2022 Victorian Under 18 and Under 22 teams – expressions of interest now open
Ultimate Victoria is now accepting expressions of interest for all athletes eligible to represent the state at Under 18 (born 2004 or later) and Under 22 level (born 2000 or later) in 2022. Read more to find out how to sign up.
ELIGIBILITY
Under 22s: To be eligible to play you must be born ON or AFTER 1 January 2000.
Under 18s: To be eligible to play you must be born ON or AFTER 1 January 2004.
Lower age limits: Victorian U22 teams will only be accepting players who are 16 years and older as at April 1st, 2022. As per AFDA policy, participants in AYUC (Under 18 championships) must be at least 14 years old, or turning 14 in 2022, however UV may permit participation in the campaign for younger players as training members.
TEAMS
- Blaze (Under 18 Girls)
- Bandicoots (Under 18 Boys)
- Weedy Seadragons (Under 22 Women)
- Leadbeaters Possums (Under 22 Open)
- Blue Devils (Under 22 Mixed Metro)
- Greater Bilbies (Under 22 Mixed Country/Tasmania)
For Victorian players, there are no geographical restrictions on eligibility for the two Mixed teams. Where you live does not solely determine which team you can play for, however players based outside of metropolitan Melbourne are given greater weighting for selection for the Greater Bilbies team.
Ultimate Victoria and the Tasmanian Ultimate Association have an agreement in place where a fixed number of places on the Greater Bilbies team are allocated for Tasmanian players. We aim to help TUA build a successful stand-alone Under 22 program over the next few years.
TOURNAMENTS
The Under 18 teams (Blaze and Bandicoots) will compete at the Australian Youth Ultimate Championships, held from Friday July 1st to Sunday July 3rd at a regional Victorian venue to be announced by AFDA.
The Under 22 teams will compete at the Australian Under 22 Ultimate Championships, held from Friday July 8th to Sunday July 10th at a regional Victorian venue to be announced by AFDA.
SELECTION EVENTS
UNDER 18s
- “Come and try” events will be held for all eligible players on Saturday April 2nd and Saturday April 9th, from 9am to 12pm at Caulfield Park.
- Tryouts will be held on Saturday April 30th at Caulfield Park and Sunday May 1st (venue TBD). Information on these events will be emailed to all athletes who submit an expression of interest.
UNDER 22s
- UV’s State Representative Teams Policy allows player performance at the Victorian Ultimate Championships to be considered during team selection.
- A tryout event for players who did not attend VUC will be held on Sunday April 10th at Duncan McKinnon Reserve in Murrumbeena from 9:30am to 4:00pm. Players who attend VUC are still encouraged to attend the selection event.
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
2022 COACHING STAFF
BLAZE
Angeline Gonzales
Angeline has been playing ultimate for five years and previously played with the Blaze. She currently plays at a national championship level with Ellipsis, and was selected to the Australian Under 24 Mixed team in 2021.
Zoe O’Connor
Zoe currently plays at a national championship level for Ellipsis. She has previously represented Victoria at Under 18 and Under 22 level. Zoe represented Australia at an Under 19 level in 2019 at the Asia-Oceanic Juniors Ultimate Championships.
Lucy Deller
Lucy also plays at a national championship level for Ellipsis, and was selected to the national senior women’s team in 2020. She previously represented Blaze as a junior player, winning a gold medal with them in 2018.
BANDICOOTS
Nish Mahanty
Nish is one of Victoria’s most experienced coaches, having coached beginner players for over 20 years. As well as coaching senior teams at several national championships, he was on the coaching staff for Blaze in 2019, and the Bandicoots in 2021.
Kelli Browne
Kelli is one of Victoria’s most decorated women’s players, having represented Australia at a world championship level nine times, and leading club teams to medal-winning performances at past national championships. She is a huge supporter of junior ultimate and returning to coach the Bandicoots in 2022.
WEEDY SEADRAGONS
Simar Dhaliwal
Simar is a multiple time Weedy Seadragons player who is stepping into a head coach role with the team in 2022 after an assistant coach role in 2018. As a player she won two national championships with Ellipsis, and represented Australia at the Under 24 level in 2019.
Ashley O’Sullivan
Ashley is one of the country’s most experienced Under 22 coaches, having spent several years at the helm of the NSW Under 22 Mixed team. He has also acted as Head Coach of the national U24 mixed team.
Yvette Nguyen
Yvette represented Victoria as a player at an Under 22 level from 2017 to 2021. She has also held leadership positions on university and club teams over that time. She is currently a leader with her club team Melbourne Phoenix.
LEADBEATER POSSUMS
Per Henriksen
Per currently plays for Melbourne Juggernaut and holds a leadership role on the team in 2022. Per was selected for the Australian U24 mixed team last year and has represented the Leadbeaters Possums in previous years.
Jake Wilson
Jake also plays for Melbourne Juggernaut, having worked his way up from lower division teams. He also plays for Wyndham Ultimate in mixed division. Jake has coached players at a club level and also at universities.
Lochlan Wise
Lochlan has represented Australia at world championship events eight times, including the 2017 World Games team and the 2020 national open team. He has coached at numerous clinics around Australia and the United States.
BLUE DEVILS
Elise Bradley
Elise is a former Weedy Seadragons representative, and is currently in a leadership role with her club team Melbourne Phoenix. She has been coaching university players for the last couple of years.
Max Halden
Max is one of Australia’s most highly regarded mixed ultimate coaches. He was involved in the 2020 Barramundis (Australian senior mixed national team) campaign, and has coached the Australian U24 mixed team on multiple occasions.
GREATER BILBIES
Simon Talbot
Simon has been coaching ultimate for over 10 years. He served as Blue Devils coach in 2017, 2018 and 2019, as well as holding several coaching roles with Victorian clubs and universities over the years.
Kate Hammerton
Kate has been training and playing with Tasmania’s open division team Quoll for the last couple of years, and is taking the opportunity to develop her coaching experience and help the sport to continue growing in Tasmania.
Kelvin Choo
Kelvin plays for Geelong Mudlarks, winning the Australian Ultimate Championships Division II with them in 2021. Prior to that, he was a captain for his university team in Malaysia in 2014-2016, and has been a schools coach in the Geelong area for a number of years.