If there is no other reason to host an ultimate tournament in Cape Town in March, it should suffice that… well… Cape Town is freaking awesome in March! Even the renowned South Easter takes a rest, leaving the disc in our hands and not on the next field. Seven teams took to Villagers FC on 2-3 March: the rosters included a wide range of players, ranging from ultra-experienced to complete novice.
The only travelling team, Slug and Raven (a composite of Johannesburg players and East-coasters) charged through the tournament to meet local squad Chilli in the final. The visitors’ skill and spirit earned the enthusiastic support of the capetonian crowd, who were in for a treat with the feisty battle that ensued. Amidst much cheering and obligatory heckling, Chilli took the game on universal point.
The morning of 1 Sept 2012 saw the first clash between two South African university teams – age-old rivals who on this day added ultimate to their many other battle grounds. UCT, the home team, have a reputation for development of quality players and have for some years been a force to be reckoned with. Maties, formerly Stellenbosch Ultimate, were in their first year of (re)birth as a Stellenbosch University-associated club and brought a mixture of experienced players and fresh recruits from their own student pool.
A hard-fought game ensued, with both teams carrying the pride of their respective universities – all the while upholding fiercely the great spirit of the game both teams are known for. Maties defense held up well against UCT’s slick offense, but UCT’s superior training showed in their ability to capitalize on turn-overs. The talented, well-oiled UCT Flying Tigers took the game 17-9 against the fiery-spirited Maties squad.
South Africa now has an online disc store specifically catering for Ultimate players. The vision of the store owners is to see Ultimate growth as a sport in RSA and that can’t happen without Ultimate Discs. The store was opened so that any aspiring player can have access to a proper disc, always.
Discs cost R140 and are delivered for free in the Cape Town area. Deliveries to the rest of South Africa costs R20.
The majority of stock is 175g Discraft Ultra-Star discs.
Mozambique Ultimate has been quietly growing a solid core of players over the last few years and they usually create tough games when visiting tournaments in South Africa. The best thing about Moz Ultimate is their Xefina tournament that usually happens around July each year. Find them through their website HERE or their Facebook.
Hey people, get your hands on the Nationals 2012 DVD!
The Standard version comes as a 2 disc set that has highlights of 27 games from the tournament. A Premium version is available which includes an additional 2 disc, each with the full game of your choice! The list of games that were filmed is as follows
Day 1
L Donkeys vs Chilli B
Ghost vs H’ heads
P Bunny vs Salusa
Ulti Sic vs UCT CCC
L Donkeys vs Ulti Air
Ghost vs UCT Tigers
Khayoba vs Salusa
Chilli A vs UCT CCC
Chilli B vs Ulti Air
UCT Tigers vs H’heads
Khayoba vs P Bunny
Chilli A vs Ulti Sic
Womens Exibition game
Day 2
Salusa vs H’heads
UCT CCC vs Tygers
Khayoba vs Chilli B
Tygers vs Ulti Air
Khayoba vs Ghost
Ulti Sic vs Ulti Air
P Bunny vs Rebels
Chilli A vs UCT Tigers
J Sparrow vs UCT CCC
Day 3
Ulti Air vs H’heads
Chilli A vs Khayoba
UCT CCC vs Maties
Ulti Sic vs UCT Tigers
Ghost vs L Donkeys
The Standard set is selling for R140 and the Premium for just R180! Get onto this, buy a few for your friends and family and support the effort that went into filming, editing and packaging the DVD’s.
Get in touch with Anne to place your orders: anne.maftei[at]gmail.com – if thats not convincing enough then check out this teaser:
The South African Ultimate Club Championships is the highlight of the season and the SAFDA event calendar. In the aftermath of the 2012 event, we can safely say that it was one of the most hotly contested Ultimate tournaments ever held in this country. The level of the sport is clearly taking huge leaps forward and we will undoubtedly expect teams from around the country to push even harder for the top honours next year.
The tourney ran over three days of a holiday weekend with Day One featuring Pool Games, Day Two the Playoff Rounds, and Day Three the Final placement games. With 16 teams representing various regions around the country, and over 250 participants taking part in 52 games; the hosts were in for some heavy foot traffic. The fantastic Villagers Football Club in Claremont, home to Ghost Ultimate Club, was the venue for the tournament and provided soft, green pitches and excellent facilities for the players and spectators alike. The club caterers did an amazing job of keeping us all well fed with top quality food, and they also arranged the coffee stand and craft beer tasting by Boston Brewery.
