EUC Update II - Day 1

First things first :

Belgium Mixed vs. Netherlands : 17-12
Belgium Open vs. Ireland Open : 9-17

So there you have it : Plan B (the belgian mixed team) is confirming their G-Spot and Talampaya wins by beating the Dutch in the first game of the day and the week for both teams.
Plan B started out really strong, taking a 6-2 lead but then let the Dutch come back to 8-7 to take another break and get the halftime at 9-7. A few defensive switches later Plan B was able to end the game in a comfortable win with 17-12. Lode's comment after the game winning D by Johnny and floating assist to PJ (who made quite an amazing catch in the endzone between two other guys) was this : "You can't teach tall!"
Not to say that this was an easy game because we didn't play our best game (made some unfortunate throw-aways) and the Dutch were really fired up to get us back after losing to us at G-Spot. They already told us they would like to meet us again sometime this week and they are sure to get their revenge. That was a challenge we gladly accepted.
Another reason for our first win of the week was the breakfast of champions we were served by our lovely five guests (Nele M, Nele S, Silke, Ellen A., Floor) which gave us wings.
Hope they will keep this up all week so we can keep on winning.

The Belgian Open was a little less fortunate with the fit Irish crew giving them hard times from the direct beginning. Being down 5-1 the belgian youngsters gave them somewhat of a comeback in the middle of the game for 9-5 score at halftime, after which the Irish put up the pressure again till 13-5. The belgians then took 3 scores in a row to make it 13-8 but eventually the Irish took the game with 17-9. The only comment I received by the Belgian Open was this : "They were simply too strong."
On to the next day for better games which I'm sure Joren's boys will achieve.

For the other teams the only big upset I heard about was the Irish women's team beating the GB ladies. After beating them in the Windmill poule games they did it again !
IN the open division we saw a truly amazing matchup between the Danish and the Swiss which seemed like a final and showed some brilliant playing ending in a 17-15 win for the Swiss.
I would put my money on the Swiss for making it to the top3 and I would really love to see them play against the European title defenders Great Britain.

That's it for day one, we've had a lot of sunshine, great games, good swimming and we almost forgot all the rain we had last night... I love being in Slovenia and the atmosphere is really nice.
We've got some good vibes and I'm pretty sure all of the people here are having great times.

European Championships, you gotta see it.
Keep on reading, I'll be posting some more results and stats tomorrow or asap and hope you keep supporting us (online?)

All info (scores and statistics, check out Hakke's amazing statistics with seven, yes 7 assists in only 1 game !) at this adress : http://euc2011.ultiorganizer.net
 

EUC Update - Game Time !

So, here you have it.
The first small update without having played any games yet.
Iẗ́'s sunday morning, 7.30AM , trying to get used to the qwerty laptop and more importantly getting pumped up for the first game of the European Ultinate Championships in Maribor, Slovenia against our neighbours the Dutch.
Yesterday we had a short opening ceremony in between a lot of rainshowers but it still was quite amazing to see over 1100 players dressed up in their national uniforms.
If you're wondering what us belgians look like I will be giving you some pics later today.
After the ceremony we had a showcase game between Great Britain, the EUC champion of 2007 against hosting country Slovenia.
The game was a little windy but especially rainy and the slippery disc caused a lot of unforced errors like drops and throw-aways which we didn't really expect. Slovenia only having played Ultimate for 6 years now (as a country) was quite nervous and it really showed in their game and in the endscore 17-2 !! It might also have something to do with the massive pressure in defense GB put on them but hey, we'll see how this turns out.

Belgian Mixed vs Netherlands
Belgian Open vs Ireland

Results coming asap.

Keep on reading !

EUC Preview - Manifesto - Playing For A National Team

Picture above : Me at the age of 6, dreaming about this week's EUC.
Haha, no I wasn't , but this picture reminded me of why I love my country, this game and my team.

