EUCF 'Elite' Interview V - CLAPHAM

Check out the 5th in the series of interviews with teams from the Elite Division of the upcoming European Ultimate Championship Finals (aka Champions League) in Bruges this weekend.
2007 Winners of the EUCF and a top-team in Europe for many years now : CLAPHAM ULTIMATE !
Here's the interview with one of the team captains Justin Foord :

Get Ho' : How has the preparation gone ? Did you play any tournaments or championships in preparation for the EUCF ? How bout nationals and Tour ?


Justin Foord : "Preparation this year has been noticeably better than previous years. Since the domestic season finished about a month ago, roughly 8 guys have been to the US to compete with GB against the top American teams and the rest of the guys have raised the bar with training at home.


We haven't played other tournaments apart from Tour and Nationals this year. We played 2 of the tours with half a squad as the other half was playing with GB which has been great for the other players who have had to step up and take on more dominant roles within the team."

Get Ho' : Do you think it's difficult that these finals happen at the end of sept/beginning of octobre ? Does it affect your team that this is after summer ?

Justin Foord : "Yes it is hard. We have been training hard since Euros last year so it's an incredibly long season. Our domestic season finished 6weeks ago so it's another 6 weeks that we have to continue training and stay focused on our European goal.


The disappointment from the last 3 years makes is a harsh but beneficial reminder that we have to stick at it and keep working hard."

Get Ho' : Is the team in full force ? Are all the key players there and in shape ? Any adjustments to the roster since last year's EUCF ? Any new/old "pick-ups" or new team members ?

Justin Foord : "Yep the team is in full force (except for Cian O'Morian who's had a long season captaining the Irish team). It's the strongest it's been since Basel in 07. Everyone's in really good shape with no major injuries. We have a few new recognisable faces who have been playing with us all year but no 'pick-ups'."

Get Ho' : Clapham has been a European powerhouse for many years now and always in top 5 since the beginning of EUCF in 2006. (2nd in 2006, 1st in 2007!,5th in 2008,3d in 2009,4th in 2010).
What is gonna make Clapam rise above this year and regain the title of best European team ? And do you have any idea why it's been 4 years since the victory ?

Justin Foord : "We've finished our last 3 seasons with disappointment in Europe. No one wants that feeling this year and it's been our season long goal to come away with Gold. Only a few select players in our current squad have tasted European Gold before and we've got a lot of hungry players.


After 2007 we had a lot of top class players leave to start families and go abroad. We've almost completely changed our squad and brought loads of new young athletic players who have been developing, learning and gaining experience over the last 3 years. We now have a great mix of experience and athleticism.


But take nothing away from all the other teams, the competition in Europe rises every year and it gets harder and harder to win a medal."

Get Ho' : What do you think about the level in Europe ? Has the level been rising over the last few years ? Does EUCF have anything to do with that ? How did the game change in the last few years ? Is there a shift in powerteams going on ?

Justin Foord : "The level is certainly rising, but more importantly, its becoming a lot more competitive. There's Freespeed and FAB from Switzerland, Viks and Skogs are always tough games and then Chevron are always strong. There's 6/7 teams that have a realistic chance of winning which makes it a really exciting tournament for everyone."

Get Ho' : Who would be your biggest opponents for the title ? Who do you believe might make it to the semis ? Any one who should be seen as top favourite ? Defending champs FAB ? What are your ambitions for this year ?

Justin Foord : "It's always hard to predict how these tourneys go but I would expect clapham and skogs to be In semis and I wouldnt be surprised to see FAB, Chevron on Freespeed up there. FAB are a great team with great players but as defending champions everyone will be out to get them this year.


From Claphams perspective, our ambitions are for Gold and any other result will be disappointing."