World Ultimate Championships 2024 | Camy Agnew

If you had to name the best male-matching player in Scotland, or even in the UK, Camy Agnew is likely to be at the top of that list. Whilst he’s not had as much GB experience as you’d probably expect, his club ultimate experience makes up for that, with 2 World Ultimate Club Championships in the mixed and open division under his belt. Camy is 31 years old and works as a digital marketing account manager in his hometown, Edinburgh. He currently plays for Alba, a team he helped create, and is captaining the GBX squad. Camy was interviewed by Mihael ‘Jimmy’ Dimitrov when he spoke about his ultimate influences, his prep ahead of WUC, and future plans.

When and why did you first start playing? Did you play any other sports at the time?

I first started playing at Strathclyde University in 2012 when I was 19. In high school, I was pretty sporty and my main sport was basketball during all 6 years. I also played rugby but dislocated my shoulder and had to get a surgery. I got that about a month before I went into uni halls and got the sling off the day before Freshers’ Week. In my first year, I didn’t do much sport but I trialled for the basketball team in my 2^nd year and made their 3^rd team, which had no organised practice and felt underwhelming.

Meanwhile, my friend from school, Danny Strasser, who went to Aberdeen University, had played ultimate for a year by this point. He said “Camy, you should try this, you’ll find it fun and you’ll be good at it, but just go to everything”. I had nothing else to do, so I did, and went to all the freshers tournaments and so on.

What teams do you play for in Scotland, and which experience have you enjoyed the most?

I have played for Strathclyde Uni, Glasgow Ultimate open, a single tournament with GUX, Black Eagles and Alba. I went to Worlds with Black Eagles in 2018 and again with Alba in 2022, and both of these experiences I cherish a lot – because we went to Worlds and those teams put everything into it.

Back in your early days when you were still fresh as a player, was there anyone you look up to or influenced you much?

Danny Strasser was already an established player in Aberdeen and basically brought me into the sport. From Strathclyde, Johnny Ferry had a good role and in my second year, he really showed me that Ultimate Frisbee can be elite and a proper sport. That was a time when [Dark] Horses (Strathclyde Uni) were a very casual club and he should get a lot of credit for pushing that mentality and establishing the ground for Strath to win national titles.

I’d say the Webb’s (Phil and Shaun) played a huge part in my development. They were extremely willing to give me game time at a high level, almost immediately, at club tournaments with Glasgow. I learnt a lot about frisbee from both of them, a lot of intricacies and details about throwing mechanics, as well as how to utilise my speed to get free. More than anything, they gave me the confidence to play and trusted me immediately.

Another influence I had would be Nicky Shaw, an incredibly strong female player. I always played most of my sport in single gender but it was really nice having such strong female leader to work with and I have learned a lot from her playing in a mixed atmosphere.

Speaking of the mixed division – you play single gender at club level with Alba, but you play mixed at national level. Why switch?

Choosing [mixed] was partially because I could be a leader on the team. If that was taken out of the equation, I think mixed often gets a bad rep. People think of it as second class and as though there’s no value in it. There’s a lot of nuance with mixed and I don’t think people realise the value and the importance of it until they play it at a super high level.

There are a lot more problems to solve in mixed, both defensively and offensively, compared to in single gender. I play single gender to not think and just run, whereas in mixed, you constantly have to be problem solving. I also think mixed is more fun than single gender, because you have male-matching and female-matching players in a social setting, as well as on the pitch. The problem solving aspect brings a lot of people to mixed I think, and it’s why they stay in the mixed division.

When did you first represent Great Britain? How did that process feel?

I played GB under-23 in 2015 in the mixed division, however I first trialled for the open team during that cycle. I was quite nervous there as it felt like I didn’t do much, however in the following mixed trial it went much better. It felt like I was one of the last picks and someone they just gambled on, as at the time I was relatively unknown and I probably improved more than anyone on the team. I was so raw when they picked me and just trained really hard for 6-7 months. There were quite few people that got snubbed at that trial, like Connor McHale and Josh Briggs. And there were a lot of players who didn’t make either team. Going through the selection process is so hard even at senior level, let alone in those younger levels, because there is just so little information on people.

How do all of these GB experiences over the years compare, from GBu23s to trialling in 2020, and now being in the leadership?

U23s was great, it was my first big tournament. It lit a fire in me and I wanted to be good at it. 2020 was great, because I just made the team and after I narrowly missed out in 2019, it felt like vindication. The past year has been completely different with captaining and managing. This is technically the first GB senior team I have played for. It’s an honour but also a lot of pressure. I really enjoyed last year and this year as well, so it’s been good as a 2-year cycle.

What keeps bringing you back to GB level?

I just want to compete at the highest level. I know it is a simple answer but I love the high stress situations at the highest level. Playing on universe point, and whenever there is so much pressure, I love being in those situations.

Moving onto WUC! In this final build up, how has your prep changed? Or is it the same as for club nationals?

It’s slightly different, big tournaments are usually in July but now it’s more towards the end of the season so we’ve had longer to prepare. The next 5 weeks is more of a cruise mood for 3 weeks, and then taper for 2, which includes the week of travel. The cruise time I’m doing, I’m just trying to maintain the level I’ve built in the past 9-12 months. I’m doing more throwing, still keeping the volume of running but less strength sessions and a lot more mobility, so I stretch every day. We have also reduced trainings and maximise recovery. Basically, with any decision I make, I ask, “Is that gonna help my recovery?”. I’m focusing on nutrition and doing everything possible to help my recovery, for example, I haven’t drank any alcohol for 2 months or so and won’t drink any until after Worlds.

With Worlds in Australia, what are you looking forward to the most? Have you been there before?

I have been there with my now-wife some 7 years ago and it was amazing, so I’m really looking forward to going back. It’s nice that it’s in Australia as it feels proper; you go there a week early and settle, whereas in Ireland [at EUC last year], people flew in on the Saturday before and flew out on Sunday, so it is quite nice that it’s far away.

Playing for Great Britain comes with a lot of challenges, let alone being squad manager. What have you learned about yourself while playing for GB?  

Playing is the easy part, being a manager is the hard part. Something I have learned is to be honest with people and set expectations before a tournament. If you tell people expectations about pitch time, their role, what you need them to do, then that person is a lot happier. We learned that the hard way last year and we are trying to do better this year. Something I learned about myself is that I trust myself to be a good leader. I trust myself to say the right thing at important moments. You can’t second guess yourself in those moments. That is such an important thing in my eyes.

Have you struggled with burnout at all and how do you try to prevent it?

I struggled with [burnout] for parts of this season. I make sure to see people outside of the sport, friends and family, as it really helps. And do other sports – don’t feel like you have to play ultimate all the time.

What does the future look like for you? Are you looking to play more GB or take a step back?

The only GB next year is World Games and I am not interested in it, not managing, or trialing. I’m only planning to play Alba next season. I’ll play Frisbee until my body can’t anymore, however it’s not just my decision anymore and it’s way too selfish. It really depends on where my family is in few years’ time and whether I want to go back and try for GB again, or just focus on Alba. I would love to coach Alba several years from now but it would be family first as Frisbee has been the driving factor for the past 10 years.

Lastly, we need to know: what happened to the bandana?

I decided it wasn’t a good idea, it just made me too hot. I couldn’t deal with it anymore. Apparently it was an iconic look, I had multiple comments from my own GB team about it.

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Thank you for your time, Camy! Wishing you the best in Australia! Tomorrow, we’ll be releasing our interview with Ruth Tayler!