Here's a little write-up of (me,you & Belgium at) the upcoming European Ultimate Championships :

At the age of 27 I find myself being ready for the biggest challenge I ever faced in my Ultimate career.
Not that I've never had some challenges since I've played my share of international tourneys (Tom's Tourney,Windmill Windup,ECBU08,WUCC2010,8Nations Cup,EUCR2010...) and even won some (e.g. Team Too @ Burla Beach Cup Viareggio 2009&2010, Plan B @ Talampaya 2011, Plan B @ G-Spot 2011, Open de Touraine 2009&2010,..) but nothing quite like these European Ultimate Championships.

There's something magic about playing for a national team, and whoever is reading this and is also on a national team knows this.
It's not your hometeam with people you see and play with multiple times a week, but it's a great collection of great players from all over the country representing your unity.
After hearing about a new team being formed, you wait for selections to start, you wait for decisions to be made, you wait for practices,training weekends, tournaments, and finally, after more than a year, the day has come to go play at the tourney you've been working towards all year.
In normal life I am nowhere near chauvinistic/patriotic but I do feel loads of pride when I think about my country.
Our whole lifestyle is built upon geographical borders, and even though we are all the same, it's always a pleasure to be part of something.
Something big.
Even if it's a small country without a government, I'm still proud to be part of this wonderful team called Plan B, the Belgian National Mixed Team.
Us belgians haven't really made a huge impact on the European Ultimate scene, but we've always been around.
(Remember the World Ultimate & Guts Championships in 1988 in Leuven,Belgium?? - I was even younger than on the picture above so unfortunately I don't remember)
I do like to believe that we have a great reputation concerning spirit and that we're never looked at as 'easy' opponents as we've had our share of tight and hard-fought games.
I'm sure some European teams remember games against Mooncatchers (Belgian champs 2011),Gentle (Belgian champs 2010),Jetset,Freezzzbeezzz,Belgian Open,MissB, Pintje, Belgian Mixed , Plan B, Team Too, FüF, and many more.
I'm really looking forward to what's gonna happen at this year's EUC.
First time I am on an official national team (ECBU08 - mixed division and 8Nations Cup were somewhere in between; injured during the EUC07 selection process) and I'm really excited about it.
Next to Plan B (Belgian National Mixed Team), there's also a team of young,athletic belgian players in the Open division. Lacking the more experienced players, I still believe this team full of talented players is going to achieve a lot, whether it be this year at EUC or in 3-5 more years after playing together.
They really are the future of Belgian Ultimate.

-- I wonder how Belgium will stand against the big names in European Ultimate.
Belgian Open is starting the tourney against GB Open, EUC2007's title defender.
Some other battles with the Swiss ? The Swedes ? Frenchies ? Denmark ? Rocking !
Belgian Mixed is seeded 4th, right after GB,Germany and France, of which we have already beaten the last two teams.

Curiosity.
Belgium, where anything is possible, at the European Ultimate Championships, where 21 countries will give the best of themselves for a shot at the CROWN OF EUROPE.

Support your country and follow the updates right here !

PS To those of you who are reading this and don't have any affiliation with Belgium, think of your own country and support them to give the best they have. Show some pride ! :)

Yeah, Europe !

Random Video - Getting Pumped For EUC !

"My Quick and my Fast had a baby, named Speedy."


Getting pumped for EUC.

T minus 3 days and 12 hours.

Random Video - NEXGEN Play of the Game vs Truckstop

NexGen vs Truckstop - Patagonia Play of the Game from NexGen Ultimate on Vimeo.

STOP, HAMMERTIME ! Or should I say Hangtime ?
Pretty amazing play if you ask me.
Keep supporting these boys from the NEXGEN Ultimate Tour !

Random Video - "Get It Back" - Booya !

And this, my friends, is how it should be done.
Getting it back after a floppy turnover, Callahan style.
Booya !

Random Quote - Preparing for EUC ?

"Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail." Benjamin Franklin.


