While most students were celebrating Homecoming this past weekend, the Queen’s Ultimate Frisbee program had their own reason to celebrate. Both the men’s and women’s ultimate teams were victorious at the Canadian University Ultimate Championship (CUUC) in Montreal.
During round robin play, the women’s team won their matches against Laval and McMaster, but lost to Ottawa by a single point.
While some teams might have become discouraged by the loss, the women’s ultimate team didn’t lose hope of their chances. Queen’s rolled through their quarter and semi finals, winning by a combined 24-9 against Carleton and Western.
According to ultimate player Laura Kinoshita, after their win against the Mustangs in the semifinals, they were prepared for a tough game against Toronto in the finals. “We knew we would have to rely on our ability to outperform them.”
In the final against U of T, the Gaels took a 12-7 victory to win the 2016 National Championship.
The CUUC Championship win was a special moment for the women’s team, particularly because many of the players on the team are graduating this year. “For a lot of people, especially those who are graduating, it was a sense of excitement and fulfillment,” Kinoshita said.
This championship was the culmination of a successful year for the team. Earlier in the year, they won the Canadian Eastern University Ultimate Championships in Kingston, as well as the Steeltown Classic in Hamilton — a feat matched by the men’s team.
And while the two combined are one of the most successful teams at Queen’s, Kinoshita admits that the ultimate program doesn’t have the same amount of recognition as some other sports on campus, which can be a challenge.
“I think ultimate frisbee, in general, isn’t really seen at the same level as other sports, like basketball or football,” Kinoshita said. “I think it is hard to explain why you’re spending all your time doing this.”
This hasn’t deterred Kinoshita from staying involved. She says she stuck with it in university because of her love of the sport and admiration of the unique sense of community and camaraderie.
While the season is over, the women are gearing up for a possible spring season tournament in the United States in the coming year and looking forward to developing their young team next season to defend their title.
For the men’s team, this year had a different narrative. After spending the last few national championships within reach of the title, last year the team finally attained their goal. The defense of their national title defined this year’s season.
Head coach Pete Galbraith said that going into the tournament, the team was looking forward to a challenge and that in preparing for the championships, “a big mentality on the team was to be uncomfortable.”
The men eased through the first day of the tournament with wins against McGill, Toronto and Carleton. The second day saw a stiffer competition for the team, as they faced Western in the quarterfinals, a tight match against Laval in the semifinals and a win against U of T.
The team’s success in the final against U of T, warranted more of a celebration than any other typical championship. The team was in a unique position, playing their entire roster in their victory — a point of pride for both captain Ben Blackford and coach Galbraith.
The men’s ultimate team after their 2016 national championship. Photo Supplied by Brian MacKenzie
“I think it speaks a lot to the depth of the program that we were rolling out guys who are lower on the roster but they were still contributing and scoring points,” Galbraith said. “I don’t think any other team can say that they rolled as many people through their rosters as we did.”
Galbraith praised Blackford’s work ethic and rare balance between a positive and competitive spirit as helpful to the team. “He’s played offence when we won, he’s played defense when we’ve won, it’s a unique combination to have national championships on both sides [of the team].”
Of the past sixteen years, the men’s team has made the finals in the championships eight times, and this season marked the third year in a row they went to the finals of the CUUC.
For Galbraith, Blackford and Kinoshita, the reason why they were drawn to the game was community. Unlike the classic conception of rivals that’s often seen in other sports, they get along well with their competitors and often play with them outside of the university season. “You play man to man with people a lot of the time,” Blackford said. “You just have a chat, be friendly.”
As for the future of the Queen’s ultimate program, Galbraith hopes to see it continue on its current positive trend.
“I just want it to grow. I think the way we do things is a bit of a model for how I want people to live their lives,” Galbraith said with a smile. “Pursuing fantastic things, being really positive, understanding that it’s okay to put in work and do things that no one pays attention to for a while with a little bit of reward at the end.”
Tags
Men's Ultimate, Women's Ultimate
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