The weather kept us all on our toes with wet mornings, yet somehow it stayed dry through the days. The chilly North wind plagued all teams with strong and gusty conditions which rewarded those with safe hands and patient offence. Zone defence was the order of the weekend which utilised the unpredictable conditions as much as possible. With the brand new implementation of web based scoring, each team updated their games scores live and could check up on the progress of the other games.
Day 1: The 16 teams were seeded into four pools that focused on keeping a balance of different regions across the board. Each team competed in 3 pool games to position themselves going into the playoff rounds. The Pool Rounds finished with only a couple of upsets when Salusa managed to replace PrawnBunnies as second in Pool A, and ChilliB edged ahead of UltitudeAir in Pool B. Once the scoring filtered through, the playoff games for Day 2 started to take shape and heated discussions began as to who would crack it into the top division. The crowd gathered with beers and food in hand to watch the Women’s Ultimate showcase game which pitted the Cape Town based ladies against the Jo’burg ladies. Ant and Rich added to the vibe with some entertaining commentary as the girls battled for bragging rights under the flood lights.
Day 2: The Crossover Rounds took the 2nd and 3rd placed teams in each pool and matched them up against each other to determine who would be placed into the top and bottom playoff brackets. These were some of the closest games of the tournament with all teams hungry for the chance to finish in Division 1. The Hammerheads from East London and Prawn Bunny from Durban both narrowly missed out on wins against Cape Town teams in this round. The Quarter Finals contained a huge upset when the tournament rookies and 16th seeds, Tygers from Cape Town’s northern suburbs, managed to unseat UCTCarCrashChameleon from their 9th seed and jumped up 7 places. The Semi Final round saw Maties from Stellenbosch move ahead of the East London Rebels, although the major upset was a clash of two familiar Cape Town Summer League teams when 4th seed Ghost managed to beat top seed and defending champions, Khayoba. The game was incredibly hard fought and an intensely physical battle in very gusty winds that stayed close right down to the last minutes. The showcase game for Day Two was put on by The Mambas, the SA Open team that is heading to compete at the World Champs in July. With a few non-Mambas invited to fill out the lines, the boys put on a show of faster and more chancy, free flowing Ultimate than was expected in the previous matches. The party that followed was a vibrant affair with some interesting dress and a lot of dancing that kept the legs loose. The UCT crowd and Prawn Bunny got the party going early and Ghost showed up in coordinated white coveralls… however huge respect is owed to the Salusa team who needed to be pushed out the door at the end of the evening and still showed up to play the next day.
Day 3: Finals day dawned with another wet and gloomy morning and each team had their reputations to fight for in the placement games of the tournament. The intensity was evident from the start where three of the first four games were won by only one point, the rest of the games also showing a marginal points difference. The Hammerheads fought through a really tough game against Ultitude Air to gain the top place in Division 2 and win the Plate Trophy in its inaugural year, we look forward to seeing what this team brings next year when they host Nationals 2013. Ultitude Sic represented the Gauteng teams holding off the UCT Flying Tigers to finish in 5th. Ex-championship winners Chilli while suffering from a list of injuries pulled through to claim 3rd from the hungry grasp of Khayoba.
Multiple finalists and one of the oldest clubs in SA, the Long Donkeys from Pietermaritzburg have earned the formidable reputation of being “the team to beat” at any South African tournament they enter. Tall and athletic, with a dynamic offence and crushing zone defence, their stats of wins to losses would easily trump any other team in the country, a world apart from the newly formed Ghost Ultimate Club that met them in the final. Ghost was born from the merging of players from Zebru and Khayoba that competed under the name 1Up before deciding to establish a formal club in Cape Town. As the host club of the tournament, Ghost had everything to prove going into the tournament, and they worked as a disciplined unit to gain a place in the final versus the Long Donkeys.
The game got off to a firey start with a quick points exchange as the two teams tested out their opponents strategy for the game. The gusty wind strengthened the Donkeys zone defence however it also seemed to thwart the devastating Donkeys deep game when long floating hucks would frequently veer off course for a turnover. With Ghost also setting a zone defence against the Donkeys were forced to play a shorter game with more passes; a style preferred by the home team. The teams exchanged short runs of points up to half time with Ghost a few points in the lead, however in the second half the momentum shifted to favour Ghost. The local team seemed to settle down into a solid game of focused passing that weaved the disc patiently through the opposition defence, and shut down their key players on offence. The Donkeys held the game in play until the time cap was implemented, however Ghost had gained enough of a lead to take the final and win the 2012 championship trophy.
