For me, 2010 was a very meaningful year when it comes to many aspects of my life. Ultimate was a big one this year!

As the year closes and a new one opens up, I wanna take a moment to look back, and share a little of that experience.

In 2010 I saw my new college team, built just one year earlier, go through a lot. Good and bad hit us from many sides, often at unexpected moments. It became clear that a team divided cannot stand, but that placing good faith in players and helping them out even when people doubt their capabilities is a driving force that will surprise many. I also learned, as the year ended, that sometimes when you least expect it, if you keep on working and creating an environment where the sport can thrive, new blood will show up, because well laid plans also take time to sprout their wings.

I’ll take a short interim to draw a parallel point about this. Its easy to get excited by new ideas and prospects and to put in a bit of effort when things are all potentially going to work out. Hit the first bumps in the road though and people’s will slowly start to give in to their doubts and give up. Just as with many other things in the world, Ultimate has developed due to the efforts of those that will persist even when the going gets tough. Its all well and easy when you want to participate within a structure that exists and works. Its easy putting things to use, but developing them takes effort beyond the measures most people are willing to put in. There’s nothing wrong with this. Most people just want to have a hobby and enjoy it, stress free. However, I have issues with the people that will be quick to complain about how things could or should be better and don’t put in the work to make it so. We live in an age of critics. The internet has made that all the easier. Most people just don’t think the effort pays off when you are a small group, or worse, a single individual, trying to build something from nothing.

I’m here to say that while I can understand the sentiment, I know that its exactly by fighting it that new teams are shaped, new leagues get formed and great players have a chance to develop. I challenge everyone reading this who love this sport to reach out in 2011 and do their personal best to, if they feel something should be better about it, find a way to improve or further it around you: how you play it, where you play it, the number of players in your region, the level of the game, the commitment of teams – whatever it may be, go out there and make it better! Find a new player and be patient with him; take some time to help him out. Take pictures, film games and post them on-line, help find sponsors for teams, whatever you believe will help and is within your grasp to accomplish. Every little bit goes a long way. And don’t be discouraged when things don’t go your way. Expectations are something that we create based on our wishes and desires. The real world is hard on those. But, if you work through it, you’ll find a way to adapt and get things done. Ultimate can be better because of you. Don’t shy away from this.

This past July was the first time I went to a Worlds tournament, attending WUCC2010 in Prague. In fact it was, except for the random player to come by São Paulo and play with us, my first real contact playing in an international Ultimate environment. I had only seen videos or read about the sport around the world for just about a year, and only on and off. I had been playing it for many years, but only because I was taught how by former colleagues, but I was not aware, as I am now, of the plethora of material available on-line for a fan like myself. I don’t feel, however, that its because I missed out finding this material, but rather that in the last couple of years Ultimate has made its presence felt on the web. Videos, blogs, pictures, national associations websites, tournament finders, magazines (such as the Huddle) – the were formed in great volumes recently. Videos are available from UltiVillage and vendors in other countries, as well as on YouTube. Add to that books like Essential Ultimate, Ultimate: Techniques and Tactics, and Ultimate: The First Four Decades – and their authors: people of value and relevance in the community, that help get the sport out there. Tony, author of Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented by Man, was a fun narrator for the WUCC2010 games in Prague during the on-line broadcasting, and very nice about helping me with some of my personal projects. 2010 was the year I dived head first into all of this and I’m still finding great new material and tools to work with.

Worlds was a singular experience all on its own. I will tell you right now, whether you can make it on a team that’s going to play or not, find your way to some worlds tournament, or at least a tournament outside your own country when you have a chance. The experience will blow you away! Personally, I feel I got lucky, because I had the pleasure of meeting many excellent people while in Prague. I made new friends with which I still talk to, keeping at least semi-regular contact with. I met some of the significant characters of the sport scene, whether they were famous players from different countries, representatives from national associations or from WFDF, or people from related businesses (I’m looking at you friends from Five Ultimate and UltiVillage). And that’s just the beginning of it all. I met people who love this sport so much and can teach many things you might never have thought about, share ideas on how to improve the sport in your team and community and, often enough, offer to help you out with your own projects. They’ve seen it done, now they want to see you be successful too. Going to these tournaments is a great way to meet them, show them who you are, what you are interested in, and start opening doors to achieving those goals too. And if you get the chance to play – boy oh boy – are you in for a treat! Nothing compares with the variation of game styles, player temperaments and cheers you’ll get to see from teams. It’s one big party and one big family. Okay, so not everything is beautiful: there will be spirit problems, there will be issues with venues, and you might even see that some administrative problems you thought you had are nothing compared to those other people suffer from. But hey, the good outweighs the bad by a long shot! And guess what: for Club Championships, even if you don’t manage to be on the top-x teams from your country after all those heavy competitions, well, why not try and join a team from an Ultimate developing country who still needs players? They could probably benefit from having your skills and will appreciate you being there! Its an opportunity to help out by sharing what you know and maybe learn a thing or two as well. And what each of you take home later will improve all of you, surely. We had some of that on my team this year. Doug, Beth and Matt: thanks for the lessons taught.

What do I hope for 2011?

