Where will some of world's biggest stars be playing when they're not in Chengdu?
July 15, 2025 by Edward Stephens in Analysis, Other
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The World Games — an Olympics-style multidisciplinary international sporting event with events as diverse as aikido, korfball, and sport climbing — hosts the pre-eminent ultimate frisbee tournament on the planet once every four (Or, in the case of the 2021 event that was rescheduled to 2022 due to the pandemic, three)) years. Virtually every serious frisbee fan (and plenty of casuals) will tune into the five-day affair in Chengdu, China as national teams from France, Japan, and Colombia (to name a few of the challengers) attempt to unseat the long reigning United States side.
While the action in Chengdu is the main attraction, it comes with a bonus: many of the 112 athletes spread across the eight national team rosters, virtually all of whom will have been training for months to be in the best playing shape of their careers, will enter the USAU club season in peak condition. What does that mean for the rest of the division? Sometimes, utter dominance. Look no further than the 2022 season: every member of the women’s division’s All-Club 1st Team that year was a World Games player in Birmingham, Alabama a few months before Club Nationals.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at which players could be on a World Games-fueled heater all the way through October. The table below shows the 34 athletes, which country they’ll represent in Chengdu, and who they’ll cleat up with in USAU play.1
| Name | World Games Team | 2025 USAU Club Team |
|---|---|---|
| Anna Thompson | United States | San Francisco Fury |
| Britt Dos Santos | Canada | Toronto 6ixers |
| Carolyn Finney | United States | San Francisco Fury |
| Chris Kocher | United States | New York PoNY |
| Claire Chastain | United States | Denver Molly Brown |
| Claire Trop | United States | Washington DC Scandal |
| Dawn Culton | United States | Raleigh Phoenix |
| Dylan Freechild | United States | Portland Rhino Slam! |
| Florence Dionne | Canada | Québec Iris |
| Grant Lindsley | United States | Denver Johnny Bravo |
| Henry Ing | United States | Portland Rhino Slam! |
| Kaela Helton | United States | San Diego Flipside |
| Kami Groom | United States | Washington DC Scandal |
| Laura Ospina | Colombia | Boston Brute Squad |
| Levke Walczak | Germany | Boston Brute Squad |
| Malcolm Bryson | Canada | Vancouver Furious George |
| Malik Auger-Semmar | Canada | Montreal Mephisto |
| Mangie Forero | Colombia | Boston Brute Squad |
| Manuela Cárdenas | Colombia | Denver Molly Brown |
| Marques Brownlee | United States | New York PoNY |
| Michael Ing | United States | San Francisco Revolver |
| Mika Kurahashi | Canada | Seattle BFG |
| Mike MacKenzie | Canada | Toronto GOAT |
| Molly Wedge | Canada | Toronto 6ixers |
| Quinn Snider | Canada | Vancouver Furious George |
| Raphy Hayes | United States | Portland Rhino Slam! |
| Sam McGuckin | Australia | Chicago Machine |
| Sarah Jacobsohn | Canada | Toronto 6ixers |
| Simón Ramírez | Colombia | Vancouver Furious George |
| Thomas Edmonds | Canada | Washington DC Truck Stop |
| Valeria Cárdenas | Colombia | Denver Molly Brown |
| Verena Woloson | Germany | Washington DC Scandal |
| Ximena Montaña | Colombia | Boston Brute Squad |
| Yina Cartagena | Colombia | New York BENT |
Additionally, there are several World Games players who have played in USAU club in the past but have not yet signed on for a 2025 campaign.
- Gaël Ancelin (FRA) – Toronto GOAT
- Anouchka Beaudry (CAN) – Québec Iris, Boston Brute Squad, Toronto 6ixers
- Elliot Bonnet (FRA) – Washington DC Truck Stop
- Eva Bornot (FRA) – Toronto 6ixers
- Marty Gallant (CAN) – Ottawa Phoenix
- Kanari Imanishi (JPN) – San Francisco Fury
- Lauren Kimura (CAN) – Toronto 6ixers
- Alex Ladomatos (AUS) – New York PoNY
- Mark Lloyd (CAN) – Toronto GOAT, Winnipeg General Strike
- Masahiro Matsuno (JPN) – Vancouver Furious George
- Nico Müller (GER) – Boston Ironside
- Akifumi Muraoka (JPN) – Toronto GOAT
- Cat Phillips (AUS) – Toronto 6ixers
- Sacha Poitte-Sokolksy (FRA) – Toronto GOAT, Montreal Mephisto, Montreal Mockingbird
- Nici Prien (GER) – Texas Showdown
- Conrad Schlör (GER) – New York PoNY
The list only includes confirmed club players as of 7/15/2025 and will be updated if more World Games athletes pick a club team. ↩
