Issue 2 - March 20, 2024
covering nontraditional, emerging and niche sports with a focus on women and LGBTIQA+ people
Issue 2 - March 20, 2024
Hello and welcome to the second issue of Beyond the Big 5!
Big Wins for Belgium and Montreal in Quadball
Montreal Flamingos won their first national title at Quadball Canada nationals last weekend, and Antwerp QC took their second D1 win at European Quadball Cup!
Final Results from Canadian Nationals:
Montreal Flamingos
Carleton Ravens
Vanguard QC
Watch livestreams from the weekend: https://www.youtube.com/@QuadballCanada/streams
Final Results from D1 EQC:
Antwerp QC
Ruhr Phoenix
London QC
Final Results from D2 EQC:
Münster Marauders
Barcelona Eagles QT
Olympiens Paris
Watch livestreams from the weekend: https://www.youtube.com/@quadballeurope/streams
Opening Weekend for Women’s Pro Ultimate on the West Coast
Western Ultimate League (WUL), the West Coast’s home for women and gender expansive pro ultimate, starts this weekend!
Schedule (away team first):
Arizona Sidewinders vs Colorado Alpenglow at 1pm PT
Bay Area Falcons vs Utah Wild at 4pm PT
San Diego Super Bloom vs Seattle Tempest at 5pm PT
Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WesternUltimateLeague/streams
Selection Wednesday for US Quadball Cup 2024
The national championship for quadball college teams in the US, along with adult amateur teams, is in less than a month. On Wednesday night, US Quadball revealed the pools for college D1, college D2, and club competitive.
We do not envy the D1 college teams in pool D. ASU as a pot 3 team… have fun with those devils! :D You can hear more of our hot takes on YouTube, where we hosted a reaction show after the draw: https://www.youtube.com/live/GczYS7btucU?si=2wo7xpjR_5uc-rRm
Watch Guide for Mixed Gender Sports
Togethxr’s tagline is everybody watches women’s sports, and they just released an awesome watch guide for the NCAA women’s basketball championship. Mixed gender sports deserve some love too, and that’s why we’re putting together our own watch guide for them! Have a sport or tournament that should be on our radar? Know of a sports bar that’s showing the game? Reply to this newsletter or contact us at mary@beyondthebig5.com with your suggestions! The first guide drops on Thursday on Instagram.
BB5 Podcast
Our podcast is now on iTunes! You can also listen on Spotify. We’ve got 3 full episodes up now. Season 1 on quadball and 3 max continues soon, featuring interviews with USQ gameplay staff, the Warriors (defending USQ national club champs), MLQ League City Legends, and more.
Giving Snaps
A match made in Emerald City heaven: Rough & Tumble Pub, Seattle’s women’s sports bar, has partnered with Charlie’s Queer Books, Seattle’s queer bookstore, on a new curated reading list for women’s sports. We love spooky mysteries and can’t wait to read We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, which is a hockey/witch story. Swoon!
Random Rec
One of our favorite history stories is of the Nome Serum Run in 1925, where life saving diphtheria vaccine was carried by dog sled relay to Nome, Alaska. The podcast You’re Wrong About just did an episode on the myth of Balto the sled dog with musher Blair Braverman.
Did you know mushing is a mixed gender sport?
In Closing
We’re equal opportunity nerds here with an important question: can you play a full game of ultimate on the sands of Arrakis before a worm arrives to try to swallow you whole? Ponder on that as you finish out the second half of the week. You got this!
Beyond the Big 5 is written by Mary Kimball.