GLIDE takes NUMBER 1 at Comedy

GLIDE won its first major tournament at Comedy of Errors 2014 in Montreal!

Day One had us in a tough pool. We narrowly scraped out an indoor win against MagnetX, then fell on universe point to both Bebop and Crash. Seeded 3^rd in our pool, we won a crossover against MaxPower and our common enemy, the flying poplar fluff!

We came into Day 2 matched up against 1^st-seed Tribe Ultimate. The lessons learned on Day 1 really paid off; Glide came out with our strongest start yet, taking the game 15-4 to move into the Top 4 bracket.

We faced Undertow (YARRR) in the semis, once again seeing that zone that we remember so well from 2013. This year, we were ready for it, taking the game 11-6. We met Local 613 in the finals. These guys made a scary comeback, but Glide managed to stop their momentum to win the final 15-12.

Some highlight reel plays from the weekend:

1) Universe point against Bebop. We turn the disc, chaos ensues as we try to pick up on D. Their speedy fast guy bolts towards the endzone corner. He's wide open. Handler puts up the disc - everyone is thinking "it's over, he's going to catch the disc in the endzone. we're toast". Out of nowhere, Karyne emerges in front of the guy and pulls out a wicked layout D. Safe for now!

2) Final game. Local 613 seems to be catching up with a few consecutive points.... we need to score. We're on O. The disc is up in the air, Eric goes up for it and fumbles it as he's jostled by the defender - it's a turn right by the line and there's a collective sigh as we now need to get that disc back. Dude with the disc winds up for a huck and releases, and BLAMO - Eric gets a layout handblock to get the disc back for us. We score the point!

We had a heck of weekend; thanks to the tournament organizers and our competitors - see you all at Ontario Regionals 2014!!!

 

Bonne Année a Tous!

OCUA and FUO's collaborative tournament was held January 4th-5th 2013, at the new recreational complex in Gatineau, and many Glide players made it out for the fun.

 

One of Glide's affiliated tournament teams - AstroGLIDE - did particularly well! Christmas turkey and wine aside, AstroGLIDE played a stellar tournament to beat seed and place 3^rd.  

Highlights include: Jen Saxe catching hammers in the endzone on a 6-foot tall girl, Eric Jacques skying GOAT players repeatedly (when will they respect him on the deep?), and Astro-associate Kate Cavallaro staying classy while shutting down See Some Pork’s key female handler.

 

Astro had a blast at this tournament. Thanks to OCUA and FUO for organizing; excellent competition from Squeezy Lemons, Evolve, Chewbacrew, Dynamite, G’s Pot, and See Some Pork; and positive, constructive attitudes from teammates.

 

AstroGLIDE is looking forward to Coup de Foudre in February, and Mars Attaque in March! See you on the circuit!

GLIDE Takes it to Finals at No Borders 2013!

GLIDE finished 2nd at No Borders 2013 in Ottawa, after an impressive 5 consecutive wins... only to be defeated in the final match against Gecko. A more detailed post-tournament write-up is coming soon...

In the mean time... 

Also, GLIDE is PUMPED to be attending the Canadian Ultimate Championships in Vancouver, B.C., beginning tomorrow - August 15th, 2013. Keep posted to CUC's official website for updated results and scores - and check us out on Twitter @GlideUltimate!

GLIDE FINISHES 4th AT ONTARIO REGIONALS!

Photo by Purazar Bhadha (eFire Studio.com) 

For Ontario ultimate players, the 2nd weekend in July was your chance to GO BIG or GO HOME and so we find out what Glide's 2013 season was really all about. Spaced out nicely between Comedy of Errors and No Borders comes a tournament for Glide in which we've had growing success year over year (see our results page for details). In the ever-growing Mixed division, this year 15 teams were vying for 1 of 5 bids to NATS in Vancouver so as teams from across Ontario descended upon Kingston for the Ontario Ultimate Championships - or Regional's - despite the tremendously hot weather things got just a little hotter knowing that 10 teams would be sent home on Sunday afternoon not going any further with their 2013 season.

Our initial seeding was third overall, and that meant we were top of our pool - something that earns you a few select privileges, but also places a big target on your back for all the other teams gunning for your spot to claim those privileges you earned during the season leading up to Regional's; there will be little rest for many teams this weekend, especially Glide!