A voting panel of judges from three different regions and teams decided on a male and female player of the match, awarded to Anne Maftei and Alan Hoyt of Ghost. Other awards presented went to the top assists and scores for men and women, as well as the team prize for Spirit of the Game. (points averaged since some teams played less games) Assists: Ryan Purcell (Ghost) – average 5.8/game Scores: Keanan Basson (Chilli B) – average 4.3/game WomenAssists: Teena Sebastian (Ultitude Air) – average 1.9/game Women Scores: Rebecca Kershow (Khayoba) – average 1.7/game SpiritAward: UCT CarCrashChameleon – average 17.29 (out of 20) /game
A huge round of thanks must go out to all that helped make this tournament one of the best that SA Ultimate has ever held: Villagers FC (Dave, Anton, Hendre and Martin) for providing a top notch venue and catering, Rob Lloyd who sat patiently at the central desk answering questions and making sure things ran smoothly, Dylan Kime for building the live scoring website, Sport Unlimited for sponsoring awesome prizes, 100Plus for sponsoring excellent hydration, UltiVillage for sponsoring prizes, Nexus-Net for providing free internet all weekend, and finally the Tournament Organising Committee: James Moolenschot, Anne Maftei, Finn de Haan and Paul Vicars, who all poured many hours into the tourney preparation and planning.
Tournament geeks can check out the detailed results schedule here: Nationals 2012 Results
Back L-R: James Moolenschot, Finn de Haan, Darren Welman, Trevor Pols, Brad Rawlings, Corne von Bratt, Thaine Sasman, Noah Schermbrucker, Alan Hoyt, Paul Vicars, Seth Tilanus, Jason Buch – Front L-R: Ryan Purcell, Christine Moore, Alicia LeClair, Anne Maftei, Alice Bauman, Nicola Fryer, Katie Huston, Brianna Mersey
Final Placing:
1. Ghost Ultimate Club– Cape Town
2. Long Donkeys – Pietermaritzburg
3. Chilli – Cape Town
4. Khayoba – Cape Town
5. Ultitude Sic – Johannesburg
6. UCT Flying Tigers – Cape Town
7. Salusa – Cape Town
8. Chilli B – Cape Town
9. Hammerheads – East London
10. Ultitude Air – Johannesburg
11. Prawn Bunny – Durban
12. Tygers – Cape Town
13. Maties – Stellenbosch
14. UCT CarCrashChameleon – Cape Town
15. Rebels – East London
16. Jack Sparrow – Johannesburg
Spirit of the Game (average/20):
UCT CCC 17.29
Ultitude Air 16.57
L. Donkeys 16
Chilli A 15.83
Tygers 15.67
Chilli B 15.5
Maties 15.33
UCT Tigers 15.29
P. Bunny 15
Salusa 14.43
H.heads 14
Khayoba 14
Ultitude Sic 13.67
J. Sparrow 13.25
Ghost 11.4
Rebels 11.4
Nationals is just 11 days away and things are heating up in Cape Town in anticipation of the biggest tournament of the year. There are a few notifications for the community in case you haven’t been notified by your team captain or representative.
Accommodation
We still have accommodation available for players struggling to find affordable digs, you just have to send in your roster with the relevant sections filled in. First come, first accommodated.
Schedule
Check out the Tournament schedule, which has been set to avoid same-region match ups as much as possible while maintaining an accurate seeding. Click HERE: Schedule Nationals 2012 Final
Party
The party is for over 18′s only, so any under age players on your team need to make arrangements for after 8pm on Saturday. The theme is Black and White! and has been chosen to be flexible and easy to manage for travelling teams. We encourage all teams to get creative and come dressed up. There will be a prize for the team that wins the party…
Rules
Nationals will fall under the current WFDF rules which are available here: www.ultimaterules.co.cc
We expect all teams to make sure that they are familiar with these rules to ensure a more enjoyable experience for all.
Registration
In order to help the event run smoothly, players are encouraged to meet at the venue on Thursday evening to sign themselves into the tournament and collect their player packs. It will be possible to sign in on Friday morning, however, any player that has not signed the indemnity form will not be allowed to play in the tournament until they do.
The Nationals tournament committee is excited to announce that we are now accepting registrations for the SAFDA South African National Champs 2012.
A few notes:
A month ago we sent out a request for Expressions of Interest so that we could get an idea of the numbers of teams planning to attend the event. Based on the number of responses the 2012 tournament will cater for up to 16 teams. The set number of teams is necessary in order for us to successfully plan an event of this scale and provide the contestants with the best experience possible.
