Category archives: Lilongwe

In a hat tournament, all registered players are put into mixed teams, where we try to balance the teams on ability.

Below is all the information you’ll need to take part.

Register here: https://forms.gle/F4bxWUFtFtEqqKk39

Jump to specific info:

• Location
• Cost
• Refreshments
• Spectators
• Programme
• Tournament Structure
  • Winning a game
  • Rules
  • Teams
  • Field size
  • Spirit
  • Likely format
• Locations of key venues
• Accommodation
• Thanks

Location

St Andrew’s High School, Nyambadwe/Ndirande, Blantyre.

Cost

Free to enter.

If you can afford to contribute towards any of the following, it would be greatly appreciated:

• Food
• Field hire
• Party
• PA

Refreshments

Drinks

Filtered water will always be available for free.

Cold drinks will be available to buy.

Food – for players

• Friday lunch: provided by the Blantyre team (picnic-style)
• Friday dinner: not provided, but those who want to can meet at Annie’s Lodge
• Saturday lunch: lunch by the pool, catered – paid for by Blantyre team
• Saturday dinner: braai at the party (Chloe, Asher and Ayla’s house)

Spectators

If your friends or family would like to come to watch any or all of the games, they are very welcome.

Please send Asher (+265888055773) their names, so they can be added to the list given to the G4S guards at the gate.

We won’t be providing food or drinks for spectators unless we know by 28th February that they are coming, and they are willing to contribute to the cost.

Programme

Day	Time	What’s happening?
Friday, 3rd March	13.30	Registration & shared lunch (provided by Blantyre players)
	15.00-18.00	First rounds of games
	19.00	Annie’s Lodge for food and drinks
Saturday, 4th March	09.00	More games
	12.00	Lunch (catered) and swimming
	14.00	Final games (knockout)
	18.00	Party at Chloe, Asher and Ayla’sPrize-giving
Sunday, 5th March	10.00	Pick-up games for those whose legs still work

Tournament structure

Games will be 5-aside (5 players on the field from each team).

We are expecting 6 teams of 7 players each.

The final number of teams, and the sizes of them, will be decided on the day, when we have everyone registered.

In the first rounds (Friday afternoon and Saturday morning), all teams will play each other. This will then create seeding for the knockout games on Saturday afternoon, which will decide the winners of the tournament.

Winning a game

First team to 7 wins, no winning margin needed.

Time cap

At 40 minutes a horn will sound. When the horn goes, finish playing the point. If one team is winning, once the point has finished, they win the game. If the game is tied, play a deciding point.

Winning the final

Before the start of the final game the two teams playing will agree whether they stick to the same rules, or whether they would like to:

1. Introduce a winning margin (i.e. you must win by 2 clear points)
2. Remove the time cap

Rules

We’ll be using the normal WFDF rules, except for field size and number of players.

We won’t use any special Blantyre or Lilongwe rules, so:

• No push-ups for out of bounds pulls
• Anyone can pull (not just the scorer)

Teams

There should be 5 players from your team on the field at all times.

Substitutes may be made in-between points (except in the case of an injury). How teams use their substitutes is up to each team.

As we have attempted to balance teams based on abilities, there will be no required gender split.

How teams are split up

We’re using the The Ultimate Hat‘s website to split the teams, based on the scores each player has given themself.

The super high-tech program takes all the player data and organizes them into even teams based on the following criteria/order:

1. Team size (make sure each team has as close to the same number of players as possible).
2. Blantyre/Lilongwe ratio (make sure each team has as close to the same number of Lilongwe players as possible – we want to play with new people!).
3. Skill (every team will be as close as possible in skill rank).
4. Height (make sure no team isn’t 6″ taller on average than any another team).
5. Age (when all else is said and done, try to even out the ages some).

Field size

As we are playing 5-aside we will be using reduced-sized fields. We’ve taken these suggested dimensions from Montreal Ultimate. The shorter field means more players are in range for throwing a goal/assist from more of the field. The shorter endzones mean passes into the endzones have to be more accurate.

Spirit

‘Spirit of the Game’ is essential to keeping ultimate fun and competitive. We want to use this tournament to encourage people to learn about the game, and enjoy playing it; good spirit is at the heart of this.

Spirit Captains

Each team will appoint a spirit captain. They will be responsible for helping to resolve any disputes between players and teams. They will also be responsible for leading Spirit Circles and collecting Spirit Scores.

