Scobel Wiggins Photography

The 2009 World Games tournament will be held July 16th though the 26th in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Thirteen players will be selected by some process not yet determined (and to be determined by the UPA). The team will compete against five other countries as determined by WUGC finishes (Canada, Japan, Great Britain, Australia, and host nation Taiwan). Teams will play 4:3 co-ed. (The limitations and specs of this tournament are set by the World Games).

We at The Huddle like the idea of a tryout weekend; what a fantastic spectacle that could be! The countries best players descending on Austin (or Atlanta, or San Diego, or somewhere similarly warm and grassy) in January or February to go through the crucible together. It could be awesome, and since players would foot the bill for their own travel, this could be done with seemingly little cost to the UPA (costs: travel expenses for coaching/selection committee, field costs, local organizer cost...these seem like they could be spread around the applicants).

The UPA could use a system similar to that used for the Youth Team USA tryout camp selection, helping to manage numbers. This has its own associated costs (admin hours and selection process time/expense). In our dealings with competitive teams, though, we feel that intense tryouts typically do good things for team bonding.

A note about the selection: In 2005, only one player that had primarily played Mixed Ultimate made the team (Scotty Conway). Anyone that had watched Scotty play with Donner Party knew that this was not a political appointment; Conway has skills, and deserved to be on that team. We encourage the UPA to make selections based solely on creating the best possible team: if that means taking six players from Mixed, then so be it. No "division diversity" picks should be made on a team like this.

We are excited to hear more as the UPA unveils the process (timeline TBD). We'll try to keep up to date as best we can, and keep the information flowing.