Ultiplanet

With the advent of the Philadelphia surge, the PUL places yet another team in the league from an area where the mixed program is more prestigious then the regional women’s program. Philadelphia has AMP, who won 2 national titles in the last 6 years, and despite a bit of an embarrassing showing at nationals in 2022 still entered the tournament ranked 3rd in the country. The premier Philadelphia women’s program, Philly Flight, has taken great strides to rebuild the women’s division in Philadelphia but ultimately fell short of nationals contention after a one sided loss to Pittsburgh Parcha in the game to go: 15-6. AMP has had the most success of any Philadelphia club team by quite a large margin, as neither the women’s nor men’s club teams have managed to qualify for nationals since Philadelphia Patrol (a men’s team at the time) in 2017. A women’s team from Philadelphia has not qualified for club nationals since 2016.

They will join a PUL division with a New York Gridlock team that also hails from a region with a notable gap in the success between their women’s team and mixed team this past year. New York Bent, the premier women’s club team, missed nationals in 2022, losing in the game to go to a talented Toronto 6ixers squad. Meanwhile New York Xist was the shock of the mixed division at nationals, taking their pool over number 1 overall seed Drag’n Thrust and making it all the way to semis, only to lose on universe point to the eventual champions: Seattle Mixtape.

Notable about both Xist and Amp are the phenomenal contributions of their women matching players. Xist star Natalia De Jesus led the team in goals with 15 and was second in goals for the entire tournament. In their win over number 1 seeded Drag’n Thrust, De Jesus had 5 of the teams 14 goals. Only one other New York player, Cara Sieber, had more then 1 goal that game. In perhaps their most important game of the season, Xist’s women were a combined 11 goals, 4 assists, 2 D’s, and 3 turns. Of Xist’s 14 total goals, their women accounted for 11.

Amp is another team that is known for the talent exuded by their women matching players. At nationals, while Henry Ing led them in scoring at 9 goals, he was followed closely by Liz Hart and Lindsay McKenna with 8 apiece. Amp has a history of leveraging their women matchups to great post season success, and Raha Mozaffari was voted one of the best mixed division players of the decade by Ultiworld last year.

The fact that a large contingent of New York Gridlock player’s come from Philadelphia, and Amp in particular, adds an interesting wrinkle to the season, as you have to imagine their departure to Surge will leave some gaping holes in the Gridlock roster. But more interesting is how these two cities, now coalescing their mixed and women’s division talents into one team, will stack up compared to teams like Raleigh Radiance, who’s club women’s team Phoenix have made it quite a bit further then Flight or Bent these past few seasons.

This also sets them apart from in division rivals Portland Rising, a Maine team able to draw talent from the Boston area. Slow White, the top mixed team from Boston last year, has had strong seasons (they won Nationals in 2016), but certainly does not have the prestige of Brute Squad, a perennial contender for best in the country who would have several more titles if it were not for Fury.

Mixed ultimate forces players to play differently then they would in single gendered divisions, creating more isolation plays for dominant cutters, and can sometimes have a more chaotic pace of play, leading to far more upsets in the mixed division versus the women’s or men’s. The style of play differences do not equate to talent differences however. We have seen dominant mixed players, such as Anna Thompson from Amp teams past, transition into women’s ultimate as a dominant force. Furthermore, several players on both Xist and Amp, as well as other talented regional mixed programs like Westchester Loco or New Jersey Jughandle, have experiences playing in the PUL already, where they proved to be as productive in the pros as they were in mixed club.

I am not without my own biases, but with the Medellin Revolution leaving the PUL to focus on a Columbian pro team and the constant churn of talent throughout the league, Philadelphia should surge (get it) up the standings in their first season. I currently have them in contention for best team in the league with Portland and Raleigh, and just slightly ahead of equally strong contender DC Shadow. It will also be curious to see where New York Gridlock end up, with so many players likely leaving the franchise to join the new team in Philadelphia (and plenty who already joined DC last season).

And of course, I can’t wait to watch all of it.