CHAOS WINS NATIONAL TITLE
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The 2009 Canadian Ultimate Championships descended upon Winnipeg this past week. The event was a massive undertaking and despite some of the worst weather to ever be experienced by the tournament it was a success. 220 + volunteers worked tirelessly to keep this event afloat (literally) and our guests were very appreciative of the amazing efforts of the event staff. This years championship also showed that the efforts of our touring programs were paying off. General Strike, Chaos and MOFO all finished the round robin portion of the tourney in 1st place. Despite a set back to Mixed tourney favorite "TFP" (Vancouver) Chaos entered the quarters as the top ranked team and clawed their way to the Sunday finals at Canad Inns Stadium.  As was the case all week the finals were played in tough conditions as the rain poured down on the stadium. I'm sure the weather kept many from making the trip out but we still had a few thousand people. Those who braved the weather were treated to the best finals games in a few years. The Canad Inns camera crew did an excellent job filming the action and the crowd was thrilled with the instantaneous replays that were shown on the Jumbotron. Chaos met Montreal's "ONYX" in the finals. Chaos won their first national title in 1999 and the reformed team made the best of their chances to claim gold in front of the home town crowd. Congrats to the team and we hope that a trip to Prague to represent Canada at the World Club Championships in 2010 is in the cards.
General Strike finally broke the quarter final curse and made it into the semis vs Ottawa's "Phoenix". This game was also played in a crazy down pour despite a terrible start Winnipeg's mens team was determined to reach the finals.  The team refused to go down easily and started a furious comeback late in the contest. Unfortunately the reduced timeslots narrowed their window. Several very impressive plays had Strike right back in the game. A misthrow to Andrew "Kid" Voigt that looked like a certain turnover created one of the most amazing plays of the week as he changed direction and made a stunning lay out catch that led to a momentum turning huck for a wide open score. The effort was certainly there but in the end it was not to be as Phoenix won. A tough pill to swallow as the team certainly had the finals within their reach.
MOFO ran the table through the first 2 days but was stunned in the semis by Vancouver's second team. The team will obviously be disappointed with the results but it's obvious that the Juniors program is in good hands.
DOAP made their nationals debut and marked the first time that Winnipeg has entered 2 teams into the Junior division. Fusion battled hard in the womens division and finished tied for 7th. In the Masters division "Flood" (5th) lost an emotional "Universe Point" game to Toronto's "Fossil". The loss marked an earlier then expected exit for the team who had hoped to compete for a spot in the finals against the eventual tournament winner GLUM (Ottawa).
All of this action could not have taken place without the amazing efforts of the over 200 volunteers. Their determination to keep things going when the weather was doing everything possible to derail us was amazing. I cannot thank this group enough and while each and everyone them deserve to be highlighted I do have to point out the extraordinary efforts of several key members.
Tournament Director - Jessica Benoit
Jess was returning with the experience of having held this position in 2005 but was forced to deal with the logistics of running our new site which is effectively twice the size of the 2005 event. Add the weather related issues to this and you have a nightmare. No one could have done a better job under these conditions and I will always be grateful for her dedication to this project.
Director of Volunteers - Angela Perez
Angela was the other returning member of the 2005 committee and was tasked with finding the massive amount of volunteers required to pull off all of the services we wanted to offer. The weather played havoc with our schedules so it was a real testament to Angela that we were able to re-direct our volunteers to all of the areas that needed them. I know that Angela would prefer not to see any emails for a while so save your thanks for in person.
Director of Hospitality - Adam Knibbs
Adam was a workhorse throughout this entire process and sacrificed sleep and sanity to make sure that the show went on. Adam took charge in several key areas with the site set up and had to try to keep everything working in the worst of conditions. The event would have been in serious trouble without this type of devotion.
Assistant Tournament Director - Sara Wiebe
Sara was a late addition to our executive but her impact was huge. Sara brought a fresh perspective and great organizational skills to our final meetings. Once the event started Sara helped in all areas including her duties as Jess' assistant, contributing to the volunteer coordination and helping with the continuous contingency planning.
Head Score Keeper - Dean Wright
Dean has seen it all in his years of organizing Ultimate... well at least now he has. Having someone with Dean's experience and passion for the sport in such a key role really helped our group out. The weather forced us to continually change field locations and adjust times and being in Dean's shoes was not a fun job. Ankle deep in muck Dean persevered and kept all the games (that weren't cancelled) going.
Director of Finances - Mike Tottle
Mike was charged with the task of handling all of the floats, deposits and tracking the merchandise and beer sales. Of course he also stepped in to help in other areas and was also part of the "little to no sleep crew".
Special thanks to Danny Saunders (CUPA E.D.), Kelvin Dyck (everything), Steve Baria (web / Dean's assistant), Josh Drury (Observing / Signs), Eric Reder and Zach Regiec (Media / Promotions), Paul Reder (web site updates), Paul Simpson & Dylan Hewlett (CUC Photography Supervisors), Rob Altemeyer (Medal Ceremonies), Jock Martin (Finals MC) & Dan Timmerman (Finals A/V Director). Finally the biggest thanks to each and every person who volunteered. Despite the rain, the hail, the lightning storms nothing could break the spirit of these people. Everyone kept showing up and doing their job with a smile on their face. The Canadian Ultimate community was so impressed by this and I'm still getting emails complimenting the volunteers on the incredible job they did.
When people look back at this event they will likely remember the weather more then anything but I will remember the incredible efforts of the volunteers. This event would have not been possible without the 200+ of you. Be very proud Winnipeg! It was an incredibly tough week but it was all worth it when the video started playing on the Jumbotron at the finals.
- 2009 CUC General Manager
Corey Draper
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