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UC students train for Ultimate world champs in London

University of Canterbury students train for Ultimate world champs in London

April 26, 2015

Two University of Canterbury students are juggling their university commitments with preparations for the World Flying Disc Federation Ultimate Frisbee world championship in London this July.

Keith Algar, 19, and Chris Carr, 21, have both been chosen to represent New Zealand in the men’s under 23 team, Kea.

Algar is in his second year studying engineering and Carr, who is Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr’s son, is in his fourth year studying engineering and biology.

Officially known as Ultimate, the aim of the game is to catch the Frisbee in the other team’s end zone. For the championship tournament the first team to reach 17 goals in 100 minutes wins.

Ultimate is a high intensity sport that demands a lot of athleticism. Chris Carr says the sport offers a great balance of competitiveness and social interaction.

“It’s all self-refereed, which means that the players on the field are responsible for calling fouls. This means that players generally have more of a focus on playing fairly.

“I started playing in my first year at university to meet new people. The game has the benefit of attracting quite cool people and you make pretty good friends,” Chris Carr says.

Ultimate has a small yet growing profile in New Zealand, but has limited funding available. Chris Carr says the costs of getting to the world championship in London are difficult to meet.

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“The flights to London are the main cost, but as part of our preparation we also have a training camp every two weeks and they’re usually held in Auckland or Wellington, so the costs of those flights add up pretty quickly,” he says.

Chris Carr works when he can, as well as balancing training every night and full time study as he works toward two degrees. The whole family enjoys sport in their spare time; Chris’ brother also plays Ultimate and Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr enjoys swimming and running, having completed the London, Paris, Athens, Boston, New York, Istanbul and Antarctica marathons in the last 11 years.

Chris Carr says that winning the Ultimate championship would be the perfect underdog story, although unrealistic.

“Getting into the top eight is one of our goals as we finished 10th in 2013. It’s all about building and growing the sport. It’s still tiny in New Zealand, but it’s growing rapidly,” he says.

To view the sport at its best, click here to see the highlights from the world championship in 2012.

The public can help Carr, Algar and the rest of the team make it to the world championship in London, by donating athttps://givealittle.co.nz/cause/nzu23mensteam

ENDS

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