Newcastle University women's frisbee Nationals comeback

After tough competition at Women’s Indoor Regionals in November 2021, the Women’s Frisbee Team earned their place at Women’s Indoor Nationals which took place last weekend. On Friday night, the team set off down to Hertfordshire, led by Captain Izzy Retout, to compete in a two-day competition against the Top 19 University Women’s Frisbee teams in the country. Heading into the weekend, our team were seeded 19^th; we had nothing to lose. With that in mind, we were determined to prove them wrong because who doesn’t love an underdog. The battle to break seed was on.

On the Saturday morning, we arrived at the venue at 9:00am to warm-up and open the tournament. With little expectation, we began our game against Strathclyde at 9:20am. As it was our first game of the tournament, it took us time to familiarise ourselves with the disc. We lost our game 7-5 to Strathclyde. Spirits remained high as we picked ourselves up and powered through to the next.

Into our second game, we knew the competition was tough. At Regionals, we saw the strength of the UCL Frisbee Team so we knew it would be a difficult game. Determined to show them our strength, we set out all guns blazing. After putting up a strong force, we lost to UCL 5-7. At this point, the Pies needed a pick me up, if we wanted to break seed. We had to win our next two games. The stakes were rising as pressure was building up. We had more to show.

Southampton were our next opponents, and we weren’t going to let them win. With strong defensive and offensive from both ends, the game ran tight. However, at the last moment the Pies managed to score a crucial point ending the game 5-4.

One game remained against Loughborough. The team rallied together to put up a convincing battle. The result paid off, consequently finishing 5-3 to Newcastle. After a tough day of well-fought competition, the Pies celebrated, we were no longer 19^th. We had broken seed. Coming 2^nd in our pool left us in the top 8.

The second day, the stakes had skyrocketed. Though we were ecstatic from the jump from 19^th to 8^th, nothing was set in stone. Intensity increased as our first game of the day had the power to change all. If we beat Glasgow, who were 9^th, we could remain in the top 8. However, if defeated, the drastic drop was a potential 16^th. Everything was on the line. With a minute a half left, it was 4-4. All tensions were rising as the buzzer stopped and the last point remained. Whilst I paced up and down the side-line, Lily Gray threw a spicy overhead which met the hands of Hannah Quirk and excitement erupted. We were top 8 in the country. Any higher than 8 was now a treat. Our expectations had already been exceeded so for our final 3 games we gave our all, though just missed out.

Our MVP of the weekend went to Maddy Huffer who scored some brilliant discs in the end zone whilst displaying her renowned defensive skills. Though we lost our final 3 games, it’s safe to say that we made it into the top 8 best university women’s teams in the country and that’s something to be proud of.