You do NOT need to have sent an Expression of Interest in order to register for the event
In the unlikely event that more than 16 teams make the registration payment before the deadline, we will notify all the registered teams of the subsequent procedures.
In order to successfully register you need to fill in the linked form AND pay the registration fee before the deadline date.
After we have all teams registered, we will then request player registrations and player fees directly with the registered team captains.
Schedule: The final schedule will be released once we have a list of participating teams, however at this point we can announce the following guidelines:
Friday 27th April - Pool Games will run from 9am until 6pm – all teams play 3 games – the exhibition match will run from 6:30 until 7:30pm
Saturday 28th April – Crossover round will run from 9am – these teams play 3 games, the rest play 2 games – the exhibition match will run from 6:30 until 7:30pm
Sunday 29th April – Final games will run from 10am – All teams play 1 game – the Final will start at 2pm – the Awards Presentation will be completed by 5:30pm
Accommodation: The venue is located in the suburb of Claremont, please view the map here: http://g.co/maps/u4kjk
The Swinburne Weekend hat tourney was a huge success with 53 people making their way to Harrismith from Joburg, Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Bloemfontein for a fun weekend of Ultimate and Disc Golf on a splendid farm. Teams included Curry Ninja, Custard Slices, Kung-Fu Curries and Budget Cuts. Hectic hail came down during Social time on Saturday evening, but no fatalities were reported.
The hat tourney was ended off by a tight Coastal vs Inland match, which the KZN folk won 10-9.
Prizes went to:
Best Female: Amy from Durban
Best Male: Wesley from Bloem
Best Lay-out: Leander from Ultitude
A BIG Thank You to uber-organisers Michael Weston and Luisa Nardini from Ultitude for organising an excellent weekend.
The SAFDA committee has been working hard to improve on the smooth running of Ultimate in South Africa and one key aspect of this is to get our tournaments organised well in advance each year.
If your club, team, or regional association would like to host the Mixed Nationals tournament in April/May 2013 then you are welcome to submit a bid document to the SAFDA committee that preferably contains the following information:
Club, Team or Association
Contact person and/or Tournament Director *with contact details
Brief outline of how the organisers plan to approach hosting the tournament: eg. available field space and facilities
How you would plan around the lack of a 3 day weekend at the end of April 2013.
The successful bid will be announced at Nationals 2012 prize giving. SAFDA will then offer assistance to the successful club in the form of providing documentation and guidelines accumulated from previous tournaments. Since this is the biggest Ultimate tournament in Southern Africa, we understand it is a big responsibility and therefore the committee is currently working on implementing a system that benefits the tournament host club directly. For more information please feel free to contact us.
The deadline for bids is: 6 April 2012
Bids and queries can be submitted to James [wildcard.enterprises [at] gmail.com] and/or Lionel [lionel [at] designature.co.za]
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) hosts the World Ultimate Championships every four years where countries get to enter their best Ultimate teams in one of up to 5 different divisions: Open, Women’s, Mixed, Masters, and now possibly Women’s Masters. In July 2012 organisers expect up to 60 national teams to enter the next event hosted in the city of Sakai, Japan.
South Africa has been represented at the World Champs since as early as the 1998 event held in Minneapolis, USA. The last Worlds held in 2008 Vancouver, Canada, there was only an Open team from SA where the previous tournament in Finland had a team in 3 divisions: Open, Mixed and Junior’s (Juniors is now a separate event). In 2012 we are again looking to send an Open and Mixed division team. The Open team is being led by the capable duo of Chris Webster and Finn de Haan, both veterans of previous international campaigns. The squad has already been rounded up for a few training sessions and spirits are high. There is much work to be done over the next 7 months but there is a confidence in the air that this SA team is going to cause a few upsets. One of the weaknesses of the previous teams was the lack of unified preparation and goal – usually magnified by picking up stronger international players who play with a different style. This time around the preparation schedule has been set early and incorporates a largely Cape Town based squad which includes a refreshing amount of young blood. Even the international boys in the squad are going to be around for the majority of training, which promises to result in a strong and unified team to represent South Africa.
With the Open division leading the more competitive men astray, the Mixed team has in the past traditionally incorporated the Ultimate crowd that is both enthusiastic and social. These are the men and ladies that aim for the best experience possible which usually involves a play hard and play hard attitude. The rumour on the interweb is that the Mixed team organisers are hoping to have an even thirds split of players from Gauteng, Kwazulu Natal, and the Cape. The difficulty with the Mixed team is recruiting enough women since the rules state that there must be at least 3 persons of each gender on the field for each team.
