[Dream Team] Justin Foord, Clapham & Toronto Rush, UK
Credits : Quentin Dupré Latour, Focus
Playing since 2006 with Clapham Ultimate and GOAT in Canada. More recently joined Toronto RUSH to play in the AUDL. 9 times National champion and 5 time European champion with Clapham Ultimate and GB. Very excited to be a part of the Tokay project!
How did you come to play ultimate?
I started in my 4th week at Uni. There was a big group of us from our university halls that decided to go to the Uni team training. 3 years later, we were still all playing.
And how did you stick to the sport?
University doesn’t really provide the best environment for a fit & healthy lifestyle so training for Ultimate a couple of times a week was a perfect way to stay mildly fit. I had watched a DVD from Pushpass of Elite Level Ultimate and was desperate to join a club that could eventually lead to me being a part of one of those teams.
What’s your best memory about ultimate?
- Semi-Final victory over Sweden in Universe point at WUGC 2012 in Japan.
- Paganello Semi-Final & Final in 2009.
- Winning Gold at EUC 2015 with GB.
What’s your vision about the future of ultimate?
I think the best way to grow the sport is for non-ultimate players to be able to understand the fundamental rules by watching a game. It’s also important that spectators are entertained throughout the majority of a game slot, not 1 minute on, 3 minutes off.
I like what the AUDL is doing to speed up gameplay and increase viewability. I believe the sport will struggle to grow in the current format of travels, picks, in-out of bounds being an extended discussion between players. Approximately 30minutes gameplay in a 90-minute game will not attract spectators or interest needed to grow the sport.
Finally, Ultimate is like no other sport in the way that at the beginning of a point, 90% of the field is ‘in-play’ so the whole field should be in view to a digital viewer. (Camera’s should be in the back (middle) of endzones).
What’s you thoughts about ultimate frisbee cleats?
Ultimate is such a unique sport in terms of movements so it makes sense to have cleats specifically designed for Ultimate. For 6/7 years i’ve just looked at what wide-receivers wear in American football as that seems the most similar to a cutter role in Ultimate. If Tokay can create something similar or better that also offers comfort over three of four games a day then i think these boots will become really popular amongst ultimate players.
Photos Courtesy of Ed Kung
Justin’s timeline
- 2006 – Started with Brookes Ultimate Frisbee
- 2007 – First International Tournament – Paganello (45th)
- 2008 – Joined Clapham Ultimate. EUCF (5th), UK Nationals (1st).
- 2009 – Paganello – UTI (1st), X-EUCF – CU (3rd), UK Nationals – CU (1st).
- 2010 – EUCF – CU (4th), UK Nationals – CU (1st).
- 2011 – Joined GB. EUC’15 – GB (2nd). EUCF15 – CU (2nd), UK Nationals – CU (1st).
- 2012 – Joined GOAT – US Nationals. WUGC’16 (2nd). EUCF’12 – CU (1st), UK Nationals – CU (1st).
- 2013 – GB World Games, Cali – Colombia (6th). EUCF’13 -CU (1st), Paganello – UTI (1st), UK Nationals – CU (1st).
- 2014 – Clapham Ultimate Co-Captain. GOAT – US Nationals Semi-finalists. WUCC’14 – CU (5th) EUCF’14 – CU (1st), Paganello – UTI (1st), UK Nationals – CU (1st).
- 2015 – Clapham Ultimate Captain, GB Captain. EUC’15 – GB (1st), EUCF’15 – CU (1st), UK Nationals – CU (1st).
- 2016 – Clapham Ultimate Captain, GB Captain. Played AUDL with Toronto Rush – Championship Weekend V. WUGC’16 – GB (5th), EUCF16 – CU (1st), UK Nationals – CU (1st). Elite Select Challenge – GOAT (1st).