Or even better, Mark Earley, who reminded me of this quote.

PS If you aren't ready now, it's tooooo late !
All you can do is make sure you pack everything right, get some rest and get into the right state of mind. Game time in only 5 days !

Random Picture - EUC Preview : Swiss Open @ EUC2011

Possible gold medalist at this year's EUC ? I believe so !

Follow their adventures (written in German) on their new blog :

http://swiss-open2011.blogspot.com/

Random Picture - Best Outfit Pic Ever

Might easily be the best shot of any Ultimate outfit I've ever seen.

Go Ireland !

Pic by Marko Earley, maybe the greenest of the boys in green.



EUC Preview - INTERVIEW - GB MIXED Coach Mark Davin

Check out this interview with MARK DAVIN, one of the four coaches/managers of the 2011 GB Mixed team (next to Iain Thackrah, Paul Waite and Ali Smith) who are title defenders as they won the 2007 EUC in Southampton,England.

GetHo' : How's the GB squad looking this year ? Do player choices for open or women's influence your roster a lot ? A lot of players from EUC2007 in Southampton ?


Mark Davin : "Its been a really thorough process to make sure the team is suitably strong going into the 2011, our trials started in November 2010 and we have trained on a monthly basis since then including a trip to Boston, USA to play against some very exceptional mixed opposition.

I would be lying if I didn't think that the preference for Womens and Open GB squads also plays its part regarding the trials process, its a very attractive prospect for any elite player to aspire towards. However, I believe that this concept is changing. Mixed Ultimate in the UK is highly subscribed to by nearly 60 teams per season (including a further 40+ university teams) and the standard of play and ability of these teams has increased significantly over the last 4 years.
The progression of Mixed Ultimate is very much on the radar in the UK and the GB Mixed squad is no longer considered a stepping stone or feeder team for the Open or Women's squads. The profile of Mixed Ultimate in the UK has also been raised through GB's debut appearance at the World Games in 2009 in Chinese Taipei. It is our goal as GB Ultimate, in all divisions, at WUGC2012 to again qualify for the World Games in 2013.


When applying to try out for the GB senior squads, all players are encouraged to apply for more than one division if they wish. The trials process permits players to trial for the squads of their choice and from our personal experience this time round we have found this process very successful in creating a stronger 'mixed' team. On the other hand we also found out that other high level ultimate players who excel in Open and Women's sometimes aren't cut out to be to be top level mixed players."

GetHo' : So how is the 2007 vs 2011 GB Mixed Roster ? 

Mark Davin : "Actually, we have had quite a shift in personnel in the squad since 2007. I would say that we have approximately 25% of the team from EUC2007. Mainly due to retirements... This has provided a great opportuntiy to develop the skills of our U23 World Championships squad players. On the flip side it would be rude not to also highlight a few more 'mature' players who have joined us since EUC2007 who have increased our average age slightly."
GetHo' :  According to everyone's favourite website Ffindr.com you seem to be having 31 persons on the squad , amongst who 3 guests, 6(!) staff members , 2 coaches and 1 captain. This means 20 players ? How did the selections go ? Was it a conscious choice of taking 20 players ?

Mark Davin : "Firstly our fantastic medical team (staff members) are spread across all four GB squads. They consist of physios, sports masseurs and a team doctor. They will be working tirelessly during the tournament, moving round with the teams and keeping us in the best condition throughout the week. These guys and girls give up so much of their time as volunteers and for that we honestly can't thank them enough!


Secondly, it was not our intention to come with a team of 20. Unfortunately we lost a few players to injuries... We believe that although the squad size is reduced from our ideal number, all players have been working hard on their fitness. Since November 2010 the GB squads have been provided with an excellent strength and conditioning program. Using Boston as a baseline to assess the shape of the team, the guys and girls are looking very physically strong and fit, ready for a week long tournament."