Being a largely self-sponsored sport, both of these representative squads will need to dig deep into their pockets to get the funds together to make the trip. There are plans in the pipeline to run a few fund raising initiatives to help ease the financial burden and we can definitely use any help and support on offer. If you are interested in finding out more about these international campaigns and how you can help with fundraising or sponsorship then please send an email through to us: contact[at]safda.org.za or wildcard.enterprises [at ]gmail.com
Due to xmas holidays affecting the sign up, the tournament has been postponed until early 2012. Keep in touch to catch the revised dates!
Hello all!
Cape Town Women’s Ultimate is happy to announce the first of what we hope will be many women’s hat tournaments!! The details will be set once we get a better idea of numbers, but we’re looking to combine skills training with a traditional hat tournament. Two to three skills clinics will be set up between/in parallel to hat games. We will be developping 20-30 minute skills clinics, the topics of which will be determined based on numbers.
When: Saturday, December 17th (that’s a long weekend!), from 10/11am to 4pm
Where: Wynberg Sports Club fields
See attached flyer [ Hat Tourney Invite ] for more information and some sweet pictures of awesome women dominating at Ultimate. Please circulate widely, bring friends and sign up using the link below!!
The infamous Jozi Rocktober Ultimate tournament did a celebrity tour of Durban this year over the weekend of 15-16th October.
Ultimate teams from around the country descended into KwaZulu Natal with boardshorts and sandals packed, expecting the full brunt of a Durban spring. What they got instead was overcast and windy conditions with slight sprinkle of rain. This did nothing to prevent competitors from showcasing some great Ultimate at the Westville Old Boys club.
The Prawn Bunnies made us all very comfortable by organising awesome food, a Red Bull tent for shade and bean bags to have a nap on, and finally added the Red Bull truck and DJ as motivation to get out of the bean bags when the legs were complaining. The atmosphere was lively and the party on Saturday night good fun with a few hucking and macking contests revving up the crowd. Those that stayed to the end would have seen some impromptu kareoke by a certain Cape Town player.
Credit should go to team TnT from Durban and Jack Sparrow from Joburg who competed in their first tournament. The Ultimates showed great spirit and Dabique crossed international borders in the name of disc love. Prawn Bunny used their home field advantage to achieve a great result ahead of the ever challenging Joburg teams. The Cape Town rivalry team was fierce, each one hoping for a good crack at the reigning champs. UCT fought valiently in the semis narrowly missing out, and took out their frustrations on Chilli in the 3rd place playoff. The Long Donkeys showed why they were the defending champs and arrived at the final with annoying ease, using their atheticism to full effect. 1Up had a strong tournament with a good display of old school strategy and cool heads, reaching the final with confidence in spite of some interesting height mismatches and a gusty wind that favoured the Donkeys zone defence.
The final matched up two teams that were as yet unbeaten in the tournament and it could have gone either way. The Donkeys got off to a cracking start with some early break points putting 1Up on the back foot. 1Up finally settled down to give the Pietermaritzburg boys and girls more of a challenge and got stuck into narrowing the points difference. The score evened out and 1Up were gaining momentum when the Donkeys called a few time outs and adjusted their zone. With the time cap approaching 1Up needed to work quickly if they were going to take the win. The teams more or less traded points with the Donkeys leading until the time cap was called and the Long Donkeys took home the trophy for the second year running. Credit to both teams for putting on a good show for the spectators and huge thanks to the tourney organisers for all their efforts, we hope that next years tournament can live up to your standard.
The 2011 South African Mixed Ultimate National Champs took place bewteen 30 April and 2nd May at the Pirates Sports Club in Johannesburg. An unprecedented 16 teams took part in the tournament with a chance to match their skills against teams from across the country and even beyond the border.
The games over the weekend were scheduled to provide the most closely competitive games for all teams throughout the weekend, with a Division 1 including the top 8 seeded teams and the remaining 8 competing in Division 2. Once the Pool stage was completed, the Group stage provided opportunity for all teams to compete for a final place in Division 1.
The competitive standard of Ultimate over the weekend was excellent with very close games across both divisions. The main standouts in Division 2 were ALA who played some highly athletic ultimate that included many dramatic hucks, the Hammerheads from East London who have improved massively in just one year and competed strongly for a top finish in Division 2. Durban’s Prawn Bunnies narrowly missed out on a top 8 finish in a very competitive game against Zebru from Cape Town and went on to win Division 2 in another hotly contested game against the Hammerheads.