Spirit Scores

After each game, teams should take a couple of minutes to reflect on how the game went, and fill out a short form to score the other team. The forms should be handed in to the Tournament Director.

Spirit Circle

After filling out your Spirit Scores, both teams should circle up and give the other team brief feedback on what they did well. If there were any issues on the field Spirit Captains could take this time to constructively explain how to avoid them in future games.

Spirit Winners

Using the Spirit Scores, a Most Spirited Team and Most Spirited Player will be awarded at the end of the tournament.

Likely format

Day	Time	Field 1	Field 2	Field 3
Friday	15.00-15.40	X v A	B v Y	Z v C
Friday	16.00-16.40	Z v X	A v Y	C v B
Friday	17:00-17.40	Y v Z	B v A	X v C
Saturday	9.20-10.00	Z v A	X v B	C v Y
Saturday	10.20-11.00	A v C	Y v X	B v Z
Break	Lunch	Beer	Tactics	Beer
Saturday	14.00 – 14.40	P4 vP5 (QF1)	P3 v P6 (QF2)
Saturday	15.00 -15. 40	Winner QF1 vs P1 (SF1)	Winner QF2 vsP2 (SF2)
Saturday	16:00 – 17:00	Final

Locations of key venues

1. St Andrew’s High School Ndirande Gate (secure parking here, please use this gate): https://goo.gl/maps/w2bgU2DqLqCWJPHH8

2. Main field, where we’ll be playing
3. Chloe, Asher, and Ayla’s house: https://goo.gl/maps/ndMAFcaFu84ohhLU7
4. Annie’s Lodge: https://goo.gl/maps/gz9711gCEzweBLMP6

  Lilongwe ⬆️

                ⬇️ Central Blantyre

Accommodation

We’ll do our best to put up all players travelling from outside Blantyre with one of our players here. If you need accommodation please say so on the registration form: https://forms.gle/tqbyRqt5njs1oL1Q9 

Or send Asher a message on +265888055773

Thanks

Physio services provided by BetterLife Physiotherapy (+265 884 60 11 34)

Graphic design by Keith Tembo (+265 994 34 73 07)

In spite of the weather, the main game was very well contested and high quality, but ultimately Blantyre’s strength in depth saw them (well, us) through as the winners, regaining the Hippo of Victory.

Blantyre took an early lead and managed to maintain it throughout the game with great team play and considered use of substitutions and team make up. As the travelling team, Lilongwe didn’t have the same options available to them.

The game finished Blantyre 15, Lilongwe 12, with Lilongwe having gone into half time 8-4 down.

After the main game, we had mixed games with mixed teams drawing on players from both Blantyre and Lilongwe: a youth game and then Africa vs North America vs Europe.

The day finished with a prize giving and party, where, amongst other awards, Richard was awarded MVP for Lilongwe, and Chris for Blantyre.

Huge thanks to Chipiliro Wirima for the photos. If you’d like to get him to photograph your event WhatsApp +265 995 54 88 87.

This weekend Lilongwe Ultimate will make the trip south to play their old (and only) rivals, Blantyre Ultimate Frisbee. Never a particularly frequent fixture – and made even less so by COVID19 – the Malawi Ultimate Battle returns to Blantyre.

In Lilongwe in 2021 the home team were victorious despite a strong start by the visitors. Blantyre are hoping to regain the crown with their home advantage this time.

Alongside the main event will be a group of other games, including women’s, youth and Malawi vs the world.

Watch this space to find out how it all goes.

It had been my hope that we would be able to take a joint Lilongwe-Blantyre team to the All Africa Ultimate Club Championship that is happening this weekend in Johannesburg, but it just proved too expensive for most of our players. There will be Malawian representation at the event, however, as our players were invited to join the All Africa United team. So both Lilongwe and Blantyre are sending a player: Frank ‘Fula’ Makowa and Asher Jacobsberg (me), respectively.

Generous support has been given to ensure that we sent an actual Malawian, who also happens to be one of our best players. Thanks very much to all those who have contributed:

• Sam (Blantyre)
• Akeel (Lilongwe)
• Asher (Blantyre)
• Mina (Lilongwe)
• Michael (Blantyre)
• Sille (Lilongwe)
• Nick (Blantyre)
• Chris (Lilongwe)

Any further sponsorship would be greatly appreciated.