GetHo' : How are the ambitions this year ? GB feeling strong enough to defend the Mixed title of EUC2007 in Southampton ?
Mark Davin : "Absolutely. All players have made sacrifices and are continually working hard in the run up to this tournament, the highlight of the 2011 season. There is a great team bond and ethos whereby we all work hard for each other and we intend to carry on where we left off in 2007."

GetHo' : Any teams you're looking forward to play ? Any teams you believe might be strong contenders in the Mixed division ? Maybe a surprise of one of the lesser known East-European teams ?
Mark Davin : "We are looking forward to playing the Germans this year as they always field a strong team. The Austrian team Upsa-Daisy had a great result in Prague WUCC 2010, so to play against them would also be a great opportunity. We have not done much more research on other teams this year, however we are focused on playing our game and to the best of our ability against all teams.
Its a shame that the Czech Republic have not been able to enter a team this year as we really enjoyed playing against such a great mixed team in 2007."

GetHo' : How did the preparations go ? A lot of tournaments ? UK Tour ? Training weekends ?

Mark Davin : "The GB Ultimate calendar is very busy with the Mixed and Open/Womens seasons occurring separately within our domestic season. We decided against entering a GB team into the domestic mixed season this year to reduce the amount of weekend trainings our squad players would have to endure. By reducing the amount of tournaments, our aim was to reduce the likelihood of player burnouts and to spend more time practicing and building as a team.






In June, GB Mixed went to Boston. This was our first outing as a team and what's more it was against some of the best teams in USA and Canada, teams which we may encounter next year at the World Championships. Every game was played at an extremely high intensity and we were particularly pleased with the results. Of particular note was our performance against District 5 (2nd place at USAU Nationals 2010) whereby we lost in sudden death. There is no doubt that we will be going back next year to overturn this result."





GetHo' : You looking forward to Maribor ? Did you prepare for hot weather ?

Mark Davin : "Definitely, this is something we have been working towards as a team. We have heard great things about Slovenia and we can't wait to get over there!
If the weather in Maribor is wet, windy, overcast and mild at best we couldn't be more prepared!!! Frozen weekends in Coventry, rainy weekends in Loughborough and tepid conditions in Cardiff have been the weather conditions to date...


Boston however, was a little closer to the conditions we anticipate in Slovenia. Four games in a row in 35 degrees was quite a challenge."

GetHo' : Any other notes/comments on this year's EUC ?



Mark Davin : "Looking forward to playing the showgame against the host nation!!!"

Hope y'all like interviews like these !
They sure make me look forward to next week even more.
Keep on reading and see all of you in Slovenia !

EUC Preview - SCHEDULE IS OUT !

Check out the link below for the schedule of the EUC 2011 !

Been waiting for this a few weeks now... Cool !

http://www.euc2011.com/tournament-info/tournament-format

PS : a little wake up call for the Belgian Open team, first game, first day, sunday, versus GB Open.

 Let's go Belgium, let's go !

EUC Preview - Seedings !

Check out this link with the seedings of the European Ultimate Championships 2011.

No big upsets in seedings, now just waiting for the schedule to arrive !

http://www.euc2011.com/tournament-info/seedings

Tourney Preparation ? Here's How The Irish Do !

Check out this link by the Irish Flying Disc Association (IFDA) about how to prepare for a tournament.

Some interesting stuff in there, but most of it you should already have known by now :)

http://www.irishultimate.com/resources/preparation.php

EUC Preview - INTERVIEW : Sion 'Brummie' Scone , Coach of European Title Defender GREAT BRITAIN OPEN

Check out this interview with Sion 'Brummie'Scone , the coach of the Great Britain Open team, winners of the gold medal at EUC2007 in Southampton.

GetHo' : How's the GB squad looking this year ? Have you lost any key players to the mixed team ? A lot of players from EUC2007 in Southampton ?

