Wrapping up the club season.
December 10, 2025 by Charlie Eisenhood in Opinion
You can email me anytime at [email protected] with questions, comments, ideas — whatever you’ve got.
Q: What were your impressions of the Beach 4s showcase at WBUC? Do you think the format has merit? Is WFDF right to mess around with formats to try and create something to appeal to the Olympics? Is it time for the glorious return of The Rylands? (Ask the old UK heads about that one.)
– Benji R.
Let’s set aside the excruciating nature of these “showcase” games in the middle of an otherwise exciting finals day at a World Championship. WFDF was giving Jeb Bush “Please Clap” vibes by trying to cajole fans to care about this game.
Let’s understand what it’s all about. The Olympics has a cap on the number of athletes and sports that it will put into the Games. As a result, pretty much every sport that’s not already in the Olympics is throwing out small-sided versions of their games in order to reduce head count and try to win favor with the IOC. Rugby Sevens was initially created to streamline the game and rugby made a triumphant return to the Olympics with that format in 2016 and again in 2020. Lacrosse is playing Lacrosse Sixes in the Olympics in 2028. (And there are plenty of complaints from lacrosse fans about the format, which is normally 10v10. However, the Premier Lacrosse League, the summer pro league, plays a 6s format!). There are plenty of other examples, including a bizarre Baseball5 game.
Mailbag: Beach 4s, Game Advisers, Worst Games to Lose, Star Players is only available to Ultiworld Subscribers
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