It seems fitting that the Breakout Player of the Year should come from this season’s best Cinderella story – Vancouver’s Ultimate Frisbee team, Furious George.
Following a somewhat lacklustre regular season and after missing a ticket to the show last year, the bottom seed shocked everyone at the USA Ultimate National Championships in Rockford, Ill. – Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 – with their march into their first quarterfinals appearance since 2006.
Leading their score sheet? Sechelt’s Malcolm Bryson.
Bryson is in many ways still a truly raw player, having only completed one season on the club circuit before this year. A late pickup for the U23 Team Canada squad that went to finals in London last summer, this Furious sophomore was selected to take the field with Team Canada at the World Ultimate and Guts Championships this year as well. In this fall’s game-to-go at Northwest Regionals, it was Bryson who scored the final break to knock Rhino out of contention and send Furious back to the Club Championship stage. He’s the quintessential example of Vancouver’s changing tide: after years of cultivating and coaching up junior and college programs, there’s been an injection of gutsy youth players into the elite teams who are not just coming into their own, but taking on starring roles.
An undeniably frustrating player to cover, Bryson buzzes around the field with a level of confidence that you wouldn’t expect from such a fresh face. Dynamic to the bone, he commands the midfield with cheeky dishes and running through defences before they even realize he was there in the first place. This versatile playing style, his impressive field awareness, and spicy quick-release throwing flair helped the Furious lads open up options all throughout the Club Championships. Known for his agility and speed, he was leaving even the most seasoned defenders in the dust all weekend long, flitting around for short yardage or finding his way into the endzone. Staking out points on both offensive and defensive lines, Bryson also made his mark with some huge defensive plays like this Callahan denial against Patrol.
A product of the University of Victoria’s classically underdog program, Bryson quickly rose through the college ranks to earn his spot with Furious. With a freshman All-Region nod back in 2013, he’s since built up a reputation for being a squirrelly hybrid player that dominates on both sides of the disc. Although he spent most of the 2016 college season on the sideline, he exploded on the club scene this summer and looks set to terrorize the college division in his third year as a captain and his final year of eligibility with UVic.
With the wildly successful Year of the Monkey in the bag, no one can ignore all the young talent that has been taking a bigger role on the Furious George roster. As a player just beginning the upward climb of his career, we can expect to stay on the Bryson hype-train for some time. With another college series at his fingertips, anticipate that he’ll expand his throwing repertoire and vision, only getting more dangerous for his next splash on the club stage.
