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Nouvelles
About VC
VC Photographer Spotlight: Andraž Kramberger
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/
Coaching
VC Partner Spotlight: Elites Ultimate
Toronto-based Elites Ultimate is an exceptional organization led by some of the best coaches in Canada.
VC Team Spotlight: UC San Diego Air Squids
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!
Tournaments & Events
Commonwealth Cup: Without Limits Ultimate Event
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!
VC Team Spotlight: UC San Diego Psychos
VC is proud to sponsor the University of California San Diego women's team, Psychos. You can support the team by sporting their replica gear, available in the VC online store here!
Psycho A at Santa Barbara Invite 2017. Pick up a replica of this jersey here.
A note from the team:The UC San Diego Psychos are stoked for the college season! We're looking forward to learning and improving as much as possible while continuing to challenge top ranked teams across the nation. We're grateful to VC for always being accommodating and supportive of our crazy jersey designs, and we hope that everyone will love them as much as we do!
Berzerk B at Pres Day Qualifier 2017
Florida Winter Classic 2017
Florida Winter Classic was a great way to kick off the spring season for VC and Without Limits! This year was the fourth year of partnership between VC, Without Limits, and Florida FUEL.
The event has doubled in size and grown in competitiveness during that time, attracting many Nationals Qualifiers and Nationals hopefuls.
Dartmouth Princess Layout captured the Florida Winter Classic title and showed us just a glimpse of how dangerous of a team they will be this spring. They were dominant all weekend long. Host team Florida FUEL had a very strong showing as well, finishing second and demonstrating lots of athleticism.
Champion Dartmouth with the Spikeball set that they received from VC Ultimate for winning the tournament. Follow Princess Layout's season on Twitter at @princesslayout
Captain Courtney Testa had this to say about the weekend, "My favorite part of FWC was seeing the competitive atmosphere and playing and learning from teams from all over the east. It's really exciting to host a tournament with such a wide variation of teams and I think it helps me grow as a player, captain, and teammate to interact with these women."
VC showed up in full force at the event with raffle prizes, prizes for the top teams, and lots of awesome event merchandise. Tournament Director Megan Mullally said, "I loved having Kelley from VC come out again. Kelley's positive attitude really brought up the energy of the tournament. The merchandise is always top notch and the raffles this year really added to the value of the tournament. We can't thank VC enough for supporting us and helping to create an awesome tournament logo this year."
Local team Central Florida with the Spikeball set that they won from FUEL in the raffle.
As always, the successful event was a team effort. Mullally added, "I learned from running FWC that the success of the tournament really depends on the team you have to help you. This year, Kaitlin, Charlotte, Michelle, Kyra, and our volunteers from Fuel and Diesel made the tournament run extremely smoothly." Testa added her thoughts about VC's importance to the event, "VC has supported our team by sponsoring us and helping us create the gear we want, whether that be uniforms, t-shirts, hoodies, ect. VC strongly supports Florida Women's tournament, FWC (Florida Winter Classic) and has helped it grow into a competitive and sought after season opening tournament."
Looking forward, FUEL hopes to continue their success. Testa said, "I am looking forward to developing the full potential of this team. We have a deep team with a lot of different talents, and new coaches as well. This year will provide a lot of different opportunities for FUEL and it's an honor to captain these ladies as my teammates and best friends."
We'll be rooting for you, FUEL and we look forward to your continued success! Thank you for your partnership and for all you are doing to grow college women's ultimate.
Equity
VC Ultimate To Sponsor, Help Grow Ultiworld's Women’s College Coverage
From Ultiworld: A new partnership will support Ultiworld's college women's coverage.
We are pleased to announce that VC Ultimate has partnered with Ultiworld to help support a substantial amount of college women’s coverage in the 2016-2017 season. Featuring tournament reporting, video footage and highlights, coverage of D-I and D-III Nationals, and a monthly profile series, Ultiworld’s coverage of the college Women’s Division will be stronger than ever thanks to VC Ultimate’s generous support.
Below is a Q&A with VC CEO Adriana Withers about the company’s decision to commit resources to enhanced media coverage of the Women’s Division.
Why is this an important moment for women’s ultimate?
There are a lot of important developments happening in ultimate right now. The recognition by the International Olympic Committee, the spreading awareness of the professional leagues, the quasi-regular inclusion of plays on SportsCenter Top 10 – these are all signs that ultimate has started to arrive in the mainstream, if it hasn’t already.
As more eyes and interest land on ultimate, it is of paramount importance that our incumbent media outlets commit to presenting our sport at its best, which to VC means providing equal coverage of the women’s division, towards the goal of supporting gender equity.
It’s important that female athletes have their stories told and are equally and respectfully covered. It’s important that, when new spectators and media consumers read about and watch ultimate, it is just as likely that they are seeing coverage of women’s competition. Further, it’s crucial that any girl thinking about getting involved in our sport can go on to a site like Ultiworld and find a female role model just as easily as a young boy could find a male one, or vice versa for that matter.
VC is proud to support Ultiworld’s 2016-2017 women’s division coverage. When we proposed this idea, it was because it was one way that we can help to level the playing field in terms of what events and stories get covered in the coming year.
Yes, it’s an indisputable fact that more people watch men’s athletic events, and therefore those events are better financially supported than women’s ones. Yes, this is true even in ultimate. That doesn’t mean that supporting the coverage of the women’s division is less important to VC; we think it makes it more important to put our financial resources behind it.
What’s the motivation behind sponsoring Ultiworld’s women’s coverage?
As ultimate continues to expand, it is necessary that ultimate organizations, governing bodies, and for-profit businesses commit to working towards gender equity in our sport. We have a real opportunity to cultivate ultimate in a different way than traditional sports have historically grown.
In my opinion, that means that companies like VC need to open our pocket books and truly support equal coverage of women’s ultimate, even knowing that we will have a less traditionally “valuable” return on our investment. The motivation behind our idea to support Ultiworld’s women’s division coverage was simple: it was the right thing to do.
Why move beyond your focus on Without Limits to support the full college season coverage?
Without Limits Ultimate is an amazing organization that will always have VC in its corner. The work that Michelle Ng and her partners have done to create playing and development opportunities for women (and men) over the last 6+ years is inspiring. Organizations like this build our community up and strengthen the foundation on which we can continue to make progress.
However, Without Limits is only one of many organizations doing great work – the All-Star Ultimate Tour, GUM, camps like NUTC that make gender equity a focus among both instructors and players, and the many other tournaments with strong women’s divisions across the country.
We didn’t want to pick and choose what coverage we helped to fund simply due to an event’s affiliation with partners we are already work with or tournaments that we are already supporting in some other way. It was important to provide financial support to the entire division’s coverage to help get as many stories out there, from as many far-apart places, and about as many different players, teams, and organizers as possible.
How do you see a media-focused partnership helping there?
As we say at the VC office, 90% of problems we come across are due to lack of quality communication. What better way to focus on the importance of gender equity in ultimate than by supporting the quality coverage of the women’s division?
Ultimate Canada Conference 2016
What I'm hoping to gain and give from this year's Ultimate Canada Conference.
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