HCX recently had the privilege of interviewing Exeter’s very own sporting prodigy, Thomas Cartwright, who plays Ultimate Frisbee for Great Britain (simply known as “Ultimate” in the sporting world). We couldn’t wait to catch up on his news and find out a bit more about his fascinating journey!
Name: Thomas Cartwright
Year: 4th
Course: MSc International Management (BSc Geography)
So what motivated you to start playing Ultimate?
TC: In 2008 – I was going into L6th – I had a Geography teacher who started at my school and he’d just been playing for the GB Open team in Vancouver. That October he started teaching a couple sessions and I just went along. It wasn’t a huge school and we all just got involved. That’s where it all stems from.
So how long have you been playing for?
TC: 5 years this month.
You play for Great Britain! What’s the story behind that?
TC: I literally just turned up to the GB Open U20s trial in March 2009, 5 or 6 months after I’d started playing. The teacher Matthew Beavan just told me to go along and give it a go. I went more for an experience rather than expecting to get it. I got an email telling me I’d been selected and I thought “how has that happened?” I definitely wasn’t expecting it, especially given how long I’d been playing for. Some of the people there had been playing for 4 or 5 years.
That’s amazing! So how often were you training with the team then?
TC: With GB there was one training session per month, leading up to the European Youth Ultimate Championships in August. A lot of emphasis is put on doing it yourself and training and maintaining your fitness.
Is it hard to motivate yourself then? What happens if you don’t put in those extra hours?
TC: Well it’s all self funded. You don’t want to pay all that money to play badly in a tournament. There’s a squad of 24/25 people with only 7 people on the pitch at a time, but if you aren’t fit enough or don’t play well, you won’t get picked.
Which tournaments have you played in?
TC: Well, 2009 I plated in Vienna for the European Youth Ultimate Championships, 2010 in Heilbronn, Germany for the World Junior Ultimate Championships, 2011 in Wroclaw, Poland for the European Youth Ultimate Championships and this year I played in the World U23 Ultimate Championships in Toronto.
Wow! So what’s the competition like?
TC: The Americans are dominant at this sport. In 2010 we had a semi-final against the USA and they were just unbelievable. They went on to beat us quite comfortably. We also have good matches against Germany, Canada and Japan.
What’s been your favourite match experience?
TC: In 2010 in Germany we had a huge Bronze-medal match against Germany. We beat them in front of a huge crowd and it was the first time that GB has ever medalled at Junior Worlds. I think that’s my favourite match experience so far.
Do you play for any other clubs?
TC: I also play for a club called Chevron in Manchester and I train once a month with them too. We’re currently the second best team in England. Like with GB, there’s a lot of responsibility to go out and train yourself.
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What do your family think about you playing?
TC: My parents are so supportive. Dad will come to pretty much every tournament I play in. He went to my first tournament and he brought his iPad as he thought it would be so boring, but he spent the whole day watching as he got into it. He’s been to all UK tournaments since and both my Mum and Dad have been to the international ones.
What do you do to train at the moment?
TC: Well at the moment I’m off season so my main focus is to fix myself up as I had a bit of a hamstring injury when I was playing in Toronto which I never managed to sort out. I was in Bordeaux recently and tweaked my knee a bit in a game too. I’m mainly going to the gym, hitting the weights and building the strength. As the season approaches, it’s less about weights and more about plyometrics and sprints to get match fitness. During the season it’s a lot more cardio based, and getting out and throwing – that doesn’t change regardless of the season. The best way to get your fitness up is just playing the game. It’s about really playing to your full ability so you improve.
So you take it pretty seriously? Or is it more a hobby?
TC: You’ve got to be serious about it at the level I play it because you really have to be motivated to go out and do the training, and go to the training every weekend in different places. It’s really hard.
So does it ever get broadcast on TV?
TC: ESPN will be filming a couple big national tournaments in the USA so it’s exciting to see how that progresses. There are also specific networks which stream games online such as NexGen Network.
What’s an interesting fact about Ultimate?
TC: It’s self-refereed by players which makes it unique but also means it can get quite tense. It’s fun but interesting at the same time. It’s called the “Spirit of the Game” so you’re expected to follow all these rules. But some teams don’t always abide by the rules…
And what happens then?
TC: Well, at the end of the match you’re supposed to rate the team. There’s a score chart of 5 different criteria to provide the other team with a spirit rating for that game. And then all the teams’ ratings are added up throughout the competition and averaged. It’s not in your interest to be getting low scores – the top team also gets an award!
So what’s the next step?
TC: Next year is the World Ultimate Club Championships in Italy and basically the team that wins that is seen as the top team in the world and my team (Chevron) qualified a couple weeks ago so that’s the aim for next year.
How far have you planned ahead?
TC: In 2015, there’s the European Open competition and that’s every 4 years. That’s my aim for that year, and then the year after – so 2016 – it’s the World Open competition which is also every 4 years. In 2017 it’s the World Games which is for all the sports not in the Olympics. That also happened this year in Columbia. It’s a mixed competition and only 13 players which means 7 guys and 6 girls. Only the best go to that so that’s the end goal for 2017. After 2018, I’ll have to see what happens. Hopefully I’ll still love it then as much as I do now.
If this interview with Tom has got you intrigued, we encourage you to join the AU’s Ultimate Frisbee Club! Who knows – you might get lucky and find yourself playing alongside him!
Picture credits: Amanda Cartwright, Nancy Rawlins