Opening Pull: Club Nationals Field Set, European Championships

Plus USA Ultimate Hall of Fame Class of 2022 candidates.

James Highsmith and Ann Arbor Hybrid were one of the final teams to qualify for the 2022 Club Championships.
James Highsmith and Ann Arbor Hybrid were one of the final teams to qualify for the 2022 Club Championships. Photo: Tyler Kinley

Opening Pull is Ultiworld’s weekly wrap-up of the previous week in ultimate, available both here on the site and as an email newsletter. We’ve gathered the news you need to know and highlights you need to see. Check back weekly or subscribe now to receive Opening Pull in your inbox along with a rundown of the previous week’s content on Ultiworld.

USA Ultimate Club Championship Field Set

After Super Sunday two weekends ago, the Great Lakes regional championships handed out the final invites to Nationals, firming up the complete field. Favorites Chicago Machine, Chicago Nemesis, and Ann Arbor Hybrid won the men’s, women’s, and mixed divisions, respectively. Cincinnati Omen, who earned a bid in the regular season, finished the job by taking second in the men’s division.

USAU qualifiers tweet

Our qualifying thread has more details on each team’s pathway to San Diego.

We now shift to waiting for seeding and pools. Our own Charlie Eisenhood has already previewed his seeding predictions to our Plus Subscribers in our Discord’s #Plus-Subs channel; his full predictions are slated to go live later this week.

Ultimate Hall of Fame’s 2022 Candidates Revealed

The Ultimate Hall of Fame announced the candidates eligible to be inducted as part of the 2022 class. 10 women’s division and 10 men’s division players are listed for potential inclusion. In addition, the mixed division’s Starting Class is also up for discussion, with Scotty Conway and Emily Smith-Wilson, both former members of Mental Toss Flycoons, as well as contributor Joey Gray, a pivotal figure in driving competitive mixed and in Northwest ultimate, on the ballot.

Community members are encouraged to participate in providing feedback on the candidates for consideration via the Call to Community survey, which is open until October 10th.

Additional contributors and special merit nominees are also on the list, including The MOB and Downtown Brown, POC-focused groups that have gone overlooked in ultimate’s history.

European Ultimate Champions Crowned

EUCF took place over the past weekend, pitting the best European club teams against one another in a bid for continental supremacy.

In the women’s division, CUSB Shout topped YAKA 15-9 in the final. Sofia Scazzieri was awarded the tournament’s MVP in the winning bid, the first time the EUF has given out the award at the tournament.

The mixed division final went to GRUT, 15-14 against Reading Ultimate in a hotly contested matchup. RU needed a comeback in semifinals to get a rematch against GRUT, but the vaunted mixed program took care of the English side for the second time during the event.

Ranelagh claimed the top spot in the men’s division, besting Clapham 15-14, a rare feat in the European scene. Clapham had held the advantage over Ranelagh in recent, notable meetings, so this was a very meaningful win.

For more details, check out our full coverage from Italy.

Coming Up

  • Club Nationals seeding predictions on the horizon. Perhaps even the final seedings themselves will be released.
  • With the Club Championships coming on, expect a wealth of announcements about coverage, from our livestreaming plans to #TheGame.
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