Summer 2014 USA Ultimate Magazine

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High School Regionals Coverage p34 College Championships Coverage p14 Junior National Team Prepares to Take on the World p10 Ultimate Peace in the Middle East p6

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VOLU M E X X X V ISSU E T WO

SUMMER ISSUE

P14 MEN’S DIVISION I COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS University of Colorado Mamabird won their second national title in 17 years at the 2014 College Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

P20 WOMEN’S DIVISION I COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS Despite significant turnover, Carleton College Syzygy returned to the College Championships with a young roster and finished tied for fifth place in Mason, Ohio. Photo: CBMT Creative

P26 MEN’S DIVISION III COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS The Claremont Braineaters made their fourth consecutive appearance at the D-III Championships in 2014. Photo: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

Maple Adkins-Threats and Truman State finished the weekend tied for fifth at the D-III College Championships in Westerville, Ohio.

Photo: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

P34 HIGH SCHOOL REGIONALS RESULTS P30 WOMEN’S DIVISION III COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS

ON THE COVER: Cassie Swafford and her Ohio State Fever teammates celebrate their program’s first-ever national title at the 2014 College Championships in Mason, Ohio.

Photo: CBMT Creative

Cincinnati’s Holy Family Catholic girls won their second consecutive Centrals title in Ames, Iowa. Photo: CBMT Creative

U S A U LT I M AT E

USA ULTIMATE 4730 Table Mesa Dr. Suite I-200C Boulder, CO 80305 303-447-3472 www.usaultimate.org info@usaultimate.org

SUMMER 2014 3 A Letter to Our Members 5 By the Numbers: Youth Ultimate 6 Ultimate Peace in the Middle East 10 In the Box: U-19 National Team Prepares to Take on the World COLLEGE FEATURES

USA ULTIMATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mike Payne – President Gwen Ambler – Vice President Kathy Hendrickson – Treasurer DeAnna Ball – Secretary Val Belmonte Mary-Clare Brennan Brian Garcia Stephen Hubbard Mike Kinsella Sandy Park Ben Slade Henry Thorne

14 D-I Men’s Feature: Mountain Man 19 Men’s Callahan Spotlight 20 D-I Women’s Feature: The Road to the Ultimate Match Up 25 Women’s Callahan Spotlight 26 D-III Men’s Feature: Down But Not Out 30 D-III Women’s Feature: Rice Torque: Equation for Success HIGH SCHOOL REGIONALS RESULTS

USA ULTIMATE STAFF Dr. Tom Crawford – Chief Executive Officer Administration & Finance Julia Lee – Director Ethan Taylor-Pierce Competition & Athlete Programs Will Deaver – Managing Director Ty Krajec Byron Hicks Mike Lovinguth Baker Pratt David Raflo Ernest Toney Marketing & Communications Andy Lee – Director Matthew Bourland Stacey Waldrup Membership & Sport Development Melanie Byrd – Director Ryan Gorman Josh Murphy Rebecca Simeone

NORTHEASTERNS

34 Boys: Masconomet’s Four Pillars Lead to a Title 37 Girls: Fast-Paced May Be an Understatement

USA Ultimate is a non-profit organization and serves as the national Governing Body for the sport of Ultimate in the United States.

Founded in 1979 as the Ultimate Players Association (UPA), USA Ultimate is one of the first flying disc sport organizations in the world and the largest, with more than 40,000 members and a national volunteer network.

SOUTHERNS

40 Boys: Carolina Friends Earns First Southerns Title 43 Girls: Saga Repeats as Southerns Champion

CENTRALS

46 Boys: Eye on the Prize 49 Girls: Building a Program

USA ULTIMATE USA Ultimate is the official publication of USA Ultimate, published quarterly. All ideas expressed in USA Ultimate are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of USA Ultimate, the National Governing Body. USA Ultimate assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.

WESTERNS

52 B oys: Crescent Valley Reemerges as Westerns Contender 55 Girls: California Rollin’

58 The Perks of Marrying an Ultimate Player 62 Ultimate History: Carmen Lipoma and Shawn Adams 64 Above the Competition 68 Nutrition Matters 72 Coaches’ Playbook 75 Local League Spotlight 78 The Spirit Circle 80 What’s the Call 83 News & Notes

Editor-in-Chief Stacey Waldrup Advertising Complete rates and specifications are available online at www.usaultimate.org/ sponsors.

Change of Address USA Ultimate is not forwarded by the post office. To update your address, please contact USA Ultimate.

For a complete list of contacts, visit www.usaultimate.org.

Mission Statement To advance the sport of Ultimate in the United States by enhancing and promoting Character, Community and Competition.

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A LETTER TO OUR MEMBERS A Look Ahead at Sport Trends in the U.S.

BY

A MESSAGE FROM USA ULTIMATE’S CEO ON ULTIMATE HAPPENINGS IN THE U.S.

DR. TOM CRAWFORD USA Ultimate Chief Executive Officer

Immediately following our very exciting and inspiring 2014 College Championships in Ohio, I attended a conference with a group of 50-60 fellow sports organization CEOs that I interact with monthly. This particular conference was focused on issues facing sport in America, and I thought I’d share some of the trends and challenges we’ll likely face right alongside all other sports.

and not be dependent on student fees, university support or the NCAA. They are creating their own television platforms (e.g., the Big Ten Network) and will rely less and less on the NCAA and even their own universities for financial support.

The worrisome trend for all the non-revenueproducing sports is that they will eventually get dropped or treated very differently, as these largely independent conferences will begin to set their own rules and not be encumbered by NCAA guidelines. Obviously there will be a lot of negotiation and discussion as this trend develops, and apparently those discussions have already been underway for quite some time. I also believe many small Division I schools will get left behind, struggle a great deal and eventually drop out of Division I athletics.

First, college sports and the NCAA will be changing pretty dramatically over the next decade. One of our guest speakers was Gene Smith, the Athletic Director at Ohio State University (and yes, he was readily aware that their women’s team had just won the national championship on ESPN, and mentioned it as an example in his talk). He brought us up to speed on many of the future changes that are likely to occur at the college level, including the ‘pulling away’ from the NCAA by the big five conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12, SEC). There was quite a bit of angst and concern in the room, particularly from the Olympic sport national governing bodies (NGBs) that their athlete pipelines could be hurt by this change, and Smith did not try to make everyone feel better about that possibility – he was candid, honest and very compelling.

One of the more interesting comments Smith made, when answering questions about the future of non-revenue sports, was suggesting to the NGBs that they focus on building a robust club sports structure, as there is no telling what the future of athletic scholarships will look like. This bodes well for us, as we already have what is probably the strongest national model and will not be impacted the way other sports may be challenged. However, it also means that the likelihood of adding sports like ours as a scholarship sport at the college level becomes less and less likely as these trends take hold.

My takeaway is that we will likely see some pretty dramatic changes in college sports, including a continued major focus from the big five conferences on revenue-producing sports, particularly football and men’s basketball. The conferences want to be as monetarily independent as possible, have their own legislative and rule-making authority

Second, there was a large focus on safe sport and anti-doping. These will have significant impacts on us as an NGB and on WFDF at the international 3

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A LETTER TO OUR MEMBERS cont. level. There was a robust discussion of the need for an independent organization, similar to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), focused on Safe Sport. For those unfamiliar, Safe Sport (safesport.org) is a major initiative led by the U.S. Olympic Committee to make sure sport environments are safe and free from sexual abuse, hazing, harassment, physical abuse and other forms of ‘misconduct’ that can hurt children and athletes. The reason for this focus is the everincreasing number of deplorable incidents of sexual misconduct and physical and emotional abuse in the world of sports.

and prioritizing the build-out of our own national infrastructure through the Affiliate Program. We’ll be working to significantly strengthen the program going forward.

AFFILIATE This year’s SFIA report also included some very good news for us: we are not only one of the sports that is growing, but our unique elements of self-officiating, Spirit of the Game and emphasis on fun is very appealing to today’s youth. I had dinner with the CEO of the SFIA, and he noted that ultimate is positioned perfectly to not only continue growing but to potentially explode in growth with the proper local infrastructure in place.

That’s where all our local leagues come in. Kids are rapidly dropping out of traditional team sports and looking for alternatives, citing too much cheating, a lack of fun, being controlled too much by referees and coaches, and parents being too pushy.

Immediately following the conference, the United States Olympic Committee voted unanimously to create a new independent body to serve as the investigative and adjudication arm of the USOC and NGBs for Safe Sport. We will need to become part of this group, and our processes will be dictated by the national standards developed and implemented by this new organization. We already follow the Safe Sport guidelines and will continue to do so.

We had a very interesting session on anti-doping with a behind-the-scenes look at the Lance Armstrong case, presented by the CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Suffice it to say that they should be congratulated and commended for doing their job well (keeping sport clean) for the duration of this case while under great duress, including enduring numerous death threats and other ugly forms of intimidation.

USADA and the World Anti-Doping Agency are very committed to keeping sports clean, and as our profile grows and we participate in more and more international events, more of our athletes will be subjected to drug testing, and we’ll have to do a good job educating all our international teams on what drugs are banned.

The future of our sport is bright, but we still have lots of work to do to further build our infrastructure and delivery systems. I look forward to working with all of you to make that happen as we continue to grow this incredible sport.

Finally, we had a report from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) on trends in sports across the United States. While we are fortunate to be in the group of growing sports, we are getting our butts kicked by several other team sports, including lacrosse and rugby. Their national infrastructures are simply much more mature than ours, which is why we are putting new resources into SUMMER 2014

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BY THE NUMBERS

YOUTH ULTIMATE

The Genesis

t s a E le d id M e th in By: Eric Brach

In 2008, Ultimate Hall of Famer David Barkan had a vision. The ethnic groups of the Middle East had stood in opposition for so long, no side trusted any other to be fair and even-handed. This distrust doomed every attempt to solve the Israel/Palestine problem from the outset. But what if the residents of the Middle East could be made to see one another as individuals, worthy of respect? What if all citizens could be made to view their opponents not as enemies, but as people clamoring for the very same freedoms they were?

What if the warring sides could be made to look across the battlefield the way Ultimate players look across the pitch at their opponents?

From Section 1: Introduction, item B, of the Official Rules of Ultimate “ Spirit of the Game. Ultimate relies upon a spirit of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on the player. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors.”

Barkan had long retired from competitive ultimate, but in his playing days, he’d helped build a number of longlasting successful club teams, including the Hostages, Double Happiness and Jam. These teams routinely posted top finishes in national and international play, and they won by emphasizing the importance of team chemistry over win-at-all-costs behavior.

What if, Barkan wondered, that spirit of ultimate he knew so well could be ported to the Middle East? That might lead to real resolution. And what better way could there be to bring the spirit of ultimate than via ultimate itself?

The headlines never seem to change: Jews and Arabs are enmeshed in bitter physical conflict in Palestine. This is not new: the armed skirmishes and military maneuvers can trace their roots back to infighting sparked in 1920, when Israel was still under British rule – and, in truth, to inherited disagreements and mistrust that plagued all sides for generations before that.

And thus, Ultimate Peace was born.

Peace talks have launched and sputtered for longer than most of us have been alive, all hinging around one difficult question: what will ultimately broker lasting peace in the Middle East?

Ultimate Peace began as a one-day tournament designed to teach ultimate to Israeli and Palestinian youth. Problem was, very few of the attendees at that first session had ever played before. Though this, at first blush, looked to be a hurdle to coaching and teaching the sport, it turned out to bring with it a huge benefit: all players were identically new to the game. This created

Will it be land concessions? Religious tolerance? Or will it be…ultimate?

What It Is

Photo: Ultimate Peace

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Ultimate Peace campers in Israel. Photo: Ultimate Peace

village... the friendship forged at camp brought not only the girls together, but their families as well. Since then, visits between Jews and Arabs have become part of the Ultimate Peace culture as multiple cross-cultural friendships have deepened and blossomed.

a very level playing field, marking one of the first times in any of these young players’ lives that they had all been equal.

The tournament was such a success, it reemerged the next year as a five-day program. The year after that, Ultimate Peace was relaunched as a twoweek summer camp.

“ I learned to play ultimate, but the real feat is that the concept of an Arab-Jewish friendship is as natural to me as any [other].”

–Raz Parnafes, 17, CIT

“ They have separate schools, separate social activities, separate supermarkets. They don’t [have] a reason to go into each other’s town… [but] built into the game is this structure for communication… We’re all on equal footing.

We all can play together. We all can go to camp together.” –Elana Cohen, 23, coach.

Through playing ultimate – and learning the sport’s governing principles of sportsmanship and self-officiating – the campers, in the process, grew as people. They learned to play fair and make friends with kids from the other side of the conflict, learned to see through the battle lines and see every other camper for who they were: Ultimate players. Teammates. Friends.

At Ultimate Peace, young players – Jews and Arabs alike – forged tight bonds. Campers of all ethnicities began to see one another not as strangers, but as teammates, and these links only became stronger as the players spent time with one another off the field, bunking with each other, eating with each other and sharing stories. For many campers, it was the first time they’d ever had the chance to get to know a Muslim or a Jew, and the baggage of generations fell away, as it had to: it’s hard to think about sectarian differences when you’re congratulating someone for a sweet layout D or an amazing huck.

Just as Barkan had hoped, ultimate was having a huge impact on the members of the next generation. “ For the first time in my life, I recognized what spirit of the game is and how sport should be.

I changed the way I was playing basketball, too!” –Asmaa Hegaze, 16, CIT

Outreach

From “Ultimate Peace: A Snapshot of our Past, Present and Future”

“Five years ago, when Ultimate Peace started, a lot of the visiting coaches we had come because David [Barkan] approached specific players that he knew,” noted Dan Tapuach, CEO of the Israeli Flying Disc Association. That initial list of coaches

I n 2011, an Arab girl invited a Jewish girl to her home after they had become good friends and roommates at camp. The father of the Jewish girl drove several hours to the Arab girl’s 7

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reads like a Who’s Who of Ultimate. Miranda Roth Knowles: Callahan winner, club champion, World Games champion with the U.S. National Team. Moses Rifkin: College, club and world champion. Danny Karlinsky: College championship coach and captain of one of America’s top club teams.

What started as a one-day tournament designed to teach ultimate to Israeli and Palestinian youth is now a multi-national, year-round program that reaches hundreds of kids each year. Photos: Ultimate Peace

“ When it comes to UP, my time as coach was life-changing.

Watching kids enter the camp feeling tentative, then beginning to process that their differences are minimal and really go from just “being there” to being fundamentally changed and accepting… it will always be one of my favorite experiences of my life. I am beyond honored to have been a small part of Ultimate Peace.” –Danny Karlinsky, captain, Seattle Sockeye As the program has matured and grown, so too has the coaching system. Nearly 50 coaches from all around the world volunteered at Ultimate Peace camp last year – and they didn’t work alone. “ In 2012, we started the CIT program, so we could begin to grow our own coaches,” said Tapuach. “The point was to create a leadership program. We selected campers with a lot of potential, and we started them through a process that would eventually help them become local mentors and coaches. These players live in the community, they know the youth, and they speak the language – in fact, most of them speak three.”

The role filled by these Coaches in Training goes far beyond simply assisting the coaches at camp. “The CITs meet every month – Arab kids, Jewish kids and Palestinian kids alike – and don’t talk about politics at all,” Tapuach said. “For their first year, it’s just about ultimate and making deeper connections.” At the end of that year, CITs run one day of the next summer’s Ultimate Peace camp, and then their role expands. They’ve learned how to look past differences, they’ve gained skills such as communication and public speaking, and they’ve grown as people. And for some of them, this journey reaches a capstone, with a trip to the U.S.A. “Every spring, a group of our CITs – Palestinians, Jews, Arabs, everyone – goes to panel discussions all over America to teach people what Ultimate Peace is about. They discuss ultimate, and at the same time, they start a dialogue.” The coalition of Middle Easterners visited New York, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco this year, with the girls’ youth team taking a break from their educational mission to accept an invite to play in the prestigious Paideia Cup and the boys playing a tournament of their own. The chance to play ultimate in the U.S.A. is the prize that keeps the players focused on the organizational mission of spreading awareness and opening dialogue.

And year after year, Ultimate Peace continues to grow.

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Back[hand] to the Future When it was launched, Ultimate Peace focused exclusively on managing summertime tournaments and camps.

Countless Israeli and Palestinian youths attended and, after being immersed in the sport and culture of ultimate, fell in love both with playing and with the Spirit of the Game. But as Ultimate Peace – and the ranks of its alumni – grew, it became clear that a greater opportunity had blossomed.

Campers attended, then brought the sport with them back to their hometowns, and over time, growing groups of Jews and Arabs who had never attended Ultimate Peace were clamoring to play and be taught the game. The program had outgrown its original scope. It was time to bring the spirit and sport of ultimate all across the region – and to play ultimate all year long. “ Ultimate Peace is now a year-round program working with more than a dozen communities around the Middle East on a weekly basis,” said Tapuach.

“The summer camp had been the main and only event back when we started, but since 2011, the yearly program has been growing.”

Growing indeed. Ultimate Peace currently supports 14 communities across the Middle East, providing coaching, clinics, guidance, supplies, funding, and in most cases, players’ first tournament experiences. Palestinians, Israeli Jews and Arab Israelis are served in approximately equal numbers by these efforts, and Ultimate Peace has even helped support the formation of club teams in all of these areas. In fact, Ultimate Peace has been so successful that it has even been recognized by the Israeli government, forming a collaborative partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport. The efforts of Ultimate Peace in growing the sport have allowed the Israeli Flying Disc Association to assemble and send open, teen and youth male and female teams to a number of European and World Ultimate Championship tournaments. Some teams have even featured equal numbers of Jewish and Arab players, a feat unprecedented in the past century of Israeli sport.

What’s Your Disc Got to Do with Me? The spring Friendship Tour has already come through the States, and coaches for the summer 2014 Ultimate Peace camp have already been selected out of more than 100 applicants. So what can American players do now to get involved?

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(1) Send a donation. Ultimate Peace is a non-profit organization, and the campers’ tuition is heavily subsidized.

In general, campers pay no more than 15-20 percent of their total cost of. Go to ultimatepeace.org to donate – every shekel helps.

(2) Fund friends. Each year, coaches come from all over America to volunteer at Ultimate Peace, and they have to pay their own way. Foreign coaches are asked to buy their own plane tickets and fund raise a minimum of $1,000 just to attend. Since coaches come from every USA Ultimate region (and beyond!) to volunteer at the camp, chances are you know someone who’s coaching this year. Find him or her, and help ‘em out.

(3) Come anyway. Camp is the pinnacle of the year for Ultimate Peace, but the program runs year-round. Weekly practices are held in every community where Ultimate Peace has helped build teams, often with volunteer coaches at the helm. Teams are always looking for knowledge and assistance, and there’s always something to do. In fact, many of the summer camp counselors at Ultimate Peace had their first experience with Israeli ultimate while visiting the Middle East and offering to volunteer their time while already in the region.

(4) Start thinking about 2015. Just as with every club season, there’s always next year.

“Everyone who comes to Ultimate Peace talks about how it impacts their lives,” concludes Tapuach. He doesn’t exclude himself from the sentiment. “Learning ultimate in general changed my life, but Ultimate Peace changed how I look at the region. It’s not that we were all peace lovers and tree huggers before – the reason I first got involved in Ultimate Peace is that I had just gotten out of the military and loved ultimate, and I thought it was an opportunity to play more.

So I volunteered. I never knew I would get involved in this amazing thing. I never thought I’d be going into an Arab village at age 21 to teach ultimate, but I did. All the barriers broke down. It happens to the kids, but it happens to the coaches too.”

Though politics and governments may be years behind, on the ultimate field, everyone can get along. At least in this regard, it would certainly seem that Barkan’s dreams of equality and peace in the Middle East have been realized.

For more information, or to learn more about what you can do, visit ultimatepeace.org.

Author’s Note: All quoted material, except for the excerpt from the Official Rules of Ultimate, comes from current and former Ultimate Peace personnel and/or publications.

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In the Box: National Team Prepares to Take on the World

By: Jonathan Neeley

“Put her in the box.”

That’s what Chris Forsberg, the Seattle Youth Club Championship (YCC) U-19 Girls coach, used to tell Mia Bladin to do when he realized an opposing player was the key to her team’s offense. Bladin, Forsberg’s top defender, would just smile and nod.

