Ultimate Canada Magazine – Wednesday, August 15
Written by: Scott Lewis
Canada had a strong representation in this division in the recent WFDF World Masters Ultimate Club Championship recently held in Winnipeg, providing no fewer than seven of the 15 teams in the competition, with our top finisher being Dyna, who lost the bronze medal playoff by a heartbreaking single point.
But of course, with this being an off year for Worlds qualification, that strong representation in Winnipeg is in some ways a detriment to this division at CUC.
Neither Dyna nor perennial CUC favourite Vintage will be coming to Brampton; indeed the only teams attending both Worlds and Nationals will be Manitoba’s MINT and Ontario’s Thrift Shop, who finished 13th and 14th in Winnipeg. On the other hand, some of the teams at Brampton will be bolstered by picking up players who played on other teams un Winnipeg, so the level of competition will be very good.
One team that is firmly focused on Brampton is The Collective, representing the Maritimes.
Captains Andrea Patterson and Nat Deveau have been there since the beginning.
“We originally created The Collective in 2012 as a women’s team,” the captains explained in an email. “We had lots of talented females from different cities in the Atlantic provinces, so we wanted to see how we could do if we joined forces. In 2015, we decided to change to the women masters division as most of our players were 30 or over.”
For The Collective, their first appearance at CUC went better than expected.
“In 2015, the team surprised many people by bringing home the bronze medal from CUC. It was a very proud moment for us as we did not get a chance to practice together very often, instead working within our cities. It was a great accomplishment for the Atlantic region.”
Patterson and Deveau both point to Wendi Tekamp as a player on their team to watch; “She is just coming off a successful Worlds with a Nova Scotia team, and is ready to dominate at CUC.”
Thrift Shop hopes to use the experience they got in Winnipeg to propel them to the top in
Brampton. Captain Kimberley Baxter explained how the team got started.
“In 2014, Jacquie Reeds heard about a spot available for CUC, which was being held in Waterloo, and put together a collection of women from across Ontario by enlisting the first 26 eligible women who responded to her call for players. We met as a team at the tournament for the first time and brought home the bronze that summer.”
They would like to at least match that finish this year.
When asked about players from her team to watch, Baxter turned mysterious.
“Mandy, Mandy, Mandy,” she said.
Asked to elaborate, Baxter did divulge a last name, but nothing more.
“We can’t tell you why to look out for Mandy Dunbar. That would be too much information.”
So if you, like me, want to know why Mandy Dunbar is a player to watch, you’ll just have to head to Brampton and watch a Thrift Shop game yourself. If you still can’t figure it out, track down Kimberley and persuade her to enlighten you.
