Scottish University Ultimate Indoor Dream-Team 2024

In collaboration with Scottish Student Sport, we decided to create a university mixed indoors dream team for 2024, to help highlight the most talented players at this level right now. But, we couldn’t do this without the public’s help! Nominations came in from all across Scotland, and whilst there’s an abundance of talent in Scottish universities, there’s clearly some stand-out players.

We’ve kept you waiting long enough, so here’s the team! As previously explained, the team is made up of the 5 male-matching and 5 female-matching players with the most nominations. Due to a draw, there’s 6 instead of 5 female-matching players. We’ve given shoutouts to some players who were mostly left out of the public’s nominations, but who we think deserve to be on the team (or at least should have received far more votes).

Ronan Kelly (C)

Ronan received the most nominations of any player on the dream team, and anyone who’s seen him play is unlikely to be surprised. An athletic player with big bids and impressive jumps; no disc is safe when he’s on defense! Ronan has been a major part of Stirling’s success this season, leading them to 13th place in division 1 as captain. He’s still got some time left with Stirling, so with him still on the team, we’re already excited to see what Stirling will achieve next year. This club season, Ronan is one of Alba’s ‘young bucks’ and is part of the GUX training squad, so getting plenty of practice in and hopefully some tournament experience, too.

Zoë Todd (C)

Zoë is undoubtedly one of the stronger handlers in Scottish ultimate right now, let alone at university level. She’s reliable, quick, and makes the right decisions (all very key attributes). Despite apparently suffering a serious injury last year, she’s come back from it in a big way, being one of the driving forces on both Edinburgh’s women and mixed first teams whilst always remaining calm and steady on the disc. Zoë was on the winning Scottish Super League team, Skye, this year after being quickly snapped up in the player draft. After a few seasons with SCRAM, Zoë will be a part of the new club team HECK this season, where she’ll undoubtedly be a player to watch.

Frederik Dalgaard

From reviewing the nominations, it’s clear that Frederik has been a key player for Stirling, especially this year. His height allows him to be dominant in the air, which is pretty helpful on an indoors pitch. Frederik isn’t just tall though; he’s a reliable player with a great range of throws in his back pocket, making him an all-round threat. His strengths have likely been one of the main reasons for Stirling’s indoor success this season. You can catch Frederik as part of the GUXYZ squad this summer!

Sophie Chowgule

Sophie has certainly made her mark on Scottish university ultimate. She’s a large part of the St Andrew’s team, being an undoubtedly strong player in every aspect, and is a player that every team wants featured on their roster. With regular handblocks, layout grabs and run-through D’s, she’s a force to be reckoned with on the pitch. We’re unclear if Sophie is playing UK club this season, but regardless, she’s got an excellent ultimate CV. Sophie was a part of bronze-medal winning Team India at the Asia Oceanic Ultimate and Guts Championships in 2019, and took home another bronze medal at Windmill in 2022 with Ambush. More recently, she was given the opportunity to trial for the USA 2023 u24 squad, which goes to show her high level of play.

Jonny Evans

Jonny, according to an anonymous nomination, is “the best male-matching player in Scotland”. Pretty big words to live up to. It’s likely this praise stems from his cutting skills, allowing him to “essentially run Edinburgh’s offense”. His high level of athleticism and big hops put Edinburgh in good stead this season and the team went on to take home bronze at Division 1 Men’s Indoor Nationals. It’s likely the experience he gained over the summer from GB u24 and his season with Alba, before becoming their ‘Rookie of the Year’, helped out at least a little bit. This season, he’s playing with Alba once again, so watch out for him in the streams.

Becca Hardman-Carter

Since taking up the sport only a few years ago, Becca has thrown herself into it; a decision which has certainly paid off. This season, Becca was Glasgow university’s womens captain, putting her GB u24 and European Championship knowledge from last season to good use. It’s no surprise Becca received as many nominations as she did; her speed and impressive fitness don’t go unnoticed on the pitch. Becca has been a key receiver for Glasgow, but she loves a good hammer to the endzone, too. She’s playing with GUX again this season, following a smashing debut with the team after winning joint female MVP for the season. To further add to her achievements, alongside Zoë, she was part of the winning Scottish Super League team earlier this year. It’s only upwards from here for Becca!