Glide's first game saw them match up against a team who knocked them out in the "game to-go" in 2011, Zen (12). The initial Saturday warm-up was long, intense and we were locked in and ready to go. Under the intense heat, and playing on a field that appeared to have much more than 4 sides, we ignored what we could not control and focused on playing Glide ultimate, one game at a time. We came out early and hit hard, going up a few points to start. In typical Zen fashion, they scraped and fought back and snagged a few points of their own, evening the playing field. After about 25 minutes into the game, we found the right gear and kept our foot on the gas, beginning to go 2 for 1 in the score column. Half had us up 7-4 or so. Hard-fought by Zen, but Glide takes this game 13-7 at point cap.

Able to huddle under our tent (Thanks Dom!) and seek some much needed shade, we had 30 minutes to prepare for game 2 of the day against our colleagues and hometown friends, Bigfish (14). As seems to be the theme with any Ottawa teams when they match up against one another, they came out firing on ALL CYLINDERS, and perhaps Glide took them a little too lightly (not taking any credit away from them however). 10 minutes after the horn sounds and the scoreboard is Glide: 0 Bigfish: 3. Timeout called and we regroup. We settle down, lock in and play some Glide ultimate. Fast forward and we're looking at a 4-4 score and our composure is keeping us locked in. Still lots of intensity from Bigfish with Gavin T. leading the charge, but a few unforced errors allow Glide to capitalize and punch in a few more points. Half-time goes to Glide, 7-5. Despite the awkward field dimensions and blistering sun, Bigfish still brought energy until the final point, a testament to a program moving in the right direction. Glide ends the game 13-9.

Glide's final game in the pool pitted them against another team who knocked them out in a "game to-go", only this time it was during last year's 2012 Regional's, Whiplash (5). Both teams were coming off a BYE so the legs should be as fresh as they're going to get; no advantage for either team. Time to see what is left in the tank! Although Whiplash took the final spot to NATS in 2012 out of Ontario, Glide enacted some revenge when they got a bid from a Quebec team that didn't attend and met Whiplash in Victoria and won 13-9. Here was game #3 between these two squads and 1st place in the pool on the line. Unfortunately, we were still playing on the same shortened field which means hucks from end zone to end zone were fairly common so defence had to be turned up by both teams. Points were traded for much of the first half. Afterwards however, it seemed Whiplash wanted it just a little more. The end result was a solid win for Whiplash - 13-8 - and one that took some of the wind out of Glide's sails. Whiplash and Glide swap seeds in pool play and that means a more challenging route for Glide as the crossover pitted us against the #1 seed in our opposite pool, instead of the #2. But we did not give up!

Low and behold, our other hometown colleagues who were the #2 seed in their pool beat the odds and became the #1, so once more the ultimate world finds a way to match up BFC and Glide. As noted earlier, this was sure to be a high octane thriller! Earlier on in the year and for the first time in the team's history, Glide took down BFC 13-10 at Comedy of Errors in Montreal. This however meant nothing at Regional's as both rosters were upgraded and both teams were hungry for an all important win. This game was great from the beginning, and having some decent wind introduced helped ensure that huck after huck wasn't going to spoil a great on-field game. There were some calls on both sides and game was played in typical BFC/Glide fashion, tight D and structured but innovative O. However, there were slightly different strategies employed from a game management standpoint as Glide's trademark "line rolling" was used while BFC had a more conservation approach with the men and women they utilized. Glide took it to half. Timeouts used strategically in the 2nd half as each team adjusted on the fly and there was some highlight reel play from both teams. Glide ends up 11-8 when the horn goes and BFC punches in the last point to end a great game, 11-9 Glide over BFC. Both teams were in the top 8 the next morning, so the game simply dictated who was going to matchup with whom.

After an awesome dinner and some water slide action at the Ambassador, we woke up Sunday morning finding ourselves matched up with the #1 seed in Ontario, Union. Oh, and the game was going to be streamed live with commentary too! We once again ran through our routine...nice warm up, good energy level and positive attitudes. We knew what we wanted to do and that was play Glide ultimate. Unfortunately for us, Union was also on point and raised the level of play right out of the gate. Despite executing the same plays that found us success on Saturday, we were unable to breach the line of defence Union put up and the halftime score was a first for Glide, down 0-7. It took some disciplined zone work from Darryl, Simon, Jaime, Lance and Steph to get into a position to allow Darryl to let loose some crafty blades down the sideline to break their zone initially and another cross field to open it right up where Mark was able to hit a wide open Lauren in the end zone for Glide's first point of the still-young morning. Skipping ahead it was a beat down by Union over Glide, 13-2, and proof that they are a legitimate threat to take CUC 2013.