“Okay, I got it. In the box.”

Ask around Seattle, the city that has won every single girls’ YCC title since the tournament’s 2005 inception along with six Westerns championships in the same span, and you’ll hear that Mia Bladin is the cream of the city’s very highyield crop. She’s a versatile player with a combination of quickness, speed and field sense that makes her a shutdown defender and a potent offensive threat, regardless of who she’s lined up against.

As an example of Bladin putting an opponent “in the box,” Forsberg points to last year’s YCC final, where Bladin got the best of Nhi Nguyen, a freshman standout at the University of Colorado who will join Bladin as a member of the United States U-19 National Team that will compete at the World Junior Ultimate Championships in Lecco, Italy this July.

“Watching the player she guarded try to beat Blades was an instructional video on frustration,” he says.

Junior Worlds girls’ coach Kyle Weisbrod, who was at YCC 2013 to scout talent for the team, also remembers Bladin going against Nguyen. “I was sold on Mia at YCC,” he says.

“The only way Nhi could get open was on the break side.”

Considering the time Weisbrod has spent around the game – he played on the U-19 National Teams in 1994 and ’96, attended Junior Worlds as an Ultimate Players Association representative in 2002, was the team’s general manager in ’04 and ’08, helped at tryout camp in 2010, and took over as head coach in 2012 – his verdict on Bladin is particularly meaningful: “She’s the best defender at the youth level I’ve ever seen.”

What’s crazy is that you could easily argue that ultimate isn’t Bladin’s best sport. While she’s already built a great disc career – in middle school, she started playing at the Northwest School, a national powerhouse, and has captained teams to YCC, Westerns and state titles – Bladin has achieved even more as a center back on the soccer field. After beginning to play soccer at the age of five and reaching the premier level by the time she turned 10, Bladin made Washington’s Olympic Development Team – the top 18 girls in Washington born in 1996 – when she was 12; when she was 13, she made the Region IV ODP team, which took the best 18 players from 14 western states; a year later, Bladin was one of 36 girls in the country invited to US Youth Soccer’s National Development Camps.

“The level of intensity was crazy,” Bladin says of the camps, which are a precursor to the national team. “I’d never been more scared and excited for something in my life. I never thought soccer would take me that far.”

When Bladin was in ninth grade, coaches from the NCAA’s Pac-12 conference came calling, and while she wasn’t ready to commit to one school in particular, she knew then that she wanted to play at the Division I level. At a tournament in the summer of 2012, coaches from Harvard noticed Bladin and began to recruit her, and they held her attention because she wanted a school that valued academics as much as athletics. “After my first visit to Harvard,” Bladin says, “I knew I could see myself there. It seems intimidating in many ways, but the possibilities feel endless.”

The transition from gifted player to player whose gifts are opening Ivy League-sized doors is an exciting one. Bladin’s soccer in soccer poses an issue for her involvement in the The 2014 World Junior Ultimate Championships, the pinnacle of youth ultimate competition, may be Mia Bladin's last ultimate tournament. Photo: Brian Chu

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The 2014 U.S. National Teams were selected from submitted applications followed by rigorous tryout camps led by some of the best coaches in the game.

Photo: Christina Schmidt/Ultiphotos

other sport she loves. Junior Worlds, the biggest ultimate tournament of her life, might be her last. Bladin will attend Harvard soccer’s pre-season training camp in August, a few weeks after Lecco, and once she’s there, she wants her focus to be singular.

“I made the decision to try to play D-I soccer back in ninth grade,” says Bladin. “It’s more for me than anything else. I don’t know if I’ll get more out of playing D-I soccer than I would playing ultimate in college, but personally it’s something I have to achieve for myself.”

Consider for a moment the maturity required of a comment like that – one that shows a clear grasp of long-term goal setting, commitment and sacrifice. Next, consider that those words are coming from an 18-year-old who is among the nation’s absolute best in two different sports and who is going to Harvard in the fall. When it comes to the type of young person the USA Ultimate juniors system is trying to cultivate – next-level athletes with good heads on their shoulders – Bladin fits the bill.

“We want this to be a team that all these future leaders can look to,” says Weisbrod, noting that the college women’s division is currently loaded with talent that came up through the national team system. (In fact, four out of this year’s five women’s Callahan finalists, including winner Cassie Swafford, have played on at least one U.S. national team.)

“It’s about instilling something in these players that they take for the rest of their careers.”

The balancing act Bladin pulls off is as impressive as her athletic skills: club soccer’s formal schedule runs from December through May, but there are scrimmages and practices in the summer; school soccer runs five days per week from the end of August until November; club ultimate is all summer long; and school ultimate goes from March through the end of May. Northwest’s curriculum is rigorous, and Bladin also serves as a project coordinator for the Youth Ultimate Project, an organization that puts on ultimate camps in Cambodia and is run entirely by high school and college students. “At times, I’m exhausted,” she says. “You get into a vicious cycle where you stay up late doing homework because of practices, and the next day you’re tired, but you have to go to practice again, and then you have to do homework.” Still, Bladin carries herself with a grown-up poise, one indicative of a person who has deemed the cost of achievement to be worthwhile.

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“Mia is an incredibly determined and tenacious person,” says Heidi-Marie Wiggins, Bladin’s ultimate coach at Northwest. But according to Wiggins, Bladin’s broad view perspective is what sets her apart. “Mia gets the big picture,” says Wiggins, pointing to a recent series of practices where Bladin informed her of a teammate’s delicate personal situation and kept an eye on her during drills. “Freshmen approach her for skills questions and strategy clarification, and the other seniors seek her out as a confidant. She makes sacrifices in herself if she can help somebody out or make a connection. She has a special blend of competitive fire and compassion that allows her to make huge plays one moment and gently give feedback to a teammate the next.”

While coaches and teammates in both sports have been supportive of Bladin, she has at times been faced with the difficult but inevitable choice between soccer and ultimate.

At the Seattle Invite in early May, Bladin played sparingly on Saturday and not at all on Sunday because her club soccer team was playing in the state cup. “In past years, I’ve always put soccer first and ultimate second,” says Bladin. “But it wasn’t soccer over ultimate at that point, it was my last soccer game with my club team versus one tournament with ultimate. It’s really not as simple as ‘soccer comes before ultimate’ or ‘ultimate comes before soccer.’ It’s much more complicated. It’s very circumstantial.”

Without Bladin, Northwest didn’t have an answer for Lakeside’s Jaclyn Verzuh, a standout who is also joining Bladin on the National Team this summer; Lakeside won, 13-8. Wiggins notes, however, that Bladin still impacted the game by staying involved in huddles and animated on the sideline. Northwest got their shot at revenge two weeks later when they faced Lakeside in the state final, and with Bladin in the lineup this time, they came out on top, 12-10. Though Wiggins cites a number of difference-makers – another couple players who were out for the Invite returned and the implementation of a new zone look – she says Northwest would likely not have won without Bladin.

Conflict between soccer and ultimate nearly kept Bladin from trying out for the Junior Worlds team in the first place because she feared playing might detract from soccer training and wondered if the Harvard coaches would even allow it. Still, she applied at Weisbrod’s urging, not wanting to harbor regrets. She was surprised at how much she enjoyed tryouts – she says she has rarely been pushed to such U S A U LT I M AT E

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physical and emotional limits while also feeling such a high level of teamwork and camaraderie – and with the Harvard coaches’ blessing, she accepted her spot on the team.

soccer with Bladin since middle school. “But between the Soos and Blades, the U.S.A. team is bringing athletes that will make a difference. Players like them could change the game.”

From here, the road to success in Lecco looks more like a finals week study session than a goodbye party. The U.S. U-19 girls haven’t won gold since beating Canada in the 2006 final, returning with silver medals in 2012 and 2010 and a bronze in 2008. Ending the drought is a high priority for a country where ultimate was born, where the most people play and where the international standard for the sport is

For her part, Bladin is happy to focus on ultimate, even if just for a short while. She says she’s looking to push her own level of play as well as develop relationships with teammates from across the country and players from all over the world.

“I’m never going to be in a situation like this again,” she says.

“Getting to play an international ultimate tournament at that level is something not many people get to experience, and something I wanted.”

The ultimate community should hope this isn’t goodbye for Bladin. Players like her don’t just benefit their teams, but rather entire communities, and with ultimate providing a brighter limelight than soccer because there’s a smaller talent pool, Bladin could serve as a role model for players at all levels for years to come.

The U.S. needs strong coaches to keep up with the growth of ultimate around the world. Here, head women’s coach Kyle Weisbrod explains a drill to eager tryouts.

Photo: Christina Schmidt/Ultiphotos

set. USA Ultimate lists national team success as a key goal in its strategic plan, and that makes sense: gold medals go over well with everyone from membership magazine readers to parents of potential new players to ESPN executives considering TV contracts.

Weisbrod and assistant coaches Jamie Nuwer and Moses Rifkin placed a premium on defense while selecting the team, and Weisbrod says Bladin’s specialties will be particularly useful against Colombia, the two-time defending champion who relies on aggressive play and an upbeat emotional tempo. “We were looking for players who can contain players and react on a dime and [who have] really great marks,” says Weisbrod. “Mia is near the top.”

Joining Bladin is a cast of players Weisbrod says gave tryouts unprecedented depth. In addition to the team’s five returners from 2012, Weisbrod notes Hayley Wahlroos’ recent SportsCenter appearance while playing for Oregon at the College Championships – the first ever by a female ultimate player – that Leah Ferris “crushed all of our athletic measurement testing,” and that Verzuh is “six feet, 170 pounds, lifts heavy and lays out fully.”

There is the hope that Bladin won’t actually have to walk away: Piper Curtis, another Junior Worlds teammate, plays Division I soccer for Dartmouth while also playing for the ultimate team, and the Soos are optimistic that they can play both sports at Whitman College (Whitman is Division III). Beyond this year’s U-19 team, there’s a long list of female athletes who have pulled off varsity/ultimate double duty, ranging from Molly Boyd, a soccer player at Washington who was a star defender for Element, to Callahan winner Miranda Roth, who played basketball at Carleton (also D-III). If the Harvard soccer coaches give the okay, and the ultimate team is flexible in its attendance demands, Bladin could make it happen as well.

Realistically, Bladin is not entirely sure how things will pan out. “I’m not going to say no, and I’m not going to say yes,” she says. “While I would love to play ultimate at Harvard, college soccer is my priority and my dream, and I know that means having to sacrifice things that are important to me.”

And even if she does stop playing ultimate this fall, Bladin can always come back. “I don’t look at my decision as giving up ultimate forever. I feel confident that one day down the road, I will come back to the sport.”

For now, she’s looking at the summer with the same balance of practicality and positivity that has brought her this far. “It has not set in that Junior Worlds will be my final ultimate tournament. Emotionally, it’s difficult to imagine. But I think I have the power to choose the emotion that comes from this being my final tournament. Instead of dwelling on the fact that this is my last chance and being disappointed or sad that there may be nothing more beyond this, I choose to embrace the fact that I’ve been given an extra opportunity to play and look at Worlds as the best possible way to conclude this part of my ultimate career.”

Maybe calling Junior Worlds Bladin’s last ultimate tournament doesn’t do the possibilities justice. Maybe it’s just her last for a while.

“I have no idea who the world is bringing to this,” says Forsberg, the Seattle YCC coach, going on to highlight Alissa and Linnea Soo, two twins on the team who have played SUMMER 2014

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W O R L D

U LT I M A T E

J U N I O R

C H A M P I O N S H I P S

The World Junior Ultimate Championships are held every two years at locations around the globe. The event is hosted by the World Flying Disc Federation and showcases the best youth ultimate the world has to offer.

The 2014 World Junior Ultimate Championships will be held in Lecco, Italy, July 20-26.

Under-19 United States National Teams

Open

Women’s

Chase Sparling-Beckley – Head Coach – Portland, Ore. George Stubbs – Assistant Coach – Somerville, Mass.

Sam O’Brien – Assistant Coach – Minneapolis, Minn.

Steven Benaloh – Redmond, Wash.

Emmett Blau – Bedford, N.Y. Samuel Cook – Seattle, Wash.

Sebastian Di Francesco – Atlanta, Ga. Brett Gramann – Austin, Texas Nathan Haskell – Atlanta, Ga. Mac Hecht – Newton, Mass.

Ryan Hiser – Vero Beach, Fla. Levi Jacobs – Bargersville, Ind. Natan Lee-Engel – Seattle, Wash.

Sam Lehman – Mercer Island, Wash.

Connor Matthews – Eugene, Ore. Terrence Mitchell – Durham, N.C. Josiah Mort – Atascadero, Calif.

Eli Motycka – Nashville, Tenn.

Anders Olsen – Atlanta, Ga. Alexander Olson – Seattle, Wash.

Aaron Peterschmidt – Albany, Ore. Jake Ritmire – Seattle, Wash.

Dominic Schuster – Cincinnati, Ohio Charles Schuweiler – St. Cloud, Minn.

Scott Trimble – Gibsonia, Penn.

Tristan Van de Moortele – Minneapolis, Minn.

Sol Yanuck – Chapel Hill, N.C.

Kyle Weisbrod – Head Coach – Seattle, Wash.

Jamie Nuwer – Assistant Coach – San Francisco, Calif.

Moses Rifkin – Assistant Coach – Seattle, Wash.

Sarafina Angstadt-Leto – Eugene, Ore. Mia Bladin – Seattle, Wash.

Piper Curtis – Hanover, N.H. Hallie Dunham – Seattle, Wash.

Leah Farris – Atascadero, Calif.

Zoe Freedman-Coleman – Amherst, Mass.

Frances Gellert – Seattle, Wash.

Caitlin Go – Stanford, Calif.

Sadie Jezierski – Westfield, N.J. Nhi Nguyen – Superior, Colo.

Tiffany Phan – Seattle, Wash.

Clea Poklemba – Corvallis, Ore. Claire Revere – Seattle, Wash.

Alissa Soo – Seattle, Wash.

Linnea Soo – Seattle, Wash.

Jane Jurheim – Wynnewood, Penn.

Jaclyn Verzuh – Seattle, Wash.

Hayley Wahlroos – Eugene, Ore. Julianna Werffeli – Kirkland, Wash.

Monisha White – Stanford, Calif.

Angela Zhu – Hanover, N.H.

Alternates: Gabrielle Aufderheide – Eugene, Ore. Madeline Gilbert – Seattle, Wash.

Ella Hansen - Seattle, Wash.

Carolyn Normile – Wynnewood, Penn.

Sarah Sparks – Falmouth, Maine

Alternates: Alex Kunzer – Shoreview, Minn.

Andrew Lehmberg – Westfield, N.J. Walker Matthews – Durham, N.C. Wyatt Mekler – Minnetonka, Minn.

Grant Mitchell – Bellevue, Wash.

Jack Shanahan – Naperville, Ill.

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U S A U LT I M AT E

COLORADO MAMABIRD AND NORTH CAROLINA DARKSIDE PLAYED A HIGH-ENERGY CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, FILLED WITH EXCITING AND ATHLETIC PLAYS. Photo: CBMT Creative

SUMMER 2014

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DI MEN’S COLLEGE FEATURE

MOUNTAIN MAN BY: IAN TONER A Stanford graduate climbs Colorado’s coaching hills to bring Mamabird their first title in a decade.

The Mamabird alumni are a proud flock. The University of Colorado-Boulder ultimate program has produced stars like Callahan winner Josh “Richter” Ackley, Adam “Chicken” Simon, Martin Cochran, Beau Kittredge, Mac Taylor, and the latest Callahan recipient, Jimmy Mickle. And with the 2014 college season in the books, the program has a second national title to its name.

“When Jim came on my final year,” Taylor continued, “the team as a whole wasn’t too interested in making big changes.

Jim was a relative outsider to us, coming from California and not [being] a Mamabird alum…we were pretty set in our ways, and…we made it tough for Jim to implement many of the changes that you see in Mamabird’s game today.”

Still, Schoettler, Taylor and the rest of Mamabird found a way to make it to the national title game at the end of that 2009 season. Ever the humble leader,

“Mamabird means a lot to the Colorado ultimate community and its alumni,” explains Colorado-based Johnny Bravo captain and U.S. National Team veteran Ryan Farrell. “It’s a watered-down version of big-time college football where the community is watching pretty closely.”

But one of the most important figures in recent Mamabird history swooped onto the scene from the West Coast.

Jim Schoettler came to the helm of Mamabird in the wake of legendary coach Catt Wilson’s 2008 retirement.

Schoettler was an incredibly accomplished player in his own right, having won the 1997 Callahan Award at Stanford and contributed to the Bay Area JAM leadership in the `00s. That California pedigree, though, in combination with Mamabird pride, didn’t exactly earn him immediate acceptance into the Bird family.

“Catt coached with a kind of intensity, anger and pride that came to – and may continue to – define Mamabird for many years,” says Taylor, who went on to win multiple national and world championships with Revolver and the U.S. National Team.

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Colorado’s Tim Morrissy celebrates catching the championship-winning goal with his teammates in Mason, Ohio. Photo: CBMT Creative

U S A U LT I M AT E

The North Carolina sideline earned a reputation for being strong, loud and a big part of their team effort during the 2014 College Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

Schoettler is quick to give credit to his predecessor’s role in that team’s success.

“In the end,” McShane contended, “these changes only made the program stronger.”

“I have a lot of respect for Catt and fully believe that his involvement was responsible for the strong program I inherited,” said Schoettler.

TRIALS It’s hard to argue against the ways of a national championship, but the early `10s couldn’t benefit from that perspective or hindsight. Rather, those years tested the resolve of the Mamabird program and Schoettler’s coaching style. When an established program exits in prequarterfinals three out of four seasons following a finals appearance (as Mamabird did in 2010 and 2012-2013), it’s only natural for doubts to emerge.

CHANGES As Taylor pointed out, Schoettler brought new ideas and emphases to the program.

Naturally, the former Callahan winner was concerned by top college programs’ displays of questionable spirit and aggressive behavior in competition.

Early on, Schoettler didn’t shy away from particularly vocal constructive criticism of his own players during practices and scrimmages. “I think he had to see the differences between the college game and club game,” said McShane.

“Some strategies or demands that you put on club players can’t be performed to quite the same standard in college.”

“Spirit, when I played in college, was a central, guiding principle,” explained Schoettler. “We [Mamabird] needed to work on our spirit. I continue to work on it, myself.”

“I think the defining element [of Jim’s coaching style],” began former Mamabird captain and current Johnny Bravo captain Jack McShane, “is being positive and spirited on the field. When Jim began coaching, the mental aspect of how Mamabird approached games changed. “After the 2009 season, Schoettler worked to adjust Bird’s offense, as well, moving from a side-stack set to a center vertical-stack structure. “I had confidence that that’s what I could coach best,” said Schoettler.

SUMMER 2014

Alumni and community members expressed con­ cerns about Schoettler’s ability to effectively lead Mamabird’s collection of talent. Bravo veterans met with Colorado players to question them about Schoettler’s fit and guidance.

“And those guys—Jimmy [Mickle], Tim [Morrissy], whomever 16

we talked to—they had Jim’s back all the way,” explained Farrell. “They took accountability for the disappointing Nationals performances, and they stood by him when we were critical. They knew Jim loved them, that he was truly invested in their success and that his frustration came from a place of passion.”

“I think we spent a few years where we underperformed,” admitted Schoettler. “I coach how I played, and it’s not necessarily the right way…I’d get frustrated in a game because people wouldn’t practice what we practiced.”

Still, Schoettler maintains, “There was always a partially peer relationship where the players and I really got along.

Over time, it’s become much more of a conversation, and part of that is because of having the same players for four or five years…and part of it is because these players are so knowledgeable about the game.”

NORTH CAROLINA’S AARON WARSHAUER SKIES TWO NORTH CAROLINA-WILMINGTON DEFENDERS IN THEIR CROSS-STATE SEMIFINAL.

Farrell, who has competed against and recruited Colorado talent, noticed this stronger communication, explaining, “The team and its leaders talked to [Jim], he listened, and they got stronger together. That’s one of the reasons that [2014] championship means so much, probably like every championship does; that group of people has walked a long road together.”

Photo: CBMT Creative

“One of the things they helped me with,” Schoettler explained, “was calming down a bit when things didn’t go well. It helped them, and it helped me, as well.”

