The first week of July was the World Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC) and I'll just have to say that it was one of the best weeks I've ever had! I got to play & watch ultimate for a full week; I had a great friend, Deb, who came over to stay with me who also played in the tournament; I got a break from my daily "mother-duties" for a whole week (big thanks to Brian and a good sitter); plus I got to be a tour guide around Prague for my friend Deb!
For those of you unfamiliar with ultimate, WUCC takes place every 4 years and is the highest level of ultimate play in the world (kinda like the World Cup or the Olympics!). There were 136 teams from about 41 countries that came to compete for a full week; more than 700 games were played! I know you are probably thinking, "What, that game you play at family reunions?" Yes, it is that same, highly unknown and unrecognized sport.
In the US there are three levels of competition you must go through to qualify for Worlds, so the chances of being good enough, to be on a team that is good enough to play in the WUCC is quite small! I happened to be lucky enough to move to the host city & country, Prague, Czech Republic. Lucky for me, the skill level necessary to make it on a team playing at the WUCC here was lower than in the US! Some perspective on how the US dominates the sport is shown in the final standings: in the 4 categories, Open, Women, Mixed & Masters, the US took 1st place in all categories, 2nd in Open & Masters and 3rd in the Women & Mixed categories, plus several other lower standings!
My team - Hot Beaches
Watching a game in a huge communist stadium that houses about 8 soccer fields!
Our team was ranked 18th to start out the tournament and we finished 12th. We had 3 games where we lost by one point and we also had the chance to play both the 1st and 2nd place teams. I'm working on a putting a highlight video together that I will post later!
Here's a few pictures from the tour of Prague:
Deb with the kids at the National Museum overlooking Wenseslas Square
A view of Charles Bridge
I think someone drove this to the WUCC from somewhere else in Europe, awesome!
Deb & I at Vysehrad
Church at Namesti Miru
Petrin Hill tower
Prague castle
5 comments:
So now we know the reason you moved to Prague! You totally scored. Way to go!
What a fun week! I highly doubt the skill level in Prague is less than in the US-you are great. Can't wait to see you soon!
good job! glad you were able to compete and do so well!!!
i'm so glad you got to be a part of the tournament! what an amazing experience. see you in a week!!!!!
Pretty Cool, Quinette! I am way impressed!!!
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