Open - Can Strike break through or will a wildcard team take gold
The open division shrinks to 14 teams from 16, in 2015. The lack of teams is due in part to 2016 being a non-worlds year. Teams from the east are opting to combine and compete in the mixed division, while teams from the west are focused on the open and women’s divisions. BC leads the way with four teams: Blackfish, Goldfish, Mio Grape, and Refinery. Ontario sends their largest contingent with Maverick, Too Bad, Grand Trunk, and BOAT. Alberta hosts with three teams: Alberta Flatball Club, Phantoms, and Whiskeyjacks. Both of the Prairies teams, General Strike and Critical Mass, originate from the Winnipeg program with the former a favourite to medal.
Finally, Québec sends Magma with a packed roster that aims to break into the top eight in Edmonton. This line up of teams provides the first opportunity in at least six years for a non- GOAT/Furious based team to win gold; this last happened in 2009 when Mephisto won gold in Winnipeg. The teams most likely to challenge for gold are General Strike (MB) who won bronze last year, Blackfish (BC) silver two years ago, Grand Trunk (ON), Alberta Flatball Club (AB), and an outside chance from Mio Grape (BC).
Photo: Tse Luk Women’s - Stacked Quebec contingent looking to dominate the podium
The women’s division shrinks to 13 from 16 due to the same reasons as the Open division. Despite the distance, Québec leads with five teams: Vénus, Qub, Storm, Mystik, and EXO, which is the result of an eight team regionals. Continuing the trend of strong representation at CUC, BC sends three teams: Sneaky House Hippos, Zephyr, and Wendigo. Alberta follows with two teams with Flurry from Edmonton and Wild from Calgary who finished 5th in 2015. The Prairies match Alberta with two teams: Fusion, 4th in 2015, and Korra. Finally, TOX6ix, from Ontario, round out the division in their first CUC. While some of the names may be unfamiliar, there is plenty of talent on these teams. There are 5 teams in particular that standout: Vénus (QC), QUB (QC), Wild (AB), Zephyr (BC) and Sneaky House Hippos (BC). Last year, Québec sent a combined A-team called Iris; many of the players on that team were from Montréal and Québec City.
This year the players have been absorbed by their home teams making them much stronger. Calgary’s Wild has also seen the addition of superstar players and are sending a strong roster this year packed with talent and experience. Zephyr had an excellent result last year culminating with a big win against Vénus to finish 5th; look for the rivalry to continue this year. The final team to keep an eye out for is Sneaky House Hippos, if only for the fact that they have 10 spirit captains on roster at the time of writing, who share some similarities with last year’s champions.
Photo: Gavin Thompson
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