Quickly putting the past behind us, we awaited our next opponent. On the line...winner gets a spot at NATS in Vancouver. We were matched up against Legen-Dairy, a team we'd never played before but one that came off a universe win over Whiplash 12-11 so we were excited to square off. Glide came out like a freight train! We were hungry for that bid to NATS having been denied three times (!!!) in 2012 by BFC, Union and Whiplash and this time we would not let that opportunity slip through our hands. Glide brought the energy, noise and fire that further helped us fuel our desire to get the big WIN and we found ourselves up 7-3 when halftime hit. Not letting the level of play drop, we pushed on and closed out the game 13-4 and guaranteed ourselves no worse than a 4th place finish at Ontario regionals!

Quick celebration and we moved fields for another game...the right to play in the 2/3 game, but the loser takes 4th and calls it a day. We were matched up with a team called Alliance (a YARR/Bulldogs hybrid). We've seen and played YARR before, having a winning record against them in 2011 with a few wins but a loss this year at Comedy of Errors had us proceed with extreme caution. Each team came out firing, knowing what was at stake, and it was Glide who took half but Alliance who mounted a comeback. Glide being up a few points with less than 10 minutes to go, a few mental lapses saw Alliance capitalize and tie the game at 11-11 when the horn went. Glide receives, begins the quest for the 2/3 game but a mistake close to our end zone allows Alliance to "turn and burn", extinguishing Glide's hopes of a 2nd or 3rd place finish. Instead Alliance takes the game 12-11 (ends up 3rd by losing to Surge) and Glide, while pumped about earning their first official birth at NATS, is a little disappointed at what could have been.

Overall the weekend was a success; we came to Kingston looking to snag one of the 5 bids to NATS and we did it. We dropped a seed in the process so it's clear we have some things to work on, but with No Borders coming up at the end of July and NATS in the middle of August, we have time to adjust and get better.

Well done everyone.

Glide on 3...

Glide takes 3rd at Comedy!

Glad to have Mark (and beard) back...

Glide traveled to Montreal's annual tournament, Comedy of Errors, for the second year in a row, looking to improve upon our 6th-place finish there in 2012. Our first game was against the 2012 National champions: Odyssee. Despite storming out to a 5-3 lead, Odyssee picked up their game and cruised to a 15-8 win.

We then brought on a key game against Wreckhouse (from Newfoundland) with the winner being guaranteed a top-4 re-seed on Sunday. After falling behind 4-1 early, Glide closed the gap. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and ended up losing by one point at hard cap. After losing a relatively meaningless game (in terms of reseeding) to Yarrr, Glide refocused and took down Bieber Power to secure a spot in the Championship bracket on Sunday.

The quarter-finals pitched Glide up against Wreckhouse once again. Deja vu hit, and Glide dug themselves the same 4-1 hole that they had on Saturday. However, Glide was not to be denied on this day! After quickly tying the game up 5-5, both teams traded points the rest of the way. Finally, Glide pulled out the 11-10 win on universe point. This propelled Glide into their second rematch of the weekend against Odyssee in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, there was no revenge to be had there as the Canadian champs once again took us down. That loss meant that Glide would be playing for 3rd-place against their in-town rival: BFC. 

As the rain started coming down harder and harder, Glide players dug deep and came out firing with huge intensity. This intensity led Glide to an early lead that they would not relinquish throughout the game, eventually resulting in a 13-10 win.

Overall, this was one of the most successful tournaments ever for Glide as we had our highest finish ever at a major tournament: 3rd! Furthermore, we came away with our first victories ever against both Wreckhouse and BFC. Great job everyone!

And Yarrr, don't expect that easy a game at Regionals friends... ; )

Glide Takes 2nd (and 3rd!?) at CHEO 2013

Photo by Purazar Bhadha.

Glide took part in the annual CHEO BBQ tournament on June 8th, 2013. He's a write up of how the day went:

CHEO started out -and ended-with- the same theme, fun (after all, its all about the kids!) However, in between there was some competitive juices waiting to be uncorked! 

First thing in the morning we were matched up with Lunch Box, a mostly-ex BFC/Comp roster that have the skill and experience to take down any team on a good day. Lucky for us, we came out firing right from the first pull and didn't ease off the gas. Lunch Box calls a timeout after Glide goes up 4-1 but not much changed after that as Glide takes it to (short) half of 7-2. A little wind here and there, some points traded but the score reflects our composure with the disc, hustle on D and execution on O as the game ends with a 13-4 scoreline.

