Blantyre Ultimate League

We’re now getting so many players involved in Blantyre I think we really have an opportunity to get a league going. I hope this will encourage more teams to get started and for us to develop our skills and tactics.

Structure

Teams

Initially I think we may have enough players for three teams; and we have three venues at which to base them:

Limbe at Hillview
Sunnyside at SAIPS
Nyambadwe at SAIntS

Each of these teams should aim to field a mixed-gender team of between 12-18 players a each Saturday meet-up. It may be that we need to work up to these numbers and we start with teams of 7-10.

Games

If we start with smaller squads then games up to 7 points, with a maximum duration of 50 minutes would make sense. However when we have full-sized squads (14+ players) we should play to 15, with a maximum duration of 90 minutes.

So, with the shorter games we could play 7.30 to 11.00am. With longer games we’d need to incorporate lunch and work out how we avoid playing at the hottest times of the day.

Seasons

What is the best way to create seasons so that we get regular groups of players turning up – and maybe allow/encourage some training too?

Games every week?
A game one week, then training the next?
Games every month?
Something else?

Obviously the more frequent the games the shorter the season would be.

Questions

How often should we play?
Can we incorporate training?
How do we divide the teams? Do we allocate players to try to create fair teams; or do we encourage players to play for their local team and develop their team if they are lacking?
Can people switch between teams?
Do we have an age limit or allow everyone to play?
If we do have an age limit, how do we include those outside of it on game days?
How do we deal with gender splits?
What else needs to be considered?

Add your answers and comments below.

To register your interest in playing in the first Blantyre Ultimate League, click here:

Off to SA for All Africa Champs

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)

Just got some Malawi flags for us to take

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.

Lilongwe women triumph, but Blantyre retain the mixed title

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.

The World, wearing the Malawian flag shirts (confusingly), vs Malawi, in white

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

3rd Malawi Ulimate Battle

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

Pre-register for Blantyre Ultimate Battle

This Saturday will be our first Ultimate tournament in Blantyre. To help speed things up on the day, please fill out this short registration form. The aim of this is to help us to create competitive teams on the day.

This is useful for new and regular players as it helps us to highlight things that you may feel confident in that you don’t always get to show on Sundays or Wednesdays. It also helps me to see how many people we will have coming.

The form is here:
https://forms.gle/Z7wyom3j6cdh3xxa8

Please remember that filling this out does not guarantee you a spot, it will still be the first 28 people to register on the day. Filling this out now does mean you don’t have to do it by hand on the day though.
Thanks! See you Staurday!

Order your t-shirts now!

This post has been updated with new pricing and sizing.

I’ve finally finished the designs for the Malawi Ultimate t-shirts and I’ll be placing the order for them this week. Please add your order below so I know how many of each size to get made.

Sorry about this but because of an issue with the original manufucturer – they hadn’t understood that we wanted reversible shirts – I’ve had to find a new manufucturer and so the price has gone up slightly and the sizes may have changed. Please check below and confirm your order.

Further update (6/5/19): The new manufacturer, it turns out, also couldn’t make thje shirts reversible, so everyone will get two t-shirts, one ‘home’ and one ‘away’. The price and sizing remain the same.

Thanks and sorry for the hassle.

‘Home’ and ‘Away’ designs

The t-shirts will come as a set of two t-shirts: the green/black design for ‘home’ and the white design for ‘away’. They’ll be made from lightweight, wicking material.

Sizing – updated

They are coming from China, so the sizing may be different to what you’re expecting. You may have to order a bigger size than you would normally take. This is their sizing chart:

Cost

People ordering and paying now will get a set of t-shirts at cost price: K13,500 (£14.00, $18.50) – this is for a ‘home’ and ‘away’ set of two t-shirts.

I will need the money soon, as it’s quite a big outlay for me. I’ll send payment details when I confirm your order.

If you can’t pick the t-shirts up from me in person, you’ll need to pay any delivery costs as well – we’ll arrange someone to bring a load to Lilongwe for free though.

Order Form

Two big events coming up

This month and next we’ve got two Saturday events for you to get involved in, both in Blantyre.

The first is the Blantyre Ultimate Battle on the 27th April. This is a hat tournament – we mix up players to try to create relatively equal teams – with an Under 14s tournament running alongside it.

Full details: 1st Annual Blantyre Ultimate Battle

A few weeks later we’ll be welcoming Lilongwe Ultimate back to Blantyre to see if they can win back the amazing Malawi Ultimate Champions trophy they made, only to be forced to give it to us.

This game – and any warm ups around it – will be on the weekend of 18th May. Full details will be posted on this site, Facebook and WhatsApp as soon as they are finalised.

Checking in

On Sunday, we had a discussion about when to wait for a check (the defending player tapping the disc to say her team is ready) and when to just play on.

As we weren’t all 100% sure of the rules I looked them up. WFDF (World Flying Disc Federation) says:

10.1 Whenever play stops during a point for a time-out, foul, violation, contested turnover, specified turnover, contested goal, technical stoppage, injury stoppage, or discussion, play must restart as quickly as possible with a check. The check may only be delayed for the discussion of a call.
https://rules.wfdf.org/rules/2017/16-10-the-check

The explanation on that page makes it clear that, “a check is not required after the pull or after a turnover, even when the thrower must walk to the location of the correct pivot point.”

So, if you’re bringing the disc back into play (e.g. from the sideline or back line) you should wait for the check, but from normal turnovers, just play.