University Mixed Outdoor Nationals

The weekend of March 14th/15th, the Strange Blue mixed team traveled to Manchester to play
UXON, a 48 team tournament with an interesting Swiss draw format. We came in seeded 34th
determined to prove a point.

Game 1: SB-Leicester (13-3)
This was our first time playing together although you wouldn't have guessed it from our
performance and the result. Some early tournament nerves led to a couple errors that let
Leicester hang around until 2-2. After that, it was all SB. So much so that Hogsden decided
to throw a lefty backhand to Charlie for the game.

Game 2: SB-Birmingham 2 (13-1)
We knew that Birmingham 1 would be strong, but we didn't know much about their second
team who had just beat Edinburgh 2 by 10 points. There was a bit of an upwind/downwind feel
to the game which was good for us. We had the disc skills to have no problem moving the disc
upwind while uBu 2 just did not have enough to beat the wind and our strong man defense.
This game featured Rolo's attempt at a spin pull which left the pitch before our own brick mark
and an interesting scoober assist attempt from Barnes which was apparently "the only option."

Game 3: SB-Sussex 1 (7-8)
Having overcome our initial underseeding and rising briefly to 1st seed we were finally in a
competitive match. However, it didn't seem like it at first as we went up 4-0 in dominant
fashion. Their switch from man defense to zone gave us a lot of difficulty as our lack of
playing together (and lack of Dom) showed and Sussex scored 5 unanswered points. After
a time-out call and some self-described brilliant play from Hogsden, we broke down their
zone for the first time and began to trade points. We brought it to universe point and earned
a turn, but unfortunately could not hold onto the disc and Sussex scored to end the game.

Game 4: SB-Birmingham 1 (4-13)
A team with many U23 GB players. They were better than us and the scoreline and play
reflected that. I think we were slightly unlucky to come away with so few points as we
showed we could earn turns and score goals. We stepped it up and scored 2 points in a
row at the end of the game to avoid being hard-capped in normal time. We unfortunately
lost Kris (sprained an ankle on the first non-pull throw of the game) and Fran (hamstring)
to injury.

Game 5: SB-Loughborough (10-5)
We had game advisors for this game whose main impact was to let both teams know that
neither team could stay onside during pulls although we eventually figured it out. The same
effort that we demonstrated against Birmingham earned us a big win as our quality earned
us the points we deserved in this match. Loughborough tried to slow us down by forcing 4
women but it only resulted in us extending our lead.

Game 6: SB-Glasgow (6-10)
An upwind downwind game where Glasgow started going downwind. They took half 7-6 in a
half with no upwind breaks but where we looked more likely to score. In the second half, they
made some tactical adjustments (mainly more hucking upwind to their tall receivers) which
earned them the upwind break despite the best efforts of JR with an incredible endzone layout
D earlier in the point.

Overall, the weekend was fun and competitive. Our final finishing place of 6th seems like a
fair reflection and represents our highest finish at a mixed tournament - pretty great if you ask
me. Our MVPs were Rolo and Elsa (Elsa-Elsa) although it must be said that everyone on the
team played well.

JR and Charlie

Top: Rolo Turnell-Ritson, Chris Barnes, Joe Beeby, Luke Frett, Kris Cao, Johnny Slaughter, Matt Hogsden, Fran Kundel. Middle: Lizzie Pearmain. Bottom: Elsa Matthus, Charlie Daffern (c), James Richardson (c), Jo Starkie, Yu Wei Chua.