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By Daniel Prinn
The Ottawa Outlaws are set to take the field for the start of their second season of pro ultimate in April, confident that lessons learned in their first campaign will now allow them to rise higher in the American Ultimate Disc League.
“It was really different, (but) it was a lot of fun,” recounts Outlaws player Mathew Berg. “It was a little harder in some aspects with not being used to running on that big of a field with that many players on there. Knowing when someone is a threat on a field that large took some getting used to.”
Berg was one of the many rookie Outlaws who had extensive experience playing in high-level club ultimate. Lengthy club tournaments with many matches on a weekend put them in solid physical condition to start, but “a lot of us were unprepared” for the fitness required come the final quarter of four intense 12-minute periods, Berg highlights.
“You run a lot harder because you don’t have to save yourself for another game,” explains the 31-year-old. “The focus this winter was not only on strength but a lot of us have been going to the track.”
A number of Outlaws also used the recent Canadian 4-on-4 Ultimate Championship as an opportunity to tune up for the season.
The Trillium Carnage, featuring seven male Outlaws alongside four females, defended their national crown at the Mar. 19-20 event at the Gloucester SuperDome, defeating fellow Ottawa entry Swift to start the playoff round, followed by 15-14 and 19-10 wins our Nova Scotia’s Brunch Money and the Nunavut Tacos (actually from Toronto).
Events like the 4-on-4 indoor championship are indeed a high-level opportunity for development, but the AUDL loop remains a bit of a different animal.
Gone are the goofy names and the carolling to opponents some might associate with Frisbee, and in their place are real referees and rock music during stoppages in play.
Karl Loiseau, an Outlaws owner and player/general manager, says it took awhile for the team to adjust and find its identity last year.
“Our first couple games were pretty rough,” signals the 28-year-old who’d gained a year of AUDL experience with the Toronto Rush before bringing the Ottawa club to life. “We lost a couple games that we could have won last year.”
There is one constant in ultimate, no matter the level, however, and that’s the camaraderie on the team, which flowed seamlessly for the Outlaws since many players had previously been teammates, Loiseau indicates.
“It’s a pretty good vibe,” he notes. “Guys hang out a lot together, so most of us are friends off the field.”
The AUDL rookies missed the eastern conference playoffs by one game last year, finishing in the middle behind Toronto, New York and Montreal, and ahead of D.C., Philadelphia and Rochester.
“For our first year, 7-7 was pretty good,” Loiseau adds. “I think we got the hang of it by the end of the year, so we’re looking forward to bringing that momentum into this year and hopefully we can improve on that.”
The Outlaws start their season with a pair of road games, then play their home opener on May 6 at TD Place before returning to their usual confines at Carleton University’s MNP Park for the bulk of their home schedule.