“Jim always reminded the team that we were playing ultimate because we enjoyed it and that college ultimate is a special opportunity,” said Mickle, who played under Schoettler for all five of his seasons on Mamabird. “I know people had questions and doubts about Jim, and he had to deal with succeeding a Mamabird legend in Catt. But Jim cemented his legacy by combining traditional Mamabird defense with creative, movement-based offense.”

THE 2014 TITLE

Colorado Mamabird celebrates the program’s second-ever national championship.

Photo: CBMT Creative

All of the pieces seemed to fall into place for Schoettler’s team this season. Mamabird maintained a positive, spirited attitude, throwing footballs around on the sidelines to keep the atmosphere loose. In marked contrast to the (hyper-) preparation of other top programs, like Nick Kaczmarek’s Pittsburgh coaching staff,

more complicated a game plan, the more likely it is to fail.

When players get tired, they remember less. We keep our philosophies as simple and limited as possible…and that seems to pay the greatest dividends.”

And the tightly-knit, freshman-free roster drew on years of experience together using Schoettler’s strategies.

Schoettler and assistant coach Brent Zionic kept it simple on the drawing board, as well.

“Whether it was the right choice or not, we ran [center stack] correctly this year,” said Schoettler. “There’s always the unanswered question of, ‘Would we have won earlier if we ran something else?’ Who knows?! I would always take the trade-off of winning a national championship if

“In this day of online videos and information, it’s tempting to get bogged down in the details of how to stop any given player,” added Schoettler. “However, in my experience, the 17

U S A U LT I M AT E

it meant doing something [less flashy] that I knew would get us there.”

“This program is certainly a part of my blood now,” he announces, that Mamabird pride coming through in his tone. “I’ve been here longer than I played at Stanford.”

Schoettler also developed the team’s depth to the point where he was comfortable sending anyone on the roster onto the fields of 2014’s big games.

Oh, and less than a week after winning the national championship, he headed off to climb Denali. Considering all he’s accomplished recently, and that he has already climbed Kilimanjaro and a handful of South American mountains, there’s every reason to believe he’ll master this latest challenge as well.

“Our depth was unusual…and I think in the past, we have been a mentally fragile team, and that’s a hallmark of a lot of college teams,” explained Schoettler. “We knew that when we went down, we would have a good chance of getting back in games. We went down to Wisconsin in [Nationals] pool play, and we never really had any sense of panic. In the past, we had a sense of panic.”

“A less secure coach, a less intellectually confident coach,” observed Farrell, “would have aborted the attempt to bring the middle of the roster up to a level where it could carry real weight at Nationals. But Jim stuck with it, and what did he get for his troubles: one of the most well-coordinated offensive performances from a college team in quite a while. That only comes with trust, reps and across-theboard buy-in from your best players. I’d argue that Jim deserves as much credit for that as anyone, and that it’s probably his finest achievement as their coach.”

Mickle, the most important player in Mamabird’s title run, added, “When we finally perfected the offense this year, it worked. Jim’s coaching style was embodied by the relaxed, fun style of play that Mamabird 2014 displayed.”

So what’s next for Schoettler, now that he’s won it all? He’ll retire from coaching Mamabird and can’t imagine coaching anywhere else.

Jack Williams of the North Carolina-Wilmington Seamen was one of the breakout stars of the 2014 College Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

MEN’S FINAL STANDINGS 1 - Colorado 2 - North Carolina 3T - North CarolinaWilmington 3T - Oregon 5T - Michigan 5T - Pittsburgh 5T - Texas 5T - Wisconsin 9T - Carleton College 9T - Central Florida 9T - Harvard 9T - Tufts 13T - California-San Diego 13T - Florida 13T - Florida State

SUMMER 2014

13T - Massachusetts 17T - Dartmouth 17T - Eastern Michigan 17T - Rutgers 17T - Texas A&M Team Spirit Award Winner: Carleton College Individual Spirit Award Winners: California-San Diego – James Lai Carleton College – Conor Eckert Central Florida – Matt Helms Colorado – Oak Nelson Dartmouth – Dan Harris Eastern Michigan – Jon Lee

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Florida – Jacob Dummeldinger Florida State – Connor Holcombe Harvard – Daniel Broudy Massachusetts – Maxwell Perham Michigan – Sam Greenwood North Carolina – Drew Chandler North Carolina-Wilmington – Nick Jackson Oregon – Brian Penner Pittsburgh – Daniel Wickens Rutgers – Michael Kichura Texas – Carlos Vargas Texas A&M – Austin Delk Tufts – Eamon Wick Wisconsin – Nick Ladas

#MICKLEMANIA

CALLAHAN SPOTLIGHT

BY: IAN TONER

“Jimmy was an alternate for the U-20 team back in 2010,” reminded 2013 Callahan winner and Mickle’s NexGen teammate Dylan Freechild. “I have to sneak that in there for Tim [Morrissy] and the rest of us who made that team and are now in awe of how much of a dominating force Jimmy is. Jimmy has always been great, but I think his confidence, efficiency and ability to adapt are the things he’s greatly developed. As proud of him as I am, he’s now really good, and I haven’t figured out a way to stop him.”

Multiple previous Callahan nominations, coupled with the disappointing national pre-quarterfinals conclusions to Mamabird’s 2012 and 2013 seasons, only increased the scrutiny on Mickle and his team heading into 2014.

“I was proud of how he carried himself throughout 2014 with that pressure, and so his Callahan win was just a moment where you could only smile and commend him on a job well done,” added Freechild.

Mickle explained, “The Callahan is a nice cherry on top of our 2014 season – but I’m most thrilled about winning Nationals. I’ve never been part of such a close-knit committed bunch of guys, and I feel lucky to be ending my college career on top.”

Colorado’s Jimmy Mickle took two trophies home from Ohio: a national title and the Callahan Award. Photo: CBMT Creative

Going forward, Mickle intends to display the same levels of sportsmanship and talent that have made him one of the faces of ultimate.

The third time proved to be the charm for Colorado Mamabird’s Jimmy Mickle. After being nominated in 2012 and 2013, Mickle was voted the 2014 Callahan Award winner.

“As a Callahan winner, I do feel a responsibility to be an ambassador for the game and its principles, but as a player, I have always felt motivated to set an example for those that look up to me,” added Mickle.

“It’s an honor to have won the Callahan and incredible to be mentioned in the same breath as all the great players who have won it before me,” said Mickle. “It’s a testament to the Mamabird program and all the players around me that have pushed me for the last five years and made me better.”

It’s scary to think that Mickle is one of the world’s best players at the ripe old age of 22. He’s already a dominant force for Johnny Bravo, his club team, with years of potential ahead of him.

Specifically, Mickle credits Mamabird alumnus Hylke Snieder for convincing him to attend Colorado and inspiring him through his work ethic. “He’s been a consistent role model,” asserted Mickle.

“Jimmy is incredibly diverse on the field, and he’s made connections with a lot of people on and off the field,” said Freechild. “I think Jimmy will continue to grow and figure out ways to affect the game and keep people on their feet. He’s too good and loves playing too much to plateau. He’ll be thrown many opportunities to improve, and if he capitalizes on them, I think Jimmy could go down as one of the best offensive players of all-time.”

Coach Jim Schoettler was also instrumental in Mickle’s maturation. “Jim always pushed me to be a better player,” recalled Mickle. “No matter how well I had played during a game, or during a weekend, he had insight on how to improve my game.”

While few doubted Mickle would rightfully win this year’s award, others have enjoyed reflecting on his development over the years.

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U S A U LT I M AT E

OHIO STATE'S EMMY SCHRODER (LEFT) AND STEVIE MILLER (RIGHT) GO UP AGAINST WASHINGTON'S BARBARA HOOVER IN THE SEMIFINALS AT THE 2014 COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS. Photo: CBMT Creative

SUMMER 2014

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DI WOMEN’S COLLEGE FEATURE

THE ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE MATCH UP ERICK STARKEY The top two women’s teams coming into the 2014 Division I College Championships were the same top two teams leaving Mason, Ohio. Ohio State Fever was the number one overall seed, a team looking for their first-ever title after finishing third in 2013. Oregon Fugue was the defending champion and the overall two seed in Ohio.

Entering the College Championships, these two squads were pegged as the teams to beat. They were the powerhouses with big targets on their backs.

Fever’s one seed placed them in Pool A along with Michigan, Victoria, Virginia and Kansas. At first glance, it looked like Ohio State would steamroll their competition to hold their top spot in the pool. In this instance, the first glance was right, and Fever left pool play relatively untested. They began their weekend against Michigan Flywheel in a classic university rivalry game. Flywheel stayed close for the first few points but could not keep pace with Fever’s skill and depth.

Ohio State’s Liz Gates beats Oregon’s Adrienne Bovee to the disc during the championship finals in Mason, Ohio.

Photo: CBMT Creative

keep working their way through Fugue’s tenacious, dischungry defense. Other than their game against Superfly, Fugue cruised through the rest of their early-round games, using incredible handler movement to open up deep looks off of quick swings.

Fever’s other three pool play games proved to be no contest. Ohio State won 15-6, 15-9 and 15-8 against Kansas, Victoria and Virginia respectively. Fever never looked like they were struggling. Throughout their games, they used their deep and talented roster to score quickly and often, even if they had to adapt their original strategies to win.

With both teams clinching first in their pools, they earned byes through the pre-quarterfinal round, automatically advancing to the quarterfinals, from opposite sides of the bracket. Initial impressions held through the first two days of the tournament. Fever and Fugue were still the teams to beat.

“I actually think Virginia might have posed the biggest challenge for us all weekend…They were hands down one of the fastest teams we’ve ever played,” Fever captain and 2014 Callahan winner Cassie Swafford said, “They really forced us to change what we were doing defensively.”

After the pre-quarterfinal round, three teams from Pool A and three teams form Pool C, along with one each from Pools B and D had advanced to the quarterfinals. Fugue was pitted against Virginia, and Fever was set to play Carleton College-Syzygy.

Since Fugue was the second overall seed, they were the first seed in Pool B and faced Stanford, Western Washington, Tufts and Colorado College in the early rounds. Fugue did not have as easy a trail as Fever, but that did not stop them. Their closest game came against Stanford Superfly, the original two seed in Pool B, who ended up finishing last in the pool. Superfly pulled out a few breaks but could not

Fugue was tested by Hydra, who was the lowest seed to make the quarterfinal round at number 13. Fugue used 21

U S A U LT I M AT E

their deep looks to score often at the beginning of the game, and they took half up by two. Oregon continued to pull away in the second half, but down by five, Hydra mounted a comeback. In the end, the depth and many skilled members of the Fugue squad helped them outlast Virginia.

Fever squared off against Carleton College, the team that ended their 2013 season at the College Championships, this time determined to get a different result. Just like in pool play, Ohio State looked untouchable. After the score was tied at 2-2, Fever held and stretched a lead for the rest of the game and won convincingly. Ohio State just seemed to have stronger players across the board.

Amazingly, the final four teams were the top four seeds entering the weekend. As they had throughout the tournament, Ohio State took control again at the beginning of semifinal match up against Washington and never seemed to look back. Fever took half 8-4, using their possession-oriented offense to score at will. Washington pulled within three at 11-8 but Fever continued to take care of the disc, using the opportunities the Washington defense gave them. Ohio State earned their right to play for the national championship with a convincing win over 2012 champions, Washington Element.

Oregon senior captain Ashley Young scored two of Fugue's 11 goals in the championship final.

Photo: CBMT Creative

WHILE OHIO STATE WAS TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS AGAINST WASHINGTON, OREGON WAS PREPARING FOR THE SECOND SEMIFINAL OF THE DAY, THEIR MATCH UP AGAINST CENTRAL FLORIDA. “We prepared strategically and tactically to see OSU and Central Florida, but we didn’t really spend any emotional energy on it prior to the specific preparations and even there it was always about what we are going to do and what we need to do to play our best,” Oregon coach Lou Burruss said.

Cassie Swafford and Ohio State Fever took home their first national championship title in program history in 2014, to the delight of the local fans. Photo: CBMT Creative

Fugue ended up needing all their preparation to pay off against the Sirens. Oregon jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Central Florida used a zone defense with their notably tough cup to climb back into the game. After a backand-forth first half, Central Florida took it 8-7. The second half was just as tightly contested as the first. The largest lead was two, when the Sirens led 10-8, but Oregon kept fighting. Oregon managed to go up a break at 14-13, but Central Florida held and forced double-game point. With every fan in the stadium perched on the end of their seat, each team had a chance to put the game away on the final point, but in the end, Fugue punched their ticket to the championship game.

SUMMER 2014

“I think that UCF was a very tough team. They played well and were very spirited throughout and especially after the game,” Fugue captain Kasey Harris said. “It takes a tough team to bring everything they have to the field and then be kind and spirited after the game.”

Continuing with the impressive seeding theme of the weekend, the number one and number two overall seeds were set to meet in the championship game. Ohio State and Oregon faced off once in the regular season, at the Northwest Challenge. Ohio State emerged victorious in that match up, and neither team had forgotten that game.

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Ohio State was certainly the favorite for all the fans who took advantage of the short trip from Columbus to Mason.

Photo: CBMT Creative

“Ever since our loss to them in the regular season, we were eager for the rematch,” Harris said. “We took that loss and acknowledged that our weaknesses were exposed, and we practiced around those. We wanted to get better, and we knew what we needed to do. We really wanted to play them again.”

Fugue wanted revenge and to defend their 2013 national title. Fever was looking the program’s first-ever national championship and their 41st consecutive win.

“After having seen them in Seattle, we would not have been surprised to see some new looks from them,” Fever head coach DeAnna Ball said, “but we did feel like if we stuck to our game plan, we’d compete well. It’s hard to beat good teams twice.”

Each team stuck with their strengths, with big plays coming from stars like Sophie Darch, Jesse Shofner, Cassie Swafford and Pagie Soper. The game even got the sport its first women’s SportsCenter Top 10 clip, courtesy of an amazing layout score from Oregon’s Hayley Wahlroos.

In the end, the game may not have been the most exciting of the weekend, but the road to the finals proved to be a great one. The two best teams faced off in the last game of the 2014 season, and Fever walked away with their first Callahan winner and their first national championship.

OREGON’S SOPHIE DARCH HELPED LEAD HER TEAM TO THE FINALS WITH A CLOSE WIN OVER CENTRAL FLORIDA IN THE SEMIFINAL ROUND. Photo: CBMT Creative

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U S A U LT I M AT E

MARIEL HAMMOND WAS ONE OF TWO PROMINENT CENTRAL FLORIDA STARS TO EMERGE FROM THE 2014 COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS. Photo: CBMT Creative

WOMEN’S FINAL STANDINGS 1 - Ohio State 2 - Oregon 3T - Central Florida 3T - Washington 5T - British Columbia 5T - Carleton College 5T - Michigan 5T - Virginia 9T - California-Santa Barbara 9T - Colorado College 9T - Tufts 9T - UCLA 13T - Colorado 13T - Kansas 13T - Stanford 13T - Victoria SUMMER 2014

17T - Cornell 17T - Northeastern 17T - Western Washington 17T – Whitman Team Spirit Award Winner: Whitman Individual Spirit Award Winners: British Columbia – Lisa Wong California-Santa Barbara – Winnie Lam Carleton College – Ari Koshkin Central Florida – Felicia Perez Colorado – Jackie Turner Colorado College – Jenny Grossman Cornell – Hannah Scrafford 24

Kansas – Kailee Karr Michigan – Theresa Zettner Northeastern – Jenni Ladutko Ohio State – Caitie Sheban Oregon – Ashley Young Stanford – Veronica Cruz Tufts – Alexandra Earle UCLA – Kelcie Ralph Victoria – Jennifer Brown Virginia – Melanie Chastka Washington – Georgia Seyfried Western Washington – Kaitlin Webster Whitman – Annie Want

#CASSIEFORCALLAHAN BY: DEANNA BALL

CALLAHAN SPOTLIGHT

Like her men's division counterpart, Ohio State star Cassie Swafford also took home a championship trophy along with her Callahan Award on Memorial Day. Photos: CBMT Creative

At the start of Cassie’s freshman year in 2009, the Ohio State Fever coaches sat with the team, and the plan for the season was presented. I remember looking at Cassie’s eagerness, half expecting her to don her cleats and run out to the field to get started. Cassie always came to practice ready to warm up, ready to drill and ready to play. She had height, she mastered the art of cutting, she had hands that could catch, and I had never seen a first-year player with her caliber of throws. Cassie’s brain has always been an ultimate-knowledge sponge. It was clear to me, early and often, that my own ultimate IQ would be challenged. She challenged me to better articulate my coaching philosophy, plan and process.

In her freshman year at the Midwest Warmup, as Fever walked to the sideline ahead of a game versus Wisconsin Bella Donna, I noticed Cassie smile in admiration as she passed Georgia Bosscher (Callahan winner, 2009). Little did Cassie know that future players on opposing teams would do the same when they saw her.

Through injury, Cassie always fought to play; coaches fought to keep her healthy at the right times. While healing from her most devastating injury, Cassie never left Fever’s side. She was there with crutches on the sideline of tournaments and at practice with bags over her cast.

The importance of her sideline presence cannot be overstated. And during Fever’s first visit to Centex in 2013, I saw Cassie fight her body and prevail with each point, it becoming clearer and clearer that Cassie’s desire to play was beating out any attempts from that injury to make her a permanent sideline fixture.

This year, I saw Cassie in an entirely new light; she is the complete package. She no longer has the wide eyes of a first-year player glimpsing her future in former Callahan winners. She has eyes of purpose, determination and confidence.

As of this writing, it has been 17 days since Cassie won the Callahan and 11 days since Fever won the national championship on that hot field in Mason, Ohio. The day after that win, Cassie came to my house to lead a meeting about getting a women’s club team started in Columbus.

Cassie isn’t going to be in Columbus, but she knows this needs to happen – because there is no reason for Columbus to not have a women’s team and because she knows that Fever players need to keep honing their skills for next year. A year that, for the first time since 2009, will not include #14. Cassie’s name is etched on that Callahan trophy, but more importantly, her presence is permanent in the atoms that make up Ohio State Fever. The impact of her legacy has yet to be truly felt, but I suspect it will be big.

As Fever pushed deeper and deeper into Nationals (2011-2013), heading into her final season, Cassie began to understand that making the semifinals was not enough.

Her desire for the team to succeed and her potential as a coach emerged as the season progressed – in her voice and presence in a drill, on the sideline, on the line before a point and in the huddle during a timeout. A fifth-year senior and four-year captain, Cassie had transformed the team known as Fever into the Fever program. Focusing on individual player development, pushing coaches to be better coaches and developing a team so deep it could field a B team – all hallmarks of what Cassie has done in her time at Ohio State.

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Elon’s Andrew Loughran extends on defense against Bentley’s Alec Parzych in the Division III College Championship finals.

Photo: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

MEN’S COLLEGE FEATURE By: Erick Starkey

DOWN BUT NOT OUT Bentley Icehouse took home the 2014 Division III Men’s Championship and did it in uncanny fashion. Bentley Ultimate Society (BUS) cruised through pool play but had to tip-toe their way through the championship bracket on their assent to the title in Westerville, Ohio, on May 17-18.

Lehigh, the second overall seed in the tournament, in the quarterfinals.

Lehigh was looking to prove they deserved their initial seed, despite not finishing first in their pool. In the first few points, each team was feeling each other out, but it looked like Lehigh may have the upper hand when they pulled away by a couple scores. Icehouse did not let them run away with the game that easily and came roaring back with three straight points to take half 8-7.

Icehouse began the weekend just like any other number one seed would expect to. No team in their pool proved to be a strong challenge. Other than their game against Carleton College-GOP, Bentley struck first in each of their pool play games and never looked back; they crushed Carleton College-GOP, John Brown and Lewis & Clark.

In the second half, Icehouse proved their dominance, but not without resistance from Lehigh. Bentley jumped on their opponents right after half to get out to a 10-7 lead, but Lehigh was not ready for their championship aspirations to be extinguished. Lehigh came marching right back to tie the game at 12s. With the game on the line, Bentley scored the next two points to win during soft cap.

Saturday’s success was due to their deep roster and focused mentality. They hoped to make a run deep into the tournament and did not want an upset to ruin their plans.

