emo - Who are we? What do we do?
A Brief History
In the autumn of 2003 east midlands open (emo) was formed for the sole purpose of breaking into the top 8 of the national ultimate tour.
In it's first season the club grew to 50+ members and was able to field two teams at all the major national tournaments. By the end of the 2004 season emo had established itself as the leading team in the midlands, making quarter finals at UK Nationals.
Further focus and drive was placed on reaching a top 8 place for the 2005 season. This meant the overall club size shrunk slightly, fielding only one team at tournaments. The year was a resounding success with top 8 finishes in 3 of the 4 main national tournaments, leaving emo with an overall ranking of 6th.
In 2006, emo qualified to play in the World Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC) in Perth, Australia where we finished 17th. We also achieved our best result yet, a 5th place finish at Tour 2 domestically, as well as winning the spirit prize at Tour 3.
The loss of a large number of more experienced players left emo a big job in 2007, where the focus was rebuilding and training the next generation in order for more success in 2008. The hard work paid off and 2008 saw emo's best ever performance on the domestic scene finishing in the top 7 at all 3 Tour events and a record 6th at UK Nationals/EUCR-West.
Looking to build on the successes of the 2008 season, emo trained hard during the off-season (as well as hosting the first emo Invitational) and looked forward to shaking things up in and around the top 6. After winning Tour 0 North, the first team headed into Tour 1 with confidence and ended up in 6th and then a disappointing 9th place finish at Tour 2. The firsts sorted themselves out for Tour3/Nationals and brought it back to 6th to finish the 2009 Tour an overall 6th place, just missing out on Division 1 at XEUCF at Nationals. The seconds managed to do themselves proud, climbing up the rankings at each event, finishing 19th. The seconds came a very respectable 21st overall in the Tour. emo finished a disappointing 26th at XEUCF, bizarrely finishing below a couple of teams they beat over the course of the cometition.
Helping the Region
The midlands region has also seen the benefit of emo's rise to stardom. Many of the players who play for emo also coach local teams in other divisions such as the university and under 18's. To increase the number of players we can help, emo has begun hosting skills days for players of all levels of experience. These aim to pass on some of the tactics and skills required for playing ultimate competitively at a high level. emo have hosted 8 of these events in the last 4 years with attendance averaging more than 60 people and ranging in age from 14 to 40, all of which have been a resounding success.
2010
emo continues to train new players to take on the best in the UK and abroad. 2010 sees another World Ultimate Club Championships in Prague, and emo intend to be in attendance once again, looking to build on the 2006 event. If you want to be a part of it then check out our training page.
Yeah emo!
