What A Year It Has Been: All About U's 2017 Year in Photos
The highs. The Lows. The Pouring rain and the Scorching heat. The National Team. The Rivalries.
A lot of great moments had happened in the last 12 months in the Philippine Ultimate calendar. From the northern part of Luzon, all the way down south in Mindanao. It’s impossible to cover them all, But I sure do have seen a lot of great things all over the country and abroad this year. Twenty times to be exact.
1. January. Sun Soaked Beach Festival. Ilocos Sur.
For the past couple of years, Sun Soaked has always been the first Ultimate tournament that I go to, and it is also the season opener of Beach Ultimate in the country. What is special about this year’s Sun Soaked was it’s the first time that we saw action from the prospect players for the WCBU 2017 Philippine National Open team. The first training session of the team together. And what’s great about this year was when the Dragons reached out to the local team of Ilocos, gave them a few drills, went to Calle Crisologo for dinner time and a few bites of their famous empanada plus to enjoy each others company. Giving back to the local community is always a great way to start or finish a successful tournament.
2. February. Swash Beach Hat Tournament. Iloilo City.
I thought I will be spending the whole month not doing anything this year. But, Panay Intensity of Iloilo city planned a Beach Ultimate hat tournament in one of the sunny weekends of February. It was a fun two day Hat seeing some of the old folks that I met when I started shooting ultimate last 2014. It was also my Ultimate Anniversary year. So celebrating my third year of shooting the sport with the people who introduced me to it was close to perfect.
3. March. Boon Rockstar Cup. Clark, Pampanga.
And then the giants of Ultimate came crashing into Pampanga. For the second time, Boon Technical Clothing turned the impossible into an absolute reality as Aldwin Ibanez, Jolas Larracas and the rest of the Boss Chiefs of Boon brought the names like, Mickle, Gibson, Matsuno, Furuzawa, and Tulette in Philippine soil, all in one team together with Guerrero, Libo-on, Pascua, Onlayao, and Francisco: challenging everyone for a battle royale in the fields of The Villages in Clark, Pampanga. We haven’t seen that much power in one team especially here in the Philippines. Boon Technical Clothing is molding another epic weekend in March of 2018. It is gonna get bigger and bigger from here on out. Boon Rockstar Cup became a huge window of opportunity for the Filipino Men’s and Women’s teams to test what they are truly made of. Aldwin and the rest of the Boon Crew are giving us that opportunity. More exciting stuff for us media people to cover as well!
4. March. Trident Ultimate Battle Grounds. Dumaguete City.
With the success of UBG 2016, Trident Ultimate Battle Grounds 2017 became the biggest Single Gender Ultimate tournament in the Visayas. But it was the city of Iligan who gave everyone a challenge as both their Open (Iliguns) and Women's (Amazons) teams marched into the finals. The Amazons went on to defend their 2016 title, but Iliguns faced a tougher challenge in Team Negros of Dumaguete. The Tajji, Dada, Isoy led Negros team won the 2017 UBG Open trophy in an exciting Universal point championship game. We don’t know what will happen in the 2018 UBG, but I believe that once the gates of the Battle Grounds have unlocked this coming March, it is going to be a battle to the finish.
5. April. Boracay Open 2017. Boracay.
April was definitely one of the busiest months this year with three tournaments listed on the AAU calendar starting off with the biggest Beach Ultimate tournament in Asia, Boracay Open. For more than a decade, the Boracay Dragons dominated the sand of the island. But this time the Boracay Pirates finally had the opportunity to break the streak of the legendary Dragons. This was also the beginning of a great year for the Pirates as they went on to succeed on the beach and on grass throughout the year.
6. April. Ultimate Apparel Open. Boracay.
After a week of an intense championship game in Boracay Open, The Pirates continued their winning streak on the other side of the beach as they dominated the Ultimate Apparel Open with ease. Now in its second year, UA open is also beginning to attract Ultimate visitors to stay for another weekend full of high flying disc action.