Twelve of the 27 players on Bentley’s roster recorded at least one goal during their three pool play games. Maxwell Rick accounted for 15 of the team’s 45 points throughout the three games, helping to blaze their trail to a first-round bye in the championship bracket.

“This year, we spent a lot of time working on our depth and getting players into lines they were comfortable with,” Head Coach Ben Davis said. “Henry and I believe that the best way to motivate players is to clearly define their job, keep consistent expectations for them and support them however possible.”

The game seemed to come down to the depth of the Icehouse roster, just as it had all weekend. Bentley had 14 players record a score, assist or defensive play. With eight more players on their roster than to Lehigh, BUS seemed to be fresher throughout the game. Bentley used every member of their roster in one way or another to finish out the game, whether it was from scoring or providing an energy boost.

The championship bracket proved to be much stronger competition than what Bentley had seen in pool play, which created some tightly contested games. Thanks to their bye, Bentley’s first action in bracket play came against

“At Bentley we have a saying, ‘Brothamen never quit, Brothamen never die,’” captain Justin Ondrof said. “Those words and the energy of every single teammate carried the fire and energy we needed to finish out every game.”

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Bentley Icehouse celebrates their first-ever national championship. Photo: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

Bentley advanced to take on the Claremont Braineaters in the semifinals. Claremont ended Icehouse’s 2013 season in the pre-quarterfinals at the Division III College Championships, so Icehouse was looking for revenge.

Claremont jumped out to a quick lead, pulling ahead 4-1 with their fast-paced offensive attack and seemingly impenetrable defense. Bentley settled down and brought the game back within one at 6-5, but Claremont took half 8-6. Trailing by only two at half seemed a manageable obstacle for Icehouse, but the second half nearly pushed Bentley to their breaking point.

The Braineaters looked to steamroll past Icehouse coming out of the half as they extended their lead to 12-7. With the game seemingly all but over, fans started to lose hope, and many left to go check out other games that were going on at the same time. Although a victory seemed out of reach, Bentley stuck with their game.

“I believe our players stayed motivated because we didn’t panic; we stuck with our system and just asked them to do the same things we expected all season: play hard and do your job,” Davis said.

Staying focused paid off nicely as Bentley reeled in two scores to bring it to 12-9. The game was now reasonable, SUMMER 2014

but they still needed a miraculous effort. With their backs against the wall, the miraculous effort they needed is exactly what they gave. Icehouse got break after break, and before they knew it, they were one point ahead of Claremont and one point away from heading to the finals.

Claremont scored to force double-game point, but Bentley dug deep and scored the last point to seal the deal and punch their ticket for the championship game.

After two consecutive comeback victories, Bentley only had one game left separating them from the title. With the field lined with hundreds of spectators – including particularly staunch support from Brandeis, Bentley’s fellow Waltham, Mass., residents – the game was set to begin. Icehouse had already survived so much throughout the day that the question of how much they had left in the tank remained.

“My concern wasn’t physical. Henry worked extremely hard on designing and running workouts for the guys that really paid dividends. My concern was primarily emotional,” Davis said, “After a comeback, emotions ride high, and in my experience, it can be hard to maintain the energy.

However, we managed to keep morale up with good sideline presence, parental support and a great boost from Brandeis…The emotional boost they provided was really key for us.”

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MEN’S COLLEGE FEATURE

Bentley had a perfect weekend at the 2014 D-III College Championships in Westerville, Ohio. Photo: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

As if Bentley had not fought through enough already, they, fittingly for a championship final, were in for another tough game. Neither team appeared dominant in the first few points. The largest lead of the first half was two when Elon was ahead 6-4 and then took half 8-6.

Elon came out of halftime still swinging and took an 11-7 lead. It seemed they had the championship all buttoned up, but BUS had shown they should never be counted out of a game, and they proved it yet again in the finals.

Icehouse struck back with three straight points to bring the score to 11-10, but Elon would grow the gap again to go up 13-11. Bentley’s defensive line took over at the end of the game and scored four straight points to take the game, and the title, 15-13.

“Once we began stringing together breaks, our team’s momentum was like a bus rolling down a hill, and there was no stopping us,” captain Mark Adamiak said.

“We just kept our eyes on the prize – which was winning a national championship.”

Bentley’s Kevin Sparacino lays out to save possession for Icehouse during the finals. Photo: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

Icehouse used their depth and fed off of each other to claw their way back into games, even after being down and having the crowd lose hope in them. Having a roster full of skilled players, and not having to rely on one or two very good players, paid off for Bentley.

our top players to get us back in the game,” captain Alex Foo said, “From there, we ran the hot hand and kept the BUS rolling.”

Throughout the weekend, no obstacle proved too large for Icehouse. The grit and determination emanating from each member of the team helped propel Bentley to the National Championship.

“We were deep enough to play our whole team for the majority of the weekend. When the games got tight, and we had to climb back, we tightened the lines and relied on 29

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Carleton College Eclipse's Molly Burness gets off a throw in the championship finals, despite the mark of Rice's Kara Van Schifgaarde.

Photos: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

WOMEN’S COLLEGE FEATURE By: Corinne Murphy

RICE TORQUE: EQUATION FOR SUCCESS However, the team has undeniably disproven any doubters and nonbelievers with the inspiring performance that earned them the national title.

With a formula of passion and preparation, Torque blazes a path to number one.

In 1998, they played savage at Nationals with makeshift uniforms – tie-dye shirts with taped-on numbers – and their numbers on the scoreboard didn’t look much better.

Now, Rice University’s “Torque” stands tall as Division III champions.

In recent years, thanks to their coaching staff and captains, the team has advocated for an active effort to gain back their competitive drive and escalate the program’s strength.

“By the spring semester, with an increase in practice intensity, the team unanimously voted to commit to working hard to win Nationals. As captains, we hope that we were able to build a community and help develop a passion among our teammates for the game, so that they will all continue playing this summer – and next year,” the co-captains wrote.

Previously a Division I competitor, Rice Torque placed their own twist on the program’s course of events this year with their first-ever D-III Nationals appearance.

“This year was new territory for us, as we had never played in D-III before, but we were able to build off of each other this year in order to stay motivated during the tough parts of the season,” said co-captains Monica Matsumoto and Erika Danckers.

In 2011, the team made it to the South Central D-I regional finals, but their strong will was ultimately not enough to get one of the region’s two bids to D-I Nationals.

Hailing from Houston, Texas, the national champions have worked incredibly hard all year to get where they are now.

Coached by Edith Tang, Eric Leonard and Robert Brazille, Jr., the team had a solid season, going nearly undefeated with a 32-3 record, only losing to two D-I teams. Torque ended 2014 on the best note possible, capping their arduous, albeit successful, year as champions in Westerville, Ohio.

Rice made it back to D-I Regionals in 2012 and 2013, but in 2014, they decided to take on the D-III postseason.

This past year, they played against both D-I and D-III teams, racking up enough experience (and victories) to be seeded first entering the Championships.

The team’s closest game of the weekend came against the Haverford Sneetches in the semifinals, with a final score of 15-13.

The team’s name is based on the scientific equation for torque: t = r x F (“r” for Rice, “F” for Frisbee), though they were not always known as such. They were originally named Catch Her on the Fly, a play on Catcher in the Rye. A while thereafter, the team was dubbed Miss Red, a play on “misread,” since skeptics existed who thought the players were just eccentrics incapable of competing in the sport.

Though Haverford pulled ahead early at 3-2, Rice salvaged their composure and reclaimed a lead. Packed with many back-and-forth points, the game was tied multiple times, as late as 13-13. But eventually, Rice’s junky defense allowed Kara Schilfgaarde to come away with bookends on game point, sending Torque to the finals – and a shot at the title.

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Rice Torque is one of few teams to have competed at both the D-I and D-III College Championships. 2014 marked their first title. Photo: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

Rice had faced their finals opponent, Carleton College Eclipse, once earlier in the year at the D-III Warm-Up in February. Rice won the tournament, riding to victory 15-7 over Carleton and setting the tone for their season early.

However, with plenty of time to prepare, Carleton was equipped for a rematch at D-III Nationals.

An upward trajectory seemed to follow Eclipse throughout pool play and into the quarterfinals and semifinals. After entering the weekend as the eleven seed, Eclipse wrestled their way to the finals. However, the tournament dark horse could not compete with Rice’s tried and true fundamentals.

Torque’s tough determination on defense and gritty tendency to hold their own on offense pulled out a win for the Texans.

Rice’s zone defense forced Carleton to make tough throws, causing turnovers and allowing Rice an early advantage.

“Our zone was a huge difference maker in the game, and the team Ds we were able to get were definitely a highlight,” said the team’s captains.

Carleton managed to pull together their composure after Rice scored the game’s first four points, and earned back enough breaks to bring the score within two. Although Carleton was tight on Rice’s heels, the former looked fatigued at halftime, even with the optimistic support of their thunderous sideline.

Despite Eclipse finding their stride late in the game, they were unable to slow Rice’s momentum. When an SUMMER 2014

Eclipse pass missed its intended receiver, Torque swiftly capitalized, clinching the game and the championship with a six-point victory.

Outstanding individual performances were abundant for Rice, with an array of players making tough bids and upping their mental game.

Monica Matsumoto led the women’s division with 48 assists throughout the tournament. Her impeccably placed hucks worked seamlessly with fellow co-captain Erika Danckers’ deep grabs. Danckers racked up 18 goals, the most on the team. Her out-of-nowhere snags put her in the top tier of receivers at the tournament.

Nichole Kwee contributed on both sides of the disc – tallying the second-most assists and scores (for which she tied with Matsumoto) and wreaking havoc on defense with a total of 15 Ds for the weekend.

Though the players have a knack for making the game look easy, they immediately attributed their win to everyone’s enduring commitment as well as team bonds and connections.

“Team chemistry, practice attendance and commitment to the team on and off the field were phenomenal this season…

Along with stepping up in helping the team, everyone this year really took to heart the responsibility of being there for their teammates; on and off the field, this group of players genuinely cared for each other. By the end of the season, it was easy to step on the line and know everyone on the field 32

was ready to give 110 percent not for themselves, but for their teammates,” according to Matsumoto and Danckers.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE FEATURE

“There’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” Kwee said.

When asked about what strategies most contributed to their success, the players attributed it largely to the coaching staff, gratefully thanking their head coach Edith Tang for facilitating strategies, aiding with decisions and increasing the team’s focus.

“In practice, Edith really ramped up the intensity, so that we were demanding high standards and pushing each other to get better. That sort of mentality was something that several players had to develop during the season, but once everyone was on the same page, we definitely saw the positive outcomes,” the captains stated.

The players also explained that focusing on fundamentals of the game was their number one priority on the field.

“Our team was built on strong fundamentals, and falling back on that base made a difference when the stakes were high,” captains state.

Though it would be easy to fall back after their win at the Championships, the Rice captains have no such intentions.

“As Rice students, we’re all committed to pushing ourselves to keep improving, and that sort of attitude will definitely show as Torque continues to change and grow.

There’s definitely no sense of complacency following the championship – our leadership for next year is already looking at next season and thinking of ways to keep setting our standards and level of play higher,” Matsumoto and Danckers stated.

When asked what was next for Torque, Kwee answered confidently, “The two seniors who are leaving will be missed, but the future [of the program] looks very bright. We are really looking forward to it.”

The players explain that while they remained unruffled on the field during the championship game, their appetite for a win couldn’t help but slide through the cracks. “We just focused, played our game and stayed calm, just like any other game. We just wanted it a whole lot more than usual,” Danckers said.

Since graduation weekend coincided with the D-III Championships, two loyal seniors, Sarah Southmayd and Monica Matsumoto, traded tossing their graduation caps into the air for tossing discs. With the graduation of Matsumoto in particular, Torque’s 2015 roster will take a hit. Nonetheless, with their adept returners and any incoming rookies, the team is sure to be a force to reckon with next year.

Rice's Lauren Gernon throws around the Carleton College Eclipse defense during the championship finals in Westerville, Ohio.

Photo: Nick Lindeke/Ultiphotos

U S A U LT I M AT E

By: Mike Leding

BOYS

MASCONOMET’S FOUR PILLARS LEAD TO A TITLE

Masconomet's Adam Grammer looks downfield during the 2014 High School Northeastern finals in Portland, Maine. Photo: Burt Granofsky/Ultiphotos

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Almost a month after the 2014 edition of High School Northeasterns came to a close, as I sit here trying to decipher what I saw, I am still a bit in awe. Fifteen boys’ teams from made the trip to Portland, Maine with two common goals: playing high-level ultimate and competing to take home the title. Not only did they accomplish both goals, but the level of spirit was unbelievable for such a high-stakes tournament. It was a reminder that the youth have it right. Another reminder I got, courtesy of Northeasterns, is that many of these 15-19 year-old boys possess skills that a lot of people who play for years are never able to acquire. Across the board, the level of play was phenomenal. Layout bids on every point, break mark throws, hucks going up, battles in the air, a wide variety of defensive looks to keep opponents guessing and a supreme level of fitness. Several teams carried 15 or fewer athletes, and each player was still running in the last game just like they had in the first.

FIERCE COMPETITION Lexington came into the weekend as the number one seed and defending champions. They fought their way into the semifinals, where they were by number three seed Pennsbury. Lexington is powered by Tannor Johnson, a 6’3” beast of a junior. If SportsCenter Sports Science created an episode on the perfect ultimate player, Johnson may be spit out of their machine. He has the typical ultimate build with long arms and long legs. He is fast as the wind, has lowrelease break mark throws and full-field hucks. And he goes from playing the dump on offense to catching a 50-yard huck in the end zone before you know what has happened.

He had the stats on the weekend to back up any hype: 21 goals, 25 assists and 10 Ds. He led Lexington to a 7-6 lead before Pennsbury employed one of those strategic switches I alluded to above. Pennsbury junior Cole Drummond must have lost rock, paper, scissors to end up man-to-man with Johnson in a box-and-one defense, playing the ‘one’ while the rest of his teammates played zone. The switch worked.

Drummond chased Johnson all over the field, frustrating the Lexington offensive line and leading Pennsbury to a 13-11 win. The victory set up a meeting between third-seeded Pennsbury and sixth-seeded Masconomet in the finals. The teams were pool-mates on Saturday, when Masconomet took round one 13-10.

It is an old sports adage that it is difficult to beat the same opponent twice in a short period of time. Pennsbury was game to prove that adage true again. But it would be a tall order thanks to the connection between Masconomet’s senior best friends Willie Stewart and Adam Grammer.

Stewart ran the offense, but Grammer made it go. Their connection on the field was a thing of beauty. For long-time ultimate players, that ability to know where the throw will go or where the cut will come from, even before it happens, the ability to throw your player open, even when

he is tightly covered. Stewart did just that all weekend to Grammer. A big flick huck would go up to Grammer while he was being guarded by much taller players, and at the last minute, just as you thought Stewart had overthrown him, Grammer would fly into another gear and come down with yet another long score.

GROWING PROGRAM Masconomet has had an ultimate program since 1998, and they joined the Massachusetts High School League in 2000. Four years later, they competed in the state tournament for the first time. Masconomet finished second in the state in 2010, fourth in 2009, and had ranked in the top 10 in New England in previous years. Coach Bob Serino said they almost never find new players with any ultimate playing experience. Their students come to them with no knowledge of the sport, except maybe what they have learned from a gym class in the past. On the 2014 roster, Willie Stewart is the only player who started high school with playing experience after having played a little bit with his father. Adam Grammer is an extraordinary soccer player who decided to try ultimate in his freshman year. Stewart is also a soccer player, as are many of his ultimate teammates.

All of Masconomet’s players come from other sports, rather than being ultimate players from day one, a common but slowly diminishing trend amongst many ultimate programs, disappearing often due to the growth of the middle school game. Masconomet Ultimate is a club sport, though all of their players are varsity athletes in other sports during other seasons (soccer, basketball, hockey, track, etc.). They have A and B ultimate teams, so their B team program is a feeder system for their A team. Players have to pay their own way for buses (especially for weekend-long tournaments), uniforms, and supplies, so like most ultimate programs, they are very much a grassroots organization.

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Masconomet Regional High School took home their first-ever regional title from 2014 Northeasterns. Photo: Burt Granofsky/Ultiphotos

Willie Stewart will be attending North-Carolina Wilmington in the fall, where he hopes to continue playing ultimate.

Stewart will not be the first to make the trek from Masconomet High School to UNC-Wilmington. One of Masconomet’s 2013 captains, Danny Mercer, is currently a freshman at UNC-Wilmington and plays for the Seamen.

Adam Grammer plans to attend Occidental College in California where he will play soccer. Maybe he will find his way to some of Occidental’s ultimate practices as well.

He was uncoverable the entire weekend in Portland and may have been the MVP of the event in the boys’ division.

Masconomet bases their program around four pillars of excellence: courage, commitment, character and community. Every single one of those pillars showed over the course of the weekend. Their courage as they fought from their initial six seed to become tournament champions; their commitment in their fitness level and their singular focus on the field; their character and community in the way they treated their opponents – great sportsmanship with a very high level of spirit while still playing hard.

NORTHEASTERNS BOYS FINAL STANDINGS FINAL STANDINGS:

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS:

1 PENNSBURY 2 MASCONOMET 3 NEEDHAM 4 LEXINGTON 5 AMHERST 6 MIDDLETOWN 7 HAMPTON 8 WESTFIELD 9 STUYVESANT 10 JOHN JAY 11 COLUMBIA 12 WATCHUNG HILLS 13 FALMOUTH 14 BFA FAIRFAX 15 CAPE ELIZABETH

4.8 NEEDHAM 4.75 CAPE ELIZABETH 4.6 AMHERST 4.5 MIDDLETOWN 4.4 FAIRFAX 4.3 COLUMBIA 4.3 FALMOUTH 4.0 MASCONOMET 3.8 PENNSBURY 3.8 STUYVESANT 3.8 WESTFIELD 3.8 HAMPTON 3.2 LEXINGTON 3.2 WATCHUNG 3.0 JOHN JAY

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INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS: AMHERST – Leland Rege-Colt BFA FAIRFAX – Lucas Wells CAPE ELIZABETH – Abaseen Shir COLUMBIA – Gustav Naftz FALMOUTH – Andre Clement HAMPTON – Kevin Trimble JOHN JAY – Evan Mcreddie LEXINGTON – Charlie Coburn MASCONOMET – John Mosho MIDDLETOWN – Mikaela Cody NEEDHAM – Matt Cote PENNSBURY – Sean Johnson STUYVESANT – Max Kong WATCHUNG HILLS – Alex Wang WESTFIELD – Chris Ng

By: Mike Leding

GIRLS

FAST-PACED MAY BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT

The teams at 2014 High School Northeasterns were met with a lot of rain during game one, but the rest of the weekend proved to be sunny and nice. Amherst Varsity was the defending champion, and they exerted their dominance once again, laying stake to the 2014 crown. No team scored more than four points on the Hurricanes over the course of the weekend. Their program has been around since 1996 and gained varsity status from Amherst Regional High School in the early 2000s. Amherst Ultimate is a machine. They are the epitome of an established program, with three girls’ teams comprised of 45 athletes, from freshmen to seniors. They also have 15 girls in their middle school program.

Seniors Tulsa Douglas and Erin O’Connor powered the very talented Amherst squad, but all 16 girls on the roster registered stats on the weekend. Douglas had five goals, 17 assists and five Ds while O’Connor had eight goals, eight assists and seven Ds.

Despite the fast-paced offense of BFA Fairfax, the Amherst Regional High School Hurricanes earned another title at the 2014 Northeastern Championships.

Photo: Burt Granofsky/Ultiphotos

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But even with Amherst’s impressive tournament run, it was the pesky six seed, Vermont’s BFA Fairfax, that was the talk of the tournament thanks to their peculiar, lightning-strike style of play.

BFA Fairfax only had 12 girls make the trip to Maine, and if you watched them play, it speaks volumes of their excellent fitness levels. Basically, when a team turns the disc over, the BFA girls sprint to the disc and hit the first open person they see, whether that person is three or 30 yards away.

Each subsequent pass is made within three seconds with a priority on keeping the disc moving while ensuring their opponent’s transition defense is off balance.

According to Head Coach Fred Griffin, recreational disc sports have been played at BFA for 18 years, but a competitive girls’ team has only existed for three.

