[Travels] EUCF 2017 Recap

From September the 29th to October the 1st, we were happily surrounded by high level play at the European Ultimate Championship Finals 2017 in Caorle, Italy. Check out our short aftermovie below for a quick peek at the action!

Thursday night we arrived at camping San Francesco and joined the melee at check-in. After we finally found our spot in the dark, we set up our tents and first met our true foes for the weekend: the now notorious mosquitos of Caorle. They flew into my eyeballs the villains! Anyways… back to the ultimate.

Games started bright and early at 8:30 on Friday. As we set up our little booth the first warm-ups and pool play games carried on all around us. On Friday we mostly stayed near the tent, talking to players and coaches as they tried on the prototypes. As the wind picked up during the day and zones became the defense of choice, our little tent held fast.

We had announced another Disc Giveaway Contest(!) ahead of the tournament and were pleasantly surprised when both the first Callahan and the first Greatest of the tournament happened on the first day of play.

(left) 1st Callahan winner: Laurent of Sesquidistus (Stasbourg)
(right) 1st Greatest winner : Dvojta of FUJ (Prague)

The first Callahan was scored in Sesquidistus’ match against Colorado. During a time-out taken by the other team, the Sesquidistus O-line captain set up the defensive play. Laurent told his team: “Alright, let’s set up a cup and get a Callahan.” Setting the example, Laurent did just that. He even came back later in the tournament to claim the disc for the first successful Greatest assist, but Dvojta of FUJ had beaten him to it.

The first Greatest score of EUCF 2017 was successfully assisted in the game between FUJ and KFK. Dvojta was on the receiving end of a banana flick that was tailing out of bounds when he heroically layed-out and threw the disc back inbounds where it was caught by his teammate for the score. Nicely done!

These are just two small stories that showcase the incredible plays that were made throughout the weekend. Not just Callahans and Greatests, although they are of course shows of talent and focus, but beautiful offenses and stifling defenses, picture perfect throws, unstoppable cuts, and massive bids. Ingeborg was even fortunate enough to watch two games from the scaffolding while she co-commentated the Helsinki Ultimate – Troubles game and the women’s final Iceni – Atletico with the wonderful Hannah Pendlebury.

A huge congratulations to all teams, those that medalled this year and the SOTG award recipients. You were a joy to behold.

Thank you everyone for stopping by the stand to try on the cleats or just for a short chat. We enjoyed receiving your feedback and hearing your enthusiasm (which we totally share) that the cleats are almost here! Thank you to everyone who made this EUCF the incredible event that it was. We will see you next year in Wroclaw (Poland) and in the run up to EUCF 2018!