MEN’S | US OPEN | MN LEFT TO RIGHT: Some of the strongest teams from around the world make the trip to the U.S. Open each year to take on America’s best. Photo: CBMT Creative London’s Clapham Ultimate was one of the international teams who competed at this year’s U.S. Open in Minnesota. Here, Ollie Gordon goes up over Johnny Bravo’s Brett Matzuka during pool play. Photo: CBMT Creative Revolver’s Robbie Cahill just misses a layout D against Johnny Bravo’s Dennison Bechis during the U.S. Open finals. Photo: CBMT Creative
think the U.S. Open will continue its upswing. “I think teams are adapting to the idea of getting ready sooner, and maybe Worlds just kind of helped give that more momentum. I think we’ve gotten over that hump.” Another reason to think the U.S. Open will retain its momentum is that when a tournament is presented like a championship event – ESPN cameras, sponsorship banners, games played in a stadium – players naturally rise to the occasion. “The U.S. Open is becoming a big tournament not in terms of preparation for the season, but in its own right,” said Mike Payne, Revolver coach and president of the USA Ultimate Board of Directors. “Guys want to perform well when they’re on an ESPN broadcast as Revolver, in front of their friends and their fans.” “It’s hard for guys to turn off their competitive instincts,” adds Sockeye’s Tyler Kinley. “And the Open felt big because of the cameras and reporters and whatnot. That changes how people frame it.” Coupled with full buy-in from the U.S. semifinalists, the other half of making the U.S. Open a complete tournament is rounding out its international side. The goal is to bring in four of the best
teams from around the world to play those U.S. teams, but given travel costs and season schedules that don’t line up with the Triple Crown Tour, doing so has been understandably difficult. Still, the progress is there: in 2013, Ragnarok (Denmark) became the first team to cross the Atlantic to play at the U.S. Open, and this year, Clapham (London), Europe’s best team for over a decade, made the trip. While they had a rough go of it at the Open, notching only two wins, Clapham went on to take Revolver to double-game point in the quarterfinals at Worlds in a game that many called the best of the tournament. Clapham leadership credited their run to what the team learned at the U.S. Open. “We had been beaten by them at U.S. Open by starting our game with bad execution on our deep shots, something which could be directly addressed pregame,” said captain Marc Guilbert. “Defensively, we knew of their fast breaks and had more knowledge in the likely role each player would take.” Clapham’s experience is important for the U.S. Open because it gives other strong international teams reason to think they’ll benefit from making the trip.
U.S. for quite some time,” says Stefan Rekitt, the coach of the German national team. “The U.S. Open is perfect for international teams that want to compete with the best U.S. teams. The round robin format ensures that you can play all teams, so you will have the opportunity to test yourself against the strongest in North America for sure.” In the past, the U.S. club season has kicked off without much fanfare. Ironside, GOAT and a few other east coast teams might start off with the Boston Invite, the west coasters would go to Cal States or Solstice, and everyone else would attend whatever was convenient. The first time anyone would see them all in the same place would be ECC in mid-August – and with a top team or two that usually skipped the trip, even that wasn’t a guarantee. Moreover, international club teams were more of a novelty than anything else. This year, though, was different: the U.S. Open anchored the season in a single tournament, so when I loaded up that Worlds game, I had a whole lot of context for what I was watching. It felt good for me as a fan, and it feels good for ultimate.
“I have been thinking about bringing a German team to a tournament in the
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