Division 1 showcased the highest level Ultimate that Southern Africa has to offer with some solid experience and amazing athelticism on display. Some of the early pool games were good enough to be finals with some fantastic match ups and closely fought games. A few upsets over the course of the weekend kept the tournament interesting and the title winner was still uncertain up until the absolute last few point in the final. Mozambique kept their heads as a small squad with injuries to claim 5th place over the top Jhb team, Ult-Ctrl-Del. The UCT Tigers faced old Cape Town rivals Chilli in the 3rd place playoff, with Chilli using their experience to keep the tireless youth at bay and claim 3rd.
The Long Donkeys from Pietermaritzburg and Khayoba from Cape Town met each other in the final, both with a clean record of wins in the tournament. The Donkeys brought their unconventional and opportunistic style of Ultimate to the final that had them storming through their early games leaving most opponents totally bewildered. Khayoba had also moved through their weekend with a show of intense and athletic play, most notably taking a closely matched win from Chilli in the pools to grab the first seed into Group 2. The two sides battled it out in the final mostly trading points the entire game: the Donkeys zone defence and lightning quick capitalisation of turn overs versus an incredibly disciplined and clinical Khayoba. The threat of the Long Donkeys is so evident when you find yourself standing enveloped in the shadow of a player you’re supposed to stop from throwing the disc, add to this the consistent high release throws in all directions and passes are close to unstoppable. They have a truly enviable collection of height, fitness and speed which they use in every point. The Khayoba patience and accuracy with the disc had them making an incredible amount of successful passes each point to work the disc into the endzone, and with the Donkeys rock solid deep coverage, it was the only way to go. The disc was worked under, over and around the cup, squeezing through holes and finding gaps that would lead to the jailbreak one-two passes up field.
As the teams played into the time cap, it was an unlucky Donkeys turnover that allowed a quick offensive reaction by Khayoba which got them their final point to win and the title of South African Champions for 2011. A fantastic final game to end off a great weekend of Ultimate. Huge thanks and appreciation must go to the organisers of the tournament for keeping things running smoothly all weekend: the co-ordination of games, food, accommodation, lifts, entertainment and prizes all added to the success. We appreciate your efforts at setting the standard so high for the next tournament organisers!
*If you have great photo’s from the tournament then email us (contact[at]safda.org.za) and we will let you know where to send them to be added to the gallery.
Word on the sidelines is that the East London Ultimate scene is growing in leaps and bounds. With their first showing at a national tournament in Cape Town last year, they appear to have returned to their lair with renewed energy to plot ways to take over the Ultimate world.
Great organisation and a healthy development of the sport at high school level means that these enthusiasts are planning for the future of the sport. They even have a tournament scheduled for June with a winners purse of R2000… more than likely a first in SA. Huge kudo’s to ELUF and we look forward to seeing you in Jozi for Nationals 2011!
The energy on Ultimate pitches around South Africa is buzzing as Nationals Fever takes a hold of the various communities. The biggest disc sports tournament in Southern Africa is scheduled for the long weekend at the end of April… just 4 weeks away.
Hosted in Johannesburg at the Sandton Sports Club, this promises to be a weekend of great Highveld weather and unique Jozi style fun. With a rumoured 12 teams from around (and just outside) South Africa travelling into the bustling financial capital of SA, it also promises to be a weekend of epic Ultimate.
An unprecedented 5 teams from Cape Town are travelling to Jhb to fight it out for the honour of Mixed Ultimate Champs, looking to upset the Jhb teams on their own turf. Those ever-intimidating contenders from the steamy KZN province will surely be frothing at the chance to grip their big hands around that tiny little trophy. The outsiders are always the dark horse in these tournaments and we hope that the Moz team brings their A-game. Of course the Jozi contingent will be grinning while the rest pant and wheeze in the oxygen-poor air, while also knowing where the pot holes are in the fields and which gritty patches to avoid laying out in.
This year also boasts the first ever Womens Nationals tournament which will be held on the morning of Saturday 30 April, proving that ladies Ultimate in SA is moving from strength to strength.
So to all competitors, start practicing that game face because this year is going to be hotly contested at all levels. And to all others, get down to the Sandton Sports Club to watch the all the grass stained action take place.
