New Zealand U20s make historic run at world championships in Spain

New Zealand’s U20 boys, Katipō, finished fourth at the World Junior Ultimate Championships after reaching the semifinals for the first time, the highest placing ever by a New Zealand team. The result marked a clean break from the usual ceiling for New Zealand at age-group world events and put the programme squarely on the map.

New Zealand Ultimate had set a top-six target for its under-20 high-performance pathway, a benchmark built into a junior programme that operates around World Flying Disc Federation championships held every two years. Katipō did more than meet that standard. By making the semifinals, the side pushed past the federation’s own expectation and turned a development goal into a podium-adjacent finish on the sport’s biggest junior stage.

The campaign also came out of a formal selection process. New Zealand Ultimate had announced its 2025 under-20 national training squad before the tournament, showing the result was the product of a structured pathway rather than a one-off grouping of club players. That mattered for a country where junior athletes often balance school, club commitments and the long trip required to face the world’s best.

Logroño, Spain, provided the stage for the championship run, with WFDF framing the event around youth and spirit and opening play in front of 2,500 ticket-holding fans at Estadio Municipal Las Gaunas. Ultiworld listed the tournament dates as June 21-28, 2025, at Ciudad Deportiva Pradoviejo on Calle Serradero, and said nearly 100 games would be broadcast from the event. For a New Zealand side trying to measure itself against more established programs, the setting only sharpened the test.

Hamilton Boys’ High School later congratulated Year 13 student Josh Jack and 2025 old boy Michael James for their campaign with the New Zealand U20 team in Logroño, adding two named contributors to a result that will travel well beyond one roster. The finish gives New Zealand a new reference point at junior level: a semifinal breakthrough, a fourth-place end result and a clearer line from the national training squad to genuine world-class contention.