The Vermont Principals Association has given ultimate provisional status, and BFA has now completed year one of a three-year trial period, after which the sport will be reviewed and possibly given varsity status.

About their playing style, Griffin explained that BFA is a small school of just over 300 students. They compete for athletes against track, softball, club soccer and AAU basketball. They don’t yet have enough girls to scrimmage against each other, so they frequently practice against their boys’ team. When devising their quick-strike style of play two years ago, they began by using the three-four second rule to take advantage of their big throwers and their speed.

In practices, if a girl held the disc for more than three or four seconds, it counted as a turnover. Now, the strategy is so ingrained in their team culture that they no longer have to employ the turnover tactic at practices; the girls just read, throw and go. They play an aggressive zone on defense that allows them to quickly transition into their fast-paced offensive attack.

Given their grueling style of ultimate for a team with such short numbers, fitness is crucial. All the girls run and Nordic ski and bring a level of fitness and athleticism to the ultimate field that Coach Griffin believes is unusual. But it allows his team to play at high speeds from beginning to end. The

Everyone on BFA Fairfax’s small roster is a multi-sport athlete. The year-round activities make their unique, high-energy offense possible. Photo: Burt Granofsky/Ultiphotos

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girls stick to the philosophy that if they are tired, the other team must be even more tired. The team cross-trains at as many positions as possible and try not to over-specialize in any one role. The team never, ever walks up to a disc.

Once they earn a turnover, one of the BFA girls sprints to the disc to get it going. The object is to attack before the defense can find their women or set their zone. Coach Griffin explained that their success was limited through mid-season last year, so they worked with Matt Forgues, the boys’ coach to develop a midfield game featuring sequential cuts to bridge the gap between their quick starts where they pick up the disc and the end zone.

The BFA girls are fast and fit and understand their strengths and weaknesses. They rotate downfield, creating a seam along the outside. They pop up “next, next, next,” as Forgues likes to say, at 10- to 15-yard distances. The handler is always looking deep before they take the “next.” When that seam is cut off, the girls go against the grain, reversing the seam and rotation to the other side where they always have a flanking player.

BFA’s attack requires a lot of running, an awareness of spacing on the move and a huge amount of trust; these girls have it all. When they are cooking, the offense resembles fast-break basketball where the ball makes it down the court without any player dribbling. When it is working, especially after a turnover, the defense is always running to catch up but never does. Generally speaking, the other team is less likely to stop BFA than they are to stop themselves. It is a high risk attack but it has a high level of payoff as well. They used their unique system to

power themselves into the finals, where Amherst’s depth, experience and patient offense finally proved too much for BFA. In the end, it was a beautiful weekend of girls’ ultimate with high levels of spirit and great athleticism from all the competing teams.

Amherst senior Tulsa Douglas helped keep the disc moving for the Amherst Hurricanes throughout the weekend. Photo: Burt Granofsky/Ultiphotos

NORTHEASTERNS GIRLS FINAL STANDINGS FINAL STANDINGS:

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS:

1 AMHERST 2 BFA FAIRFAX 3 AMHERST JV 4 PENNSBURY 5 PIONEER VALLEY

PERFORMING ARTS 6 WATCHUNG HILLS 7 LEXINGTON 8 FRYEBURG 9 ANDOVER 10 FALMOUTH 11 CAPE ELIZABETH 12 STUYVESANT

4.6 CAPE ELIZABETH 4.4 LEXINGTON 4.3 AMHERST 4.3 ANDOVER 4.2 STUYVESANT 4.2 FALMOUTH 4.0 FRYEBURG 3.8 WATCHUNG HILLS 3.7 AMHERST JV 3.3 PIONEER VALLEY 3.0 FAIRFAX 2.0 PENNSBURY

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INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS: AMHERST – Meaghan Mccluskey AMHERST JVA – Izzi Tripp ANDOVER – Cece Root BFA FAIRFAX – Katy Thibault CAPE ELIZABETH – Victoria Szalontai FALMOUTH – Evie Clement FRYEBURG ACADEMY

– Sydney Andreoli LEXINGTON – Noha Yehia PENNSBURY – Hailey Ingraham PIONEER VALLEY – Kate Nelson STUYVESANT – Melanie Ng WATCHUNG HILLS – Kelly Mckenna

U S A U LT I M AT E

By: Ashley Boncimino

BOYS

CAROLINA FRIENDS EARNS FIRST SOUTHERNS TITLE

Independence Flight's Mac McClellan throws upfield, around the mark of Carolina Friends' Matt Gouchoe-Hanas in the Southern Championship finals.

Photo: Christina Schmidt/Ultiphotos

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In its most competitive year yet, the third annual High School Southern Regional Championships included as many highs and lows as the weather, which was alternately sunny enough for a burn and stormy enough to stall games in Greenville County, South Carolina.

The top-seeded Carolina Friends Fighting Quakers from Durham, N.C., came out on top with a perfect 6-0 record for the weekend and their first-ever Southerns Championship. The team fought Independence High School’s Flight from Thompsons Station, Tenn., which placed 11th last year and second in 2012.

The game was close by halftime, with Carolina Friends just a point ahead of Independence at 7-6. Independence did a nice job of moving the disc and kept to clean, safe passes, but Carolina Friends prevailed with a final score of 12-7.

each pool had to win an additional crossover game to be placed in the championship bracket.

Carolina Friends has been slowly moving up, placing ninth in 2012 and tying for third last year with Chapel Hill High School. This year, everything came together, with the team earning an overall season record of 29-2.

“The defense was simply locked down,” said Carolina Friends Coach Rim Vilgalys. “We did a great job moving it to the break side…it was an all-team effort.”

Despite the loss, Independence Flight Coach Jordan Roe said part of the team’s success for the season has been gradually adding layers of difficulty so players can work on more than just the fundamentals. “We played Paideia once, and they came up to us after and said, ‘Wow, you have a lot of athletic players,’ and yet we still lost,” said Roe. “We realized we had to change our strategy and start looking ahead….After the third year, you can’t win based solely on athleticism.”

The boys’ division saw intense matches between 16 teams hailing from Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Florida and Virginia. While some were playing on backto-back weekends and others felt the absence of injured players, teams gave their all in their last regional event of the season.

Henry Fisher of Carolina Friendds gets behind the defense of Independence during the finals in Greenville County, S.C. Photo: Christina Schmidt/ Ultiphotos

Pool play on Saturday had a significant impact on Sunday’s brackets, as whoever won each pool received a bye into the quarterfinals. Those who placed second and third in 41

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Top teams for three of the pools – Carolina Friends, Paideia Gruel and Independence High School Flight – kept their seed, with the only upset coming in Pool D. Top-seeded Lakeside tallied losses to both Chapel Hill and Yorktown and fell to the third spot in the pool.

With their win over Lakeside in the last round of pool play, Chapel Hill clinched the top spot and the bye into the quarterfinals.

One player actually broke up with his girlfriend to attend the tournament, which coincided with prom, they said.

The crossover round did provide one of the most exciting games of the weekend between the Carrboro High School Clams and Brookwood High School Inferno, which hardcapped at 10-9 in the Clams’ favor at the end of the day.

The Clams were down 5-7 at half but scored the first two points of the second half to tie up the game at 7-7. After trading several points, the Clams earned themselves a break and held on to win 10-9, setting the tone for the championship bracket. “Pulling out a first game upset makes us feel like we deserve to be here rather than we’re just the team that’s happy to be here,” said Jones.

Once in the semifinal round, games started out looking like blowouts, but Chapel Hill gave top-seeded Carolina Friends a good game with a final score of 12-8.

Independence scalded Paideia in the first half of their semifinal match up, showing up the Atlanta team 7-1 at half and winning 13-4.

Carrboro’s team had only 12 days to pull together their paperwork and confirm their 14-member roster after a team from Catonsville, Md., dropped out. “Our players dropped everything to be here,” said Carrboro Coach Britta Jones, who along with Coach Heather Zimmerman led the team to a 3-1 record on Saturday. “There’s nothing they would rather be doing right now.”

The team was seeded 14th overall and finished second in their pool on Saturday, but lost to highly favored Carolina Friends in a hard-fought battle in their first game on Saturday morning. The Clams finished the weekend tied for fifth place.

In the midst of a rebuilding year, two-time Southerns champion University School of Nashville Brutal Grassburn lost all three pool play games on Saturday, and ended up tied for 15th overall with the Woodside High School Wolverines. Brutal Grassburn saw many seniors graduate last year and will lose five more this year – fought and won against Paideia in 2013 and Independence in 2012 for the title.

Independence won their semifinal match up over Paideia Gruel 13-4, and moved on to play eventual-champion Carolina Friends Fighting Quakers in the finals.

SOUTHERNS BOYS FINAL STANDINGS FINAL STANDINGS:

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS:

1 CAROLINA FRIENDS 2 INDEPENDENCE 3T CHAPEL HILL 3T PAIDEIA 5T CARRBORO 5T YORKTOWN 7T GRADY 7T HB WOODLAWN 9 BROOKWOOD 10 LAKESIDE 11T CATHOLIC 11T EAST CHAPEL HILL 13T BLACKMAN 13T FERNANDINA BEACH 15T UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE 15T WOODSIDE

5.0 YORKTOWN 4.8 CHAPEL HILL 4.8 UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE 4.7 CARRBORO 4.7 CAROLINA FRIENDS 4.4 EAST CHAPEL HILL 4.4 PAIDEIA 4.4 WOODSIDE 4.1 LAKESIDE 4.0 GRADY 4.0 WOODLAWN 3.9 BROOKWOOD 3.8 BLACKMAN 3.5 INDEPENDENCE 3.2 FERNANDINA BEACH 2.8 CATHOLIC

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INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS: BLACKMAN – Tony Estrada BROOKWOOD – Scott Diller CAROLINA FRIENDS – Ben Alexander CARRBORO - Yuma Kobayashi CATHOLIC – Grant Hardy CHAPEL HILL – Valeri Kozarev EAST CHAPEL HILL –Alex Tax FERNANDINA BEACH

– Noah Emmonds GRADY – Michael Dillard HB WOODLAWN – Lars Hemmendinger INDEPENDENCE – Luke Hudgin LAKESIDE – Conor Brownell UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

– Zack Stern PAIDEIA – Gabriel Eisen WOODSIDE – Reggie McClellan YORKTOWN – Spencer Cobb

By: Ashley Boncimino

GIRLS

SAGA REPEATS AS SOUTHERNS CHAMPION

North Carolina’s combination team, Saga, took home the 2014 High School Southerns championship, winning 12-6 against Paideia School’s Groove. The two played neck and neck for the first three points before Saga pulled ahead to 7-3.

Paideia relied heavily on crashing Saga’s zone defense, but both teams played well in the high-turnover, longpoint game.

Saga pulled further ahead in the second half of the championship game, finally winning a second consecutive title.

Founded at the beginning of 2013 to provide more playing opportunities for girls in the region, the team includes girls between seventh and 12th grade, all pulled from schools in the Triangle Area.

While the girls’ division saw gains in competitiveness at the third High School Southern Regional Championships, one of its largest accomplishments was the division’s growing number of teams. Eight skilled teams competed in this year’s tournament, nearly doubling the last two years’ pools of five teams.

North Carolina Saga and Paideia Groove met in the finals for a second consecutive year.

Photo: Christina Schmidt/Ultiphotos

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Saga junior Katie Cubrilovic cheers on her team from the sideline. Photo: Christina Schmidt/Ultiphotos

Grady High School’s Gauntlet, for example, didn’t attend last year but brought 16 players to South Carolina, despite having only five returnees at the start of the season, according to coaches Haley Reese and Emily Lloyd.

“THANKS TO THE INCREASED GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF GIRLS’ ULTIMATE...NEXT YEAR WILL BE A NEW EXPERIENCE AT SOUTHERNS.”

Regional power Paideia High School didn’t participate at Southerns in 2012 but brought both its varsity and junior varsity women’s teams this year, while Chapel Hill, N.C.-based combination team Saga, HB Woodlawn and University School of Nashville each returned for a second year. Woodside and Blackman were also new additions to the competition in 2014.

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SOUTHERNS GIRLS FINAL STANDINGS FINAL STANDINGS:

Domenica Sutherland was a leader for Saga on both offense and defense throughout the weekend. Photo: Terry Nelson/Ultiphotos

Defending champions Saga progressed through the quarterfinals and semifinals against Blackman (13-3) and Woodlawn (11-2) to the finals, where they faced a rematch of last year’s final against Atlanta’s Paideia varsity girls’ team.

Paideia Groove had defeated their competition with similar margins, besting Grady 13-2 and University School of Nashville (USN) 13-1 on their way to the finals. The closest Sunday girls’ game was the quarterfinal match-up between USN and Woodside, where the two teams were within one or two points of each other the entire time.

USN eventually edged out Woodside 8-7, but lost to Paideia in the semifinals.

Thanks to the increased growth and development of girls’ ultimate in the Triangle Area – North Carolina held their first-ever girls’ state championship event this year – next year will be a new experience at Southerns. Saga will not compete at Southerns in 2015, so a new champion will be crowned next year.

Four teams took part in the inaugural North Carolina High School Girls State Championship, with East Chapel Hill High School, one of the base schools for Saga, taking home the title. Seven different high schools, along with two middle schools, are represented on the 2014 Saga roster. Hopefully that means more than one North Carolina team will show up in the Southerns field next year, competing to take home the title.

1 NORTH CAROLINA SAGA 2 PAIDEIA 3 HB WOODLAWN 4 UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE 5 WOODSIDE 6 BLACKMAN 7 PAIDEIA JV 8 GRADY

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS:

4.5 PAIDEIA JV 4.0 GRADY 3.8 WOODLAWN 3.7 BLACKMAN 3.7 UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE 3.7 PAIDEIA 3.5 NORTH CAROLINA 2.17 WOODSIDE

INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS:

BLACKMAN - Catherine Kanemitsu GRADY – Georgia Smith HB WOODLAWN VARSITY

– Margaret Atkinson HB WOODLAWN JV – Rachel Branman TRIANGLE COMBO – Amanda Maxson PAIDEIA – Kira Farley PAIDEIA JV – Emma Pettit SAGA - Sydney Rehder UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

– Mary Francis Noser WOODSIDE – Heather Ford

By: Meredith Keeler

BOYS

EYE ON THE PRIZE

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Hopkins HUrt defeated Holy Family Catholic in a hard-fought championship game on Sunday to take home their second Centrals title. Photo: CBMT Creative

Clear skies. Full hearts. Can’t lose. This surely was the slogan of the tournament weekend for Hopkins HUrt. Bringing the heart from game one, HUrt demonstrated their disciplined control of the disc and well-placed passes, all with the support of loyal fans cheering from the sidelines.

Blowing past Geneva in round one and Naperville Central in round three, HUrt moved on to face Cathedral and later Neuqua Valley-A, both of whom they narrowly beat.

Blowing past Geneva in round one and Naperville Central in round three, HUrt moved on to face Cathedral and later Neuqua Valley-A, both of whom they narrowly beat.

the Snow Mixed tournament in Winnipeg and continued through the winter and spring when they won MLK College Indoor and Greyduck Indoor.

Sunday provided fairly easier victories. HUrt surpassed Armstrong and Center Grove to lead them to the championship game against Holy Family Catholic.

Additionally, the Hopkins HUrt Ultimate program has won three USA Ultimate titles, two Paideia Cup championships and seven Minnesota State titles, including the last three in a row.

The strong winds present in the finals were surely a factor for these two undefeated teams, but ultimately, HFC Revolution just couldn’t get through Hopkins’ high energy and big plays, making HUrt the 2014 High School Central Champions in the boys’ division.

Hopkins Coach Erin Mirocha admired the effort, focus and drive her team demonstrated throughout the tournament, along with the hard work it took them to get there.

“We practice, participate in the Minnesota youth league and attend other tournaments. We don’t train specifically for Centrals; it just happens to be an important milestone in our season,” said Mirocha.

As far as the players, they had their eye on the prize.

“We came in pretty confident. We’ve been practicing a lot, and we’ve been doing well in our league games, but we really picked it up in our third game on Saturday against Cathedral, and that’s where we really found our intensity as a team,” said sophomore Matt Molnar.

Coach Lou Abramowski added that early on, there seemed to be a lot of doubt, inside and outside of the team, but this group of players has proven to be one of the most talented in program history.

“For me, this was one of the most rewarding championships for us,” said Abramowski.

This championship win only adds to the growing history of HUrt’s commitment to success. Since Hopkins Ultimate started in 2002, the program has had significant growth and success, with standout years in 2006, 2009 and 2012.

This year’s team also has seen a great deal of success; the season started in the fall when HUrt won the Hold Back

SO WHAT’S THEIR RECIPE FOR SUCCESS? Like any sport, raw talent alone will only get you so far.

Hard work, commitment and determination are what keep you going. For these young athletes, ultimate is about having fun, meeting new people and playing a game they love.

For coaches the players.

Mirocha

and

Abramowski,

it’s

about

“It’s so rewarding each year to experience a ‘there will never be a group this good again’ [feeling] at the end of the year, and then be surprised in so many ways each following season,” Abramowski said.

Mirocha described the boys as a hardworking, self-aware, hilarious bunch. As a coach, she stressed the importance of not only being a good role model, but also a good communicator.

“Ultimate gives each player a lot of responsibility, and sometimes they fail. I work really hard to make sure that I adhere to the ethical agreements I’ve made as a coach, namely, to not interfere, but to follow-up as quickly as I can in those learning moments,” Mirocha said.

Integrity and sportsmanship are the defining values of this sport, which Coach Mirocha said are also the most applicable skills outside of ultimate: having a good sense of morals and being a team player.

Coaches are not the only ones looked upon to lead by example. Team captains are expected to as well.

Senior and captain Max Wolk was the winner of HUrt’s 47

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individual spirit award at the tournament. For Wolk, he was proud that he was recognized for “just doing his job.”

“I try to be an example of a good teammate. I love to talk on the sidelines and get the team pumped up. It really means a lot that my hard work has been acknowledged by winning this award,” Wolk said.

“There are no strangers in ultimate,” said Abramowski.

The already instilled ideas of respect and responsibility between both players and coaches creates an environment where teams can succeed. And for Hopkins HUrt, they will continue doing just that: learning life lessons on the field – and winning.

Junior and fellow captain Sam Kaminsky agreed.

“By understanding that the Spirit of the Game starts in the heart, as well as doing big cheers and keeping the sidelines super hot, we try to keep everybody going,” said Kaminsky.

The respect and regard for one another is prevalent both on and off the playing field.

At the end of the award ceremony, many Hopkins players could be found talking with players from other teams and exchanging jerseys. When asked about the significance of this gesture, senior Braden Spencer said it was an Ultimate ritual.

“IT’S JUST A FUN PART OF ULTIMATE, COLLECTING OTHER JERSEYS AND MEETING A BUNCH OF NEW PEOPLE,” SPENCER SAID. Win or lose, players, coaches and spectators alike were congratulatory toward one another, exchanging playful banter.

This strong sense of community reinforces the will to uphold the standards of the sport.

Edina senior Sam Huff toes the line during the 2014 High School Central Championships in Ames, Iowa, while teammate Blake Otterlei looks on.

Photo: CBMT Creative

CENTRALS BOYS FINAL STANDINGS FINAL STANDINGS: 1 HOPKINS 2 HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC 3T CENTER GROVE 3T NEUQUA VALLEY 5T CATHEDRAL 5T EDINA 7T AMES 7T ARMSTRONG 9T MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH 10 ST. PAUL CHARTER 11 GENEVA 12 JAMES MADISON MEMORIAL 13T NAPERVILLE CENTRAL 13T NEUQUA VALLEY B 15 PRITZKER COLLEGE PREP

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TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS: 5.0 PRITZKER COLLEGE PREP 4.8 NEUQUA VALLEY B 4.7 HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC 4.5 JAMES MADISON MEMORIAL 4.5 NAPERVILLE CENTRAL 4.5 ROBBINSDALE ARMSTRONG 4.5 CATHEDRAL 4.4 NEUQUA VALLEY 4.4 ST. PAUL CHARTER 4.3 AMES 4.3 GENEVA 4.0 HOPKINS 4.0 MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH 3.2 CENTER GROVE 3.0 EDINA

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INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS: AMES – Ian Kolb CATHEDRAL – Charlie Schuweiler CENTER GROVE – Levi Jacobs EDINA – Dom Fulk GENEVA – Adam Vial HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC – Stephen Kenny HOPKINS – Max Wolk MEMORIAL – Tyler Johnson MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH – Jakob McCabe-Johnson NAPERVILLE CENTRAL – Peter Ko NEUQUA VALLEY – Jack Shanahan NEUQUA VALLEY B – Corey Dufresne PRITZKER COLLEGE PREP – Alfonso Portillo ARMSTRONG – Sean Linc ST. PAUL CHARTER – Lucas Bulger

By: Rachel Derscheid

GIRLS

BUILDING A PROGRAM

A number of games came up close in the girls’ division at the 2014 High School Central Championships with all teams having spirit and enthusiasm in abundance, great throws and amazing plays. While the dedication of players, coaches and families of all teams is unquestioned, the top four programs set themselves apart. The four programs are from three different states, so I spoke with coaches to try to find a common thread among these Midwestern teams.