João Lopez

João’s been a crucial player for Heriot-Watt this season, and never fails to be a great team-player by “constantly [giving] his team 100%”. His disc skills and reliability makes him the perfect hybrid player, being able to take on handler duties when required, whilst his constant focus and athleticism means he’s always getting free on the pitch. What more could you really want in a player? This club season, João’s made the exciting leap from EDI to Alba, which will hopefully give him the tools to become an even stronger player.

Alice Bates

According to the nominations, Alice comes to life in the endzone, and being the overall top female scorer in the new Scottish Super League pretty much confirms that. Alice brings speed and ferocity on both offence and defence, putting her a step above lots of her peers. She’s a reliable receiver (watch out for her knee slides!), and confident on the disc. Alice has built up her skills during a season with SCRAM, allowing her to really bolster Glasgow university’s play and become one of their key players. Look out for her playing with GUX this summer.

Will Lucas

“If you want to never lose possession, fill a team with Will Lucases.” Why? Probably because he’s pretty darn speedy, has glue-like hands, and great reflexes. It’s because of these skills that Will’s been a main playmaker for Glasgow university this year, and his prescence on the field is always missed. He’s been described as being “another species” by his coach, which is actually pretty high praise. After a season with GUX last year, which took him all the way to the European Championships, he’s playing another season with the club this year.

Flora Girard

Flora’s been quite an exciting addition to Scottish ultimate this season, at both club and university level, and Heriot-Watt is one of the clubs lucky enough to have her for their season. She is a strong, reliable presence on any team she plays for, being extremely comfortable with the disc and never failing to release accurate throws, plus she’ll put her body on the line to maintain possession. Flora gained experience representing her home nation when she played for France at u20 level in 2019; experience that Heriot-Watt would certainly have been grateful for. After having her choice of clubs for the upcoming season, she’ll playing with GUX.

Rhona Gordon

Rhona has been around in Scottish ultimate for a lot longer than all of the above players, so she’s what you might describe as a BNOC. She started out at Stirling university, and is now continuing her academic era at Glasgow. Rhona has been a large part of GUX, representing the team at the World Ultimate Club Championships in 2018, but more recently, she took 6th at the European Ultimate Indoor Club Championships with 3Snakes. If her experience isn’t enough reason to have her on your team, Rhona’s skills will be. She brings intensity to every game and is able to adapt to any pitch position required of her due to her great disc skills, patience, and strong understanding of the game. Rhona’s returning to mixed ultimate this season, representing GUX once more.

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That’s a pretty solid team that you’ve picked, one that we wouldn’t want to match up against! We would however like to give a shoutout to the following players who didn’t win the popular vote, but probably should have got a bit more love in the nominations:

Ailsa Cameron – based on the number of nominations Ailsa received, she was actually first sub for the dream team. A consistent handler and reliable receiver, Ailsa made a big difference to Glasgow’s offence this season. After a season travelling Europe with SCRAM, she’s come on leaps and bounds, and has got lots more to offer with GUX this season.

Ben Tang – Ben would have been an obvious pick for us. As a “pillar” for St. Andrews this year due to his wide range of skills and consistency, he’s often relied on to get the score or turn; whatever’s needed to win. He’s got a wealth of experience und er his belt, most recently GB u24 last summer. He was also on the same Windmill team as Sophie (see above) in 2022, winning bronze.

Sara Rabaglia – we’ll just put it down to her not being around in Scotland for that long as to why she didn’t make the public’s team, but Sara was eligible for the dream team, and so she’d be a top contender for ours. Coming over from Italy to Glasgow university, Sara was on the roster for BFD Shout, winning a gold medal at the European Championships (watch Sara get a break-assist in the first point!) before helping Glasgow take home silver at indoor regionals. Had she been around at nationals, who knows what could have been on the cards for Glasgow?

Hannah Millard – Hannah is a key handler for Glasgow, both at university and club level, so it’s a shame to see her be left off this dream team. Her game awareness and undeniable disc skills put her a step above many other players, and she’s not exactly slow either. Hannah was benched for a hot second due to concussion, but she’s been back for a while, and possibly now even better than before.

Joel Terry – maybe the young’uns just want to have their chance in the spotlight and so left him out on purpose, but Joel’s skills are greatly missed on the public’s dream team. Believe it or not, yes, he’s still eligible. Joel’s got a wealth of experience, including captaining Alba and playing with GB, so with two working shoulders (and possibly even just with one), he would take this team to a whole other level.

Congrats to all players! Be sure to comment below to let us know if your top-rated players failed to make the team! Big thanks to Tristan Millington Photography for most of the pictures featured.