A showcase snag for the ages!
February 11, 2025 by Ultiworld in Awards, Opinion
Ultiworld’s 2024 Catch of the Year bracket is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.
One of our most popular series to begin each year, it’s time to look back at last year and let our readers decide some of the top plays of the year from 2024.
We watched many hours of game footage and asked for help from the community to hunt down the catches, grabs, yoinks and everything else. With so many players making big plays in 2024, it was too tough for us to even cut to a final 16.
In our Subscriber Selection, they culled the initial nomination list down to the final sixteen (eight from MMP and eight from FMP) in this article. If you want to help decide who even makes the bracket for Plays of the Year, see all of the honorable mentions, plus get a bunch of other sweet benefits for 2025, check out our subscription plans.
With all of the votes tallied, the winner is…
2024 Catch of the Year: Charles Paterson – New Zealand Open (WFDF WUC)
It took a late run and comeback from a big deficit for Paterson to beat out Maélys Lechasseur, but the New Zealander got enough backing to take control of the matchup. It is the second straight year a Team Canada player fell in the final. Paterson was named Emerging Player of the Year in New Zealand in 2020, although this moment was his global breakout. He works in software by trade as engineer, but he takes home the hardware — or, at least symbolically — in this case.
Part of the legend of Paterson’s winning catch is the context: it came in the showcase opener for the World Ultimate Championships, serving as the first course for the tournament’s meal. And Paterson’s twisting, diving reception came on the other end of a massive and aggressive hammer, adding an enhanced degree of difficulty and a judge’s bonus for showmanship. Even when it happened, onlookers were saying “Was that the Catch of the Year?” Yes, it was.
Past Winners
2023: Tobias Brooks
2022: Abbi Shilts
2021: Jordan Rhyne
2019: Charlotte Koerner
2018: Pranav Rajan
2017: Theo Kuhn
2016: Himalaya Mehta
