LeedsLeedsLeeds Ultimate

Written by Sally Fraser

 LLLadies went to compete at WCU 2007 this weekend and achieved the best EVER result for the team in Europe! I thought this was certainly worthy of a decent write up so here we go. I make no apologies for the length of the report as I enjoyed reliving the weekend all over again.

Leeds Ladies (all 17 of them!) travelled down to Bristol at the weekend for the equivalent to Tour O (except free!).

First game was against Nice Bristols which we won in sudden death 9-8(?) playing in quite windy conditions  Then they went on to play MU which ended up being 10-2(?), again quite windy conditions.  Also had our first Callaghan score of the year from Robin Keillor.  Love that rule! 

'LeedsLeedsLeeds' have had to say goodbye to several of their players at the end of the 2006 season.

The womens team lose their vice-captain, Liz Edye who is returning back to Australia. Sasi Milmo, Club Treasurer and Womens Coach is moving to pastures new. Cath Moore is leaving the club to lead the development of the Sheffield Steal Womens team and Anita Beck is also heading South and moving to the big smoke.

Club positions for the 2006/07 season were voted in at the 'LeedsLeedsLeeds' AGM on Friday 13th October at New Burley Club in Leeds:

Club President:  Ben 'Hooooooves' Mitchell

The 'LeedsLeedsLeeds' mixed team going to the World Ultimate Club Championships in November have been raising funds for their trip since the team was selected in early March.

After receiving donations from local companies and businesses a local raffle took place that raised over £500 for the team.  Donations of Lucozade and Iced Tetley Tea were sold and made £140.  The team was also successful in obtaining a £300 Leeds City Council sports grant to be used on kit for the World Club Championships.

The second weekend of July saw the first event in the 2006 UKUA Open Tour. LeedsLeedsLeeds blooded a number of younger players in a new-look squad, combining tried and tested plays with new principles and a gameplan modified to suit the long roster.

27th June 2006

The Leeds Worlds squad are celebrating their first win of the season at Mixed Nationals in a gloriously sunny Southampton. Leeds had two easy knockout games on the Saturday against both Southampton teams. With a tough semi-final against Brighton 1 first thing Sunday Leeds came out top and were to play Rampant X in the final to decide who would take the UK title.

23rd June 2006

16th June 2006

LeedsLeedsLeeds have finished runners up in the 2006 UKUA mixed tour. The overall title had been clinched in a very close semi-final between Leeds B and What If, Leeds only losing out in sudden death. The mixed tour has been of a particularly high standard this year with a number of teams battling it out for the top four places. Although it is disappointing to lose the tour LeedsLeedsLeeds have had an excellent start to the season and hope to continue their fine start through to Worlds in November.

15th June 2006

Leeds Worlds Ultimate Frisbee teams finished a disappointing third and fourth at Mixed Tour 3. Leeds A knocked out Rampant X to get to the semi-final but unfortunately lost to Ping Dynasty in the semi-final. Leeds B knocked out As If to get to the semi-final but lost by one point in an extremely tight semi-final to What If. See tournament report for details. Mixed Tour 3 Report on BBC Leeds

31st May 2006 

The Leeds Worlds Ultimate Frisbee team reached their first final of the season at Mixed Tour 2. They knocked out Rampant X in the semi-final but unfortunately lost to What If (Iceni and Fire) in the final. Locomotive Leeds (the non-worlds team) also competed at the tournament and finished in 10th place. See tournament report for details. Mixed Tour 2 Report on BBC Leeds

Leeds mixed club players are promoting Tetley Ice T as a way to publicise Ultimate, the club and the team going to Worlds in November. Some players have had shots taken for Tetley to use on their publicity and promotional material drinking Ice T in full kit with a disc.

Leeds mixed club players are selling raffle tickets at £1 each to friends, family and work colleagues in a bid to raise funds for the mixed team going to Perth in November. Some of the prizes donated from local companies range from a signed Leeds rugby shirt, rugby tickets, theatre tickets, Leeds United signed photo, to Adidas and Lucozade goodies and a helicopter ride 1,500 ft above Leeds! Players are hoping to raise £600 from the raffle and the winning numbers will be announced on 16th July 2006.

Leeds mixed club players promoted Ultimate and their club at a Leeds Rhinos v Harlequins game in front of a crowd of 16,000 fans on Friday 5th May. The 15 players taking part performed a 5 a side game for 10 minutes at half-time and also challenged the mascot, Ronnie the Rhino to catch the Frisbee at Headingley Carnegie Stadium.

Leeds mixed club players held a demonstration game on Sunday 30th April at Leeds Metropolitan University, Beckett Park campus.  With a few spectators (mainly children) interested in the sport it proved to be a successful day with some raffle tickets also being sold as part of the clubs fundraising efforts for worlds.

Ben Mitchell [club president] was interviewed and the mixed team filmed playing at Mixed Tour 1 in York by a BBC News 24 journalist.  Ben was asked how the game was played looking at the basic rules of the sport.  Footage was taken of the worlds squad competing against each other for 3rd place at Mixed Tour 1 and also the final where Rampant X played As If.  The finished feature went out on BBC 1 (BBC News 24) on Saturday 21st April at 7.40am, 8.40am and 9.40am. 

Both Leeds men and Leeds women competed at Paganello 2006, a beach ultimate tournament in Rimini, Italy from 14-19 April. Leeds men finished 12th and Leeds women 15th.

Paganello 2006

Photos on paganello website at www.paganello.com

Leeds Ultimate Frisbee teams finished 3rd, 4th and 9th at the first mixed tournament of 2006.  The Leeds squad travelling to Australia for the World Club Championships later in 2006, split into Leeds A and Leeds B for the tournament.  Locomotive Leeds (non-worlds team) also competed at the tournament.

Footage of LeedsLeedsLeeds training at Kirkstall Rugby Academy and interviews with some players from the club was shown on local BBC news Look North. Players were interviewed on what the sport is about, why they played Ultimate and how the club got to be going to World Clubs in Perth, Australia. Sally Fraser, Ben Mitchell, Dave Grayson and Helen Bowker were all interviewed and footage included the women’s team training and drills of those wanting to play on the mixed team going to Perth. The finished piece of film went out on local BBC news Look North on Thursday 19th January at 1.30pm and 6.30pm, see link below.

Our very own Helen Bowker was interviewed for Leeds Weekly news about the Leeds club and the mixed team going to Worlds in Australia.  The article and photo of Dave G laying out was published in the January 12th edition of the free local paper.

Article by Helen Bowker, photos by Tom Styles, 10th January 2005

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2006/01/10/ultimate_frisbee_leeds_intro_feature.shtml