discDoctors reach top 10

Last weekend, Imperial’s Ultimate Frisbee team – known more commonly as the discDoctors – donned their trademark yellow shirts to compete in the first division of Outdoor University Nationals, having secured their place against local rivals during the south-east regional qualifiers in March. Discs flew, mud spattered, bones crunched, and the discDoctors recovered from a sluggish start to seal their position among the top 10 university clubs in the country.

Things didn’t start well. Having lost co-captain Stephan Rossbauer (an experienced club and national player) to a shoulder injury before the start of the tournament, the team’s other co-captain James Threadgill followed suit barely minutes into the first game of the tournament, dislocating his shoulder while diving for a defensive block. Now down to 9 players with a long weekend of Ultimate ahead, the team began to fear that the reaper of injuries was moving cruelly through their ranks, Final Destination-style.

Saturday’s group stages saw Imperial lose out to Heriot-Watt, Warwick and York in hard-fought games. Although they had played some high-quality Ultimate, the discDoctors lacked cutting edge at key moments, and were left holding 16th seed (out of 16) at the halfway stage of the weekend. This left the players with plenty to contemplate as they refuelled in Manchester’s Curry Mile on Saturday evening.

One benefit of having two captains on the sideline, however, was the tactical advantages it offered the team. Lining up against an experienced Bath side on Sunday morning, Imperial made the bold decision to shift David Pryce – one of the side’s strongest throwers, typically employed in the ‘handler’ role at the base of the attack – further upfield. With Phil Sandwell stepping comfortably into the central handler role, the attack started flowing as Pryce combined slickly with Ash Hemingway, club president James Ward (spurred on by a growing fan club on the sideline) and Sam Brown – whose explosive pace had caused teams trouble all weekend. Imperial had found their mojo, and earned their first win of the weekend.

The team carried this momentum into the next game, a rematch with Heriot-Watt. Again, Brown’s pace was instrumental to the attack, and the team sealed an impressive 12–7 win as Ward swooped in for a sliding grab in the end zone.

Now in the plate final, the scent of silverware was in the air. But as the afternoon drew on, Imperial’s lack of numbers began to take its toll, and the yellows lost out to a speedy Durham side in their final game. Nevertheless, their earlier efforts were enough for Imperial to equal their best ever performance at Outdoor Nationals, finishing the tournament in a more-than-respectable 10th – a fitting send-off for several of the team’s departing veterans.

The weekend also saw Imperial’s female contingent in action, as they combined with players from UCL and King’s to enter as a London über-team. Strong performances throughout the weekend, including a gutsy win against a highly-rated Leeds side, saw them rise from 20th seed to finish 6th. Not too shabby for a first appearance at Nationals.