Sion 'Brummie' Scone : "The GB Open squad that is playing in Maribor is a completely new team from the one in Southampton - only three players remain.
We lost a lot of players to the Masters team! :-)
GB Open now have a very young and athletic team and we're playing well together after only a short amount of time."

GetHo' : According to everyone's favourite website Ffindr.com you seem to be
having 27 persons on the squad , amongst who 1 guest, , 1 coach and 1
captain. This means 25 players ? How did the selections go ? Was it a
conscious choice of taking 25 players ? Did you cut a lot of others ?

Sion 'Brummie' Scone : "We have 25 players attending EUC.
Our current squad is 30 strong, and we had more than 60 players who came to open tryouts in the autumn."

 GetHo' : How are the ambitions this year ? GB feeling strong enough to defend the Open title of EUC2007 in Southampton ?

Sion 'Brummie' Scone :
"Our long term sights are set on Worlds 2012; last time around we missed out on a medal by three points.
So we are using a week-long EUC to get lots of experience for our younger players before we head to Labor Day in Santa Cruz (USA) in September to play against the top North American teams.
Then we'll be making some adjustments and continuing to push hard until WUGC.

GB Open are of course looking to win Gold in Maribor.

But it doesn't really feel like we are defending anything since so few of us were there in 2007.
As a new team we will look to go and win, and it will feel like we've done it for the first time.
If we don't win then we will use the lessons we learn to push us forward to 2012, as I'm sure will all of the other teams."

GetHo' : Any teams you're looking forward to play ? Any teams you believe might be strong contenders in the Open division ? Maybe a surprise of one of the lesser known East-European teams ? How bout the Swiss domination at last year's EUCF in Spain ?


Sion 'Brummie' Scone :
"It has been so long since the European nations played each other that this is a tough one to answer.
We're always excited to play against new opponents.
In the past we have had great battles with the Swiss team, who must be feeling very confident on the back of an excellent season for FAB and Freespeed last year.
But I'd also expect strong teams from Finland, Russia, Italy and Denmark.
I saw the German team this year and they look great, and the Irish team have been building all season.
Oh, did I mention Sweden?
We love playing those guys.
At this level no team is easy to beat and every game is a fight.
Lots of tough opposition, and we're looking forward to playing all of them."

GetHo' : How did the preparations go ? A lot of tournaments ? UK Tour ? Training weekends ?

Sion 'Brummie' Scone :
"Training weekends monthly since February, two UK Tour events and a friendly.
Fortunately there are some very good teams that we've played domestically that has helped us to gel nicely.
But EUC will be our first tournament all together as a squad, so in the grand scheme of things we're still untested at a high level.
We've been working very hard in the gym and track, with fitness testing and a fitness coach to keep us all in shape so that we can battle with the best this year and next."

 GetHo' : You looking forward to Maribor ? Did you prepare for hot weather ?

Sion 'Brummie' Scone :
"We are British, we are prepared for light rain and gusty winds.
We haven't done anything specifically for hot weather but we'll cope just fine, we have some excellent athletes.
I think we're all looking forward to sampling the local food & drink, I heard the pizza is good..."

GetHo' : Any other notes/comments on this year's EUC ?

Sion 'Brummie' Scone : "It's great to see a new country hosting, hopefully we can put on a
great show for the locals! Good luck to all."

 
Keep on reading 'Get Horizontal', like us on facebook and spread the word !
See you all at Maribor in 11 days !

How Many Players In Your Team ? - EUC 2011 Statistics !

Check out these charts displaying the number of players per team at the European Ultimate Championships 2011 in Maribor,Slovenia.

Didn't get a chance to do the women's division yet, but I will in the next few days.

I thought this would be interesting to see how many players a team takes along for a 6 day battle...

See you soon !

Keep on reading and like this on facebook.

Random Video - NEXGEN vs. Revolver !

NexGen vs Revolver - Game Summary from NexGen Ultimate on Vimeo.


These boys from the NEXGEN Ultimate Tour keep amazing me bigtime !
Support their cause by checking out ULTIVILLAGE !

