Royal set for Ultimate Frisbee home-opener
For a sports team trying to establish itself in our city’s hockey and soccer-mad environment, a rivalry with Toronto is a great place to start.
The Montreal Royal hasn’t been able to match the Toronto Rush in the standings or statistics over the past three years, but our burgeoning professional Ultimate Frisbee team has held its own in their head-to-head confrontations.
The trend continued last Saturday in Toronto, as the Royal won 22-19, bringing their record against the Rush to four wins and five losses, with a chance to even things out at the Royal’s homeopener on Sunday.
“It was a huge win,” said Royal president and recently retired player Jean-Levy Champagne, Wednesday. “It’s good for marketing. The best marketing is winning. Toronto is a hard team to beat for anyone, but we find a way to beat them at least once a year.”
A 4-5 record doesn’t sound like much until one considers that Toronto won the first three matchups between the two teams, with Montreal taking four of the last six; the Royal’s first win against the Rush, in 2014, slammed the brakes on the latter’s 30-game regular-season win streak, which included taking home the trophy in the 2013 American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) Championship; and that Toronto has a 55-6 record against AUDL Eastern Division teams since 2013, with four of those losses coming against Montreal.
Saturday’s win brings the Royal’s 2017 record to 2-1, a strong start for a team that has made the playoffs just once (losing its only game) in its first three years in the highly competitive AUDL; and for a team without its regular coach.
Royal coach Guylaine Girard is sidelined with a concussion. Assistant coach Caroline Cadotte has taken over in the interim, but she will soon be going on maternity leave, leaving Champagne (currently acting as an assistant coach) and fellow former Royal player Charles Bariteau to take over in her absence.
The AUDL has garnered increased attention since launching in 2012, with the San Jose Spiders winning the title in 2014 and 2015 with help from MVP Beau Kittredge, and the Dallas Roughnecks getting all the glory in 2016.
This year’s AUDL Championship will be held in Montreal, Aug. 26 and 27, giving Royal players extra incentive to go all-out. But partaking in the main event remains a lofty ambition.
“I can’t promise that to the fans,” Champagne said, after a moment’s hesitation. “The boys know (it’s coming), the ownership knows. Everyone is looking at that out of the corner of their eye. The product we put on the field is pretty confident, and we’ll work as hard as we can. It’s not an easy task, but we would love to be there.”
Champagne and the rest of the Royal ownership are beyond pumped to simply be hosting the championship, an honour earned on the basis of the team’s strong attendance numbers — Montreal’s 1,100 fans-per-game average is the best in the league — and all-around professionalism. The Royal’s first three seasons were held on the Alouettes’ home turf, at McGill’s Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. The regular-season games will move to the more intimate confines and natural grass of Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard, which will also be the venue for the AUDL Championship.
“Molson Stadium is a great stadium, with 25,000 seats,” Champagne said. “We felt the crowd would be (even) more enthusiastic in a smaller stadium.”
Claude-Robillard has a capacity of 6,000 — 2,000 on one side and 4,000 on the other — meaning things should get cozy if the Royal reaches its league-leading home-opener attendance record of 2,500, and creating the possibility that the championship weekend could sell out.
“We’re very excited about trying to fill that stadium,” Champagne said, adding that the championship weekend is being included as part of Montreal’s 375th anniversary celebrations.
As for getting the chance to compete that weekend, the work has already begun. The AUDL season is a mere 14 games, meaning each one counts. The Royal is teeming with fresh blood, including new players from France, the U.S. and Colombia, as well as hungry young players from Quebec and Ontario, bringing renewed energy to a team that has posted 6-8, 9-5 and 6-8 records over the past three years.
“The team this year is like a huge puzzle,” said co-captain Kevin Quinlan, a native of Rochester, N.Y., in his second year with the Royal.
“It’s an international team with a whole influx of youth. It’s very exciting, but it’s about finding the right combination of people and strategy.”
“The team is a lot better,” said Champagne, 36, who tried out for this year’s lineup but — his coownership
in the team be damned — didn’t make the cut. “There’s a new wave of talent and energy. Everyone’s trying to prove to their teammates they can work and win. We’re still the underdog in our division, but we’re going to have a much better on-field product, and I’m happy about that.”
AT A GLANCE: The Montreal Royal’s home-opener is Sunday at 1 p.m. at Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard. The AUDL Championship weekend takes place Aug. 26 and 27 at the same venue. For tickets and information, visit royalultimate.com