By Brendan McConnell
As the fast-paced sport of ultimate Frisbee continues its rise to prominence across Canada, Ottawa players will make up a sizeable chunk of Team Canada squads at the Under-23 world championships in Toronto and the 2013 World Games in Colombia this July.
Canada will enter three teams at the July 22-28 U23 worlds, with eight Ottawa athletes in their ranks – Mathew Goodkey and Sara Lawlor (mixed), Carson Turner, Ben Mussell, and Nick Boucher (open), and Dominique Rioux, Kaylee Sparks, and Vivianne Fortin (women’s).
Danielle Fortin and Anne Mercier will represent Canada at the World Games for senior-level athletes. But despite being in two different tournaments and a continent apart, the goal for all Canadian teams remains the same – to take home the gold.
Canada won gold at the last U23 worlds, Turner notes, so the expectations are high for the defending champs playing on home soil.
“We’re hoping for gold,” he signals. “It’s going to be a complete team effort and, win or lose, if I’m able to say after the tournament that every guy gave it their all, I think it’s going to be successful.”
Having played ultimate since he was in Grade 10, Turner has risen through the competitive ranks of the sport, playing at the high school and junior levels in Ottawa and Waterloo before claiming his spot on the national team last December.
Turner says he’s very excited to be playing in his first international event and is looking forward to playing in front of a hometown crowd in Toronto.
“It’s going to be pretty awesome,” he underlines. “It’ll be different too because we’re the hosting country. So we’ll be trying to connect with all the teams that are there so we’ll probably have a bit more bonding and communication with more teams.
“We want to make sure they feel welcome here.”
Not too welcome though. Canada has a reputation around the ultimate world community of being a “little bit rougher” than their European counterparts, Turner notes. The Canadian teams take their preparations seriously, working on precision throwing, situational plays, building up overall stamina – an ultimate player can run up to 10 km during a game – and they’ve also attended a number of tournaments in the U.S. and Canada.
Wild for World Games
Fortin, who’s preparing for the July 28-30 World Games in Cali, Columbia, has a similar reaction to playing for Canada internationally.
“It’s a pretty amazing thing,” says the 26-year-old. “It’s kind of the premiere team in Canada and really the highest level of play you can make at this point.”
Canada is one of six teams in the ultimate competition at the World Games, a 4,000-athlete multi-sport event with the slogan “Fair Play to the Planet!”
Canada was shut out of the medals at the last World Games in Taiwan, which has given them motivation this year to go all the way to the top, Fortin signals.
“We’re going down there with the single goal of bringing back the gold medal,” says the ultimate player of 10 years. “I think it’s well within our limits.”
Fortin is impressed to see 10 Ottawa players make the national team grade. She attributes that success in large part to the quality of the Ottawa Carleton Ultimate Association, which runs popular recreational and competitive leagues locally. The OCUA serves as a valuable developmental setting for aspiring players to get exposure to a higher level of competition, Fortin adds.
“I think getting experience on those teams is what makes it possible to be recognized across the country as a good player, but also to get those opportunities to play against the top players,” she highlights.