AOBUC Wrap-up
As the last stragglers return from Japan, we look back on a highly successful beach campaign.
Hammerheads - Mixed Masters
By Matt Thomas
The huck goes up…
It’s tipped by the Japanese defender, but not enough to get the turnover…
A dump pass, a short swing, a flick into the endzone. It’s caught! It’s a goal!
AUSTRALIA WIN GOLD!
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Our journey to Gold started back in August with a standard EOI, a trial in November, then the team announcement in December. A ragtag group of Masters-eligible players coming together to take on the best of Asia.
In the months that followed, we bonded through personal and pod workouts, 3 training camps, and a shed-load of memes. Scrimmages against the Mud Crabs gave us ample competition and allowed us to work on breaking down multiple different tactics. Huge thanks to the Muddies for these games!
Never managing to get the full roster to a single training camp, we finally came together as a team at ABUC, just 2 weeks prior to Japan. Under a new name, with some additional faces, we used the tournament as a full-focus warmup. We ended up losing on universe to the eventual winners in the semi-final, but the confidence we gained from this was enough to get us all pumped for AOBUC.
Touching down in Shirahama was a huge moment. Seeing the posters on the lamposts, the bleachers on the showfield, feeling the imported Perth sand beneath our feet, we had made it and we were ready!
Representing Australia is a huge privilege and an incredible achievement, no matter if it’s your first or tenth time donning the Green & Gold. This was the message given on the eve of the tournament during a team meeting and uniform ceremony. Kind words were said to each player as they collected their kit, words of confidence, encouragement and hype. We all went to bed that evening ready to put everything we had into the days to come.
We entered the tournament with confidence. We were the #2 seed and knew we had a chance of being in the mix right up to the end. But, we also knew there would be challenges and setbacks in our path.
Day 1, we got rid of any nerves with a convincing 13-2 victory over China 1. A victory trip to Family Mart followed.
Then, Day 2 arrived and we were off to Tanabe. In our first game against Guam, we were relentless and played with style and confidence. Strong and fast on defence, calm and collective on offence, we took the game 13-0.
Next up, Singapore 2. We kept our momentum, not allowing them to find any rhythm. The game ended 13-1 and we were rolling. Our confidence was high and we knew we needed to keep this momentum for our next game against Singapore 1. We had scouted them and knew that they played a fast, handler-led style of game. Their play was interchangeable. Every player able to play every position. Fast, fluid, and hard to defend if they started to pull away. We were still confident, but we were cautious. We adjusted. Adding a switch defence allowed us to shut down their initial throw-and-go. We forced the turns, we took the opportunities. We won 13-8.
At the end of day 2, we sat at the top of the table. 4-0 with a +41 goal difference. We felt good, but our minds were on our next game. A game against the initial #1 seed, Japan. On the show field for the first time, it was the game we had all been waiting for.
We were worried about their speed, they were worried about our height. Japan started on offence and the game traded all the way to 9-9, with big grabs, confident throws, and everything in between. Then, one break. One moment to flip the momentum in our favour. A layout block by Spillar followed by some calm offence led to the goal we needed and the all important lead. We traded out again and won the game 11-10. Huge!
Beating the favourites is about all the confidence boost you need, so we rode the wave through our next 2 games and beat India 13-1 and China 2 13-3.
We went undefeated through the round robin. 7-0 with a +64 goal difference.
On to the Quarter Final against bottom seeded Guam. They had a new weapon in the form of a speedy receiver, but we put the game to bed 13-3. Our Semi-Final was against Singapore 1. They had pushed us earlier in the tournament and we knew they would want to go one step further. But, our gameplan worked wonders and we saw them off 13-3 as well. Might be a new favourite scoreline.
We were into the final and would face Japan once again. When we stepped out onto the field for the final time, our focus was on one thing, and one thing only. We knew we had more to give and we knew they would be feeling the same way. But, this time, things were different. We broke them early and then broke again to take half. They gave it everything they had in the second half, but could not get the disc off us when we were on offence. At 12-9 up, we knew a break would win us the game. So, that’s exactly what we did.
What followed was a mess of emotions, beers in the ocean, pretty average karaoke and a gold medal tour that spread across the world. Tokyo Disney, the Japanese mountains, Taiwan, Vietnam, Portugal, back to Australia.
It was a tournament of huge performances. From the unstoppable Middleton-to-Middleton goal scoring machine, to OShep’s calm offence, to Helen’s huge goal tally, to Bina’s assists, to Tam’s layouts, to Gladish’s grind, and everything else that everybody did, the victory was truly a team effort, and one that everyone played a significant role in achieving. Massive thanks go to Nathan for being the best manager we could hope for, and to Tim for stitching our old bodies back together.
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Rolling back to our first training camp, we sat as a team to talk about our goals and ambitions for the campaign. A number of things were discussed, but there were a few that seemed to come up time and again.
