Ultimate frisbee fly out to Italy for an international beach tournament
Imperial College Ultimate’s Disc Doctors recently participated in an international beach tournament, BURLA, from September 20th to September 23rd in Viareggio, Italy. The aim of attending BURLA was to allow our university team to participate in beach ultimate, which is not implemented during the university season. In addition, the tour hoped to develop the social and fun part of our ultimate community. Both of these goals were achieved as the team members who participated got to play three days of beach ultimate as well as spend time with team members off the pitch at the beach venue, Flora Beach. Whilst the team could not muster as many players as we wished, there was a decent sized team for beach of 8 full club members. Beach ultimate is played 5-aside. All tour money was used to subsidize air travel or train tickets to the venue.
A day by day break down of the tour is listed below:
Thursday 20th
Team members checked in together at Campsite Paradiso in Viareggio, Italy, completed the final registration for BURLA, and rented bikes to travel to and from the campsite. The team enjoyed dinner together at the campsite and briefly attended the tournament’s Welcome Party before retiring to the bungalows booked.
Friday 21st
The team had breakfast together at the campsite before biking to the tournament venue at the beach. The captains attended the captains meeting at the beach at around 10:00 am, after which the team played three matches. Between matches, the team either kept score of other games they were told to score or rested at the venue. The team’s first game was at 10:00 am against another university team called Bear Foot. The next game was held at 12:00 noon against the team Admiral Ackbear. Both teams were sent by Warwick University. Lunch and refreshments were taken on the beach at the Dori bar using the lunch tickets provided. The last game was played against the Trojan Unicorns (a team who ultimately won the entire tournament) at 17:00 pm. After the game the team enjoyed SUNSET SPRITZ apertif on the beach whilst keeping score of a game between Admiral Ackbear and Trojan Unicorns. After this the team cycled back to the campsite to eat dinner and recover from 3 defeats.
Saturday 22nd
The team enjoyed a lie in as their first game was not until 12:00 noon against the German Grand Masters Team. Unsurprisingly, it was another defeat, but the team was extremely happy to have developed improving flow throughout the game and have slowed an experienced national team down. This game showed that the team was starting to get the hang of playing on sand. At 14:00 pm the team played another game against Quattro Stazioni. After the games the team again enjoyed lunch at Dori bar using the lunch tickets provided. The team then enjoyed swimming and practicing throwing on the beach. At 18:00 pm the tournament hosted a BANZAI beer race which the entire team participated in. The team then enjoyed dinner together at a nearby restaurant and then cycled back to the campsite to get ready for a tournament hosted themed party, which also included a live music from a banwd called euroTUNZ and a DJ at Flora Beach. The party was hosted from 9:30 pm to 2:30 am and included shuttle service to and from the campsite and the party location. It was a very mediocre party.
Sunday 23rd
The final day was a brutally early start with a game against Sharkbear at 9:30 am. At 12:30 pm the team ended with a super close game against the team Who Bear Wins, which ended on universe point, to the disc Doctors! This win ensured the team did not end up last. The team then enjoyed lunch and drinks at the Dori bar with the lunch tickets provided and then watched the final games and the award ceremony before returning to the campsite to rest and pack up.
