Scotland at the World Junior Ultimate Championships 2024 | The Release Point
Starting tomorrow, 42 national teams across 3 divisions will be fighting it out to win gold for their country at the World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC) in Birmingham, UK. With this being a junior tournament, players must be under 20 years old to play, meaning we’ll get a look at some of the best young ultimate athletes who no doubt will be making waves in the future, if not already. Great Britain are sending 2 teams, one in both the open and women’s division, and 3 Scottish players have made the cut! Charlotte, Hannah and Angus will be in Birmingham wearing GB kit for the first time. We spoke with them briefly ahead of the tournament to find out a little more about them.
Charlotte Mcfadzean
First, we have Charlotte Mcfadzean, who is currently enrolled at Glasgow University where she plays for FarFlung. She also reps club team GUXYZ. Charlotte is 19 years old, from Buchlyvie in Stirlingshire, and she’ll be playing with GB u20 women.
When/where did you start playing, and why? I started playing at school in my final year, so in 2022. I didn’t have enough time to commit to playing hockey again, so I thought I’d try ultimate as it was only once a week. Shout out to Mr McEwan for introducing me to the sport!
What about the sport kept you playing it? I wanted to play a sport at uni so decided to go to the taster sessions for ultimate! Everyone was lovely so I kept going to the sessions.
Why did you go to GB trials, and what was it like? Becca and Alice (FarFlung players) both suggested that I try out, and since the pre-trial was in Scotland I thought I might as well give it a go. After getting through the pre-trial, I had to travel down to Leicester for the main trial. This meant a 5 hour train journey down, which definitely affected my performance. The trial was intense but I felt I played well so came away happy!
What’s training been like? My training experience has been difficult due to an ankle injury I sustained in January. This put me out of action until the start of May. I wasn’t able to go the first couple of training sessions because of it, so that was a challenge. But I really enjoyed the training weekends we had; spending time together off-pitch definitely brought us closer!
What’s one thing you’ve learned from your GB coaches/teammates? I have of course learned lots whilst on-pitch and from observing, but I’ve only played one tournament and had one training weekend with the team. So, the biggest thing I’ve learned is about how to be the best teammate. We have focused a lot on mentality and sidelining, which are things I feel I have improved on dramatically this season!
Do you have any long-term frisbee goals? I am captaining Flung (Glasgow University Ultimate) this upcoming year so competing for medals at university level over the next few years is the aim. I’d also like to play for GUX at some point!
Who is your current (Scottish) frisbee inspiration and why? Becca Hardman-Carter has been a big inspiration for me! She was women’s captain for FarFlung this year and represented GB u24 in the women’s division last summer – she’s taught me so much!
Favourite thing about Scottish ultimate? It’s such a close-knit community, especially in Glasgow! Everyone’s so supportive at training and tournaments so that’s probably my favourite thing.
Ravenscraig or Oriam? I had to get wheelchaired out of Ravenscraig which was humbling, so I’m going to go with Oriam even though I’ve only been once for the pre-trial.
Hannah Kelly
Next up is Hannah Kelly! Hannah is also 19, from Strathaven near Glasgow and enrolled at Aberdeen University. Hannah is playing with GB u20 women.
When/where did you start playing, and why? I started played when I came to uni in September last year. My brother played for Stirling University a while ago and had introduced me to the basics. It seemed like a fun change from rugby which I’d played in high school. Plus, when I tried it out everyone was lovely so I kept it up!
Why did you go to GB trials, and what was it like? Applying for trials was a spontaneous decision on the application deadline day. I thought it would be good experience, but never expected to actually make the cut, especially considering at the time I’d only played for 2.5 months and couldn’t even throw a flick. Everyone was lovely though, and it felt almost like a training session.
What’s training been like, and how does it compare to training at university? I’ve really enjoyed the training sessions, particularly the ones that lasted a whole weekend. It’s been so cool getting to know all the other girls! Compared to university training, I’d say the sessions are relatively similar, just longer. And it is a bit more serious; I’m having to make sure I’m thinking about proper nutrition and everything around it too! Not to mention the travel from Aberdeen has been a lot more of an effort.
What’s one thing you’ve learned from your GB coaches/teammates? Open/break side was something that really clicked for me at GB trainings, along with learning forehands, which I’m really comfortable with now!