A successful campaign would be one where we felt like we performed to the best of our abilities. One where we played with Grind & Trust whilst maintaining a high level of Spirit. One that we would all look back on and say “I would definitely do that again”.
We also agreed that we’d love to win a medal, but that wasn’t to be the defining outcome.
Looking back on the process, the tournament, the memories we made, and the Gold medals hanging round our necks, I think it’s safe to say that our campaign was a success on each and every level.
Next up, begin to prep for WBUC in Portugal!
Mud Crabs - Mixed
By Mandy Li
The Mud Crabs centered our campaign around food and sponsorships. We assembled with Team Australia on the beaches of Narrabeen on a very hot weekend in mid January and after Gaunty bursting holes in Jake’s never-ending supply of socks, Betty pulled through securing our first sponsor - Joust sand socks! Over our next three camps, we grew our connections both on field and off-field, secretly developing the notorious Loz-Jack connection, and the team bonding over Chickos, acai bowls, hot pot and crab snacks. We learnt a lot, like how everyone but Lyla likes to faff, how to draw each other (see Instagram), why #55 was so important to Gonza, and the aftermath of Han’s Friday nights. We made a mic’d up series and a VHS tape for Pit Viper to secure our second sponsorship! We also scored another sponsor Tibra, a company that also competes but on the world’s largest stage - the financial markets. Everything was looking very positive for Japan except for the team only having 33/36 fully functional hands.
In June, we set off for Osaka, where we strutted around the city in our Pittys and got introduced to very cheap beef bowls. Our warm up was at Round 1 where the girls beat the boys at volleyball but lost in basketball, and Mandy lost at bubble soccer. We were visiting all the good places like 7-Eleven and FamilyMart before endeavoring on to Shirahama.
We arrived at the tournament beach and everyone was buzzing - this was the first time we had the entire team together all campaign. After having a good run of scrimmages throughout the training camps, we were brought back down with a brutal loss against Singapore in our warm-up game. Despite the nerves, we pulled on the green and gold and took to Chinese Taipei on day one with an exciting win. Our toughest day was three games on the second day starting with a narrow win against Japan’s Kuru and a fun, more familiar-styled game against our NZ friends Full Sand. Our final game was streamed, capturing our hard universe loss against the national Japan team after being up two breaks.
Day three saw humid conditions and another three games. Going undefeated against Guam, Subrosa, and Team BT concluded pool play, seeding us second after Japan and dauntingly placing our quarter against the same Singapore team that beat us in our scratch match. This game ended up being one of the most memorable, winning on universe and seeing only two breaks the whole game.
After putting all our effort mentally preparing for Singapore we fell short in the semis against the tournament champions - Pilipinas Pirates. We closed out the tournament finishing fourth after another close loss against Japan on the final day, but the upside was that made them all the more willing to trade with us. And while the rest of the team were trying to get our hands on some Japan jerseys, Ben Mortimer expertly scored the full Singapore fit, traded up from his physio kit.
Despite just missing out on bronze, we are extremely proud of our performance and the effort we put in throughout the campaign. We hope we made our friends and family back home proud. We come away with lots of memories with new friends and can’t wait for the Mud Crabs to hit Portugal next year for WBUC 2025!
Reef Sharks - Mens
By Ollie Speldewinde
Representing Australia is something special. The opportunity to wear the green and gold doesn’t come around often, and when it does, it flies by.
After five training camps, copious amounts of self-deprecating memes, a handful of video calls and an abundance of tasteful gym-bro training pictures, the Reef Sharks were ready for AOBUC 2024.
With such a consistent training calendar leading up to the tournament, it was easy for the boys to develop a team-comes-first mentality. Part of that was committing to a group flight over to Japan together. The purpose was to start the team bonding early, but I personally think it was to make sure Em made it to the tournament.
After an early start, over 10 hours in a tin can and some synced up rom coms, we were stoked to arrive in Shirahama and be warmly greeted into the hotel, which was only a downwind backhand huck away from the fields.
We spent the days leading up to the tournament getting our bearings on the beach with a short, sharp training session one day and a scratch match against Singapore club team, Solaris the next. Ready to take on reigning champs, the Philippines in our opening game.
With the opening ceremony run and done, after the tournament director thanked the Australians for providing the sand in which we played on, it was time for the first hit out. Now after coming out of the blocks behind the pace, the boys shook off the nerves and went to work against the Philippines. Clawing back from 8-4 down just that little too late, to eventually fall short 10-8. Being our only game of the day, it just left the boys hungry for more.
A major highlight for the Reefers was having the opportunity to hoot and holler at the other Aus teams from the sideline in between games. Creating some crafty, intelligent, well thought out chants - you know, some real poetic symphonies to hype up our fellow Aussies and leave their opponents in shambles.