Holy Family Catholic Omega rolled to their third consecutive Centrals title, and though the uptick in wind during the final two rounds eased their dominance, it was clear they have a program that works to develop all their players in all aspects of their games. In comparison to many other programs, their girls begin younger — a few likely future players could be seen on the sidelines at Centrals, involved in pickup games with other young fans of Holy Family Catholic.

Cincinnati has a roaring youth scene, with spring, summer and fall leagues incorporating a combination of instruction and competition. The eight- and nineyear-old division is mixed gender, while 10- to 13-year olds have single-gender play. A unique aspect of this program is that the coaches of the spring and fall leagues are youth players themselves, many from Holy Family Catholic. These teenagers work to

Cathedral's Hannah Deaton makes a throw upfield during pool play at the 2014 Central Championships.

Photo: CBMT Creative

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instill the basics of throwing, cutting, catching and Spirit of the Game. Spirit, love for the game and camaraderie are strong on this team. With such lopsided scores, it would be easy for these girls to get complacent, egotistical or even bored, but instead, the girls invited opponents to join in a pre-game prayer, celebrated each goal with genuine joy, cheered good plays from either team and were universally supportive of teammates. This program will continue to be the team to beat in the coming years. Want your program to be more like theirs? Start players young and have those players invest in the younger players in the community.

Want your program to be more like theirs? Instill toughness and foster a “never give up, never give in” attitude.

The third-place game between Neuqua Valley and Robbinsdale Armstrong was the loudest game all weekend.

The sidelines never let up, and the inter- and intra-team displays of spirit were outstanding. Aside from Holy Family Catholic, these two teams were the most balanced. Certainly there were standout players, such as Armstrong’s Hannah Cowan and Neuqua Valley’s Kelly Crowley. But many players touched the disc throughout the game, allowing for more offensive flow, while each team’s defense utilized communication and teamwork.

Holy Family Catholic freshman Katherine Fry is the newest addition to Omega from the Fry family, after sisters Kayla and current senior Kjersti.

Photo: CBMT Creative

The girls’ division runner-up, Cathedral from St. Paul, Minn., in many ways resembles many mid-tier college teams: a truly dominant player, Annie Johnson, with a strong supporting cast and a lot of heart. These girls are scrappy. While disc skills may not be distributed evenly across the team, every player had tenacity and grit – Holy Family could just not finish this team. The team currently includes four seventh graders, a source of some of their inexperience. A fairly recent addition to the St. Paul youth scene is an ultimate summer camp for fourth-sixth graders that introduces the game and provides an early opportunity to learn the basics. With this addition, the organizers hope to build an even stronger youth scene. It will also give Cathedral’s future seventh graders a little head start. Somewhat surprisingly, this team did not participate in the Minnesota High School League. In order to get the girls more competition outside of tournaments, coaches organized scrimmages with local college team St. Ben’s.

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Neuqua Valley attributes their success this year to more consistent coaching and practicing, as well as a higher commitment level with more girls at every practice. The team practices three times a week, and girls have the option of playing in both fall and winter high school leagues. Younger players also have the opportunity to play in a middle school league. With freshmen comprising nearly half of this year’s roster, the key to their achievements and contributions was healthy intra-team competition. When coach Jody Kissane told the less-experienced girls they had to be able to complete more passes to get more playing time in games, the girls organized their own throwing sessions outside of regular practices. This team cuts hard and with confidence, making for easy up-field opportunities. Zone defense gave them some trouble, despite the competent handling of Kelly Crowley, Maggie Stachewicz and Mary Sullivan. With their competitive nature and only four seniors on their Centrals roster, look for this team to break into the finals next year.

Want your team to be more like theirs? Practice regularly and encourage healthy competition between players.

LIKE MANY OF THE MINNESOTA TEAMS, ROBBINSDALE ARMSTRONG PLAYS IN A HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE. The coaches claim that this year, and even in the two weeks leading up to the tournament, things started to fall into place thanks to strong on-field leadership and dedicated upper-class-women. However, much of their current success can be attributed to a detailed, long-term coaching plan that builds sequentially on fundamentals with a focus on individually tailored goals. The unique coaching strategy includes a clear articulation of skill development throughout the program which is communicated to parents annually at the preseason meeting. Throw selection and swinging the disc are strong parts of this offense. On the other side of the disc, their zone defense, anchored deep by Hannah Cowan and helmed by a tight cup, gave opponents fits all weekend.

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CENTRALS GIRLS FINAL STANDINGS FINAL STANDINGS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL NEUQUA VALLEY ROBBINSDALE ARMSTRONG MINNEAOPLIS SOUTH HOPKINS JAMES MADISON MEMORIAL MINNEAPOLIS SOUTHWEST ST. PAUL CHARTER

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS: Robbinsdale Armstrong’s Meghan Hayden makes a grab at the 2014 High School Central Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

While only five seniors will graduate this year, two of them, Sarah “Thunder” Coryell and Meghan “Lightning” Hayden currently generate a majority of the team’s initiating cuts and often provide continuation cuts as well. Despite the loss of Thunder and Lightning, next year, AU Gold hopes to see their team rise even higher. Want your team to be more like theirs? Focus on building fundamentals and setting goals.

While each of these teams has a unique recipe for success, a common thread exists: starting young and having opportunities for players to compete outside of their high school teams. Another similarity is the commitment from both the players and the coaches – a common theme among all of the teams at Centrals. Without it, youth ultimate would hardly be possible. The enthusiasm, dedication and positivity on and off the field in Ames was truly inspiring.

With such strong youth programs, spirited and talented players, and committed coaches, the future of high school girls’ ultimate looks bright!

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4.5 MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH 4.4 ROBBINSDALE ARMSTRONG 4.3 CATHEDRAL 4.3 NEUQUA VALLEY 4.0 HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC 3.8 HOPKINS 3.8 MINNEAPOLIS SOUTHWEST 3.7 JAMES MADISON MEMORIAL 3.4 ST. PAUL CHARTER

INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS: CATHEDRAL – Annie Johnson ST. PAUL CHARTER – Eliza Skoler HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC – Kjersti Fry HOPKINS – Noa Parker JAMES MADISON MEMORIAL - Annabelle Sobotik MINNEAPOLIS SOUTH – Carly Siewert MINNEAPOLIS SOUTHWEST – Maya Gotzsche NEUQUA VALLEY – Kelly Crowley ARMSTRONG – Leyla Mahabadi

U S A U LT I M AT E

By: Patrick Buermeyer

BOYS

CRESCENT VALLEY REEMERGES AS WESTERNS CONTENDER

Aaron Peterschmidt was a big part of Crescent Valley's return to prominence in the West during his four years with the Raiders. Photo: Scobel Wiggins/Ultiphotos

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Crescent Valley Raiders, a team who last year tied for 11th at the 2013 Western Championships. In fact, you have to go back all the way to 2007 to find the last time before 2013 that Crescent Valley even qualified for Westerns. To find the last time Crescent Valley finished higher than 11th, you’d need to go back a year further to 2006. In 2006, a Crescent Valley team coached by Jones Oliver and led by a group of seniors, including Jordan May who went on to play for the University of Oregon; Martin Freeman, who would later captain University of Colorado Mamabird; and Dave and Alex Renn who played at Oregon and Western Washington respectively. Crescent Valley made it to the quarterfinals and ended up tied for fifth, while sweeping the Oregon State Championships. Crescent Valley is one of the two high schools in Corvallis, a city with a population just under 55,000 – a small town with an impressive knack for turning out big-talent ultimate players including Ben and Seth Wiggins as well as Chelsea Putnam.

All three have represented their country internationally and had huge impacts on the college and club scenes. Ben Wiggins and Putnam each won the Callahan Award while playing for the University of Oregon, and all three have led teams to Club Nationals.

In 2008, two years after Crescent Valley’s Westerns peak, Oliver turned the coaching reins over to Andrew Buermeyer, a former middle school coach. Crescent Valley fell into what could nicely be described as a rebuilding year, or six.

In those years, Crescent Valley’s ultimate program limped along, barely managing to field teams for states and failing to qualify for Westerns. In 2010, Crescent Valley traveled up to Spring Reign in Washington state for the first time in years, and despite a modest showing, really began to grow and improve. Finally in 2012, Crescent Valley managed to retain enough players, while also getting a reasonable enough recruiting class, to finally start doing some rebuilding. In the same year, Crescent Valley and Corvallis High School, who had been playing as a combined squad while both teams tried to restart their floundering programs, split back into two teams. The next year, at the Oregon State High School Championships, things finally start to go Crescent Valley’s way, rising from tied for last to third place in both the mixed and open divisions and finally qualifying again for Westerns, after a six-year hiatus. In 2013, Crescent Valley High School officially recognized and sponsored the ultimate team as a varsity sport in which athletes can receive letters and be recognized for their achievements.

With all of the progress and exactly zero turnover from the 2013 team, as well as first- and second-place finishes at this year’s mixed and boys’ state championships, Crescent

Valley felt confident going into Westerns 2014. They started out in Pool A, where they faced arguably the toughest competition at the tournament from the Northwest School and the Roosevelt Rough Riders. While Roosevelt came in seeded 12th, they were the only team to come within two points of the seemingly untouchable Northwest School.

After Crescent Valley defeated Jefferson County 13-7 and Roosevelt 10-8, avenging a double-game point loss from Westerns 2013, they finished 2-1 and second in the pool. A crossover game stood between them and bracket play on Sunday. Crescent Valley convincingly defeated Lakewood High in the crossover to advance to the quarterfinals. They cruised through the game with huge plays across the board, including a monstrous layout from Drew Peterschmidt, who went over the top of a Lakewood receiver’s shoulder for the block. With the wind gusting, both teams played predominately zone defense while largely playing for field position. Crescent Valley survived the wind to clinch their spot in the quarters.

Senior Alex Olson makes a difficult catch. He led a talented team from the Northwest School in assists on the weekend, en route to a Westerns title.

Photo: Scobel Wiggins/Ultiphotos

Crescent Valley was set to play the second-seeded Berkeley High Coup. Crescent Valley played Berkeley close, the closest game they’d had since the fluke South Eugene game early on day one, and eventually lost 10-13, despite Aaron Peterschmidt leading his team with six assists, one goal and five blocks in the game.

Crescent Valley finished up 4-2 on the weekend, losing only to the Northwest School and Berkeley, who finished first and second, respectively. Of the 19 players on Crescent Valley’s roster, only three are seniors: Thomas Kneeland, Aaron Peterschmidt and Daniel Thomas Jones. Peterschmidt led the 53

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Dylan Owens and the Berkeley High Coup made it to the Western Championship finals for a second consecutive year in 2014. Photo: Scobel Wiggins/Ultiphotos

team in assists and blocks, with Kneeland not far behind, boasting 18 assists on the weekend. Jones tallied seven goals and five assists. Despite their sizable contributions, they will be leaving behind a strong supporting cast of mostly sophomores, including Nicholas Hartwig who led the tournament in goals scored. In addition to Hartwig, Quinn Buermeyer, Drew Peterschmidt and Ian Boogely, who between the three of them account for almost all the rest of Crescent Valley’s stats, also have two more years to go at Crescent Valley. For the first time ever, the team is retaining a good core of players for next year that also already includes all stars. Coach Buermeyer is finally reaping the benefits of the middle school and high school programs he has spent the greater part of the last eight years building. The Crescent Valley Raiders’ 2015 and 2016 seasons are already highly anticipated.

THE NORTHWEST SCHOOL TAKES HOME THE GOLD The Northwest School defeated the Berkeley High Coup in the finals of the 2014 High School Western Championships to claim their second title in four years. Despite the small student population at the Northwest School – fewer than 500 students are enrolled in grades six to 12 – they still boast one of several notably strong ultimate programs in the region. The Seattle team was led by their three members of the 2014 Under-19 National Team that will compete this summer at the World Junior Ultimate Championships. Sam Cook, Sam Lehman and Alex Olson combined for 30 goals and 40 assists over the course of the weekend.

The Northwest School last won the Western Championships in 2011, after which they took a two-year hiatus from the competition. They returned to the field this year in Corvallis and proved that they have not lost a step since they last took home the title. With a solid core of non-seniors on this year’s roster, next season promises to hold more of the same successes that have made the Northwest School one of the nation’s high school ultimate powerhouses.

WESTERNS BOYS FINAL STANDINGS FINAL STANDINGS:

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS:

1 2 3T 3T 5T 5T 7T 7T 9T 10 11T 11T 13T 13T 15T 15T

4.7 FRANKLIN 4.6 JEFFERSON COUNTY 4.6 NATHAN HALE 4.5 CORVALLIS 4.4 ATASCADERO 4.4 BERKELEY 4.4 GARFIELD 4.3 NORTHWEST SCHOOL 4.3 SHELDON 4.2 BALLARD 4.2 HEAD ROYCE 4.1 CRESCENT VALLEY 4.0 SOUTH EUGENE 3.9 ROOSEVELT 3.8 SUMMIT 3.6 LAKEWOOD

NORTHWEST SCHOOL BERKELEY BALLARD SUMMIT CRESCENT VALLEY FRANKLIN NATHAN HALE ROOSEVELT LAKEWOOD ATASCADERO GARFIELD HEAD ROYCE SHELDON SOUTH EUGENE CORVALLIS JEFFERSON COUNTY

SUMMER 2014

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INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS: ATASCADERO – David Aguirre BALLARD – Eric Shoner BERKELEY – Rae Dallett CORVALLIS – Julian Whitton CRESCENT VALLEY – Ian Bogley FRANKLIN – Evander Tugade GARFIELD – Noah Boudra HEAD ROYCE SCHOOL – Max Duesberg JEFFERSON COUNTY OPEN SCHOOL – Sage Bard-Gilbert LAKEWOOD – Kerry Athey NATHAN HALE – Anthony Bencivengo NORTHWEST SCHOOL – Sam Lehman ROOSEVELT – Noah Kregenow SHELDON – Jordan Dunteman SOUTH EUGENE – Sebastian Coslow SUMMIT – Taylor White

By: Becca Otto

GIRLS

CALIFORNIA ROLLIN’

Thalia Ward and her California Roll teammates formed the Bay Area combo squad only two weeks before the 2014 Western Championships. Photo: Scobel Wiggins/Ultiphotos

The girls of the Bay Area’s California Roll had an intimidating opening game early in the morning on the first day of 2014 Westerns High School Championships. Pitted against second-seeded Corvallis Ladies’ Ultimate (CLU), California Roll’s immediate challenge would be to face a team that had not only been practicing together for far longer than their own team, but who had already participated in two full tournaments together in the preceding weeks.

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Formed in the two weeks prior to Westerns, California Roll didn’t have that same level of experience yet. They were the freshmen at the tournament, the one team that had not competed together at Westerns before, and the one team that, until very recently, had not even been a team.

Corvallis Ladies Ultimate fought throughout the tournament before falling by a single point to the Northwest School in the finals. Photo: Scobel Wiggins/Ultiphotos

Coach Lindi Sabloff remarked that it was absolutely an organic effort. It was an effort led by the girls, organized by the girls and, in the end, executed by the girls almost entirely. They put it together, so they could come to Oregon and compete. Team captains Chloe Carothers-Liske and Hannah Wells had previously competed at Westerns in the open division with Berkeley High, and the experience led them to wonder what it could be like to form a women’s team. The idea had been floating around in concept form for several years, but they had not yet had enough players to actualize it.

This year, however, they decided to give it a shot. Gathered and recruited from seven different high schools in the Bay Area, in an effort headed by Carothers-Liske and Wells and supported by coaches Lindi Sabloff and Kyle McBard, a number of freshmen and even some eighth graders joined up to give California the momentum to create a women’s squad – one that could participate in highly competitive tournaments such as Westerns. Through hard work and patience, including Carothers-Liske and Wells taking the time to walk around the fields at California’s State Championships explaining what they were trying to do, California Roll gathered enough women to be able to submit a bid to Westerns.

Five different grades are represented on California Roll, from eighth graders Maytal Bach and Lauren CarothersLiske to seniors Madison Gillen and Shauna Barrows. The roster is relatively small – only 12 girls total – but their spirit is strong.

Thus, they were undeterred by the challenge of an opening game against CLU, and California Roll happily sent seven teammates to stand on the line for the first point of their SUMMER 2014

first-ever game. CLU’s more-seasoned and practiced team worked the disc through California Roll’s defense for 11 points, but California Roll finally rallied a response.

When Hannah Wells threw an assist to Chloe CarothersLiske in CLU’s end zone, the California Roll sideline exploded. It was the first point scored by the first-ever combined high school women’s team from the Bay Area.

It was a milestone, an achievement marker, in the opening lines of California Roll’s story. While CLU won the game, California Roll left the field exhilarated and pumped for another game.

Their next game, against Sheldon, proved to be one of the more harrowing games of the tournament. California Roll sought to take control of the game through smooth handling action from Carothers-Liske, Wells and freshman Thalia Ward, but the two teams traded points, each fighting for possession of the disc. Just when California Roll started to break free, Sheldon responded and tied the game again at 6-6. On double-game point, California Roll punched in the final score, rising to the occasion and snagging their first win.

The remainder of Saturday’s games proved productive for the ladies from the Bay Area. Breaking through Franklin’s notoriously tough zone defense in their third game, California Roll was able to complete a few beautiful hucks.

They finished the day with a fight against Roosevelt where they put their defensive skills to work against Roosevelt’s consistent and formidable offense. Roosevelt came out on top. On Sunday, California Roll capped off their weekend with a big win over Garfield and a closely-matched battle with South Eugene, which they lost by one mere point.

By the end of the tournament, they had truly discovered how to work together as a team. Wells remarked that Westerns was “a chance to build a sense of team and camaraderie with this amazing group of young women.”

Carothers-Liske said the experience contributed to her own development as a player, a leader and a teammate:

“WE REALLY CAME TOGETHER AND LEARNED TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER’S PLAYING STYLES, STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES AND LEARN TO WORK WITH EACH OTHER BASED OFF OF THOSE THINGS.” The story of California Roll suits the spirit of ultimate. A small but determined group of girls took it upon themselves to build a team, bring a group of people together and travel a long way from home to compete in a tournament. The team relied upon themselves but also had a full staff of 56

coaches and parents that made the trip to Oregon to support them and cheer them on. They came to the tournament ready to play, and play they did. The age span involved is evidence of the team’s inclusiveness, and their devotion to the sport is apparent purely in their willingness to come together as a team. Before Westerns, the team had not even had a practice together as a full squad. Afterwards, they had six complete games and two grueling days of play under their belts, and they had truly risen to the challenge.

Their desire to compete, willingness to fight for every point, upbeat and insatiable attitude and supportiveness of each other spoke to their undeniable team character, and it was not something that will not soon be forgotten.

Perhaps coach Lindi Sabloff summed it up best, “Despite being shorthanded…the girls played tough throughout the entire weekend; never once did they act like young teenagers, but were mature beyond their years - coming together and digging deeper even when down by a significant amount. Through injuries, heat stroke and overall exhaustion, they played like veterans, not rookies, and never gave up. This team is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.”

California Roll expects to be back for Westerns in 2015 and for years to come.

NORTHWEST DOMINATES! The Northwest School earned their spot as the top seed at the Western High School Championships as they sealed first place on Sunday afternoon. The ladies of Northwest brought their best game play and ability to compete to

2014 marked the Northwest School's third championship in as many appearances. They took a two-year hiatus before returning in 2014.

