Hey Ross, what's the craic?
Alright Hogi, not a lot of craic really. Most of my time at the moment is taken up with my thesis and when I'm not doing that I'm usually training or doing something Frisbee related!
Congrats on making your second U23 Mixed team, your third Irish setup overall! You were a member of the team that went to Florence in 2010, so tell us how that week went for you.
Florence was a tough week, I think myself and a lot of other members of the team were naive going into the tournament and didn't know what to expect. What games got tough we didn't really have anyone experienced enough at an international level to turn to and that meant the results never really went our way.
Are there any highs and lows that stood out more than others from the tournament?
Ah yeah, there was plenty I liked about it alright. The team were a great bunch and we really did our best in every game despite our small squad and the hot conditions. I played as a handler that week which was something I have ended up doing every time I represented Ireland until now for some reason so I got quite a bit of the disc and learned a lot which was cool! Obvious things I didn't enjoy was the heat, getting sun-stroke and never getting a win! Oh the pool party was an experience too and becoming super-mates with Juno!
Ah yeah, there was plenty I liked about it alright. The team were a great bunch and we really did our best in every game despite our small squad and the hot conditions. I played as a handler that week which was something I have ended up doing every time I represented Ireland until now for some reason so I got quite a bit of the disc and learned a lot which was cool! Obvious things I didn't enjoy was the heat, getting sun-stroke and never getting a win! Oh the pool party was an experience too and becoming super-mates with Juno!
In 2009, you played at EYUC with the Irish Junior team. As this was still within your first year of play, you were still pretty new to the game. What did you learn most from your year at Juniors?
EYUC was class! It was the first time I'd really taken Frisbee seriously, before that it was a lot about the boozing and that. Arriving in Austria really showed me the level of athleticism that was in the sport that I was pretty ignorant of up until that point. I learned that if I wanted to properly compete at that level I'd need to start putting the work in and that's how I became that tank I am today ;)
EYUC was class! It was the first time I'd really taken Frisbee seriously, before that it was a lot about the boozing and that. Arriving in Austria really showed me the level of athleticism that was in the sport that I was pretty ignorant of up until that point. I learned that if I wanted to properly compete at that level I'd need to start putting the work in and that's how I became that tank I am today ;)
Before all that, you had to start somewhere. Where was that and who was your coach?
I started in DCU in 2008. Brian, Louis Free and myself all signed up and went to the first training session and were given a rake of free beer so we never looked back. After a few months I even began to enjoy the sport! Back then Dominick used to coach us in DCU and he was great! The club itself was going through a bit of a change that year after losing big players like Rory and Rob but at the time I was just happy to be playing and didn't worry too much about results at the time :)
Since the inception of the club, you were an OCS man. What was the best thing about playing with "the boys"?
Yeah we set up the club in 2009 so we could enter All-Irelands and from there we found our player base growing and we started to win some games! The best part of OCS for me was the players on the team, we all got along really well and enjoyed working for one another. But the team really got going when we moved our training session to a state of the art facility in the city centre, there we saw well attended sessions every single week where we really tore the hole off it!
Yeah we set up the club in 2009 so we could enter All-Irelands and from there we found our player base growing and we started to win some games! The best part of OCS for me was the players on the team, we all got along really well and enjoyed working for one another. But the team really got going when we moved our training session to a state of the art facility in the city centre, there we saw well attended sessions every single week where we really tore the hole off it!
Who do you train with now? Is there a big difference in setup between OCS and your new club?
This year I'm training with Ranelagh which is completely different I guess. In Ranelagh the team is made up of people who are really looking to play and get results at the top level, on top of that everyone is willing to put in the work at training and with their fitness. I guess the biggest difference between the clubs is that in OCS players wanted to club to go in many different directions which led to a few problems along the way but they're back to training now which is great and I'm sure they'll have a good season!
This year I'm training with Ranelagh which is completely different I guess. In Ranelagh the team is made up of people who are really looking to play and get results at the top level, on top of that everyone is willing to put in the work at training and with their fitness. I guess the biggest difference between the clubs is that in OCS players wanted to club to go in many different directions which led to a few problems along the way but they're back to training now which is great and I'm sure they'll have a good season!
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| Pulling face win |
How has this Mixed season gone for you so far?
Great! It was a little strange at the start going from training with an open team every week to changing to mixed mode for our training weekends but I think I've got the hang of it! I've played 2 warm up tournaments with the team so far (Mixed Tour 1 and Windmill Windup) both were absolutely fantastic. We went into both tournaments with a squad full of talent that have been putting the work in since October and the results were great too! I'm playing on the O-line for the team which is something completely new to me and a real mental test sometimes but it's really quite enjoyable and there's no better feeling than marching the disc upwind for the score to put the D-line animals back in the game!
Great! It was a little strange at the start going from training with an open team every week to changing to mixed mode for our training weekends but I think I've got the hang of it! I've played 2 warm up tournaments with the team so far (Mixed Tour 1 and Windmill Windup) both were absolutely fantastic. We went into both tournaments with a squad full of talent that have been putting the work in since October and the results were great too! I'm playing on the O-line for the team which is something completely new to me and a real mental test sometimes but it's really quite enjoyable and there's no better feeling than marching the disc upwind for the score to put the D-line animals back in the game!
And the team? Have they been performing to the standard you would expect from them?
Absolutely. We're receiving top class coaching and everyone's really bought into the team. I think at this stage everyone has really gotten to know their role on the team and is doing it with great success. We were great at MT1 and WW so I'm really excited for when the team peaks at Toronto!
Absolutely. We're receiving top class coaching and everyone's really bought into the team. I think at this stage everyone has really gotten to know their role on the team and is doing it with great success. We were great at MT1 and WW so I'm really excited for when the team peaks at Toronto!
Is there something you look forward to most in Toronto?
It's hard to pick just one thing really. Ever since I got the phone call from Emer offering a place on the squad Toronto has been my number one priority (thankfully I was able to juggle some of the other commitments in my life :P) So I guess what I'm looking forward to most is them really tough games which we'll win on the hard work that's gone in since October! And the theme park.
It's hard to pick just one thing really. Ever since I got the phone call from Emer offering a place on the squad Toronto has been my number one priority (thankfully I was able to juggle some of the other commitments in my life :P) So I guess what I'm looking forward to most is them really tough games which we'll win on the hard work that's gone in since October! And the theme park.
Who do you want to play most?
Hard to pick just one really, I'm looking forward to playing the likes of USA and Canada. There's something I really enjoy about going into a game as underdogs!
Hard to pick just one really, I'm looking forward to playing the likes of USA and Canada. There's something I really enjoy about going into a game as underdogs!
Make us laugh.
How do teddies keep cool?
Bear conditioning.
How do teddies keep cool?
Bear conditioning.
Cheers Ross. Best of luck at Worlds!
No bodz xx
No bodz xx
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