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Elite players from across Canada are heading to Wroclaw, Poland from July 20 – July 30 to compete along side athletes from the 27 official sports and 4 invitational sports featured in the 2017 World Games. VC is a proud sponsor of Team Canada and is excited to share stories about the path to Poland. Author: Morgan Hibbert Over the June 10//11 weekend, Team Canada headed out of town for a training camp. We chose a kids camp out of town so that we could all spend time close together without the distractions of home life creeping in. The focus on this camp really was team bonding and team communication with exercises all throughout the weekend designed to bring us together. One of the benefits of this particular camp was its custom built challenge course located in the nearby forest. It included a series of challenges designed to make you work together as a team. There were roughly 5 unique challenges in total, ranging from climbing over a giant wall, to swinging across a lava pit to land on a small platform (Survivor fans out there would have gotten a kick out of this!) to building a bridge over an alligator infested swamp Indiana Jones style to passing teammates through a laser fence that made me feel like Catherine Zeta Jones in Entrapment! Each of these challenges were unique and all required every member from the team to complete. Tall, small, strong, nimble, each skill set was required at different parts of the challenges. The most fascinating part was how traditional leaders or leadership structure didn't really apply. In each challenge a different person stepped up and very organically became the leader for that challenge formulating a confident plan and directing the team as needed. Whoever it was in challenge 1, it was someone completely different for challenge 2, except we never planned this or even talked about it. I think the organic nature with which it transpired showed up much everyone already trusted all of their teammates and the unique dynamic that a team like this has. It was really special to see everyone so easily working together towards a common goal. The 2nd fascinating thing was the desire to complete the challenge at all costs. Personal boundaries did not exist whether you were being passed through the electric fence with hands all over your bathing suit area or holding onto each other for dear life. That was the longest and closest I have ever hugged Toly as the two of us tried to put all our weight on a 4 inch wide platform in order to support our fellow teammates. Fun fact, he's a great hugger and I felt very safe in his arms. Learning to work together as a team outside of our normal frisbee world is so vitally important. It allows everyone to display their hidden talents and it breaks down any previous judgement of what people can or can't do or what someone would be good or not good at. Everyone starts from scratch with a new challenge that no one has done before, and it really forces you to rely on one another in order to survive the perils or alligators or lasers or lava. I felt much closer to my teammates and respected their unique talents even more after this training camp. For locals of Vancouver, the camp was called Charis camp and I highly recommend it. The author, Morgan Hibbbert, in his VC Ultimate Team Canada uniform. Support the Team Canada program by sporting the gear from our TC collection here.  

Elite players from across Canada are heading to Wroclaw, Poland from July 20 – July 30 to compete along side athletes from the 27 official sports and 4 invitational sports featured in the 2017 World Games. VC is a proud sponsor of Team Canada and is excited to share stories about the path to Poland. Author: Brendan WongOver the weekend of June 9-10, the Team Canada World Games squad had a training camp in Chiliwack, BC. Against a backdrop of trees and mountains, Team Canada spent the weekend playing frisbee, challenging a ropes course, eating meals together, and sharing lots of laughs. Any time that we get to spend together is important for helping players gel as a team and for getting to know each others' tendencies and preferences both on and off the field. Apart from just playing ultimate frisbee, we spent time together doing other things which further adds to making the team a more cohesive group. For example, when we all sit down for lunch as a big group, it's a great time for teammates to get to know each other in a more relaxed and casual setting. Ultimate frisbee is not just about playing a sport that we love but also has a huge social impact on all players. Personally, I have met countless people from around the world though playing this sport. Having the opportunity to play with friends locally or internationally is such a privilege and such a joy. For many of us, I imagine ultimate frisbee has had such a huge impact on our lives that it is hard to imagine life without it. When we're on the field, we want to look like a team. Team Canada is graciously sponsored by VC Ultimate who have provided us with hats, jerseys, shorts, and a warm-up shirt. All of us are proud to wear the red and white gear that represents our nation. ****** Follow the Team Canada World Games squad on Facebook here!

In the following article, TCWG player Laura Mason discusses mental toughness and its importance in training.

