Belfast Ultimate

The All Ireland Open Championships is this weekend (21st-22nd August), in Belfast! If you're not playing already, why not come down, spectate, and see some of the best Ultimate on the island of Ireland.

The tournament is being held at Shorts FC Playing Fields, near Belfast City Airport, and will feature some of the best Ultimate club teams in Ireland. There are further details on the All Ireland Championships website or on the IFDA website.

Last Saturday saw a crowd of frisbee folk descend on Stranmillis Embankment for the second annual Lindsay-McCambridge Hat tournament. On a day with a mixture of warm sunshine and cold rain, four teams battled it out to see who would win.

Players were split evenly (supposedly) between four teams; Orange, Purple, Blue and Red, designated by coloured ribbons.

After some games, some lunch, and some more games saw Red vs Blue in the 3v4 play-off, and Orange vs Purple in the final. The Orange team, which just happened to include both TDs, won the final.

There are a couple of important meetings coming up, mostly to do with some slightly significant changes to the BU Constitution, but also to discuss the development of Ultimate in Belfast.

First off, there is a general/development meeting on Thursday 15th July, 7pm, in the Starbucks on Lower Lisburn Road (near the City Hospital). This meeting is open to anyone interested in Ultimate in

Want to learn how to play Ultimate? We're running a number of training sessions specifically aimed at new players. So if you're completely new, or even if you've played a little bit before, these are the ideal sessions for you. If you've played before, you're still welcome to come along.

The sessions start this Saturday and will run fortnightly throughout July. They'll start around 11am and will be in the playing field on Stranmillis Embankment (beside the PEC).

The initial schedule for Summer League is out. You can find it on the Summer League website here: http://summerleague.belfastultimate.org/schedule

There are likely to be changes to the schedule over the next couple of weeks, so team captains, please check it regularly and make sure your team know when they are playing.

Don't have a team to play for in Summer League. Don't worry. Sign-up as a pick-up player and we'll sort you out with a team. Just fill in the form on the pick-up players sign-up page and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Simples!

August is looking like a busy month as far as Ultimate in Belfast is concerned, with each weekend taken up with one sort of tournament or another.

31st July/1st August

Starting the month off, even before it's begun, is UKUA Regionals on 31st July/1st August. BUG is looking to send a team, probably to the north England regional tournament in Sheffield. If you want to play for BUG, get your name down on the google group thread: http://groups.google.com/group/belfastultimate/browse_thread/thread/2e56...
and start coming along to training regularly.

7th August

Belfast Ultimate Summer League is coming soon, to a Belfast near you.

We're still putting together a number of the nuts and bolts, so we don't have all the details yet.

We can say that the format will be similar to previous years, with 5-a-side, 40 minute games. But we're also introducing a loose mixed rule this year, to encourage and to get more women playing. Teams will be expected to play with a 4:1 gender split (or higher) if possible. This means that although it won't be absolutely essential to have women on your team, it will be advantageous.

One might say that BLT is an acronym for a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich, BUT NOT IN THIS CASE! It stands for Ben and Linter Tournament, an event hitting Belfast on 8th May at Stranmillis Embankment.

Come down and we will play a few games. No experience necessary! Bring your mates! You don't need a team or anything, just come and we will throw the names in a hat!

INFO
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11am-2pm
Big Field behind the Queen's PEC
4 x 20minute games
BBQ!
Winner gets a big sandwich

The main aim of the tournament is to have fun!

On Saturday, the third Love Easter tournament was held in Belfast. Ten teams from the north of ireland (well north of Dublin!) competed in what is now a staple of the Ultimate calendar. It's a 5-a-side targetting new teams with new players.

A huge thank you to all those who turned out. And a special thanks to Keith Maxwell + Jonny Workman for turning out a very wet Friday evening to clear pitches and also to the Hammond Brothers and Ob for helping to clear the pitches afterwards.

Here are the results:

1. Kebab Hammer
2. Deep Heat
3. The LDW
4. Swerve