UTalkRaw: Ultimate Frisbee Conversations

Benji Heywood is back on the show answering a great question about coaching from a listener.

Benji shared his story of building a career as a professional coach back in Episode 1 and since then he has started the excellent UnderstandingUltimate blog.

In this episode we start with a listener question about how to diagnose & fix mistakes when coaching Ultimate players. We really deep dive into the discussion to try and answer the question in as much detail as possible.

This week I talk to the legend that is Simon Hill, CEO of UK Ultimate. We chat about UK Ultimate's strategic plan and the future of Ultimate in the UK. UK Ultimate is the national governing for our sport in the UK and Si is the driving force behind it. Si is also chair of the WFDF Ultimate committee as well as on the Rules, Spirit and championships for WFDF! Oh, and he plays too. In this episode though we talk about UK Ultimate. Why the organisation exists, what it does and the existing goals laid out in the new UK Ultimate strategic plan. Listen to hear Si explain the full details and find out how to get involved! Links for this show:

• UK Ultimate
• UK Ultimate's Strategic plan

Today I'm welcoming Liam Kelly from UK Ultimate back on the show to talk about an exciting new part of the "Matalan Sporting Promise", supported by Sport England, called "Community Clubs". The "Matalan Sporting Promise" provides a frame work for non–traditional sports, such as Ultimate, to be introduced into schools to create opportunities for young people to take part and become a part of something new or different. Ultimate has been part of this program in England since it started 3 years ago; during that time over a thousand schools have been exposed to Ultimate in some way! The "Community Clubs" is a pilot for a new scheme to augment the schools program by building local community sporting clubs. Listen to hear Liam explain more plus how you can follow along and get involved!

This episode was recorded on Mothers day in the UK and international Womens day has just happened. I mention this because in this episode we are talking about Womens Ultimate; and specifically about recruiting and keeping female players. I have the great pleasure of welcoming Saz and Jen from Nice Bristols - one of the largest and most consistently successful womens clubs in the UK. Links mentioned in this show:

• Nice Bristols Website
• Nice Bristols on Twitter

This episode is with Felix Shardlow, he talks about living a life focused around Ultimate with income from coaching and his video production company, Push Pass. Felix was a founding father of Brighton Ultimate in 2004, part of the team that won mixed Euros in 2009, played for Clapham (open nationals gold, euros silver) and GB Open (euros silver) in 2011. He also coached the Mohawks team that won Uni open and women's nationals in both 2011 and 2012. Here are two of the links mentioned in this episode: riseupultimate.com and Ultimate Techniques and Tactics book.

In this episode I am talking to Oliver Browne about starting a new club. We chat about the process he went through to (re)start the Sneeekys club in Edinburgh. Some of the challenges and some of the lessons he has (and is) learning as he works with other like minded players to build a sustainable club for the future.