Local ultimate players go for world gold

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This article was published 21/08/2018 (2573 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THERE’S no official title of Canada’s ultimate capital but if there was, Winnipeg could make a strong argument for it.

There are 13 Winnipeggers — nine men and four women — in Waterloo, Ont., this week competing at the World Junior Ultimate Championships, an event that features national teams from 18 countries for athletes 20 and under.

The group of 13, who all play for the Masters of Flying Objects (MOFO) ultimate club in Winnipeg, have had an exciting month. Both the junior men’s and women’s MOFO teams won national championships last week in Brampton, Ont.

“I think what makes our junior program so incredible is that the coaches we have on the men’s and women’s teams are all ultimate players themselves that we look up to as juniors,” said Sarah Jacobsohn, a 17-year-old student at the Gray Academy of Jewish Education.

“Living in such a small ultimate community, it’s really easy to learn from players you look up to as a person and a player. I think that’s something special that Winnipeg has, that every single person has relations with every other ultimate player.”

Samantha Burrage, 19, is another local on the women’s national team. Burrage, a St. John’s-Ravenscourt School alumna, has her theory as to why there’s so many Winnipeg players playing at such a high level.

“We’ve been able to learn a lot not only from each other but from other women’s teams and adult teams in the Manitoba ultimate community,” Burrage said.

“I think with Winnipeg being smaller than the other cities, we’re able to hang out, get closer, learn from each other and pass knowledge down. I think that’s why Winnipeg, especially this year, has so many athletes playing on Team Canada.”

Nine guys is the most Winnipeggers to have ever played on the national team at the event, giving Winnipeg the biggest representation of talent out of anywhere in Canada. There are 28 players on each roster, with seven players on the field at a time.

Jeffrey Boris, an 18-year-old graduate of Sturgeon Heights Collegiate, said playing against countries from all over the world with so many friends from back home has been “amazing.”

“We have really good chemistry, we’re a really tight bunch,” Boris said. “We’ve gotten to know each other really well and we’re good friends on and off the field and that translates onto the field.”

But the Winnipeg players aren’t just happy to be wearing the red and white for their country; they’re there to bring home gold medals. Ravenscourt graduate Sean Bennett, 19, said the Canadian squads are aiming for gold. Both the Canadian men and women are on track to compete for medals, as the men are 4-0 heading into today’s play and the women are 3-1. The playoffs begin Friday, with the finals taking place Saturday.

“It would mean everything,” said Bennett on winning gold. “It would mean all the hard work we put together on MOFO, all the practices we go to, all the years of ultimate playing together or against these guys, and building up skills together, would have paid off.”

Jacobsohn knows what it feels like to win world junior gold, as she was at the last junior championships two years ago in Poland when the Canadian girls captured gold.

“It’s kind of crazy. When I first started playing ultimate, I never thought I’d be representing my country, I didn’t even know team Canada was a thing,” Jacobsohn said.

“It’s really overwhelming. Two years ago, I was only 15 when I was on the national team. I feel like when I first tried out, I didn’t understand the impact of what it meant to play on a national team. But when we won gold, it was the most overwhelming feeling ever. It feels like four months of work, literal blood, sweat and tears, pays off. Getting to do it again is such an honour.”taylor.allen@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @TaylorAllen31