I hope the Huddle is happy in its new home at USA Ultimate. And that new sites and on-line magazines like SkyD keep featuring great articles. It’d be great if national associations grew all over the world and communicated with each other, that videos and images of the sport in their country were made available to the world via websites, and that new tournaments (can anyone say PanAm!) took place around the globe. I hope WFDF keeps bringing in new ideas for world development, that Africa gets the attention it needs, and that South America does too. I hope more initiatives and projects like Ultimate Peace spring into existence. I wish that more companies, not just in the US or Europe, come about with great gear and equipment for our sport – we deserve our right to our own style and coolness factor. I hope Ultimate gets the space it deserves on national television. Take a look at the WUCC games and tell me this stuff doesn’t just feel right for home cheering! (The videos are HUGE, so it may take a while to load – you have been warned.) I hope we pave the road to becoming in Olympic sport.

Well, I definitely hope to participate in more tournaments outside of Brazil and learn more from those who are better than me. I want to visit the US and get coach certified. I want to develop Ultimate in Brazil in ways never done before – especially by making the college and junior scenes happen for real! Right now, the only college team in São Paulo is the one I helped develop. The only teams that compete in a tournament are in São Paulo. Only one youth team exists, also in Sâo Paulo. And they all play in the same tournament. Everyone enjoys it, but I hope that in 2011 we can have a college tournament, even if its a small hat tournament. If I can have 50 college players by June and 100 by the end of the year, I’ll say we’ve had a huge win. Its not going to be easy, but that’s number one on my list. I need to find ways to get more discs, proper port-a-fields, and maybe get a couple of foreign coaches come here to help train us. I want to be become a better player, a stronger player, and experience Ultimate at higher levels, playing on teams with people with moves I have seen yet.

I hope to write for the Huddle on occasion, whenever possible in the issues, but hopefully often in the features, dealing with sport development and Ultimate across the world. I want to hear and participate in Ultimate development as often as I’m capable of. I’m not sure yet just how much I can do, but that wont keep me from trying. I hope to have start own blog (in the meantime, if anyone wants to email me, feel free) as well, and share my thoughts about all things Ultimate. I want to meet more players like myself and get more people excited like I am.

The year is just beginning, lets see what comes along the way.
Logan Pendragon

Greetings and salutations!

It’s a great pleasure and honor to be able to participate in the Huddle’s initiative to bring to all of you Ultimate fans the most up to date information about what is going on at the WUCC 2010 at Prague. Here’s a little bit about me to get things started:

My name is Paolo Chiappin, but you’ll usually see me sign as Logan Pendragon. Whatever your opinion on pseudonyms, this is how you’ll usually recognize me on-line.

My team is Brazzinga from Brazil and we’ll be playing in the Mixed division at the WUCC. The team is a ragtag bunch of players from quite a few walks of life. Some have been at Worlds at least once before, including our captain, Luis Fazani. Most have not. The sport of Ultimate in Brazil is still not anywhere near as known and played as in places like the US, Canada or Europe, and while we do have people that love the sport, we don’t have very many on teams that participate in tournaments. Of these few teams, none are sponsored. The group we are taking to Prague is a selection of seasoned and somewhat new players. We are a remarkably excited group that have come together to train with the goals of developing the sport further in Brazil and to face off against some of the best in the world. We hope to learn as much as we can from everyone there while at it. We also hope to surprise those who watch our games and those that play against us. Mostly though, we want to have a great time and we would like to show just how much we love this sport. With what we learn there, we want to come home and take the next step in developing ourselves while working at getting more people to come out and join our sport.

Over the last 12 years I’ve played quite a bit of Ultimate. “Played” being the operative word, since for 8 of those years most of what I did was try to get people to learn the sport and have some fun. I spent a lot time teaching new kids and trying to get them to come back, but not really practicing or developing myself.

I learned about Ultimate in high school and played on the school team for a year and a half before it disbanded due to most of our members graduating together. I was left as one of the few passionate kids who tried to get new students to come out to build a new team, but it was just not meant to be. The things I learned best during this time were about the Spirit of the Game, Fair Play, and the Fun of Ultimate. These are the three lessons that, above all other things, I try to teach anyone who plays with me.

So that’s what I did for 8 years. I didn’t want to join any teams – I wanted to start them. Get the sport out there. It was after many bad experiences that, many years later, it all paid off. USP (the University of São Paulo) now has a new team. I’m just recently back in college and playing with the team I helped put together. This is our second year together competing, and the third practicing. It’s with them that I began training to improve my game. Since we are a Mixed team and I wanted to get more practice time in there, I also put together a new (Open) team: Dragons. Then early this year I also joined Brazzinga. It’s with these three that I have begun to really dedicate myself to becoming the best player I can be. The WUCC is the next step in that direction.

This is my first time abroad since I came to live in Brazil and my first time participating in an event that is organized by the WFDF. So I guess my perspective will be quite fresh as to what is going on at the games, especially since my experience in the sport is very restricted to the game’s style and level as it is played in Brazil. So maybe a bit of what I write will feel like I just had a the rush of adrenaline from riding my first roller-coaster. I ask that you bare with me and I’ll do my best not to let that be the only thing that you get from reading my posts.

Please feel free to write to me and share your thoughts. You can reach me at:
loganpendragon (at) gmail (dot) com.

In the meantime go play some Ultimate and remember to have fun.

Logan Pendragon