7. April. Saltimate DOS. Maasin, Leyte
I found myself traveling to a new spot in the AAU calendar after a few weeks of Beach Ultimate in Boracay. This is my first time in Maasin, Leyte and it is always nice to meet some of the pioneers of the game and I met a few of them in this quiet town. Maasin is one of the places on this side of the country that has a long ultimate history. Saltimate DOS is in its second year and I really hope to see this tournament go big in the coming years.
8. May. Daba-Daba Ikapito. Davao City
Another busy Month. Merry May has two big tournaments plus a rising tourney in the north, listed in our AAU calendar. Starting with the biggest tournament in Mindanao, Daba-Daba is one of the most exciting tournaments that I have been covering every year. The competition is great, lots of amazing raw talents, and the people behind Daba-Daba are amazing. The Pool A finals between Mulatto and South SIde Guerrillas was a classic Davaoeños match up. You will never get tired seeing these two teams go at each other.
9. May. The PFDA Open and Women's Nationals. Bacolod City
One Word.
ILIGANONS
This is the first time that we were having a single gender Nationals Tournament in the Philippines. Carrying with them the success that they had during UBG 2017, the Iligan teams which are Iliguns + Amazons both won the Open and Women's division title. Putting a mark in the history of Philippine Ultimate as the number 1 city when we talk about Open and Women's division in 2017. It was so great to see teams who struggled so hard just to get there. They were traveling for almost 24 hours, had a hard time to find a place to sleep and in the end, they won the whole thing. A true Cinderella story.
10. May. NLEX SCTEX Summer League. Clark Pampanga.
Ultimate Liga Pilipinas, a new group composed of passionate Ultimate personalities that focuses on the northern part of the country had their first Summer League with NLEX and SCTEX as their major sponsors of the tournament. It was like watching a UAAP/NCAA Ultimate tournament as Benilde and UP led some of the university teams that participated during that weekend in Clark, Pampanga. But the Warriors (Not a collegiate team obviously) led by their Captain, Felix Angue, came out strong all weekend long to seal the championship victory and became the first crowned champions of ULPI's NLEX SCTEX Summer League.
11. July. Huck O Hulyo. Iloilo City.
After 8 long years, the local host team, Panay Intensity finally won Huck O Hulyo in Iloilo City. It was an exciting game against their rival team Kaiju of Bacolod city. Huck has been around for quite a while now, and it didn’t really have the opportunity to get its big break. I really hope that it will soon find its luck.
12. August. Ultimate Shindig X. Dumaguete City
For some reason, I'm always excited to go to Dumaguete during the month of August and shoot the heck out of Ultimate Shindig. Celebrating and covering the tenth year anniversary of the tournament and the tenth year anniversary of Team Extreme was definitely an honor. Since the beginning of my Ultimate photography, I've heard a lot of crazy stories about Shindig and of how beautiful Dumaguete city is. I've met a lot of people in Ultimate Shindig whom I became close friends with until now and it is always a great time to be in Dumzville in the month of August.
13. August. AOUGCC. Alabang, Manila
The Asia Oceanic Ultimate and Guts Championships was one of the biggest tournaments that we covered this year. It was also a big of a deal that AOUGCC was held here in the Philippines. Seeing some of the best teams in the Asia-Oceana region playing on Philippine soil was a huge achievement for Philippine Ultimate. The Open and Women's championships were exciting and so was the GUTS championships, but the story of the tournament for me was the Mixed championships between Mulatto and the Bandits. That was the beginning of the healthy rivalry between these two great teams from Visayas and Mindanao. I am looking forward to more giant international tournaments that will be held here in our fences.
14. Sept. Cabalen Ultimate Open. Clark, Pampanga.
The Bird Flu scare really took its toll as a bunch of teams backed out after they heard the news. But with 28 teams total, Cabalen Ultimate Open 2017 was still the biggest tournament in the northern part of Luzon, not just because of the number of teams, but also because of the level of competition that the teams showed during the weekend. And with a Kapampangan dinner being prepared on the last day, you can count us in, anytime.
15. October. 7th Sugar Ultimate. Ormoc City.
With the all-out support from the city government, Sugar Ultimate in Ormoc City will definitely be one of the most successful tournaments in the country. 2017 was also the biggest Sugar Ultimate to date. And you know, spending time with good friends is always the best time during this month. Ormoc City, always a good time, indeed.
