The Week: A Report

Indoor Intervarsities:

The weekend saw Indoor Intervarsities take place in the steamy confines of Trinity's Sports Centre. In this first clash of the intervarsity battle, teams from across the country gathered to show what they've got in store for the season and determine the important questions: who'll be heading off to do Ireland proud at UK Indoor Student Nationals? Is a bunch of guys playing German Pornstar while topless a great call to impress the already-dubious security guards with? And, of course, can excessive perspiration trigger a fire alarm?

(Incidentally, the answer to that last one is "almost definitely".)

The format was simple: two indoor courts, each holding fast-paced 18-minute games. A solid Spirit scoring system was in place. A bunch of committed, competitive teams were ready to play, with newly revitalised clubs like ITT gave great indicators as to their future by fielding strong teams, and teams like UCC and Queens showing a strong travel committment. The stage was set.

The Open division was held on Saturday, with an impressive turnout of 12 teams. Games were closely fought throughout the day, featuring some truly competitive play. It was all there: unbelievable throws, incredible grabs and, of course, ill-advised layouts. Highlights from the day were abundant and spectacular, and I'm acting on the considered advice of a doctor by omitting to include most of them as they will almost certainly cause mind implosion.

The one to (safely) focus on is the final between UCD and UCC, both of whom played solidly all day. After UCD stormed into the lead with 7 points, they were undoubtedly surprised when a strong UCC side refused to give the slightest sign of defeat and fought hard all the way back. The clash continued to the point where the score was even and time was up: it was sudden death. The tense point raged on, up and down the pitch. UCD made it to right on top of UCC's strongly-defended endzone but were in a deadlock. And just when it seemed like there was nothing the Belfield side could do to secure the score, Matt "I'm so tall" di Franco came to the rescue by deploying the age-old tactic of jumping up and down while waving his arms to show that, yes, he was tall and, yes, he could possibly sky the players around him. Super Dave popped the disc up above his head, Matt did in fact sky the players around him and there it was- victory and the first Intervarsities title of '08-'09 for UCD. Many congratulations.

The Spirit award went to DIT 2 who never gave up throughout the entire day, and never let their friendly, competitive attitude slip once (even after the injury of Al in an impressive bid to ... catch the pull).

The Women's division took place today, and was, by all accounts, no less impressive. 7 teams were fielded in total, abundantly showing the strength of the women's Ultimate scene. UCC did themselves proud by securing a spot in another final this weekend, this time against Trinity. And once again, it came down to a tense sudden death finish. After a long fight, Trinity came out on top, securing the IV title. Congratulations to both teams for a great match, and to DCU for winning Spirit.

Overall, the tournament was a massive success and seemed to be enjoyed by all who attended. Cheers to all the organisers: University Co-ordinator Sam Mehigan and TDs Ian French and Heather Barry.

Friday, 21st November will see an indoor Schools' Tournament take place in Tallaght. The amount of secondary school students interested in Ultimate has swelled in recent times, and this tournament, organised by Schools Co-ordinator Sinead O'Shiel Flemming, gives them the chance to battle it out in their own specific competition.

At least 10 teams and a huge amount of players are expected to attend. The entire tournament will undoubtedly be a lot of fun and a huge development for the school Ultimate scene.

IFDA President Dominick Smyth announced this week that a decision has been made to cancel Beginners' Intervarsities, which had been scheduled for next weekend. The decision was reached after a consideration of the number of tournaments already taking place in November and a concern about over-stretching the resources of clubs- both of cash and of players.

While it's undoubtedly a shame that it won't be going ahead, the work and effort put into arranging the tournament was by no means wasted. The contacts built up and the information acquired can be put to use in subsequent years in arranging this tournament and making it a success.

And beginners need not worry- ITT's Cage Rage means another beginners-only tournament is on the horizon.

IFDA Secretary