Photo: Scobel Wiggins/Ultiphotos

Corvallis. They displayed strong and consistent throws from everyone on their team, scrappy defense, and pure athleticism and endurance throughout the weekend.

They made it through Saturday’s pool play undefeated and came into Sunday’s semifinals enthusiastic and ready.

Northwest faced off against Corvallis Ladies’ Ultimate (CLU) in the final and battled it through point after point in a game that traded favor several times. Mariah Webb made her presence known all over the field with downfield completions and strong defense, including several layout Ds. After several defensive plays in the final few minutes of the game from junior Josie Gillett and Selene Canter, Northwest scored the championship point for a final score of 8-7.

Northwest also took home a second consecutive state championship title and a tournament win at the Seattle Invite in May. Congratulations to Northwest’s Conspiracy of Lemurs!

WESTERNS GIRLS FINAL STANDINGS FINAL STANDINGS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

NORTHWEST SCHOOL CORVALLIS FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT NATHAN HALE SUMMIT SHELDON SOUTH EUGENE BERKELEY GARFIELD

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS:

4.3 GARFIELD* 4.3 NATHAN HALE 4.2 ROOSEVELT 4.2 SOUTH EUGENE 3.9 CORVALLIS 3.8 FRANKLIN 3.8 SHELDON 3.8 SUMMIT 3.7 BERKELEY 3.7 NORTHWEST SCHOOL *WON TIEBREAKER

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INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS:

BERKELEY – Maria Fong CORVALLIS – Annelie Haberman FRANKLIN – Gabby Balanon GARFIELD – Anya Meleshuk NATHAN HALE – Naomi Price-Lazarus NORTHWEST SCHOOL – Ghislaine Pagès ROOSEVELT – Olivia Kugiya SHELDON – Ayla Bussel SOUTH – Eugene Yausi Khajavei SUMMIT – Emma Malmquist

U S A U LT I M AT E

BY: KASHA PATEL

ULT I M AT E C A N EASI LY I N F LU E N C E YO U R WO R KO U T S C H E D U L E , WEEK EN D P L A N S, D I ET, SOCI A L C I R C L E S – A N D LOV E L I F E . AS TH E S P O RT GA I N S P OP UL A R I T Y, M OR E P LAY E R S A R E F I N D I N G TH E I R S I G N I F I C A N T OTH E R S ON T HE F I EL D. BUT I T ’ S M OR E TH A N TH E S P O RT’ S P O P U L A R I TY TH AT B R I N G S DIS C LOV ER S TOG ET HER A N D D OW N TH E A I S L E . TH E R E A R E S E V E R A L P E R KS TO DAT I N G A N D M A R RY I N G S O M E O N E W H O C A N TH R OW A F L I C K A N D C ATC H A C A L L A H A N .

Throwing the ultimate wedding

they met or even baby pictures. Some couples use the Frisbees as plates at the reception or buy smaller discs to hand out as coasters.

Ultimate players know how to throw a good party – and wedding. Ultimate weddings, a wedding between ultimate players, tend to include a unique element or two. Some couples send out save-the-date cards where the bride is laying out for a disc in her wedding dress while others have customized ultimate player cake toppers. One couple even created two teams – one for the bride, and one for the groom – and played a game to see whose last name was going to be taken during the marriage.

Most importantly, an ultimate wedding is an opportunity to remember and celebrate how the couples met. Jon Proctor met his wife, Mel, at Philadelphia’s summer league. They were together for over 10 years before getting married.

At one point during that time, they packed their bags and traveled around the country for three months, playing ultimate in tournaments nationwide.

One of the most popular Frisbee-themed items at ultimate weddings are discs. Discraft reports weddingthemed Frisbee orders have increased at a rate of about 10 percent per year over the past decade. Last year, the company received custom orders for at least 100 weddings from all over the world. Many couples order Frisbees as wedding favors for guests, stamping the discs with text commemorating the date, a picture of where

Mel and Jon got married in Hawaii, where they were both competing on different teams at the 2002 World Ultimate Club Championship. They arrived to the tournament early and had a small ceremony with about 10 people on a beach on the Big Island. Then they played the game that brought them together over 10 years earlier in Philadelphia. “Our honeymoon was Worlds,” said Mel.

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Sharing the ultimate culture

Only ultimate players can really understand the sport’s culture: the commitment, Spirit of the Game mentality, competitiveness and thrill of waking up on weekend mornings to chase a piece of plastic.

“Before we ever even thought about dating, we knew we had a special connection through ultimate,” said Dan Tyx, who played on a coed team with his future wife, Laura Nikstad. “I just always knew where she would be on the field and could trust her to bail me out whenever we got in trouble, which was a lot in those days because we were pretty bad.” Dan doesn’t recall winning a single game that year.

Mel & John

After a year, the two started dating and eventually married. Now, with two young children, the sport has become a family event. “From my perspective, the biggest advantage is that ultimate is something that we do together,” said Dan. But the ultimate culture extends off the field, too. “You talk about frisbee all the time, so it’s nice to have that in common,” said Tammy Moose, who met her future wife, Lauren Tompson, at a pickup game 13 years ago. Unlike Moose, who played ultimate in college, Tompson had played soccer but never ultimate. After playing for only two weeks, Tompson traveled with Moose to a tournament where Tompson laid out and D’ed a veteran player from behind. Not knowing the high caliber of the player she blocked, Tompson simply responded to Moose’s shock and enthusiasm with “I just went for the disc.” About a month later, they went out on a date.

Tammy & Lauren

In their 13 years together, they have shared the community of ultimate friends and the extensive commitment of competitive play. Competing on the same club team several times, the two traveled together to tournaments, once being away together for every weekend from May to November. Now ultimate isn’t their only time commitment – the two are raising twins. “The twins can play whatever they want, but they’ll be growing up in a Crossfit gym and on an ultimate field,” Moose said.

Transitioning from the “friend zone”

Ultimate facilitates friendship as well as a means to transition out of the “friend zone” for couples. Scott first met his future wife Tara at a pickup game where his mixed team was trying to recruit more players. He distinctly remembered Tara as a “soccer player with good hands” and a definite priority to recruit for the team.

They played ultimate together for over a year on the mixed SUMMER 2014

Thuy & Tim club team before dating. Scott would come to practices early, hoping Tara would show up early too, so he could toss the disc with her and talk to her before anyone else got there (Tara was completely oblivious of his crush). The two got to know each other on road trips to tournaments and at team dinners after practices.

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priest surprised them by pulling out a Frisbee and giving a sermon on how ultimate united them – teammates on the field, teammates for life.

Fueling passion on the ultimate field

While ultimate is fun at its core, it can also be a source of frustration and embarrassment when a disc is dropped or a scoring opportunity is missed – not necessarily the most romantic time for two lovebirds. Husbands yell at wives or give silent disappointed glares. Wives nag their overemotional or tired husbands to calm down or remember to hydrate. Couples get into arguments over who made the mistake, and nobody, especially competitive ultimate players, likes to be wrong.

“At first, we were pointing out the deficiencies in each other’s game,” said Erin, a newlywed of a little over one year.

Like many ultimate couples, because she and her husband knew each other well, they pointed out corrections to one another that others likely would not mention, which was sometimes difficult to digest. According to Erin, it takes time, but eventually you learn how to communicate with each other.

Erin & Ben

But sometimes the on-field frustration is a special perk of dating or marrying another player. “I think if there’s no tension, there’s something wrong,” said x Brooks.

“I like to think of it as passion.”

ON E COUP L E EV EN C R EAT ED T WO T EA MS – ONE FOR T HE BR I D E, A N D ON E FO R

While living in Asheville, N.C., Thuy met her future husband Tim, who lived in Durham, through ultimate.

Six years later, they got married. Both have been playing for over 20 years and played at an elite club level. “I love playing with him. He’s a great player. I try to play with him whenever I can,” Thuy said. When couples have been dating and playing together for so long, the chemistry spills onto the ultimate field. Couples learn how to read each other on the field and anticipate where the other may cut or look to throw – creating the flow ultimate teams strive for.

T HE GROOM – AN D P L AYED A G A M E TO SE E W HOSE LAST N A M E WAS G OI N G TO BE TA K EN DUR I N G T HE M A R R I AG E.

“I think I have a pretty outspoken personality that perhaps doesn’t scream “husband material” on a first date,” said Scott. “I think through practices, road trips to tournaments, and team dinners, Tara got to know some other sides of me that are perhaps more attractive though not as flashy.”

And sometimes the ultimate chemistry spills over into the marriage. “We know how to read each other,” Dan said.

“Laura is the kind of player who plays with her eyes, always making eye contact and communicating to her teammates without having to say anything, and it’s been that way in our marriage as well.”

And sometimes it takes four years before players start dating. Erin Ivers, who played for two and a half years at Indiana University, remembers seeing her future husband Ben around the freshman dorms, then on the ultimate field and then in the business school. Each were dating other people, so their friendship was cordial and completely platonic. Then, during the second semester of their senior year, when both were captains of their respective teams and single, they began tossing the disc around and running together. After four years of friendship and about three months of dating, Ben could see a future with Erin and soon proposed. At the wedding, their

Then, Laura tells him to slow down when he’s tired during a game or to calm down in a heated moment. “Of course she’s always right, even if I get annoyed at the time,” Dan said. “But that’s all part of life, too, and ultimate is a big part of our life together.”

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U ULTIMATE HISTORY H

By: Stu Downs

Carmen Lipoma and Shawn Adams EDITOR’S NOTE: 2014 MARKS THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF SHAWN ADAMS. THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN ULTIMATE: THE FIRST FOUR DECADES (2005) - WWW.ULTIMATEHISTORY.COM/ ULTIMATEHISTORYBOOK. WE ARE EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO REPRINT IT HERE. Frisbee is life and, as such, is bound to the same triumphs and tragedies. There is no script, no manual for acting in a crisis. What follows is my take on the events of April 10, 1994, a day that lives in Ultimate infamy—the day we lost Shawn Adams.

It was Sunday morning at Nashville’s annual Monkey Bowl, also known as April Fool’s South.

Like fools, we played despite heavy rain. Having endured one game, we encountered our friends from Knoxville’s VooDoo in the quarterfinals.

Eight points into the match, a plane flew above through the deluge. Suddenly, “BOOM!” came the jolt. Some reported seeing a white flash, some said they saw the streak. I saw nothing and hurt nowhere, but my body felt as though someone had hammered me. We had been hit by lightning.

Peering around ignorantly, I realized no one was standing. I saw Bob Hickey lying on his back, Donovan Thomas with his head between his knees and Carmen Lipoma prone and motionless with smoke rising from her chest. I did not see Shawn Adams. With folks rushing in many directions, I drifted toward Bob, then was confronted by Bruce Tucker staggering towards me. Knoxville’s captain, Fred Baes, and I helped them along, followed

by Tina Traber who had rushed to fetch her car immediately while others panicked.

SUMMER 2014

Suddenly, I noticed Woody Blackwell and Dave Goode hauling Carmen across the field and placing her into Tina’s SUV. Tina screamed at me to get in. Dave administered CPR to Carmen with my fumbling assistance. Tina tore through rainy parkway traffic to the closest hospital.

Carmen was delivered without a pulse to the professionals, Bruce to outpatient care. Three of us sat in a wet pile of shock in the waiting room as more players arrived. The day proceeded slowly with fear and confusion. It became known that Carmen and Shawn were in critical condition.

Faces soaked in rain and tears blur my memory as I try to recall those first moments in the hospital.

Most chilling among the scenes I witnessed was Shawn’s girlfriend asking players where he was.

The news seemed sudden two hours later: Shawn didn’t make it. A giant throng of Southern Ultimate players now pinned themselves in a circle praying for the health of one of Atlanta’s most loved gals.

Carmen Lipoma fell into a coma for six weeks that afternoon and several of us did the same. We spent three or more clouded days in that hospital, sleeping in a room kindly provided by the staff.

No clue what we did, where we ate, how much we slept. I think I called my parents and reminded them I loved them. I’m sure I was not the only one.

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The community response from Carmen’s hometown, Atlanta, was amazing. People descended upon Nashville each week to see her. The conversations, the warmth, the music and honesty poured forth. Local Nashville club players dropped by and coordinated our lives as if waiting for an assignment from above to do something divine with their good hearts. Food arrived, places to sleep were provided, transportation was always available. Funny how important all those little life details are, but having them taken care of allowed us the undistracted freedom to sit and feel and create.

To raise money for Carmen’s care, one of her childhood friends designed a T-shirt honoring the guardian angels who helped her survive. Carmen’s teammate Scott Cathey, who had been treated that day for splash lightning, designed a disc to accompany the shirt. The phrase “Use this disc when pulling for Carmen” was the product of late night pensive chats with pal Kirk Johnson. Carmen’s temporary employer Joey Reiman Ad Agency contributed an initial $3,000 to start a fund. I recall the amount reaching $70,000 at one point. Numerous Ultimate donors and tournaments gave proceeds to her—I specifically recall an event in Missouri sending $350 and I don’t think anyone there knew Carmen or Shawn. There was an art exhibition, hundreds of discs donated by Discraft and a rock musician (whose name I must keep quiet) donated $15,000 of his own money.

The Shawn Adams Memorial takes place every Labor Day in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 2004, as a 10th anniversary celebration, a team named SRA (Shawn R. Adams) was initiated by Russ Walker and other ‘Nooga pals to honor one of the game’s mightiest spirits.

In Nashville, each April there has been some mention, some reminder of that sad day. I still see the Carmen shirt being worn and I still get a specific feeling upon seeing certain people associated with those days. And, thanks to the efforts then and continuing, today I get to revel in my friend Carmen’s company and am reminded of the beauty and strength of the Ultimate community in which I choose to spend my time.

Shawn (top left) shown playing at Savage Seven, Huntsville - 1988 Photo: playultimate.net/theman.shtml

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ADVANCED SPEED, STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING TRAINING TIPS

ABOVE THE COMPETITION

Kettlebell Training for the Ultimate Athlete Part 2: The Snatch

BY

TIM MORRILL, M.A., CSCS, HFS Owner of Morrill Performance

THE SNATCH FOR IMPROVING LAYOUTS & SKIES

In the spring 2014 issue of Above the Competition, I introduced kettlebell training for ultimate athlete development. I invited you to get out there and groove your kettlebell swings and provided you with some simple workouts to add conditioning behind the swing pattern. In this issue, we will increase the specificity as we get to work on the king of the kettlebell moves: the snatch!

A safe layout position is almost identical to the position we see at the top of the snatch. A cause of many shoulder injuries is the inability to fully extend into a safe, globally extended position (hips through, arms overhead). The inability to get into this position during layouts may cause you to land on a bent arm which can cause trauma to

Spend time prior to snatch workouts mobilizing your overhead mobility, stretching your hip flexors and activating your glutes and hip extensors.

SNATCH FOR BALANCING ASYMMETRY

the shoulder upon impact with the ground. Injury incidents can easily be reduced if we recognize the need to develop overhead mobility and groove the global extension position. Training the kettlebell snatch will improve your ability to quickly get into this position, thereby creating the opportunity for safer layouts and higher skies.

Due to the unilateral nature of ultimate and the unique demands it places on our bodies, ultimate players tend to develop muscular and structural asymmetries. These asymmetries lead to inefficiency in movement and can result in injury.

It is our responsibility as athletes to work toward balancing our bodies in an effort to promote centering and efficiency. Unilateral kettlebell training is a great opportunity to recognize our inefficiencies and work to correct them. Training with the snatch will cause you to recognize and correct your side-to-side differences. Some common side-to-side differences include grip strength, hip-extension power, shoulder mobility in the overhead position and the ability to maintain shoulder torque during the backswing.

SUMMER 2014

SNATCH PROGRESSION One-Arm KB Swing (Figures 1 and 2) • Hike the bell and begin the KB Swing (see spring 2014 issue of Above the Competition in USA Ultimate). • As you begin to find your rhythm, release one hand and continue to swing. Your shoulder may be tempted to come forward. Keep 64

1

FIGURE 1. 1 ARM KB SWING

2

3

FIGURE 2. 1 ARM KB SWING

tension through the lats in order to connect the bell to the torso.

FIGURE 3. BACK SWING

4

FIGURE 4. HIKE POSITION

strength. Choose a bell that is light enough to float all the way to the high pull position with only the power of your hips.

• Your free arm should follow the same path as your working arm.

Exhale forcefully as your hips extend.

Spend time prior to snatch workouts mobilizing your overhead mobility, stretching your hip flexors and activating your glutes and hip extensors.

KB High Pull (Figure 3) • Extend your hips aggressively enough to allow the bell to rise up to shoulder level.

ADVANCED CHALLENGE! 100 REP KETTLEBELL SNATCH CHALLENGE

• At shoulder level, cue “elbow back” while keeping a tight grip.

This is a tremendous workout for develop Ultimate specific power endurance. If you can forcefully extend your hips hard enough to get a bell to rise overhead for 100 reps then when you go out to sprint you will have more power behind each stride. More power behind each stride means increased speed and better Ultimate performance. Snatching the KB for 100 reps will take between 3:30 and 4:30. Switch hands after every 10 reps to maintain technique. Only attempt the challenge after mastering the KB Snatch and be sure to begin with a light bell! E-mail me anytime with questions, comments and feedback on your 100 rep snatch challenge at morrillperformance@gmail.com.

KB Snatch (Figure 4) • Extend your hips aggressively enough to allow the bell to rise up to shoulder level.

• When the bell arrives at shoulder level, slightly pull back from the elbow and punch your hand through.

• Pause in the overhead position to create overhead stability.

• Repeat and switch hands.

SNATCH TIPS Be careful not to let the kettlebell flop over onto your forearm. When learning, consider wearing wristbands to protect your forearm. Loosen your grip for the top two-thirds of the movement.

Re-grip very tightly as the bell comes into the overhead position. This re-grip will reduce the stress on your forearms.

The hips move the bell, not the arms. Do not attempt to muscle up the bell by using your arm 65

U S A U LT I M AT E

ABOVE THE COMPETITION cont.

FIGURE 1. BACKSWING

FIGURE 2. 1 ARM SWING

FIGURE 3. HIGH PULL

FIGURE 4. SNATCH Side View: Tim Morrill

Front View: Alex Jacoski

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ATHLETE-SPECIFIC NUTRITIONAL INFOR­MATION TO HELP YOU PERFORM YOUR BEST

NUTRITION MATTERS

Myths and Mirages: What Ultimate Players Really Need to Know about Good Nutrition

BY

KATY HARRIS MSPH, CSCS, Owner, WellLife Consulting, LLC

MYTH: GLUTEN-FREE MEANS THE FOOD IS HEALTHIER.

Carbs are bad for you. Fat is bad for you. A highprotein diet is bad for you.

So what is left to eat? It seems like no one can agree. There are so many mixed messages and fad diets and changes in the science, we are all dizzy from being pulled in every direction. Of course, there are many important things we have learned from years of research about what foods are good for us and why, but the most important lesson of all is that what may be healthy can mean very different things for different people.

Answer: Sometimes, but not usually.

Although some people have an actual allergy to gluten and tend to avoid bread products all together, those of us with no allergy do not necessarily need to avoid bread any more than other nonnutritive calories like sugar, juice, fake sweeteners, etc. While an allergy to gluten is now common (there is 20 times more gluten in wheat products now than there was 25 years ago), eating glutenfree products is not necessary unless you have this allergy. Gluten is just ONE of the potentially harmful proteins in wheat, and even gluten-free wheat products still contain many of the other harmful proteins. So eating gluten-free crackers, Cheez-its or cookies is no better for you and is just putting money in advertisers’ pockets.

Products made of other substances and labeled gluten-free (i.e., rice crackers, soy or tofu) are not made of wheat and are therefore gluten-free. But these foods are mainly empty calories as well, since they provide carbohydrates and immediate energy but not much other nutritional value. The carbohydrates and antioxidants in these foods, however, may be useful to athletes with higher

Health and performance are tied to a complex variety of factors, including body weight, stress levels, activity, muscle composition, body mass, psychology, etc. Each individual is so different that it becomes very difficult to make sweeping generalizations about whether one food is healthy or not. To break down all these complex messages, below are several questions many of us have had about what we hear in the media every day regarding what foods are ‘healthy’ and what is bad for us. Ultimately, each athlete should decide what is healthy for him or her based on knowledge and experience.