What do you enjoy most about ultimate, compared to other sports you might have played? The fact it is self-officiated. I think it leads to a thorough understanding of rules and increased accountability in-game, plus good sportsmanship between teams when discussing things!
Who is your current (Scottish) frisbee inspiration and why? Katie Henry (president of Aberdeen University Ultimate), because I really admire her attitude towards the sport and the positive vibes she brings to any team she plays with.
Frisbee ick? When people play in pyjama trousers.
Angus Bain
And finally, we have Angus Bain who is 17 years old from Glasgow. After starting out in the Glasgow Ultimate youth programme, he now plays with GUX and is part of the GB u20 open team!
When/where did you start playing, and why? I went to a taster session at Hillhead Sports Club the summer before Covid, as my brother and a few of his friends were going, so I thought I’d tag along.
What made you go to trials? What was the selection process like? Did you expect to make the team? Shaun Webb suggested that me and a few of the other GU juniors trial. I thought it would be a really unique opportunity, not just to represent Scotland, but GB.
The second trial in London was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do physically. It was very interesting to see people my own age playing at a very high level. The trial was a lot harder because many of the boys knew each other from past GB seasons or from club/school competitions, which made it harder to ‘break in’. But I was very impressed with the level they were playing at. After the trial, I thought I was maybe on the cusp of getting in, but I was hopeful as coaches kept choosing my match ups for me during games which I thought gave me a better chance.
What’s the build up been like to WJUC? How does training compare to training with your club? Training with the GBu20s has been a great experience for me to develop skills and good frisbee habits like running, throwing and plyometrics. Training is probably longer and more intense than club. During the warmup for the trial, I was properly sweating by the end which definitely set the tone. I think it helps that we are only training for one tournament with months of preparation, which allows us to put a single focus on WJUC.
What’s the vibe like in the squad? How does it feel to be the only Scottish representative? I really like the vibe of the squad at the moment. I’ve made a lot of friends – I think partly because I’m Scottish so I’m a bit different, especially with my Scottish accent. And I’d like to think I’ve taught them a bit about Scottish culture. I was told my English is very good, especially because apparently it’s not my first language, being Scottish. It was a bit difficult to integrate at first, because out of a squad of 23, 19 of them have played together at EYUC (European Youth Ultimate Championships) and the other new boys all went to the same school. But the first weekend away really helped as it let me socialise with the others by playing Among Us – which was not played silently like it’s meant to be!
Were you supporting England in the Euro’s? There was some friendly banter going on about Euro’s. After England lost the final, much to my ‘regret’, I may have bantered a bit too much and I got kicked from the group chat. I had to make an apology video where I said the better team deserved to win, and apparently that was enough of an apology. They also like to post a picture that I took at club regionals, of me standing with an England top, which I took as a joke when Scotland played.
What’s one thing you’ve learned from your GB coaches/teammates? I’ve already been taught lots of the fundamentals by my brilliant coach, Shaun Webb, so a lot of trainings were really just honing in on the basics, like cutting patterns and resets. I’d say GB has really given me self-motivation to train, which was vital to improve when living so far away from the rest of the team. In terms of specifics, my defence has come on leaps and bounds, with regards to body positioning, switches and bracketing, all skills which help whilst on the D-line!
What’s it like having two GB representatives in your household? My brother got into the GB u17 open team, so having us both playing at a high level is helpful for impromptu throwing and gym sessions. It’s very hard on our parents, as it feels one or both of us are away most weekends. We’re very lucky that we’re in a position where we can travel to England regularly and I’m very thankful to my parents for their help and facilitating logistics etc. I have played a lot of ultimate with my brother and we’re probably quite similar players and people (a lot of people at GU with whom we’ve played with for years still get us mixed up), so it would be nice to see him play in Belgium after WJUC to see how he does.
Good luck to all 3 players for this coming week; we hope you enjoy the experience! And well done for making the squad in the first place!
You can follow along with the action on Ultiworld here (you’ll likely need a subscription to watch most games, but there should be a couple of free ones). No doubt the team’s social media accounts will be updated throughout the tournament – GB u20 open and GB u20 women. If you want to read more, why not check out Shaun Webb’s 2022 comments on youth ultimate, or our GB u24 interviews?