In this article, Cat Pope (she/her) shares her thoughts and experiences on what it takes to lead a club famous for it's European dominance, especially since it's near collapse and rebuild in 2021 after a high turnover and disruption from COVID.
Cat at London Invite
Bio: playing history and leadership history
I started playing Ultimate at Exeter Uni in 2013. Less than a year later, I got to go to Lecco for WJUC 2014 with GB U20 Women. That opportunity showed me early in my career just how big Ultimate was beyond the university scene. I wasn’t very good yet, but it was inspiring.
After university, I played two seasons with Deep Space (during their inaugural years), before joining Iceni in 2019. I’ve had a part in leading the club ever since then: president (2020–2021), captain (2022–2024), and part of the leadership group in 2025. Alongside my club career, I’ve represented GB with U24 Women (2018), GBX Beach (2019, 2023), GBX (2024), and GBWM (2025).
Running Iceni has been the most consistent challenge and joy of my frisbee career. This article isn’t about tactics or coaching strategies, but about the structures and culture that allow a club to thrive long-term: creating buy-in, bouncing back from tough years, and building something that new generations of players can inherit. There is a lot more than this that goes into running a club, but this is hopefully a helpful guide with some practical tips for encouraging longevity within your club.
Social-distanced open session, 2021
A change of circumstance
When I joined Iceni in 2019, the team had been a dominant presence in the UK and Europe. For years, Iceni had been the women’s club to beat and had won EUCF 7 times. The club entered a rebuilding phase after key players left following the 2018 WUCC cycle. In 2020 I stepped up as president, but COVID hit, and suddenly we were running online seminars, trying to keep players engaged over Zoom, and attempting to keep a team together with no tournaments on the horizon. This lead to 2021, where we started with a tiny committee, chaotic trials on Tooting Common (where we got kicked off by a kids’ football team), and a small but committed roster. The Captains did a fantastic job in making the most out of the season. EUCF - made an impossibility due to COVID restrictions - was replaced with the Madrid Cup: a party tournament from which anecdotes still come up to this day.
Madrid Ultimate International Cup, 2021
Getting going again
By 2022, we had a large, objectively talented roster, new captains (incl. inexperienced me!), and the challenge of WUCC looming on the calendar. The year unfolded with one underperformance after another: 35th at WUCC, 5th at UK Nationals, and 9th at EUCF. There was equal amounts of disbelief as there was disappointment. Something had to change.
What stood out to me most was the lack of a consistent, long-term vision - each year’s leaders started from scratch. I looked over at how Clapham’s structures, culture and results carried them through the pandemic relatively untouched. I wondered how Iceni could build that kind of robustness too.
I wanted to create structures that would enable club leadership and players to think long-term and build season-on-season. The aim was to rebuild a club that people loved playing for, that grew players as individuals, and that performed as more than the sum of its parts.
Lesson: Club culture isn’t optional, it’s the backbone that holds everything together when circumstances get tough.
Iceni @ nationals, 2022
📸: The Showgame
Building buy-in
Coming out of 2022, we knew we needed a reset, and from our AGM came the commitment to do things differently in 2023. I’d learnt a lot about how to run a team, and was determined to use that experience to do it better.
We created a leadership group that spread responsibility and built continuity:
one captain,
a playing coach,
two experienced leaders (acting as advisors),
and two newer leaders (developing the skills to step up in the future).
This structure meant no single person carried the whole load, and it created a pathway for younger players to grow into leadership.
We introduced mid-season captain check-ins (where I scheduled a phone call with every single player to check in and collect feedback) and ran culture-setting sessions at key moments in the season (for example, discussing how to manage priorities and stay connected while half the squad was also competing with GB teams) . These were opportunities to align on how we wanted to play, how we wanted to support each other, and how we wanted Iceni to feel.
Socialising became a deliberate priority too. Our season-opening bonding weekend evolved into the event that kicked off each year. We made a point of having team dinners at every tournament, staying together where possible, and setting AGM and End of Season dates early to get everyone in the room. Prioritising social connection helped dissolve cliques, build trust, and ultimately made us more resilient for whatever challenges the season threw at us.
In 2023, we won UK Nationals for the first time in 6 years and placed 7th at EUCF. But more importantly the team felt different; there was buy-in across the roster and more people were excited to contribute.