Next up was Bigfish (split squad) and they came out hungry! We traded points for most of the first half, with Glide managing to dig deep and take a 7-5 lead at the break, but this was certainly not Glide ultimate. Bigfish on the other hand seemed to be firing on all cylinders! The 2nd half tells a different story as we reel off 4 in a row to start and cruise to a comfortable 13-7 win. Credit Bigfish for never giving up in that game...it was one of the more exciting (and spirited) games that we played all day!

Final game before lunch/re-seed was against a heavy PHX roster with some Stella ladies peppered in, Subtlety & Nuanced Sportsmanship. Just before the first pull, 3 more PHX fellas showed up from a previous scrimmage/practice...this was getting better as the day went on! While we rolled our typical lines, it seemed the other team was playing mostly with the PHX men, underutilizing the women on the team. Half came much later than it should have as the points were longer and more drawn out (good O and D from both teams with more calls than we had seen from the previous 2 games helping up the time). Glide remains focused and takes the half 7-5 nonetheless, however with a short 2nd half (20 mins or so) creeping up, some mental mistakes take their toll and the horn goes with the other team up 9-8 and that's the game (point not played out). Hard luck!

Food, water and some stretching and we're back playing against a savvy verteran team -Seniors DISCount- who've been around the block more times than Spiderman. Discipline was their calling card and they broke/reversed the field every opportunity they got leaving our D in a bad spot and often times helpless. Well-timed strikes off of some breaks allowed them to get some easy points as they really didn't have the legs to keep up with us... but good on them for exploiting a weakness that we need to work on collectively. There was some great play from both teams and it was a nail-biter until the end however just like the previous game, we were on the wrong end of a 1pt score when the horn went....Glide goes down in the semis 8-9.

That was supposed to be the end of our day. However, our previous opponents decided that was also the end of their day and didn't want to face the PHX heavy roster so they gave us the win from the previous game and we moved on to face  Subtlety & Nuanced Sportsmanship once more. A little wind, some light rain and some unfocused minds led to a poor first half from the Glide crew...down 4-7. We came out with some more energy and scored the first break, but didn't keep the intensity and ultimately fell behind losing a game we would have preferred to take another crack at, 8-13. Fun tournament regardless and some lessons to carry forward into Comedy of Errors and beyond...

Glide's first appearance at TUF in Toronto

In Glide's first competitive action of 2013, we came out firing right from the start. We jumped out to an early lead against Hydra and never let up, cruising to a 14-4 win. Our second game against Bullwinkle went much the same, turning an early lead into a comfortable 14-7 victory.

These first two games set up a key game against The Professionals, a highly regarded team with lots of ex-Maverick players. The 9:40pm start time meant it was a very chilly game, but Glide really turned up the heat with some crazy-intense defense. This, along with Glide's newer players really starting to gel with Glide's vets, powered Glide to an early lead. Glide managed to hang on to that buffer and finish off an 11-8 win to secure a spot in the semi-finals on Sunday.

If we thought the weather had been rough Saturday night, we were in for a rude surprise on Sunday! Mother nature threw rain and hail at us while testing us with really intense winds. Even the best players were having trouble completing the shortest of passes. This was going to be a day of mental toughness!

Our first match-up was against the #1 seed: Union. Union scored upwind on their very first attempt. However, Glide managed to dig in after that and prevent any more upwind points until the very end of the game. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish off any upwind points ourselves, and ended up losing 7-3.

The put us in the 3rd-place game against BLeD. Once again, upwind points were extremely hard to convert due to the intense winds. Halftime came without either team scoring an upwind point. BLeD managed two upwind points in the second half, which proved to be the difference as they went on to win 10-6.

Glide came away with the best finish they've ever had at a high-level tournament, finishing 4th out of 24 teams! Most importantly, the whole squad maintained a positive attitude on Sunday despite coming up short in both games and having to endure the horrendous weather. GREAT START TO THE SEASON GLIDE!!!

No Border Re-Cap in Brief

No Borders offered one final chance to test ourselves before we head out west for Nationals. Glide was hungry to put in a good showing and prove that we could play with the other elite teams!

Our first game was against Ontario's #1 seed: MuD. After falling behind 8-3 at half, Glide managed to bring it back to 11-10, before losing 12-10 at the horn. While the loss was disappointing, we know this result shows we're ready to run with anyone!

The rest of pool play was the low point for Glide at NB, we lost to BFC and Smoke, but we picked it back up for the game that counted - the crossover game against North Bay's Shads. 

