Interview: Ellen Phillpot

On the second Saturday of July, Heidelberg will stage its famous castle illuminations; when the Bengali flares blanket the city in red mist and spectacular fireworks light up the sky over the River Neckar. However, this legendary celebration will be the last thing on Ellen Phillpot’s mind.

On the same day, the 21-year-old Brit will begin her World Under-24 Ultimate Championships campaign in Heidelberg itself, with the German city housing of frisbee’s best young talents who have travelled from all corners of the world.

Ellen’s journey will easily surpass 500 miles from her home-city of Bristol, where she picked up the sport from her older brother, who was at the time playing for his university team.

At his recommendation, Ellen started ultimate when she packed her bags and moved north for her studies, and in just over three years, she’s set to represent Great Britain for the second time.

She explained: “Within the first six months of playing, my coach at the time said you should trial for GB, and I thought, ‘really’? So, I went for the under-20’s category and was selected, so that was quite something.

“I trialled again after but didn’t get in, so I have been working to make this cut for the last two years, trying to improve my fitness and skill.

“The last time I trialled, the group was quite small, but this time there was about 85 people and 22 were picked, and I got into that 22. To get called back feels amazing, it’s more exciting this time.”

To make trials all the more difficult, the weather threw up torrential wind and rain, separating the excellent players from the rest.

Yet, for Ellen, this was not something out of the ordinary, having played and coached ultimate for the Staffordshire University frisbee team in Stoke – a place renowned for poor weather.

As well as the Staffs Spartans, as they are known, she has played for a variety of club teams and believes her call-up is testament to the help from those closest to her.

 

She admitted, “This year has been crazy. The support especially from the uni and the uni team has been phenomenal. They are always helping me to get better, working with me through my strength and conditioning in the gym as well as my sessions outside.

“My family have been equally supportive with both me and my brother involved in the sport. No one was really that interested at first, but last summer, the whole family came down and we sat and watched the Junior Worlds.

“Now both my parents want to come and be out there for the whole week of the tournament.”

The Championships conclude with a grand Final on Saturday 20^th July, after pools and knock-out stages during the seven days. Ellen, or Pots as she is known by her Spartans team-mates, believes Great Britain could be within an outsider’s chance of success in Germany.

She said, “I have high hopes. The women’s team hasn’t done very well these last couple of tournaments, but our mixed team has often impressed, they made it to the quarter finals last year.

“Our men’s team also did well, juniors too, so we are hoping the women’s team can step up this year. And with the trainings I have had already, the team is close-knit and playing at a high standard, so there’s potential to do well.

“It’s quite well-publicised, even though the sport is not well-known. Each country has a different YouTube channel so they will be often be streaming it. There will be Facebook streams from people on the side-line.

“The World Flying Disc Federation will be screening it as well. It’s quite easy to watch, as it’s often free online. But if you do have to pay to watch it, it’ll be between £5 to £10 subscription to watch for the week.”

Many ultimate fans across the world will be tuning in to the Championships, if not attending as supporters or event volunteers. They might have the chance to truly indulge themselves in the festivities of the Heidelberg illuminations.

Meanwhile Pots and players alike will be solely focused on the week at hand, perhaps quietly watching on from their accommodation, like an Olympic athlete unable to attend the opening ceremony. Yet, it will be worth it in the end.

Ellen described: “It is a lot of work that you’ve got to do. If you lose a game, you’ve got to think about why you’ve lost it and what you have got to change, because you only have a couple of hours before you play again.

“Each game is about 100-minutes long and you could play two or three games a day, so they take up a lot of time.

“While the tournament takes place, I’ll be staying at its venues, but I might sneak in before or stay after to see the sights.”