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you might wanna check out one of my previous posts about them :
http://gethorizontal.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-idea-nexgen-ultimate-tour.html

Keep on reading !

Random Picture - Slovenia Mixed Team

Seems like the Slovenian Mixed Team is ready for the EUC !

How bout you ?

Random Video - WCBU Location

Practice really makes me look forward to the start of the EUC (European Ultimate Championships,SLovenia). But after that there's another huge event with the WCBU (World Championships of Beach Ultimate) in Italy. This is a video of the location/venue in Lignano Sabbiadore and it really makes me look forward to playing and staying there...
Looks like they've already had a lot of sports events there..

"Gentle 09" Wins LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT 2011

Congratulations to "Gentle 09" for winning LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT 2011, the annual Diabolic Heaven tournament for beginners, in a so-I've-heard exciting final against Mooncatchers !

Random Video - NEXGEN Full Field Forehand Huck + Big Layout Catch

If you haven't read my blogpost on the NEXGEN Ultimate Tour yet, this might change your mind.


Full field forehand and big layout catch.
O yeah.

Practice Makes Perfect - "On Ultimate Athletes"

Check out this piece written about Ultimate Athletes over at SkydMagazine :

http://skydmagazine.com/2011/05/athlete/

"Ultimate Phase 1 : Falling In Love

Ultimate Phase 2 : Gettin Better
..."

Random Video - You Training Hard Enough ??

Check out Brodie Smith's video for some extra drills while getting in shape for the European Ultimate Championships. Only 17 days left ladies and gents !

Great Idea - NEXGEN Ultimate Tour - Roadtripping Through USA

Imagine 15 very talented college players going on the Ultimate roadtrip of their life,touring through the USA in a bus and playing all of the nation's top teams (Revolver,Sockeye,Ironside,Chain Lightning,...)  in showcase games and organising frisbee clinics for young players wherever they come.

Well, this is the simple but brilliant idea of the NEXGEN Ultimate Tour.

These young ultimate stars are touring through the USA in a bus they completely rebuilt and redecorated for their amazing roadtrip. 

They also have a nice website and a facebook page where you can follow their every move.

Just "like" the page and you will be pleased with the amount of great game footage they provide in High Definition (it's truly a pleasure watching these HD video clips)

Here's why they call it the "NEXGEN" Ultimate Tour :
 In every city they attend they organise workshops for the next generation of Ultimate players…


"As we sat back and thought about our dream, we remembered how when we were young we read about greats like Chase Sparling-Beckley, Josh Ziperstein, Beau Kittredge, Dylan Tunnel, etc. but never had the opportunity to meet or learn from anyone of their caliber."

For now they already played against Vancouver's FURIOUS GEORGE and Seattle's SOCKEYE.

Here's the complete game footage.

(Picture courtesy of Michael D. Gurley)

Show these guys some support by following their facebook fan page or subscribing for the Ultivillage video set. They deserve it and sure could use our financial support.

I wouldn't mind spending a month in a bus to play all these great teams.

Sounds like a brilliant idea.

Let's conquer Europe, anyone ? :)

Random Video - Get Horizontal At Wimbledon Grand Slam

Check out Tsonga and Djokovic (Wimbledon winner 2011) getting horizontal during the semi final.
This is another confirmation of why my blog is called Get Horizontal.
It's a metaphore for giving it all you got and throwing your whole body in the battle as a true athlete should.
You don't show persistence if you're not willing to get down and dirty to catch a disc, or in this case hit the ball.
Respect.

Thanks to Joren for sending me the link.
If you have any interesting stuff, please feel free to send it to me !

Random Video - Monday Morning Alternative ?

Some people don't like monday mornings.
Every once in a while I'm one of them (but not today, feeling quite energetic and ready for the job) but I can imagine how the video below would be a much more pleasant thing to do on a monday morning instead of sitting behind a desk...



Hell yeah.