Nick shares this latest report on behalf of the Isle of Wight Frisbee Team. Ed
Isle of Wight Ultimate fight for first win at regional qualifiers, but miss out of qualification.
The Isle of Wight Ultimate Frisbee club, Wight Wild Cards, have competed in their first ever UK Ultimate Regional qualifier. Last weekend the Isle of Wight ultimate team competed in Cranford London along with a host of other Frisbee teams battling to secure a place at the UK-wide National tournament.
Tough opposition
For the Isle of Wight team it was their first regional tournament, having played only in friendly tournaments beforehand. The two-day tournament featuring around eight 20 minute games saw the Wild Cards come up against tough opposition.
Being seeded in a group with three former National level teams it ended up being a tough weekend. Wild Cards went into the tournament seeded near the bottom, but managed to defy odds securing a win in their final match of the tournament to stay off the bottom.
Marking the Isle of Wight for expansion
The weekend became a chance to showcase how far the club had come and mark the Isle of Wight position as a place for Ultimate Frisbee to expand.
While qualification for national itself is still far away, the club was credited by tournament organisers for creating and developing a competitive level team without any former Ultimate history.
Captain Nick Belfitt had this to add,
“A year ago when we founded the Club on the Island it was our goal to enter Regional Qualifiers.
“The fact we did and have a team that can compete and win games here is a fantastic achievement. For many of players it was a new experience and we have taken a lot away from this tournament on what we can improve.
“We want to continue to improve and build up and hope that next year we can return and progress further. Hopefully Islanders can see the fun we have as a team, and will want to get involved.”
What is Ultimate Frisbee?
Ultimate is a team sport played with a flying disc (frisbee) on pitches the same size as a football pitch.
The game is played by two teams who attack enzones to score a point. During the Autumn and Winter, it’s mostly played in a sports hall. The Wight Wild Cards are based in Ryde and train every Sunday at Ryde Academy 5-7pm.
Results
Saturday:
- Reading 1s (15)-(0) Wight Wild Cards
- GFM 1s (13)-(1) Wight Wild Cards
- Flump (15) – (4) Wight Wild Cards
- Horsham (12)-(2) Wight Wild Cards
Sunday:
- Sussex Y (9)-(3) Wight Wild Cards
- Curve (9)-(7) Wight Wild Cards
- GFM 2s (7)-(10) Wight Wild Cards
Finished 23/24 overall.