We sampled the local cuisine each night for dinner – Family Mart, 7-Eleven, Gourmet City. Something about smacking down a takeaway meat and rice dish, with the boys, on the beach, watching the sunset just kept us coming back.
We marched on throughout the week, taking wins against Singapore, Solaris and Korea before building a new rivalry against Japan. We had three games against the hosts, all going to universe point. Unfortunately to those watching from home, we must’ve gotten a little camera-shy, as we had our one win of the series away from the livestream.
The fellahs put everything into our semi-final, if it wasn’t Shellard or Ra getting layout blocks, it was Matty Zabel bagging six goals, or Em finding Chewy on the chest with his buttery backhands. Demonstrating that anyone on this team can cook.
Going down once again to Japan by one point was tough, but not once did we let the heat of the game take away from how the Reef Sharks play. All it left was a fire in our bellies to bring home a medal.
One hour later, we found ourselves locked into the bronze medal game against Singapore. A last hoorah for the Reef Sharks and a great battle saw us come from a three-point deficit to take out the bronze medal in the final minutes, and not without some spirited goal celebrations too.
This team displayed tremendous character throughout the whole campaign, both those on the field and off it, which was rewarded with an AOBUC 2024 spirit of the game medal.
Now it was hard to focus and reflect on the campaign with the two medals clanging around my neck, but one thing was for sure. This team was unequivocally unique. Goal celebrations, sideline cheers, breakfast yarns, pump up speeches, the works. It’s one thing to play for Australia, it’s another thing to play alongside your mates.
This campaign was nuts, we look forward to preparing for WBUC in Portugal later next year.
Platypi - Womens
By Grace Andrews
Along with incredible frisbee skills, the other unspoken requirements for being a Platypi for this AOBUC 2024 campaign included being a Swiftie, performing Tik Tok dances whether you knew them or not, ability to win stuffed animals from claw machines, and being able to train in any conditions, whether that was sweltering heat where the sand burns your feet or in the pouring rain. After three intense training camps with plenty of scrimmaging and a fun mixed national’s beach tournament, we felt like we were gelling with one another and ready to take on the tough competition we would face on the white sands of Shirahama.
From the start of the campaign, we set our team values around WTF (no not that… Work, Trust, Fight) and I can promise you there was no shortage of working for the win, trusting each other 100% of the time, and fighting through long break points throughout the tournament.
Being able to put on our clean green and gold uniform and warpaint (it was zinc cream… it was a hot day!) to walk in the welcome ceremony representing Australia is a feeling I know I won’t soon forget. But as soon as the ceremony was over, it was time to focus on our first match up against China which was a comfortable win at 13-2 and warming us up for a tough match against Japan Huck, winning in universe 9-8 after some long, grinding points.
Day 2 brought on three more games. Our second match up was against the number one seed, Philippine Binibinis, where we started off strong with a three-point lead. It then became a tight match trading points after we went a few breaks down making it a very tight game. Unfortunately, the universe point did not go in our direction this time, but we did not feel defeated as it was such a close, winnable game against a strong team, giving us the confidence that we could beat them if we got the chance to face them again later in the tournament. We finished Day 2 with a record of 4-1.
Day 3 started off with a tough loss in universe against Singapore… let's just say this one left us Down Bad. Though like a true platypus in the wild, we were able to resurface and shake our duck bills and webbed feet off by the next game against Japan Swampybarg and grind out a win in universe point (a great game to watch back if you missed it), with the strong wind playing to our favour. We brought the same energy into our final game of the day against Japan Darumasan winning in universe 8-7 (do you notice a trend here?).
Day 4 had two big playoff games, with a bit of Deja vu in the first game with another universe win against Japan Swampybarg, leading us to play Japan Darumasan yet again to determine if we’d play for gold or the dirty gold in the final. This time though we could not stop their connections and took a tough loss 8-11. This would mean a chance at redemption against Singapore for the bronze on Day 5, and like all good revenge stories we did not disappoint – winning not in universe for a change 12-8.
Our tournament record was 8-3 with 6 universe games (4-2), keeping our thousands (dozens) of fans on the edge of their seats – I told you we were performers at the start, didn’t I? From Dom’s unstoppable hucks and layout blocks, to the poor women that had to have Tori defending them and no chance of ever touching the disc, to Amanda’s Callahan goal in the bronze match, and all of the amazing moments in between, we couldn’t have been more proud of how we finished. Always giving WTF.
We could NOT have done it without our dedicated and tactical Coach Jonny, our super strong physio Issy who carried the table up and down from the hotel on her own every day, our social media savvy and super team manager Nicole, and our support systems either cheering us on from the sideline or from back home! Eu ouvi alguemdizer Portugal 2025? Vejo voce em breve (See you soon)!
Huge thanks to our contributors Matt Thomas, Mandy Li, Ollie Speldewinde and Grace Andrews.
AOBUC game footage can be found on the WFDF YouTube channel
Photo credit: Sam Kehl - WFDF