Strong Semester for UStA Ultimate Frisbee Team
The University of St Andrews Ultimate Frisbee team has had a strong 1st semester in various tournaments, having emerged victorious in multiple tournaments. Below are some notable moments, shared by the club.
They started out the season with two beginners’ tournaments, Edinburgh Beginners and Stirling Tune Up. Both tournaments helped to engage their new players with the sport, giving them an early opportunity to see what competitive ultimate looks like. The club sent two teams to both events, developing their new players and defending wins from the previous year.
Next up was the University Mixed Indoor Regionals (UXIR), which is the main mixed tournament of the year. The club sent two teams of around 10 players across to Dundee in the hopes of qualifying for nationals in February. Their teams came out fighting, with the 1st team winning the tournament, beating all the other Scottish unis and qualifying for Division 1 nationals for the fourth year in a row! Their 2s team put in a valiant effort to come 11th. The female-matching players shone at this tournament, particularly Marta Orzechowski and Sophie Chowgule, who are an unstoppable duo on the pitch. Marta, who has played on the German national indoor team, uses her laser-sharp throws and height advantage to great effect. Sophie, a current women’s co-captains, is widely regarded as one of the best female-matching players in Scottish university ultimate, evident to anyone who watches her clinical frisbee.
Next was University Men’s Indoor Regionals (UMIR). The club sent three teams, with the 1st team hoping to redeem themselves from their third place last year. After a very close finale against Stirling 1s, they came home with the gold! Saints 2s qualified for Division 2 nationals with their 5th place finish which is a big success for us. The 3s also showed promise being the highest placed 3s team at end of the weekend. Two players rose to the occasion: Matthew Miller and Daniel Lindsay. Matthew, who in his final year has taken on responsibility of men’s training coordinator. He was also voted Saints player of tournament after helping lead the 1s to victory. He has played since high school and brings a very high level of frisbee to the club. He has been a staple of the competitive teams since he joined and will be sorely missed when he leaves. Daniel Lindsay is now in his third year and co-captaining for his second year in a row. He only started playing the sport when he came to St Andrews and is already one of their best players. The effort and time that has been put in by Daniel is widely recognised throughout the club.
Finally this past weekend, the club sent three teams to University Women’s Indoor Regionals, the Scottish championship and qualifier for UKU Nationals. The 1s continued their winning streak, leaving with the Scottish title and a spot at Division 1 Nationals in February. With a team mostly comprised of final-years, it was a bittersweet victory. But, newcomer Olivia Kwan highlighted that the future of the club is just as bright, bringing plenty of energy and experience. The 2s narrowly missed out on a spot at Division 2 nationals, having lost three of their initially-named players and thus having to ironman a number of their matches. The 3s did fantastically considering they were the only third team in the tournament, scoring on a number of the other squads.
“With another three Scottish titles under our belt, the club is very much looking forward to Semester 2 and building on the success from the first half of the year as we shift our focus to nationals.” say club members, Elena and Nathan.
Congratulations to the team for an amazing semester, we are excited to see what comes next semester!