The I <3 DBN Ultimate Hat Tournament 2010 took place on December 11 & 12 at the Westville Old Boys Sports Club in Westville, South Africa. Sixty Six players from Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Angola came together for a full weekend of Fs: Frisbee, Fun, Friendship, and a Freaking good time!
The 66 players were divided into 6 teams of evenly matched skill and experience. Special care was taken to ensure gender and geographical distribution as well. Hat Tournaments are unique in that they allow individuals to play with new people, learn new skills, and make new friends.
The festivities began on Friday, December 10th at the Westville Old Boys Sports Club. Players arrived to register and collect their player packs. Every player attending the tournament was given an I <3 DBN team shirt, an I <3 DBN water bottle, a Durban Ultimate messenger-style bag, some goodies from Red Bull, as well as sweeties and a poncho, in case it rained. The weather reports threatened torrential downpours, but the I <3 DBN committee held thumbs rather tightly in the hopes that the rain would pass them by.
Perhaps the best part (aside from the epic Ultimate) about tournaments is the reunions they provide. Friday night was not only about registration, it was about seeing old friends, reminiscing about the last tournament, and making plans for this one. It was also the moment when the team lists were revealed. Neal and Robin, the I <3 DBN tournament directors, had spent hours and hours working on the teams to ensure that they were entirely even (see the story of that adventure here). Needless to say, it was a huge relief when players looked at the lists and confidently proclaimed, “With a team like this, there is no way we can lose!”
Full of the joys of friendship, we took an early night to prepare for the long day ahead. Games would start on Saturday at 8am and continue until 5:15pm. Each team would play 4 games of 75 minutes each, totaling in 5 full hours of Ultimate. It would be a long day.
The broader schedule of the tournament included a preliminary round robin followed by an elimination round. In other words, each team would play every other (aka: 5 games) and then engage in the elimination, which would provide another 1 or 2 games. The teams would play 4 round-robin games on Saturday, and on Sunday would complete the round-robin and also play their final matches.
On Saturday, each team played two games before lunch and two after. During our lunch break, an exhibition game was held. Boys from Streetwise (Durban Ultimate’s main development site, a home for street children in Pinetown) played a 5-a-side game with members of the Westville community and Durban Ultimate players. Durban Ultimate has always known how talented the street boys are, but it was utterly refreshing for the rest of the Ultimate community to learn this as well. The boys were heralded as star players, which, hopefully, increased their confidence and love for the game. The boys have now gone home for the holidays, but we look forward to visiting with the boys again and hearing their thoughts on their game.
The weather on Saturday was outrageous. Seriously, we had all possible seasons: blazing hot and humid sun, blustering wind, and pouring rain. We try to accommodate everyone’s needs in Durban.
At the end of the day on Saturday, after four rounds of preliminary play, the standings were as follows:
WIN
LOSS
Dingane
IIII
Solomon
III
I
Mpande
III
I
Shaka
II
II
Cetshwayo
IIII
Goodwill
IIII
Saturday night provided an epic party at the Durban beachfront at the Durban Lifesaving Club, a beautiful second story building on the promenade with indoor bars and dance floors, and outdoor patios overlooking the ocean.
The party kicked off at 7pm with a pounding DJ complete with party lights. Hot Debonair’s pizza was served at 7:30pm and people chowed until they could not consume anymore.
The highlight of the party was a bunny piñata (an homage to the Prawn Bunnies), which players took turns attempting to smash. When the piñata broke, Ultimate players dove onto the floor to collect as much candy as possible. It was almost like a 5 year old’s birthday party. After the piñata was destroyed, the dance floor opened up, and people got their groove on. The party fizzled out around 11pm, and players returned home to rest up for the next big day of Ultimate.
It was quite funny how the end of the round-robin worked out. The final games in the round robin mirrored what the first round of elimination would be. In that way, the morning’s first games could have been played as mere warm-ups for the second games. Although some teams claimed to be “taking it easy,” all of the games were highly contested matches, where all players put their broken bodies on the line.
In the end, Dingane beat Shaka to secure 1st place, Mpande beat Solomon to take 2nd, and Cetshwayo beat Goodwill to take 5th, leaving the standings as follows:
WIN
LOSS
RANK
Dingane
IIIII
1
Solomon
III
II
3
Mpande
IIII
I
2
Shaka
II
III
4
Cetshwayo
I
IIII
5
Goodwill
IIIII
6
The semi-finals were then played, with Dingane taking on Shaka again, while Solomon challenged Mpande.
