Beyond the Big 5 Issue 11
Featuring in depth coverage of the 2025 IQA World Cup
covering nontraditional, emerging and niche sports with a focus on women and LGBTIQA+ people
Hello and happy end of July!
BB5 Exclusive on 2025 IQA World Cup
I’m writing a long article on the 2025 IQA World Cup, the quadball world championship that took place earlier this month in Belgium, that will be published next week. I’ll be releasing snippets of it over the next few days just to newsletter subscribers.
What’s Out Now
Quadball
“Recap of Day 1 of 2025 IQA World Cup” by Me
A brief summary of Friday, July 11 featuring photos.
“History of Trading Cards in Quidditch/Quadball” by Me
I interviewed three trading card producers from different eras of quadball for this piece!
“Day 2 Recap of 2025 IQA World Cup” by Me
A brief summary of Saturday, July 12 featuring photos.
“Day 3 Recap of 2025 IQA World Cup” by Me
A brief summary of Sunday, July 13 featuring final results (Belgium is world champion!!) and photos.
“Belgium conjures up win at quidditch world cup” by France 24/AFP
Be sure to check out the video that was produced by Franceinfo as well!
“Final Rankings for 2025 IQA World Cup” by Me
I looked into the rankings from all World Cups from 2012-2025 and made some pretty charts.
Ultimate
“All-Star Rosters Revealed for Historic WUL vs. PUL All-Star Showdown” by the Western Ultimate League
On August 23, the Western Ultimate League (WUL) and the Premier Ultimate League (PUL) are competing in a first ever All-Star Game between the two leagues. It’s taking place in Madison, Wisconsin at Breese Stevens Field during the championship weekend for the Ultimate Frisbee Association. I’ve been working with the PUL for the past year and a half, helping them source sponsorships, and this summer I’m working behind the scenes on fundraising and team coordination for the All-Star Game. I unfortunately cannot be there in person – it’s my 10 year wedding anniversary and I cannot miss this date for yet another niche sports tournament (shoutout 2021!) – but I will be watching the livestream on YouTube.
“PUL Regular Season Award Winners Announced” by the Premier Ultimate League
Jolie Krebs is the youngest MVP winner for the PUL!! The winner of the Callahan award in 2024, the highest honor for college ultimate players, Krebs was responsible for nearly half of NY Gridlock’s goals in the regular reason.
“US Open 2025: How to Watch, Tournament Preview” by Ultiworld’s Edward Stephens, Laura Osterlund and Emmet Holton
The US Open is club ultimate’s largest tournament of the season taking place this year from August 1-3 in Aurora, Colorado.
What’s Next
Western Championship Quadball, the summer league for the West Coast, has its major tournament of the year on August 9 in Redmond, Washington. MLQ Championship is August 16-18 in Buffalo, New York. The aforementioned WUL vs PUL All-Star Game is August 23. And I’ll be in Lacey, Washington August 28-30 covering the USA Touch Nationals 2025.
In Closing
Summer is going by too fast! I’m in love with the sun.
Beyond the Big 5 is written by Mary Kimball.