As part of an ongoing project under the direction of Colombian Ultimate organizer Mauricio Moore, I am in Bogota, Colombia. I will be here until December 10th, and in that time I will join with several other coaches to put on a clinic in Medellin and attend (and play in) the Colombian National Tournament.

Colombian Ultimate burst onto the scene in the last 4-5 years following a bronze medal in the World Junior Open Championships in Devens, MA. A strong showing in Vancouver this past August saw all divisions of the Seleccion improve their performances over past World tournaments.

While I am here, I hope to talk to as many players and coaches as I can, and get a sense of how this community is progressing, and where the next steps might be. Based mostly on background reading—I’ve been in the country for four hours now, and all but a little of that time has been spent talking Ultimate in my excited, but broken Spanish—the Ultimate players of Colombia form a diverse and often fractious population. And like Colombia itself, the understanding of global Ultimate would be incomplete without a picture of the history, talent, drive, and potential of this country.

I hope to be able to write-in daily; internets abounds, but opportunities may not necessarily be available each evening. My goal is to give a complete and objective sense of what Colombian Ultimate is, and what it might be. Keep checking back throughout this week, and with any luck I’ll be able to return with a full recap and pictures when I am back in the States.

Until tomorrow…