The following piece is part of a series of profiles prepared for the World Flying Disc Federation.
Having the World Games come home is an awesome opportunity for the ultimate fanatics in Colombia and the burgeoning growth of the sport. In essence, ultimate has only been in Colombia for fifteen years, far less than any of the other countries in attendance (although not dissimilar from Australia). In a short amount of time the Colombian ultimate scene has become tops in South America, eclipsing neighbors Venezuela and Brazil. Some even consider ultimate to be one of the top sports in the country and it’s expected to draw well at Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero.
Curiously the main hotbeds for ultimate and the origin cities of all players on Team Colombia are Bogotá and Medellîn, both in the mountains, while Cali further down in the plains hasn’t had as much competition and exposure despite being known as a university town. To help spread the sport in Cali in conjunction with the World Games the AJUC is hosting a coaching clinic in Cali the weekend before the games. 70 coaches from Cali have signed on to receive training in ultimate while 150 kids are registered. If ultimate wasn’t popular enough already in Colombia expect this exposure to only continue the country’s impressive youth trend.
ROSTER
| First Name | Last Name |
No. # |
Gen. |
Height | Exp. | Position | Club Teams |
| Julio | DUQUE |
0 |
M |
181 cm | 7 yrs | Handler/Cutter | Matanga |
| Luis Miguel | IBARGUEN |
4 |
M |
175 cm | 5 yrs | Cutter | Evolution |
| Laura | OSPINA |
7 |
F |
165 cm | 6 yrs | Handler/Cutter | Revolution |
| Eliana | RICO |
9 |
F |
168 cm | 7 yrs | Handler/Cutter | Bamboo |
| Alexander | FORD |
11 |
M |
173 cm | 12 yrs | Handler/Cutter | Aire |
| Elizabeth | MOSQUERA |
15 |
F |
172 cm | 6 yrs | Cutter | Revolution |
| Yina | CARTAGENA |
20 |
F |
168 cm | 7 yrs | Cutter | Revolution |
| Julian | GAVIRIA |
23 |
M |
183 cm | 7 yrs | Handler/Cutter | Kie |
| Santiago | MONTAÑO |
45 |
M |
165 cm | 10 yrs | Cutter | Evolution |
| Mauricio Andres | MARTINEZ LUNG |
52 |
M |
175 cm | 12 yrs | Handler | Euforia |
| Antonio | BARRERA |
85 |
M |
180 cm | 12 yrs | Cutter | Comunidad El Oso |
| Maria Angelica | FORERO |
96 |
F |
160 cm | 3 yrs | Cutter | Aerosoul |
| Yina | MENDOZA |
99 |
F |
168 cm | 7 yrs | Handler/Cutter | Aerosoul |
Team Colors: RED and BLUE
CLUB & COUNTRY EXPERIENCE:
Colombia is a country on the upswing in the worldwide ultimate community. Their remarkable results at the Juniors level—medaling in three of the last four Junior Worlds, including two straight Golds for the Women and a Silver for last year’s Open team—confirms their bright outlook. Many on this team were key players at those Juniors tournaments: Gaviria in 2006 and 2008, Ibarguen and Ospina in 2010 and 2012, Rico in 2008, Mosquera in 2010 and Cartagena in 2008 where she registered 18 goals, 26 assists and won the tournament MVP despite narrow losses to Australia 17-15 and then USA 13-12 in the bronze-medal game. Six players competed at 2012 Worlds in Sakai where Montaño won MVP in the Mixed division and Cartagena again came up big as MVP in the Women’s division. Duque has international elite experience playing with two-time Australian Open champions Colony.
RECENT INTERNATIONAL RESULTS:
2012 WFDF World Championships, Sakai, Japan
Open: 10th Women: 4th Mixed: 10th
2012 WFDF Junior World Championships, Dublin, Ireland
Open: Silver + Spirit Women: Gold
2010 WFDF Junior World Championships, Heilbronn, Germany
Open: 5th Women: Gold + Spirit
2008 WFDF World Championships, Vancouver, Canada
Open: 8th Women: 8th Mixed: 10th Jr. Open: 5th Jr. Women: 4th
2006 WFDF Junior World Championships, Boston, United States
Open: Bronze
COLOMBIA ON OFFENSE and DEFENSE
“We like to move the disc around very quick and move it from one side to the other to prevent the defense from establishing position,” says Nicolas Restrepo.
“We have to move quickly while keeping the disc as centered as possible as our height disadvantage put us on a difficult situation if we get stuck on the sidelines on high stall counts,” adds coach Andres Angel.
This style of quick-moving offense is sometimes called criollo and matches the South American hot-bloodedness.
Colombia may look to take advantage of their female matchups as the women have proven strength internationally.
On the D side, “we play man-to-man honest defense,” says Restrepo.
TOP DEFENDERS:
- #85 Antonio Barrera – “he is our best defender, his experience allows him to defend both cutters and handlers”
- #99 Yina Mendoza – “she is our best female defender and her anticipation and overall speed is great”
TOP THROWERS:
- #52 Mauricio ‘Choco’ Martinez – veteran thrower and founder of Euforia, has every throw in the book
- #20 Yina Cartagena – has already earned top international nods in Sakai and Vancouver, excellent breakmark throws to compliment formidable forehand and backhand
TOP RECEIVERS:
- #4 Luis Miguel Ibarguen — made a name and highlight reel for himself in Dublin last year.
- #15 Elizabeth Mosquera — dazzling speed and soft hands
TEAM COACHES and CAPTAINS:
Coaches: Andres Polania and Andres Angel
Polania is a fixture with the Bogotá club Matanga while Angel is a player and coach on the touring club Euforia. Both bring a lot of international coaching experience and expect to use that experience to help Colombia at home.
MORE ABOUT THE TEAM
“We have a large gap in age between our players – the oldest is 33 and youngest 19,” says Restrepo. “Some of them are playing Mixed for the first time. Mixed is a new division here in Colombia as typically we play Open or Women’s. The World Games is helping to create Mixed ultimate in Colombia.”
Ultimate is so relatively new to Colombia that some of the early adopters and club founders are on this team, such as Martinez-Lung who founded Euforia and Barrera who founded Comunidad el Oso.
FAVORITE PART ABOUT ULTIMATE?
“Colombia enjoys the spirit of the game and the particular camaraderie of playing Mixed ultimate,” says Restrepo.
HOW MANY ULTIMATE PLAYERS?
Around 3,000, which puts Colombia on par with Japan and Great Britain and slightly less than Australia.
PICK A WORLD GAMES SPORT TO WATCH AFTER ULTIMATE:
Waterski and Wakeboard. Although Inline Skating is a popular sport in Colombia as well.
FOLLOW TEAM COLOMBIA
Facebook Page: ColombiaUltimate.AJUC
Web: AJUC.org
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