HUNDREDS of people in the grandstand cheer and stomp.
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The sun is setting in Hong Kong and children come up to the Australian team members asking for photos and autographs.
Mong Kok Stadium just hosted a FIFA World Cup qualifier but now there are no soccer balls in sight.
Instead, flying frisbees fill the air.
Former Catholic College Wodonga student Brendan Ashcroft shook his head remembering this moment during last year’s Asia Oceanic Ultimate Frisbee Championships.
“It was crazy, it was crazy,” he said.
His short frisbee career has taken him to Canada, Colombia and the US, with Britain the next stop.
This week the 26-year-old is part of the Australian Dingoes men’s open team at the World Ultimate and Guts Championships in London.
Another Wodonga export Emilya Toney is playing for the Australian mixed ultimate team, the Barramundis.
On Sunday the Dingoes defeated Columbia 15-9 while the mixed team claimed a 15-7 win over Portugal.
Ashcroft competed in the Australian under-23 team at the last World Ultimate Championships in Japan, but this is his first time in the open division.
“Obviously it was high quality there, but this is just going to be the next step up,” he said.
Dingoes teammate Sebastian Barr said Ashcroft was well-prepared.
“He’s one of the hardest trainers at the club,” Barr said.
“He’s one of the blokes that always finishes almost at the point of vomiting.”
Ashcroft achieved success as a sprinter at Wodonga Athletics Club in his teens and last year formed part of the Victorian 4x100m men’s relay team that won bronze at the Australian Relay Championships in Adelaide.
He said athletics had taught him you couldn’t get it right every time.
“You’ll never run every race perfectly,” he said. “It’s impossible to get every single race right and it’s impossible to win every race as well.”
A PE and science teacher, Ashcroft enjoyed coaching and helping his teammates improve their running styles.
Last year, Ashcroft’s mixed ultimate frisbee team Ellipsis became the first team from outside North America to win the US Open.
“It was a huge, huge deal and I’m pretty sure as I was leaving I kind of teared up a little bit actually,” Ashcroft said. “But half an hour after we got those medals I was on a flight back to Australia for another tournament.
“Having four or five days after that to come down from it and really reflect on it would have been fantastic but it seems to not really be in my nature.”