On Day Two we had a hard fought game against the first ranked team, Unite, and fell at the end by a few points. Again we proved that we can play with the best of them in this game. We won our subsequent game against Yarr, which put us in the 5th place match against Tabasco (who we played in a similar final match last year at Mixed Up). It was a close game, but again Tabasco pulled ahead victorious. 

No Borders proved to be an excellent tune-up! Glide finished 6th overall, holding their pre-tournament seeding. Our success against the top ranked teams at No Borders is a real boost - we're ready to put up a fight against any team at Nationals - our next main event!

Glide's first appearance at Comedy of Errors in Montreal

Glide attended the Comedy of Errors tournament for the first time as a team this year, and it was an amazing event to be sure!  Our first 2 day tournament this season turned out to be both a learning experience, and a demonstration of performance excellence.

Here's a recap of the games:

Game #1 

As our first 2 day tourney, day 1 was a learning event, with an 8 a.m. start time vs. the #2 seed at the tournament -UNight.  The 8 a.m. start time saw both teams in what could only be described as a brawl up until half.  UNight took the game, and it was a very spirited matchup, and great competition. 

Game #2

Learning from our first game, and now fully pumped we headed over to some Ontario rivals, Prodigy.  This game had some personal pride on the line, as there was some family connection on the other side.  GLIDE roared out with a compelling game, and half ended 6-8 for Prodigy.  A strong 2nd half saw the points land in Prodigy's favour, but a good showing for Glide none the less.

Game #3

Wreckhouse from Newfoundland looked like a good competitor, with their East Coast charm, a team composed of giants, and the sun high in the air... This game had plenty of grueling points that seemed to last forever.  A hard fought game that fell to our spirited Newfoundland competitors. 

Game #4 - Cross over match vs. El Fuego,

GLIDE needed a win in order to stay in the top 8, after a quick regrouping in the shade, and some fluids we hit the field with a great amount of motivation, and a burst of team-wide happiness.  This proved to strengthen our resolve with a definitive win 14-5 ending the first day on a positive note and keeping a spot in the top 8 for day 2.

Day 2

Game #1

On Sunday another less than friendly morning start time of 8am, GLIDE drew the honour of playing the #1 seed Odissey, and I am certain Odissey did not see this coming.  With a 60 second warm-up GLIDE managed to go point for point causing Canada's #2 Coed team to have a few team conferences between points.  The O-line came out very strong with Mat, aka *"the spring" skying Odissey's players 3 times in a row, showing that even mythological teams can get out clouded!  Odyssey switched to a crazy zone never encountered before that quickly proved only a minor bump, and no more effective than man defence.  Shortly after a 5-4 score for Odyssey they pulled away in the 2nd half, with a final score of 15-7, the highest any team had managed at that point in the tournament against them.  A great experience to be sure.

Game #2

On their second game, led by an inspired side line help, Glide played almost point for point against a team from Boston to finally raise their level and bank it!  They had great spirit, and stuck to the end.  A good victory for GLIDE.

Game #3

Third game was against a familiar hometown friendly rival -BFC.  A good final game show down, and a culmination of the weekend's events - everything we learned was put to good use.  With amazing performances from every single player who stepped on the field, the motivation was clear.  Opportunity and scoring came from all over, with Katie's amazing strike for point while covered by 4 of the opposing team's players, Sandra's spectacular layout two finger catch,  and Lance "Rasta Black" Blackstock's 7 points - does it get any better than this?!  A fantastic overall performance by our new players and our returning super stars led by *Chilly D, *Samurai Jen, and *HighTower Mark that made everyone else look so good, and the Dominator for switching between O and D and keeping the energy high.  There really are too many highlights to list here.  A hard fought game, with final score GLIDE 11 BFC 15, but on all accounts a victory to be sure.  This bodes well for the future of GLIDE.

*Not necessarily their real nick name.... :-)

CHEO Tournament Recap

Photo of Pat (may be staged...).

Glide entered a team into the local CHEO BBQ fundraiser tournament for the second year in a row. The competition was stiffer than last year, though Glide pulled off a 3rd-place finish in the competitive pool.


While we managed to beat last year's victors - Turlututu (who ended up coming 4th) - this year saw a number of new teams which upped the caliber of the tournament by a considerable degree (including teams made up of competitive players from the Open, Mixed and Women's programs in Ottawa). 


Even though it's a one-day tournament - the competition was tough, the spirit high, and the weather picture perfect (well, actually, a little on the hot side... just to register a complaint to the ulti gods).


A great start for this year's series of tournaments!