Interview #1 - Dave Ferguson

Hey Dave, thanks for taking the time to have the chats. How's the leg? All healed up?

Hey, Hogi. Not bad at all trying to get into the gym as much as possible, it's tough getting the conditioning right and I have to avoid relapsing but I should be 100% come Tour and IVs.

  

You're one of two remaining players from the Mixed team that went to Italy for U23s in 2010, tell us about that week.

It was an especially tough week, the squad wasn't complete structurally; a lack of girls and handlers really inhibited us from playing like the players we were. We were all pretty much out of position from day 1. Add the 35 degree heat, injuries and inexperience and it was an uphill battle. But I learned a lot that Summer about being flexible as a player and always having pride in the green (forest) no matter what so no regrets at the end of the day.

What was your highlight of that mixed season?

Ehhh, I suppose playing Open tour for the first time... 

Since then you've dabbled in the senior divisions a bit. You had a big year internationally in 2011 with the Open team that went to EUC. You gained a huge amount of experience that year I'd say?

Yea, that was cool. I haven't been on a team with such depth and talent before, or since. That ended with another tough week in Maribor and we were all tested by tough results... I think I learned more about the game and some of the dynamics of week long tournaments and international standard games.

And last year saw the emergence of your current club team, Ranelagh. Tell us about Year 1.

There is a great atmosphere at Ranelagh training, it's the place to be for Open ultimate in Dublin right now in my opinion. Brian has put a lot of thought what is the best way to get the most out of players and creating a sustainable club. I'm out of my comfort zone half the time, getting pissed off the rest but always finish the session with a smile on my face. We did okay at tour but we've always got the long term in mind so the other achievements like mentality and atmosphere at training are more important right now.

What are your aspirations for Year 2?

Breaking top 4 at Tour is a big ambition for myself but really the team and I just want to replicate last years results at training in terms of mentality and see where that brings us. Specifically we also want to attend EUCR...

Bringing it back to Mixed, you played your club Ultimate last year with Dublin based Mixed Veg. You came second at Nationals in Ireland and performed quite well abroad at UK Tour. Was the season deemed a success?

Yea, Tour was fun, just a bunch of competitive, talented players got together for some craic. The seeding made us finish 13th and 6-0 which is rare enough. The weather was great that weekend too. Mixed Nats wasn't all too high on my priorities last year and the field was split handily in our favor so we ended up in the final and lost narrowly after a decent comeback, I was beat coming into the final but, all credit to them, Jabba insisted on having a game and I wasn't one to refuse. Hence the iconic lay-out I made during that game...

Focusing now on this season. What is in store for the Irish Mixed team? What warm up tournaments are you attending?

Mixed Tour 1 and Windmill Wind-up are on the cards, looking forward to both. They promise some high standard play and a good atmosphere and I badly need some vitamin D.

How do you feel the team will do in Toronto? Is it too early to say if the team will perform better than the Mixed team of 2010?

No it's not too early to say that, we have a team which is structurally sound not to mention talented and an excellent set of captains and management. But it depends who shows up in what division, really. I'd say we're going to have a blast and some close games, which is all I want in the end of the day. In terms of a final placing - I couldn't care less about that.

You said in your profile that you're most looking forward to playing alongside co-captain Liam Fletcher. But who are you most looking to playing against?

I have never played against a North American team so that will be an interesting experience, otherwise I'm secretly backing us to have a good craic at GB, I reckon they'll be split 3 ways (O/W/M) and Irish teams have been placing well in Open/Womens IV over there so I figure we could match them huck for huck. Also in 2010 we got bageled by them so a little bit of revenge would go a long way.

Tell us a joke.

How does Moses make tea?

Hebrews it.

Thanks for your time Dave and best of luck with the rest of the season