually the Kiwis were the victors 15 points to 8.

The tournament was one of great contrasts. For example, on Friday the weather was lamentable, with rain and heavy gusts of wind playing havoc with discs and shelters alike. Some fields were turned to mud and some uniforms went from white to brown in a matter of minutes. Players struggled in the trying conditions that posed a significant challenge. The other days featured bright sunshine and little wind.

Mr Farrow said the best feature of Ultimate was the Spirit of the Game, which is highly regarded by all players. “As players referee the games themselves, they must strive for honesty and sportsmanship at all times.” The winners of the spirit awards for this year were The Pass in the Open division and Indies in the Women’s division.

Australian Flying Disc Association President Mel Gangemi said that this was one of the best tournaments that she had ever played in. “The venue is excellent and the
tournament organisers have done an amazing job in making sure everything was run well.”

Scores: www.afda.com/scores
Photos (Roger Barnes): http://frisbee.mindsocket.com.au/press

Here's a link to the Coffs newspaper's report.

Yep, it was a great tournament, and the Pass, and the two Firestorm's taking out the top three Spirit slots, while all taking home wins in their final games; along with Minx's third in Spirit and Sultry's wins on Day One; made for a good result for the North Region. Next year will be about delivering on all this promise!