As a cobbled together team I have no idea how All Africa United will compete against teams that play together week in week out, so we may come back broken men, but hopefully having also had a lot of fun.

Last month saw the 3rd Malawi Ultimate Battle, between the Lilongwe and Blantyre Ultimate teams.

It was a great weekend of frisbee, with the level of play all around improving each time we meet.

As well as the mixed game for the tile of Malawi Ultimate Champions – to be the holders of the prestigious Malawi Ultimate Hippo – we had three other competitive games.

Women’s game

These kicked off with Lilongwe Women vs Blantyre Women. I’m sorry to say that this was a bit of a whitewash, with the Lilongwe team really outplaying Blantyre. There was no lack of heart or effort from the Blantyre women, but as a club we need to do more to develop our women’s skills.

• MVP (Lilongwe): Emma
• MVP (Blanytre): Liana

Malawi vs the World

Our next game mixed up players from Blantyre and Lilongwe, but pitted Malawians against players from the rest of the world.

Fittingly, Malawi were victorious. Hopefully this bodes well for Malawi’s ability to compete on the international stage as Malawi Ultimate develops.

• MVP (Malawi): Andrew
• MVP (World): Momcillo

Under 20s

Our final warm up game was for our younger players, again the teams were mixed gender and mixed between Blantyre and Lilongwe.

There was fantastic play by all, with skill and commitment matching the, expected, youthful energy!

• MVP (winners): Momcillo
• MVP (losers): Chris

Championship game

The final game of the day, which strecthed into the night, was our mixed gender Lilongwe vs Blantyre game.

Lilongwe took the first point easily and Blantyre looked a bit shell-shocked. Blantyre confidence was boosted, however, when Zack Brady pulled off an amazing diving catch to grab the frisbee from Chris’ feet.

There was also great defensive play, with Mina blocking Blantyre from what looked like a certain score right on the goal line.

Despite the high stakes, and the game swinging back and forth, excellent Spirit was shown all round, notably by Ian, who took time to explain his thinking and came to amicable agreement over some contentious issues.

• MVP: Zack
• Spirit Champion: Emma

Final score: Blantyre 15 – 11 Lilongwe

This Saturday will be the third meeting between Malawi’s two biggest (only) ultimate teams. We’ll be competing for the chance to be crowned Malawi Ultimate Champions and win the MUC Hippo Trophy.

In both previous meetings the visiting team has been victorius, this time Blantyre Ultimate hope to break that form.

Before the main event there will be a picnic and various warm-up matches, and afterwards a party at Baobab Backpackers. All players and supporters are encouraged to come to the whole day.

Programme

Venue: Saint Andrew’s International High School, Nyambadwe

13.00   Picnic lunch – Blantyre players please bring a dish to share

14.00   Women’s game (20 minutes)

14.30   Malawi vs The World – mixed Blantyre and Lilongwe teams, Malawians vs citizens of elsewhere (20 minutes)

15.00   Under 20s – mixed younger players from Blantyre and Lilongwe (20 minutes)

15.30   Warm-up game awards

16.00   Headline game: Blantyre vs Lilongwe

18.30   Party at Boabab Backpackers, Sunnyside – including Headline game awards

Rules

Games will be self-refereed and played in the spirit of ultimate and good sportspersonship. If any dispute arises, we will defer to the WFDF rules: https://rules.wfdf.org/

Warm up games

Warm up games will be played on a 20 minute timer. The team with the most points at the end of 20 minutes wins.

Women’s game: if possible, this will be Blantyre vs Lilongwe, otherwise mixed teams.

Malawi vs The World: it’s up to each player to say where s/he is from.

Under 20s: we may change the upper age limit depending on who is able to play.

Headline game

Teams should do their best to have the same gender split. This will likely mean three women on the field for each team.

The headline game will be played to 15, with a margin of at least 2 goals. The hard cap will be 17. This means if one team reaches 15 before the other team reaches 14, they win. However, if the score is 14-14 then the game goes into overtime. To win in overtime a team needs to get a 2 goal lead or reach 17.

There will be a 10 minute half-time break when one team reaches 8 goals.

If neither team has won after 90 minutes (including the half-time break) the game will end; at this point the team with the highest score are the winners; if both teams have the same score the game is a draw.

The winners will take home the Malawi Ultimate Champions trophy. In the event of a draw it shall stay with the current holders.

Download: Programme and Rules