Both Shaka and Solomon dug deep and were able to beat their opponents. Whereas Solomon ran away with their game, winning 15-10, the game between Shaka and Dingane came down to the final point. The scores were tied as time was called, meaning that one remaining point would be played; the winner of this point would be the winner of the game. Dingane started with possession, but a nasty gust of wind sent the disc off-target, causing a turnover. Shaka was able to quickly capitalize on this unlucky error, scoring one last point, winning the game, and thus advancing into the final. The undefeated Dingane had fallen.
The 5th vs. 6th playoff game was just as intense as all the other games. Goodwill and Cetshwayo put more on the line than their bodies; they put their money. Throughout the weekend, I <3 DBN engaged in a Charity Challenge and raised money for CHOC, the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa. The team who raised the most money for charity would win a prize. Goodwill and Cetshwayo decided that whichever team won their 5th place game would also win the charity money from both teams. Although Goodwill began the game with a wide lead, Cetshwayo came back in the end to win the game, thus securing 5th place and a large sum of money to donate to charity.
Utterly exhausted, Mpande and Dingane opted not to play “regular” Ultimate for their 3rd place game, but instead played a rousing game of Social, wherein they soaked each other in water, followed by a competitive game of team Rock-Paper-Scissors. From these games, Mpande emerged victorious.
Finally, it was time for the final.
Shaka, in yellow, and Solomon, in white, began their game with a full house of spectators watching. The music was pumping from the Red Bull van (that had generously been on site all weekend to keep the vibe going with cool tunes), and if it was raining, the players did not even notice.
Shaka came away with a fast lead, scoring five points in quick succession. But Solomon would not be so easily taken. Solomon scored three unanswered points, bringing them close to the lead. The game continued with the teams exchanging points, which kept the score close and the game tense. Despite being a highly competitive final, the game remained very spirited, just as the rest of the tournament had been. And of course, what is an Ultimate final without a streaker? Many thanks to Dylan for fulfilling this little bit of tradition.
The final score was Shaka 15 to Solomon 12. Shaka had come from 4th place, after losing most of their games in the round robin, to win the tournament. One player commented that it was a great testament to the evenness of the teams that a losing team on Saturday could come back and win everything on Sunday.
The final standings for the tournament were:
1
Shaka
2
Solomon
3
Mpande
4
Dingane
5
Cetshwayo
6
Goodwill
The prize-giving ceremony awarded Trevor and Marlise as MVPS, and Teena Sebastian and new Durban player Matt Cavanaugh for their epic layouts. Dylan was awarded a prize for streaking, and not to be outdone, Mike W and Nic took off all their clothes and chased Robin around the field before catching her and rubbing themselves all over her. Needless to say, it was a traumatizing experience. Cetshwayo was awarded the spirit prize for their incredible spirit, and Shaka was recognized for winning the tournament.
The Charity Challenge raised nearly R2200 for CHOC, with Shaka raising a whopping R913 and thus winning the charity prize.
After all was said and done, players said farewell and departed towards home. Those who did not have to leave so soon, stayed behind for an impromptu Bring & Braai at the Westville Old Boys Sports Club.
At the end of the day, the I <3 DBN Ultimate Hat Tournament 2010 was a resounding success. Hopefully, it proved that Durban really can do more than sing and dance, and they can especially organize incredible tournaments. Ideally, the I <3 DBN becomes an annual event.
The I <3 DBN team would like to thank our sponsors, friends, and associates once more for their amazing support:
Red Bull, for the free drinks, the music, the party, and the wiiiiiiiings.
The Westville Old Boys Sports Club, for the venue. Pam, for her delicious food. nologo, for sponsoring the party’s DJ.
The Durban Lifesaving Club, for the awesome party venue. Debonair’s pizza for the chow, and the gift cards.
The Rotary Club of Westville, for lifting our development players to their exhibition game.
The South African Flying Disc Association is the governing body for disc sports in South Africa. SAFDA is affiliated to the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) and strives to promote the growth and development of disc sports in South Africa.
South Africa now has an online disc store specifically catering for Ultimate players. The vision of the store owners is to see Ultimate growth as a sport in RSA and that can’t happen without Ultimate Discs. The store was opened so that any aspiring player can have access to a proper disc, always.
The South African Ultimate Club Championships is the highlight of the season and the SAFDA event calendar. In the aftermath of the 2012 event, we can safely say that it was one of the most hotly contested Ultimate tournaments ever held in this country. The level of the sport is clearly taking huge leaps forward and we will undoubtedly expect teams from around the country to push even harder for the top honours next year.