Lesson: Buy-in comes from making space for voices and creating shared ownership.
National Champs, 2023
Leadership structures that last
In 2024, I was in my third year as captain. Five members of the previous year’s leadership group stayed on, which gave us valuable continuity. We added newer players to the group to maintain a variety of voices and create learning opportunities for future leaders, so the path to captaincy could be a gradual build rather than a scary leap. We also recruited an outstanding non-playing coach (shout out Jamie!), who created an invaluable anchor off the pitch.
We introduced an explicit long-term vision, running a classroom session on the structure of a four-year cycle. For Iceni, COVID and leadership turnover had disrupted that cycle - but in 2024, we challenged ourselves to think about what the club should look like in 2026.
To anchor those ambitions, we landed on three words: Ambitious, Tenacious, Together. They became a simple reference point — something we could come back to and ask whether we were actually living the culture we wanted. The exercise itself mattered more than the specific words. We ran a classroom session where we worked down from a range of prompts, which sparked good discussion about the kind of team we wanted to be. Involving the whole team meant everyone had to think about how they could contribute to making that culture real.
That season, we finished 6th at EUCF and, maybe more importantly, the team felt excited about the future. Leadership transitions into 2025 were smooth: our new captain had already spent a year in the leadership group, I stepped down but stayed involved, and new voices joined to keep the learning going. We didn’t win 2024 UK Nationals, which made us hungry for the next year, and serves as a reminder that club success and progress is not only found in results.
Lesson: Leadership structures matter. Don’t just think about who will lead next year, think about how they’ll be supported and developed along the way.
EUCF, 2024
Thinking long-term
In 2025, the club continued to reap the rewards of the work we’d put in. We performed stronger than ever, but we also had a vibrant culture with a hungry roster and contributions coming from across the player base.
It feels like the club has a reliable foundation now: knowledge and skills that can be reliably passed down, resources in place that will support future leaders, and a culture that allows for the whole team to feel heard in what they want Iceni to be.
But good leadership isn’t just about stepping up - it’s also about stepping down. It was important for me to step down from captaincy in 2025, so I could make room for and support blossoming leaders. Now that we have strong structures in place, the team can grow so much more with new voices and ideas at the helm. I’m proud to have lead the club through a tumultuous time and set the stage for an exciting future.
We are still chasing that elusive European top 4 result, but I am sure the team will continue to flourish, both in performance and culture, into and beyond 2026.
Lesson: Longevity isn’t about locking in one way of doing things, but setting up structures so each new leader is empowered to take the club forward without losing its essence.
Don’t ask idk (a long standing Iceni tradition)
Coming back from a tough season
It’s worth pausing on 2022 again, because every club will face a ‘bad’ year. The important part wasn’t avoiding mistakes - it was how we responded. By reflecting on issues openly and honestly at the end of the year, we created the platform for a culture-led turnaround. I’m proud of not only where we are now, but the journey it took to get here.
Lesson: Don’t be afraid of the tough seasons. They’re often the catalyst for the most important growth.
Key takeaways for leaders
If you’re stepping into leadership, whether for a uni team, a brand-new club, or an established one, here are some distilled lessons from Iceni’s journey:
Pulse check: make space for reflection and feedback mid-season, not just at the end
Share leadership: a group spreads the load and builds continuity
Create pathways: give newer players small leadership roles so they’re ready to step up later
Prioritise culture: plan culture-setting sessions and socials just as deliberately as training sessions
Think beyond this year: even if your roster will change, start conversations about what your club should look like in 3–5 years
Don’t fear the difficult years: they can be the start of rebuilding something better
Trust the process: building culture and buy-in takes years, and you’ll never be ‘finished’, so don’t feel disheartened if one season doesn’t reap all the rewards
Celebrating UK Nationals, 2025
Conclusion
Leading a club is hard. It takes time, mistakes, and a lot of conversations that aren’t about Frisbee at all.
But it’s also one of the most rewarding things you can do. When you invest in culture and longevity, you give your team the chance to thrive long after your own leadership or playing career ends, and you build connections for life.
I hope that by sharing my journey with Iceni, you’ll find some ideas and inspiration for initiatives in your own community.
