Worlds Recap

So Worlds was fun, though much of it was in a "please god let me get through this point without dropping dead" sort of way. Running continuously in 90+ degree weather without cloud cover for upwards of seven hours each day for four days was inarguably not an ideal way to ease back into playing Ultimate. Still, the soreness and exhaustion felt good at times - just not while I was conscious.

One of the few photos I took of us playing.

Despite concerted efforts, my team wasn't very good at winning games. I found out after I got there that 7 Express didn't make it to Regionals this past club season. And they're playing at Worlds?! Given that fact, I guess it's not terribly surprising that we went 0-6 while I was there and 2-8 overall. In short, we stunk. I had a difficult time gelling with 18 strangers and three people with whom I hadn't played in over three years. Although I liked getting to know the players, some of them drove me (and each other) insane on the field. While seemingly well-adjusted individuals off the field, a few inexplicably turned psychotic during our games.

I will share just one example. One teammate, when he wasn't playing, would sit in his chair with his arms crossed and bark out such helpful tips as, "C'mon, catch that shit!", "Fucking run harder!", and "Throw better throws!" Yet one time when I made a cut for him after he caught the disc, he looked me off and later made the excuse that he didn't have confidence in his "long" throws (it would barely have been a half field length throw if he actually threw it). However, his inability to throw a disc clearly could not have been the only problem resulting from that failed play so he had to criticize my cutting as well. Amazingly, this guy managed to pick a fight with everyone on our team during every game.

Apart from those less than inspiring moments, it was awesome to play teams from all over the world. We played against teams from the UK, Italy, Germany, Australia, and throughout SE Asia. I also learned a new cheering game and it goes a little something like this:

Players from both teams begin by "mingling" in a small circle for an unspecified period of time. The "referee" would then call out an instruction randomly that can be one of three options:

1. "Tandem!" -- Each player has to find a partner. One has to lie on his/her stomach on the ground while the other has to balance on top of him/her with arms outstretched.

7 Express and the Italian team, Gert Johnny's Band

2. "Pole!" -- Each player has to find two partners. One player has to stretch his/her arms high above his/her head and press his/her palms together to form a human "pole." Then the other two players have to pole dance on either side of the "pole."

[I was too caught up in watching to take a photo of this.]

3. "Princess!" -- Each player has to find a partner. One player must carry the other in his/her arms.

Anyone who is left without a partner in any round is out of the game. Mingling occurs between rounds. And the game ends when only two or three players remain in the circle. Watching this game beats seeing a land shark parade any day. I especially enjoyed the pole dancing bits!

Another highlight from the trip was running into Brynne who, by the way if you haven't heard, is the co-captain of Mischief! I didn't get the opportunity to watch her team play, but I'm glad I saw her.

Like almost all frisbee tournaments, I didn't see much else other than fields and my hotel room while I was there, so I can't say much about what Perth (or Fremantle where we had team dinner) is all about.

I made it back to Adelaide by Friday night - just in time for an early morning group meeting the next day and a twelve-page paper to write. Taking off from school for five days felt like a big risk at the time but the timing turned out to be fantastic because I didn't have any work due that week. After chasing plastic for so many days, I was eager to return to my mundane grad school life.

View of Perth on my flight back to Adelaide.

Overall, I had a good time. More importantly, I now can add Worlds to my list of Ultimate Frisbee accomplishments -- woohoo!

This is how flat most of Australia is.

Bonus Features
Video 1 (the Americans):


Video 2 (the Italians):