How Nationals teams spent their suddenly free Thursday
October 24, 2026 by Edward Stephens and Alex Rubin in Preview
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SAN DIEGO — By the time the sun rose on Thursday morning, when the first pulls of the USA Ultimate Club Championships were meant to be thrown, local and regional weather stations reported receiving about a quarter of an inch of rain in the Del Mar area. Though barely a maelstrom (it was not sufficient to form puddles in the parking lot), it was enough to cancel games on Thursday. With an unplanned day off, the 48 teams getting ready to compete on Friday had 24 hours to make the most of their time together. Over a thousand players, coaches, and supporters gathered on the beach, spent time bonding, and enjoyed the best caffeinated offerings San Diego had to offer.
Men’s division defending champions San Francisco Revolver did team yoga after breakfast. Then, in the afternoon they took in a screening of Street Fighter. “Rumor has it, a lot of people fell asleep during the movie. Not the cinematic masterpiece we were anticipating,” said coach Molica Anderson.
Philadelphia AMP organized a T-shirt exchange between their players, spending some time giving gifts that will be featured as their warm up outfits on Friday. “10am: Getting some throws and a few sprints in as a primer,” James Pollard said. “Did a silly t-shirt exchange. These are going to be warmups for the weekend. Went to La Jolla Cove with some Flight players.”
Animal spotting was another common theme. “Beers, brews, and film. Oh – and sea lions,” as Chain Lightning’s Adam Miller described the Atlanta team’s day. For Raleigh Phoenix, sea lion hunting at La Jolla Cove was top of the list for their off-day activities. In their own words, their day was spent with a throwing session, followed by some pool volleyball before going to La Jolla Cove to see the sea lions and seals. “1. Tacos 2. Ocean beach 3. La Jolla 4. Sea Lions and tide pools,” said Phoenix’s Bridget Mizener.
Fort Collins shame. made the most of their Airbnb accommodations as they worked on their throwing accuracy and catches with the waterslide of their pool. They also reportedly partook in inebriating beverages. “Our house is indeed crazy,” shame. coach Marvin Vuong wrote in the Ultiworld discord. “We’ve really enjoyed the day off. I also trust my players to take care of themselves without micromanagement.”
New York XIST likewise stayed at their place, spending the day making pancakes and presenting PowerPoints before playing some golf, spending time on the beach, and practicing for the games ahead.
Pittsburgh Port Authority made themselves into mermaids at the beach. Toronto Union also made it to the beach.
Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust similarly headed to the sand, while some players considered other sports besides frisbee. “Beach, thrifting, and some people played golf,” said Caleb Denecour. “Kinda took it easy.”
Likewise, Austin Disco Club gave their players the freedom to do what they wanted with the extra time. “The only thing we have scheduled is a team dinner and a film session. People can spend the day however they want,” said Reese Bowman and Carley Garrett of Austin Disco Club. “We might go to Coronado Beach.”
Rather than using the day off as an excuse to cancel the physiotherapist they booked for the tournament, Seattle Riot opted to use the day rate they had paid for to get some extra work done on their players from the comfort of their Airbnb.
Rumor has it1 that San Diego Flipside spent their Thursday choreographing a dance to “With Love” by Hilary Duff. We’re all excited to see them break it out at games this weekend.
Toronto 6ixers took the chance to explore America’s Finest City by touring through Pacific Beach and tasting the local cuisine. If folks are looking for fish tacos and ceviche, Nico’s Fish Market officially has the BDS seal of approval.
Dallas Dimes made great use of their free time by celebrating Macy Lang’s birthday properly, with balloons and a party sash. No word as of yet on whether she’ll be wearing them all weekend. They went big for the celebration, too. To hear them say it: “We celebrated Macy Lang’s birthday by going to the zoo and throwing and swimming at the beach. We all cooked a big team dinner and played fishbowl.” Not a bad day by any standards.
In one of the most descriptive stories of the day, San Francisco Nightlock had a few players get some PTO back by working, but the rest of them split up for adventures: “Some people went to see the new Elizabeth Holmes movie, some people went to the Aquarium, we dyed our hair, and one of our teammates got stung by a jellyfish and had to get peed on 😭 But fun fact it doesn’t work 😢”
We wish a speedy recovery for the stung player. Be safe out there, everyone.
After a day filled with off-field adventures, we’re really excited to get back to the fields for the main attraction: Friday’s on-field action.
The team also confirmed it. ↩
