World Masters Ultimate Championships 2024 | Ali Brown
Ali Brown started his frisbee career at college, a year before he joined Edinburgh University. That was just under 20 years ago, and yet he’s still going strong. Currently based in Glasgow, Ali has played with Black Eagles, Alba and most recently, GUX. Now he’s about to fly to LA for WMUC with the GB Mixed Masters team. Ali was interviewed by Mihael ‘Jimmy’ Dimitrov.
When and why did you first start playing?
I actually first started in 6th form college down south, there was a guy who was teaching there and wanted to start a team, but we kept that quiet for the beginner tournaments. One of my friends introduced me to the sport who is actually my captain now, Matt Hodgson. I joined Ro Sham in 2006, just after the peak of Ro Sham – everyone kept telling me that in ’05 they only conceded 10 points or so over the whole season.
What fond memories do you have from your uni days?
Too many to recall, fair few including a casual beer back in those days. Frisbee has also introduced me to a lot of friends over the years, they know who they are, couple of them were the best men at my wedding so we still keep in touch. I remember travelling down to nationals in my first year on the second team and watching the first team play and they were absolutely fenomenal!
What players did you look up to in the early days?
Danny Hoyle, Dan ‘Cosmic’ Mattison, a lot of really good players back then.
You have a very unique playstyle, and love to throw an upside down backhand. When did that all develop?
Funnily enough, perhaps when I was in college, when throwing casual you eventually get to throwing weird stuff. With so much indoors in Scotland and there is a lot more free reign to throw and practice them. The main thing I found actually is that I need to almost warn people to expect them and where to expect the disc since its so uncommon.
Is this the first occasion you have made a GB squad?
Actually, no. Back in 2010 I was fortunate enough to make the u23s (now called u24s) squad, again with Matt [Hodgson] and actually that’s how I met my wife Gill, she was my captain there. We went to Florence for Worlds and won a cheeky wee gold medal.
It has been a bit disrupted for the mixed team this year, how did you find the journey this time around?
I trialled last year, got through couple stages but didn’t make the final cut. This year there was another trial and I missed out again but also didn’t quite make the cut on GUX so I took a bit of a step back from ultimate. Then I got a message that they are actually retrialling and I went all in, got onto the team and it has been very condensed timeline but it has been a lot of fun.
What drives you to go for GB?
I always had a plan to see how far I can get and how high level I can achieve. Covid was a bit of a kick back and it really slowed me down. But, I have always had ‘play a high level tournament in North America’ on my bucket list. I did question it briefly but realised I might not have another chance, and Gill was really supportive as well. Organisation has been really good. We’re used to the travel but the management had actually said they want to do a session in the ‘north’ and when they mentioned Glasgow I just made it happen. We had a training weekend and a friendly with GUX and it was great.
How has your training changed with age?
Earlier in my career I would struggle with muscle injuries, hamstring, back, etc. For the last 5 years I have really focused on strength and I have definitely seen improvements with injury prevention. It just feels like a better foundation to build cardio and stuff. I didn’t say at the start, I’m 36 now, and Phil [Webb] is a good few years older than me and one of the reasons that I’m still playing. If Phil can still do it, then I have no excuse. And absolute kudos to Phil. It’s funny, I actually feel less broken after a session now than 7-8 years ago.
Onto the tournament questions, first of all, are you excited?
Yes, really excited! I can’t believe it’s only 3 weeks away or something. We are finalising car hire, accommodation sorted, it’s all becoming real. Got some new boots as well, shout out to Tokay! We have our kit arriving next training session as well.
How do you feel about the fact it is in California?
As I said, it is on my bucket list so I am very excited. It is a long way away so from an environmental point of view it is not great, but there is very little I can do about that. I do what I can to limit this, taking the train down and avoiding an internal flight.
What are the team or personal goals?
A lot of us are just really happy it ended up being possible. We really want to just go there and play well against tough opposition and get better. We’re aiming to win a game and not come last ideally and obviously not get injured.
Is anyone coming over to support you?
No one, unfortunately. Gill is staying at home and kindly looking after the dog. No physical supporters but a few people would be following online.
What does the future look like for you? Are you planning to play more, maybe grandmasters on the horizon?
Since 2019, its always been 1 last season, but Covid kept pushing that. This year changed things a bit perhaps. This whole GB journey has reignited something, and I definitely want to keep playing. I just get too much out of it to want to stop now. So, if the body keeps letting me play, I will keep going. Club in Scotland, or GB stuff, etc, I am keeping an eye on what’s coming.
What advice would you give to people who want to push for masters in few years time?
The whole conversation has been around building a better masters scene so hopefully there are more opportunities to come in general. The key thing for me is the injury prevention. Focusing on strength and ensuring your body can take it and it stays together, it means you can keep going. There is a lot of experience when it comes to that age bracket so as long as you can keep going, then the rest is easy.
Anything else to share or any last shout outs?
Shout out to the team, looking forward to LA!
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Featured photo credit to Showgame.
The World Masters Ultimate Championships 2024 are taking place from 10th to 16th November 2024 in Irvine, California. Follow along with the event here.