16. October. 6th Tarsier Ultimate. Bohol.
It was my first trip to Bohol, and they have it all. From the Chocolate Hills to their Man-made forests all the way to their white sand beaches in Panglao and their tiny big-eyed residents, The Tarsiers. Bohol is so beautiful. I just hope that they will do something about their playing fields for their young athletes to play on. They have the talents, and these talents deserve to have good facilities as well.
17. November. Manila Spirits. Alabang. Manila
For the first time in a long while, the 2017 Manila Spirits had an All-Filipino Pool A Finals. Manila Spirits Champions Boracay Bandits and Mulatto showed the rest of the world that the Filipinos are slowly but surely getting stronger and ready to compete at the highest level of Ultimate. It was also the second time that these two teams met in the finals and at the same venue. This time though, the Bandits won the trophy and leveled the series to 1 win a piece.
18. December. Ultimate Frisbeecation 2.0. Malaybalay. Bukidnon.
The last (or maybe the beginning)Single Gender tournament in the calendar again ended with a bang as both Open and Women's finals finished in a dramatic universal point fashion. A come from behind win by the Amazons against Dabawenyas, only proves that they are indeed the number 1 Women's team in the country today backing up their success in the Nationals last May. The Open division finals was definitely a clash of Mindanao as Team Dabawenyos also went on a huge rally to cut the lead down of the Bandits (who are mostly composed of Mindanao Players) and won the title in universe. Frisbeecation is one of the most organized tournaments that I have covered this year. Kudos to the men behind this amazing tournament, Team Bagani.
19. December. Dadis Cup 2017. San Carlo City
Daddy Libo-on found a perfect spot for his Dadi's Cup tournament. Though it needs about 3-4 hours of travel from Bacolod or Cebu, San Carlos City has beautiful playing fields, cheap hotel rooms, and affordable restaurants. It was like a little Dumaguete City with fewer people. It was definitely a perfect way to end and celebrate a great year of covering Ultimate.
20. June. WCBU 2017. Royan, France.
And you think I forgot about the most unforgettable moment of my life this year? The trip to Royan, France was definitely the most memorable thing that happened to AAU this year. Having the opportunity to witness the best players in the world and shooting alongside the best shooters in the business was a humbling experience.
It all started with these four simple words last year:
"Oh How I Wish..."
"Oh, how I wish I will have the opportunity to go back out there and shoot World Beach." And then Chlods responded, and then Karen and Jessica responded, and then Beryl and Jansie followed suit, FIVE Ultimate said yes to the sponsorship, and some of you decided to help out as well. It was so overwhelming that until now, I still can't believe that we all actually made it happen. I am forever grateful for all the kindness that you have given to me during that Royan Campaign.
There are a lot of fantastic highlight photos that were made, but this one photo really stands out the most in my own honest opinion. After the heartbreaking loss to GBR in the semis, Everyone huddled in, and I didn't see a single Dragon in sight. No Pirates. No Sunken Pleasure. No Extreme. No BU. No Kaiju. No Vicious. No Bagani. No Uranus. No BC. No Alpha. Not even a Machine. This is a team. A PHILIPPINE TEAM. And I am so proud of what this team did in Royan. Without a doubt the greatest moment of the 2017 Ultimate season.
These are the 20 amazing experiences that we had the privilege to be a part of this year. Every year since 2014 Tournaments keep on adding up, and having a two-week rest is an amazing privilege lately. Was it tiring? Hell yes, I get tired all right. But the moments and stories that I have seen, heard and witnessed in every corner of the country that I go to each month... Every victories and defeat that I have witnessed... The laughter and cries... The beautiful beaches, mountains and amazing food that I tried... The friendly faces that you meet... Seeing your Ultimate Family... The Sleepless nights in front of the computer editing thousands of photos every tournament and scrambling to find the perfect words to put in on the blogs... The critics, the haters, the makukulits... Was it all worth it?
I wouldn't be here since 2014 not doing anything but to cover Philippine Ultimate if it wasn’t.
See you all in the fields in two weeks...
Happy New Year!
-DON
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