Boon Rockstar Cup 2018: All You Got To Do Is Believe
All You Got To Do Is Believe.
“There are a lot of great places to climb,” Aldwin said. “But the reason why I keep on coming back to that one place when I do my climbing is that of the friends that I see every time I go there. It’s all about the people around me. And that is what I wanted to happen here as well. We will play a high level of ultimate and enjoy each other’s company at the same time. It’s like a reunion of old friends and new.”
For the second straight year, Aldwin Ibanez, John “Jolas” Larracas and the rest of the Boon Team did the impossible as their dream of bringing the best of the best of Ultimate in our own soil become a reality. Beau Kittredge, Jimmy Mickle, Tom “Cupcake” Tullet, Team Colony of Australia and of course, the great Matsuno and the Buzz Bullets of Japan. Opi Payne is back together with Amanda Meroux and Cheryl Hsu of Polar Bears, and GB U24 national player Catherine Pope who played for the Aria Stars last weekend, headlining the women’s division. With teams and players from all over the globe matching up with the best that Philippine Ultimate has to offer. The event at the Villages in Clark, Pampanga was just the same as the weather that weekend, it was scorching hot.
It was one of those weekends that it is hard to put your camera away because of the great games that were happening on the field. Fewer bids, full of high flying grabs and amazing disc movements. Most of the games were perfectly executed, and it was quite exciting to witness it. With the band of Black Widows coming back to defend their 2017 title, the level of competition in the Women’s division was off the charts. Teams like Sunken Pleasure, Vicious Girls, Alpha Female, Aria Stars and the lone provincial team Lady Bandits, stepping up to the plate trying their best to dethrone the Widows. Let’s not forget the Archipelagirls and the Sirens from China who fought hard all weekend long even with just a handful of players on their rosters. At one point, the ladies took control of the weekend. It only shows that the level of Women’s ultimate in this region is improving quite rapidly.
After hard-fought semifinal matches, the Lady Bandits and the Vicious girls took center stage to battle it out in the Women’s division final. It was an absolute grudge match from the start, but the Lady Bandits was just too tough to handle and won the 2018 BRSC Women’s Division Title.
“Marv, Give me one big air battle against that guy.” I said to Marv Dubouzet of Sunken Pleasure while pointing to Sid Vicious’ number 50 player, Beau Kittredge. Knowing and seeing how Marv does all his vert trainings for moments like these, I knew that he was up for the challenge. That moment came when a huck from Derek Ramsey to Beau in the end zone came, and there goes Marv with his outstretched arms and fingers only to miss the disc just a few inches off his right hand. But that did n’t break him. He came back on the field and battled it out again with Beau. In the end, SP won the game to face another giant in Team Colony in the semis.
The boys of Team GG also had a great opportunity to test their Dumaguete, run and gun style of Ultimate. With Dada, Tisoy, and Chubby leading the brados from Dumzville, they played the Buzz Bullets not just once, but twice during the weekend, And they were the only Filipino team in the tournament who came in close against the Japanese. Though they fell short of winning, Team GG battled it out against Buzz Bullets in the semis all the way to the end.
Sunken Pleasure also had an exciting match up against Colony on the other semifinal game. Trailing against the Australians, Felix Angue of SP went for one of the craziest air battle of the tournament going up against two US National Teams in Jimmy Mickle and Chris Kocher. Fel won the battle as he prevented an easy goal by Colony.
Though SP and GG did not reach the finals of the BRSC Men’s Division, they showed the world that the Filipino teams will always go up for the challenge.
The Men’s Finals between Colony and Buzz Bullets was definitely one of the best non-Filipino championship games ever played on Philippine soil. It was definitely a treat and such an amazing opportunity to photograph these two great teams in the final. The speed and size of Colony vs the unique gameplay of the Buzz Bullets. Two different styles of Ultimate in one playing field. It was mind-blowing. Honestly, there was one instance that I wanted to stop shooting and just enjoy the rest of the game, but then, I would never forgive myself if I missed one great moment in the game. Matsuno and the Buzz Bullets did the best they can to cut down the Colony lead, but the trio of Mickle, Cupcake, and Kocher was making tons of damage to the Buzz Bullets defensive line. Team Colony of Australia is the 2018 Boon Rockstar Cup Men’s Division Champions.
At the end of the day, we the Philippine Ultimate community will take all the benefit from this wonderful experience. Boon gave us the opportunity to witness high level of Ultimate for the past two years. A photographer like me can only take this experience as an opportunity to see if I can actually capture some highlights from great players like Opi, Beau, and Jimmy, how much more for a Filipino ultimate player who can share the field with these athletes? It’s a one time opportunity to go up against Matsuno. And if ever that opportunity will ever come again here in our country, and if you are serious enough to be the best at what you do, I would suggest for you to grab that chance. All you got to do is believe in yourself that you can do it. Believe that we can give them a high level of competition if we put ourselves into it. Aldwin and Jolas believe that you have what it takes. It’s one of the reasons why they are doing their best to bring these great teams in the Philippines for us to challenge ourselves, and maybe someday will be in the same level of elite club teams like Buzz Bullets, Colony, and Fury. All you got do is believe.
Congratulations Aldwin, Jolas and the rest of The BOON team for another successful Rockstar Cup! Thank you for giving us this amazing experience and opportunity, bringing the best of Ultimate in the Philippines.
The Boon Rockstar Cup 2018 will definitely be marked as one of the most successful International ultimate tournaments that happened in the Philippines and to the rest of Asia-Oceana as a whole. And it was truly an honor to be a part of it.
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