What can we say about this team - this season especially - other than Hook 'em Horns!! UT at Austin's top women's team is rocking it, with another strong performance bringing home the gold at Women's Centex this past weekend, the team's home tournament run in collaboration with Without Limits Ultimate. We admit, we're a bit biased with our love for Melee and their home fields, the Charles Alan Wright Fields at the Berry M. Whitaker Sports Complex at the University of Austin. The sports complex is, simply put, sick... the benefits of being at a school with an athletic's program budget north of $160,000,000 perhaps? Yes, that many zeros. Fun fact: VC's Adriana Withers met her much-later-to-be wife on those fields in 2003 (VC was merchandising the UPA College Championships while her wife was running medical support), and still lives part-time only about 10 minutes away. What's more, VC's Sponsorship Manager and the founder of Without Limits, Michelle Ng, is also a Melee alumni.  Oh, and did we mention, it's usually like 80 degrees, sunny and a short drive from one of the hottest music festivals in the world, South by Southwest, going on at the same time? Read Ultiworld's Women's Centex Preview article here. Enough about Centex... back to Melee.  From Ultiworld's write-up, "There is no question that #2 Texas Melee is having a tremendous season, and they look like a shoe-in to make semis at Nationals this year. In both of their tournaments in 2017, Presidents’ Day & Stanford Invite, Melee has made the final. But both times they came up short." Melee's record took a sharp turn to the winning side this past weekend at Centex, where they beat Ohio State's Fever to win the tournament. From Texas Melee Women's College Centex is one of the highlights of the spring college season.  The University of Texas women's program has been a ong-term partner of both VC and Without Limits.  TD Sydney Overman said, "We love how much Vicious Circle promotes Without Limits- in their gear, banners, and general attitude towards women's ultimate. One of the primary Centex goals each year is to grow college women's ultimate across the United States, and I know that Without Limits does a huge, huge job in helping us achieve that mission."  Captains Laura Gerencser and Julia Schmaltz said, "VC always makes sure we look good! We decided to change our jersey design this year and we were initially worried about not being able to include our old emblem (the circle longhorn), but VC worked with us extensively to come up with a brand new, classic and clean new style jersey. We love them!" Melee is deeply invested in the growth and development of college women's ultimate and that is clearly reflected in their partnerships with Without Limits and VC.  We love working with Melee and we love their clean designs. This year's Centex was extra special because of the nice weather and brand new fields, especially given the challenges over the past couple of seasons.  Overman, who is a senior, said, "When it comes to running Centex, pray for the best but plan for the worst. Seriously. After the past two years, we were thankful for a sunny, minimal-wind Centex at the newly renovated UT IM fields. If that's not the formula for a successful victory-lap Centex then I don't know what is!"  The captains reflected, "Because of years past, we have to say our favorite thing about Centex this year was the beautiful weather and brand new facility. Centex hasn't always had the best conditions, so we were very happy to be able to offer a very smooth, good condition tournament to teams that have been so loyal despite the past conditions."  The challenges of the past two seasons made this year even sweeter. Texas has had a dominant regular season thus far and now they begin preparations for the Series.  The captains said, "The next thing on the horizon for us is regionals and we couldn't be happier that it will be back here in Austin! We are very much looking forward to hosting the south central teams (with a possible 4 bids)!"  Follow the team's journey on twitter at @txmelee

This year, Wash U Women's Ultimate and Without Limits celebrated the 10 year anniversary of Midwest Throwdown, hosting 72 teams in Columbia, MO. Looking across the vast expanse of fields, it was hard to believe that the tournament started with only 13 teams. Purdue won the Open Division of the tournament, while Iowa State won the Women's Division. Congratulations to both teams, who took home Spikeball sets to celebrate their victories! TD Devin Ryan felt that host team Wash U learned a lot from running the tournament. "We learned how much planning goes into running a tournament, and how there’s so much going on behind-the-scenes that the average player doesn’t have to think about. It’s incredible to have this opportunity to have so much control over how the tournament is run and it’s great having that sense of accountability and then reward when the tournament is over." She also had positive comments about VC's presence at the tournament, "VC has been nothing but supportive of our team, and they were especially helpful of us both throughout the merchandise design process and managing the complex logistics of hosting such a big tournament. We loved how they valued our input when making any decision, and worked with our team every step of the way." Host team Wash U has been a valued VC partner team for a number of years. Captains Nora and X had this to say about the partnership, "VC has always been attentive to our needs and supported us in getting all of the gear that we need. VC is responsive, communicative, and a great company to work with because of their attention to detail and desire to make gear that fits our team's needs."The Wash U captains' favorite part about Throwdown was the Skills Clinic at the end of Saturday. The captains said, "It's very fulfilling to be able to give women in ultimate the opportunity to expand their skill sets with talented coaches - and to be able to take part in those opportunities ourselves!" VC is happy to support the Skills Clinic, Throwdown, and Wash U Women's Ultimate. To learn more about this and other Without Limits Ultimate events, please visit their site here!

We love travelling around the world and meeting players from so many different countries at ultimate events, as well as awesome individuals contributing from the sideline! In Poland last summer, we met a photographer so talented that we asked him to join our team for our next WFDF event. Please meet Andraž Kramberger... VC: Hey Andraž! We're really excited to have you as part of the VC Lookfly team heading to WCBU this summer. How did this all come about for you? AB: I met with VC and its crew at WJUC last year, where I was part of the Slovenian team as their photographer. While taking some photos from the finals I got into conversation with Adriana, got her contact and she told me to send her any "good ones" from the matches. So when I got back to Slovenia, I immediately edited the photos, send Adriana an email, she liked them and we remained in touch since. Earlier this year I was invited to be a part of the VC team at WCBU this June.    VC: What was WJUC like for you? AB: It was an incredible experience to be at such a big ultimate event with thousands of people from across the globe. It was very exhausting as well because I was at the fields from morning till late afternoon and then I edited the photos and videos of the day and uploaded them, which was a tiny bit frustrating with the speed and consistency of the internet at the dorm where we stayed. But all in all a really great adventure, 10/10 would go again. VC: What's your Ultimate background? How did you get in to the sport? AB: I played hockey for about 14 years and when I got to college I quit and since we were always playing ultimate at recess at high school, I though I would give it a try. So I joined the local team. I got a lot of new friends and connections over it (as one does in Ultimate) but with going to college in another town, I kind of faded out of actively playing and began to take photos at local tournaments. My former teammates then asked me to take photos of their tryouts and tournaments more often and I still go when I have time. VC: We've been using some of your photos - which are AWESOME - in our social media feeds lately. How does it feel to see your photos out there for more ultimate players to see? AB: It's an incredible feeling whenever I see one of my pics being used anywhere else other than my own social media. I never would've thought that Ultimate would be the one thing in life that propelled my photography out into the world. VC: What would be your dream with regards to ultimate and/or photography? AB: I'm not quite sure yet. Of course it would be incredible if I could do photography full time but it is a hard business to get a grip on and to make a living out of, especially if you don't really want to do wedding photography (not that there is anything wrong with it, it's just not my kind of style). VC: Slovenia is a beautiful country. Any tournaments that we should all keep in mind, or must-do's for visitors? AB: Slovenia is a very special place in the sense that you can cross it in about a 4-hour drive and on the way you can visit some really old cities (from roman times), the mountains and the Mediterranean shore. With its position on the edges of Italy, Austria and the Balcan there was a lot going on here over the centuries. So as a tourist definitely visit Bled with its castle and its lake; Piran, which is a tiny town on the shore; Postojna cave, which is one of one of our biggest tourist attractions, but really anywhere you'll go you could find something to see.  As a Ultimate player you'll hear more and more about our teams in the future because the players here are really working hard on the next generation with a nation wide high school league. As for the tournaments I would say Woodchuck is getting bigger every year. It's an international tournament on high intermediate level. If you're more a fan of an indoor Ultimate maybe take a look at Free As A Bee (FAAB for short). Slovenia is still getting of ground with its Ultimate scene but it is getting there slowly but surely. Follow Andraž Kramberger on social media to continuously be inspired by his beautiful work: https://www.instagram.com/krambergera/    

Toronto-based Elites Ultimate is an exceptional organization led by some of the best coaches in Canada.

VC is proud to sponsor the University of California San Diego men's team, the Air Squids. You can support the team by sporting their replica gear, available in the VC online store here! Air Squids at Santa Barbara Invite 2017. Pick up a replica of this jersey here. A note from the team:The UCSD Air Squids have been riding the waves of a large group of young players. Despite struggles early in the season, the Squids are a team that truly ramps up as the practices pile up, and that holds especially true of this year's group of 21 first and second years. We've seen positives already, however, as at Santa Barbara, after going 1-3 on Saturday with a couple very close losses, the Squids won out on Sunday, including the last victory of the day in our sweet darks! The quiet colors and soft design lulls opposing teams into a false sense of security before we pounce, and we'll hope to win more of our flips in future games so we can wear our darks more!

VC Ultimate is proud to be Without Limits Ultimate's official partner. Learn more about this ultimate and life changing organization here. Commonwealth Cup, hosted at the Smith River Sports Complex in Martinsville, has become a February staple for many teams on the East Coast.  Now in its fifth year of existence, the tournament has doubled in size and is host to a wide range of teams, from Nationals qualifiers to new teams and B teams.  This year's weather was mostly beautiful and definitely beat the snow from some previous years! UNC Pleiades took home the title, edging out Pittsburgh in semis and Virginia in finals.  UNC is looking for the team's first trip to Nationals in its current players' tenure and UNC's strong showing this weekend puts them right in the thick of things. The merchandise tent was lively all weekend long and we raffled off both a Spikeball set and Hucket to players who competed in our puzzle challenge.  Next up, Without Limits heads to Columbia, Missouri for Midwest Throwdown.  Then we'll be back in Martinsville for Mash-Up! Shout out to our co-sponsors of this awesome event: Spin Ultimate, Discraft and Spikeball!    Thanks to Discraft for providing game discs! Stop by Tournament Central to pick one up for your team at Without Limits events! Erica of Columbia University won this awesome Spikeball set, and is clearly jazzed about it. Congrats to UNC on their win!