Following the ‘myths’ of the media can have dangerous consequences, and any changes to your diet should be supervised by a physician or nutritionist. Health and performance cannot be separated, and myths can lead to mirages if you are not careful to listen to your body and continue to search for credible sources of information.

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caloric needs, but altering the food to be glutenfree takes away most of the calories and fiber, making the food less healthy when consumed for that purpose.

However, this effect is only possible under certain training conditions in some people, and most of the time, excess insulin leads to weight gain, bloating and high blood sugar and replaces the desire for healthy, more nutritive foods.

MYTH: FOODS WITH FAT ARE BAD FOR YOU. Answer: It depends on what type of fat and whether your diet has an imbalance one way or the other. You need some of each type of fat, including saturated fat from animal sources, and other types of fat from oils and foods like nuts, olives, avocados, fish and shellfish. The typical American diet is overloaded with seed oils and saturated fat and does not include enough nut, olive and fish oils, since fried foods, animal fats and potato chips and French fries are so frequently consumed (McDonald’s, anyone?).

Seed oils are unstable to begin with, and when exposed to high heat, light and refining chemicals, the oils become very unstable and release free radicals into the body. Salad dressings and foods fried in vegetable oils (e.g., potato chips) should be avoided in a normal diet so as not to disrupt the balance of healthy saturated fats and fats from oils, nuts, olives, avocados, organic butter and dairy. Olive and nut oils are slightly more stable, but again make sure it is in a dark container and store in a cool, dark.

MYTH: DAIRY - IT DOES A BODY GOOD. Answer: Sometimes, but most of the time, not really. Dairy is unusual in that it is a single food source that contains all three macronutrients: carbohydrates (the lactose), protein (casein and whey) and fat. The good part about dairy is the fat, and it’s even better in organic dairy products.

Since the harmful toxins, hormones and heavy metals are contained in the fat, organic milk is a better choice. The same is not necessarily true of the proteins and the lactose. Cheese is mostly casein and fat, which are both good for athletes - fat for energy and casein as the only slow-digesting protein available in a food source.

However, cheese, especially aged cheeses like blue cheese, can cause a histamine response (meaning inflammation). These chemicals are also able to slip past the blood-brain barrier, causing morphine-like effects. Wine and cheese anyone?

Since we are highly exposed to animal, seed and vegetable oil fats and are lacking in those from other sources, it is important for us to take every opportunity to have fish and fish oil and be aware of the balance of fats in our diets. Since the fat is the healthy part, try to get organic, highfat dairy sources like butter, cottage cheese and ghee (Indian clarified butter without the milk proteins). Hydrogenated oils, a very unhealthy type of fat mistaken for a normal one and used to create faulty cell membranes (as well as many other dysfunctions), should be avoided whenever possible.

Since most of us lose the ability to digest lactose at weaning, the carbohydrates in dairy (particularly milk) are also not so good. Not only does milk fill you up with quickly-releasing sugars, but the whey contains insulin (a fat-storing hormone).

Fitness and marketing professionals have promoted the whey in protein powders since it is filtered and has been associated with a quicker uptake of carbohydrates post-exercise due to the insulin (and thus increases in performance).

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NUTRITION MATTERS cont.

MYTH: ATHLETES EAT JUNK FOOD ALL THE TIME AND STAY HEALTHY.

MYTH: EATING AT NIGHT OR WHEN YOU ARE STRESSED IS BAD FOR YOU.

Answer: Although it is true that the food athletes typically eat during games and competition (e.g., animal crackers, juice, Gatorade, cookies, etc.) is not technically healthy since they are higher in carbs than nutrients, healthy here is a relative term. If by junk food we mean potato chips, fried foods, high amounts of animal fat, then no, that athlete would likely not be healthy. Even if they were thin, these individuals are likely to have ‘silent’ inflammation, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc., even at a healthy weight.

However, carbohydrates in the form of whole foods with little to no added sugar are a very useful and necessary source of energy during competition where athletes are expending large amounts of energy in a short period of time.

Carbohydrates are the only quickly accessible source of energy, as protein takes between one and four hours to digest, while fat can take up to nine.

Answer: Sometimes, but most of the time, eating when you are hungry is the healthiest option. If you are hungry, it’s 10 p.m. and you are going to bed within an hour, a small snack of one or two handfuls of carbohydrates and some fat and protein is best, perhaps half a handful of each, since you don’t want to go to bed on a full stomach. If you are going to bed in two hours, eat something with mostly carbs and a little more protein and fat. These guidelines are the same that apply to activity, so think about timing your meals and snacks before bed the same way you would before a workout. You may wake up not feeling so well if you eat a full meal late at night and go right to bed. This habit can also disrupt your normal hormonal response, so you could wake up starving as well.

There is a real concern that stress eating carbohydrates can lead to unhealthy eating patterns and binge eating, but the body is under breakdown when you are under stress.

Cortisol is being released and telling the body, “Please eat, I’m breaking down here; I need some calories!” So it is actually important to increase your protein and good fat intake, as well as that of carbohydrates under certain circumstances and when under more stress, to replenish the proteins being broken down.

This is exactly what happens during a workout, and you wouldn’t starve yourself during or after a workout, right? The concern comes if you are continually using food to feed a negative thought or feeling. So make sure not to get so hungry that you turn to bad foods. Instead, eat a balanced meal or snack, and you will be much less likely to develop an unhealthy stress relationship with food.

Ideally, each athlete should experiment with what sources they like and tolerate best and have these foods accessible throughout the day. Animal crackers, Wheat Thins, bread, juice and fruit are all possible options. Liquid calories in the form of 100 percent juices and coconut water mixed with juice or water are also good alternatives for quickly digesting calories. Things like crackers, Fig Newtons, and fruit are best between points or during halftimes. Protein should be consumed during a break, with fat consumption in the early morning and after playing. These whole foods are better alternative to many foods contrived by the marketing and food industry, as more processed foods typically require more energy to break down and store than the benefits are worth.

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MYTH: IF YOU ARE AN ATHLETE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT, YOU SHOULD EAT FEWER CALORIES AND CONTINUE TO TRAIN AS HARD AS YOU CAN.

two is actually addressing excess stress in your life, and/or REDUCING high-intensity exercise if you have a lot of stress. If you need to lose fat, you have to ‘burn’ it off with tough workouts and sprints, right? But actually the muscle burns fat most efficiently when you are at rest, but only if there is enough protein and good fat in the system to support your brain function, organs, tissue, immune system, stress and activity. Being under-nourished can lead to cortisol release, so exercising and creating more breakdown when the body is already low in nutrients is just going to release more cortisol and have the opposite of the desired effect. Low-intensity exercise is best under these circumstances to help release cortisol in small amounts over time and build the body’s ‘immunity’ to cortisol for when it is released in response to real stress in everyday life.

Answer: Please never do this! Retaining fat is common when the body does not get enough protein or fluids and gets too many empty calories. It can also be a result of too much stress (high cortisol release) or too many artificial sweeteners and/or sugar. If the body is low in necessary nutrients like good fat and protein, it will tell you to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods to satisfy excessive hunger. But an hour later, all that energy is gone, and there is still not enough protein or good fat, so your body tells you it is hungry again. So getting adequate calories from protein and good fat (see MYTH: Foods with fat are bad for you) is step one. Step

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INSIGHT AND TIPS FROM COACHES, FOR COACHES

COACHES’ PLAYBOOK

Authentic Ultimate: Part Four – Consensus Decision Making in the Authentic Ultimate Framework

BY

KYLE WEISBROD

PRESENTED BY FIVE ULTIMATE

Every team faces difficult decisions throughout the course of a season. Choosing captains and making final roster selections are typically the decisions that have the highest potential to be fraught with controversy. But decisions around setting team goals, values and standards, scheduling practices and selecting tournaments, and even uniform selection also have potential to create conflict.

their buy-in is critically important. On top of that, those players may feel distrust for the team and the process and wonder what was said while they weren’t in the room. If choosing captains is the way your team starts the season, either of these processes may lead to an uncomfortable first step.

Consensus-style decision making, on the other hand, ensures that every player has an opportunity to be heard, no one is talked about behind their back and, ultimately, every player who is impacted by the decision has agreed to buy in.

In these high-stakes decisions, it is important that everyone on your team understands why the decision is being made and buys in to the decision. The process behind these critical choices has the potential to either unite and drive your team forward or sew discontent and lack of trust. Consensus decision making is a model for group decision making that is well suited for Authentic Ultimate teams and also helps to further authentic relationships.

CONSENSUS DECISION-MAKING PROCESS The process for consensus decision making is very important. While it may feel inefficient, efforts to find short cuts in any step of the process can have a negative result and may even result in the decision taking longer to make. I found that out firsthand with the 2012 U-19 girls’ team when we tried to shorten the discussion phase of our captains selection process by doing some initial voting.

Take the annual choice of team captains, for example. For many teams, more players are interested in being a captain than there are captaining spots. The two most frequently used processes for captain selection are voting using secret ballots or a team discussion without the nominees present. While the secret ballot process is efficient and the eventual captains will have the support of the majority of the voters, the process has no gauge to indicate the level of discontent that those who didn’t vote for the winners will have with their new leaders. Selecting captains using a team discussion without the nominees present allows for a greater level of discussion and buy-in from all players in the room, but the nominees who aren’t chosen have no voice in the discussion, and, as non-captain leaders, SUMMER 2014

1. Discussion – In the discussion phase of the process, the goal is to identify useful information and preliminary opinions about the decision to be made. It is crucial that everyone has their 72

voice heard and that members of the group actively listen to what others are saying. If you are facilitating this type of discussion, it is important to (a) identify people who aren’t participating and encourage them to get involved, (b) identify areas where there appears to be consensus forming, and (c) identify the people who may be resistant to any forming consensus and encourage them to participate.

During the discussion phase of the process, there should be no active proposals presented.

Proposals should only be made and considered once there appears to be a high level of consensus. Your group should only consider one proposal at a time and should look for consensus on that proposal. Never weigh one proposal directly against another.

2.Proposal – Once there appears to be general consensus among the group, any member may put forward a proposal for consideration.

Ensuring the entire team buys into decisions made is crucial to a successful season.

Photo: CBMT Creative

3. Test for Consensus – In the test for consensus, members have the ability to vote one of three ways on the proposal.

4. Concerns Raised – Members who choose to block the proposal must express why they made that decision. From there, the process can move one of three ways.

a. Agree: the member is supportive of the decision.

a. Members who blocked the proposal choose to stand aside and consent to the proposal after voicing their concerns, in which case, the proposal passes.

b. Consent/Stand Aside: the proposal is not the member’s personal preference but they will consent to support the group’s decision.

b. The proposal is modified based on the concerns, and a new test for consensus begins.

c. Block: the member is not prepared to support the proposal.

c. Discussion resumes with the proposal being tabled.

In team settings, the best way to execute this vote is with everyone’s eyes open. Use thumbs up for “Agree,” thumbs sideways for “Consent” and thumbs down for “Block.”

While there are some ways to modify the consensus decision-making process to streamline it, such as allowing for one or two dissenters without the ability to block, for an ultimate team of under 30 people, a full consensus works a significant majority of the time. Yes, you may end up in five-hour captain selection meetings or what feels like never-ending roster selection meetings, but that’s certainly preferable to dealing with the fallout from a decision players don’t buy into.

And often, in those tough discussions, we learn more about each other, what we want, how we think and how we interact in times of conflict, all of which can help us achieve long-term goals beyond just making whatever decision is on the table at that moment.

As long as no member chooses to “Block” a proposal, the proposal passes. This is true even if every member chooses the “Consent” option.

If any member votes to block the proposal, the proposal is not approved (after all, we’re looking for consensus). Members may choose to block for any reason: because they are personally uncomfortable supporting the outcome, because they feel an alternative proposal might be better for the group, or because they feel there hasn’t been enough discussion yet and perhaps some other members’ voices need to be heard.

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LOCAL LEAGUE SPOTLIGHT WESTFIELD AREA YMCA: MIDDLE SCHOOL ULTIMATE In 1969, ultimate began as a simple game invented by a group of high school friends in Maplewood, N.J. Since that time, it has become one of the fastest-growing team sports in the United States and is played all over the world.

A LOOK AT LOCAL LEAGUES AROUND THE COUNTRY

RYAN BELLINE

operated through the Westfield Area YMCA. Their partnership brings logistical support, training, liability coverage, risk management and an unparalleled level of credibility within the community to the ultimate program.

Collett sees ultimate and its focus on Spirit of the Game as a perfect match with the YMCA’s focus and values because the sport places the responsibility on the players and relies on mutual respect, helping youth athletes build healthy conflict resolution skills.

The players make a commitment to practice during after school hours a couple days a week and compete on the weekends. The highlight of the season is a trip to Amherst, Mass., for the Northeast Regional Middle School Tournament. Players and their families travel together for a weekend of events. One can feel a true sense of community spirit as they cheer for their children on the field and come together with their kids to celebrate their achievements in the evenings.

This new program has provided the Westfield Area YMCA with increased community outreach abilities and more youth development opportunities for the middle school population.

In 2010, the Westfield (N.J.) Area YMCA teamed up with a local middle school to run an organized, instructional and somewhat competitive ultimate team. This successful program has grown quickly and now serves more than 80 boys and girls per season, as an addition or alternative to traditional school sports.

Lead Coach Ryan Belline is an avid ultimate player, coach of the Westfield High School ultimate team and a sixth-grade math teacher at Edison Intermediate School in Westfield, N.J. He first brought ultimate to the middle school in 2007 as a weekly after-school club. By its second year, the program had grown to more than 40 players, fueled by Belline’s dynamic personality and passion for the sport. He quickly realized the challenges of managing such a large number of participants and reached out to Marty Collett, Director of Youth, Teen and Camp Services at the Westfield Area YMCA, for support. Belline had been volunteering at the YMCA for about two years as a chaperone in their teen programs.

Recognizing the YMCA’s resources, Belline saw great potential for growth of the ultimate program if it was

YMCA OF METROPOLITAN DENVER: REACHING OUT TO OUR COMMUNITY ERIC CONRAD This winter, the YMCA of Metropolitan Denver’s Community Programs Branch partnered with a local high school and USA Ultimate to offer a low-cost/ no-cost instructional ultimate league for high school students around Denver. The Community Programs Branch works with and within the communities we serve, meaning our partnerships and the relationships we build are vital to our success. This 75

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First night of winter league at the YMCA of Metropolitan Denver. Photo: Maggie Chen

unique YMCA branch works “outside” a traditional YMCA facility, and 100 percent of our resources go directly into community programming.

weather cancellation the entire season. At the end of the season, we held a round-robin tournament on a Saturday and provided snacks, lunch and a guarantee of three games per team.

Through a key partnership with Manual High School, the YMCA ran a unique ultimate winter league.

We secured lighted turf fields one night a week at no cost, with the understanding that Manual High School students would be able to play in the league for free. Non-Manual High School students were charged $40 for the 10-week league, and every player was given their own disc, shoe bag and water bottle.

The format of the league was beneficial to all the parties that made it happen. Manual High School was able to provide an athletic opportunity for their students at no cost. Non-Manual High School students were provided a low-cost winter league and the opportunity to work with and learn from Denver’s elite ultimate players. The club player-coaches were able to give back to their community by teaching the sport they love to a new generation of players. And the YMCA Community Programs Branch was able to further our mission to bring about meaningful change within our community.

League sessions were run by local Denver club players who volunteered as player-coaches. The league consisted of six teams with 10 high school players and three club player-coaches each. Games were played in the evenings, and there was only one

As part of its mission, USA Ultimate has a strong focus on growing opportunities for youth to learn, play and compete in the sport, providing support through equipment kits, curriculum, coaching programs and outreach programs. The organization’s staff is constantly working to expose the sport to more students of all ages and more youth athletes. One of those outreach efforts took Mike Lovinguth, Manager of Youth and Education Programs, to the YMCA General Assembly in Philadelphia to promote the sport to YMCAs across the U.S., and help facilitate the creation of more programs like those established at the Westfield Area YMCA and YMCA of Metropolitan Denver.

For more information on USA Ultimate’s youth outreach programs, visit usaultimate.org.

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WATCHING ULTIMATE JUST GOT EASIER

WWW.NGNULTIMATE.COM/EASY LIVE COVERAGE FROM COLLEGE CHAMPSIONSHIPS US OPEN PRO-ELITE CHALLENGE PRO FLIGHT FINALE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS sponsored by

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REFLECTIONS ON SPIRIT FROM MEMBERS OF THE ULTIMATE COMMUNITY

THE SPIRIT CIRCLE Spirit of the Game: A Coach’s Perspective

BY

JIM SCHOETTLER Head Coach, Colorado Mamabird

ULTIMATE FOUND ME IN 1992 AS I WAS WALKING ACROSS WHITE PLAZA DURING MY FRESHMAN YEAR AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY. A GROUP OF UPPERCLASSMEN CALLED ME OVER AND ASKED IF I HAD EVER PLAYED. MAYBE ONCE OR TWICE IN THE HAY FIELD AT SUMMER CAMP MANY YEARS BEFORE, AND I ASSURED THEM I DIDN’T HAVE ANY SKILLS. BUT I WAS TALL (COMPARED TO THE GENERAL ULTIMATE POPULATION), AND APPARENTLY THAT WAS ENOUGH. At that time, the sport was trying to establish an identity as a more serious athletic endeavor. High school programs were a novelty, and few collegiate players had any prior experience.

I’ll admit to wearing a skirt or two to games in my college days and showing up for tournaments half an hour after they were scheduled to start and an hour before they actually began. I played in two College Championships. The games were to 21, there were no ESPN cameras and there were no observers.

both the importance of Spirit of the Game and how fragile it was. If a team wanted to win at any cost, there was nothing to stop them.

Over the rest of my college career, and through most of my club career, such egregious violations remained isolated.

So when I took over coaching the University of Colorado in 2008 - 11 years after I had last played a college game - I was surprised at how prevalent aggressive play and questionable spirit had become. The idea of a competitive but respectful community among the top programs had evaporated. This was epitomized on the largest stage by the Florida v. Carleton College national championship game in 2010, but it went

For the top programs and players, the sport was our athletic outlet and our community - not just between teammates, but between teams as well. Spirit of the Game was the governing force which enabled very competitive play in the absence of

Learning to gracefully exhibit sportsmanship in the heat of battle is a valuable and enduring lesson, and in that lesson is an inherent decency that is central to success on the field and in life. officiated games, and nearly everyone took it seriously. Those who abused it were considered cheaters.

far deeper than that. In pool play of the same tournament, our team and Wisconsin played one of the most un-spirited games (on both sides) I had ever witnessed.

In the 1994 College Championship final, we played East Carolina University (ECU). ECU called more than 50 travel calls - it seemed on nearly every throw. It was the first time we had seen a team systematically take advantage of the selfofficiating system to gain an advantage. Score after score was called back, and we lost the game by a few points. It proved SUMMER 2014

In the years since, Spirit of the Game has reemerged as a core value in many of the top collegiate programs. The Wisconsin Hodags, and their coach Hector Valdivia, are a prime example of a program that today leads by example in both their talent and sportsmanship.

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Spirit of the Game has reemerged as a priority amongst many of the nation's major college ultimate programs in recent years.

Photo: CBMT Creative

There are many contributing reasons for this transformation.

The Observer Program moves the responsibility for resolving calls to a third party and limits arguments between players.

TMFs penalize repeated transgressors. Adjusting rules - like the addition of the “contact” call - reduces the benefits of being overly aggressive or making poor calls. Efforts like the NexGen college all-star team and the USA Ultimate Under-23 National Teams bring together top players from different programs, and foster intra-team friendships. And USA Ultimate continues to focus on improving guidelines through several spirit-related committees. But the largest responsibility for teaching and implementing sportsmanship will remain on the programs and the players themselves.

I still yell a bit too much on game days, and the football which occasionally graced the Colorado sidelines this year was the team’s reminder to me to relax a bit. Each of these events remain salient among my ultimate memories - continually humbling me and reminding me that I can do better. Learning to gracefully exhibit sportsmanship in the heat of battle is a valuable and enduring lesson, and in that lesson is an inherent decency that is central to success on the field and in life.

I know from personal experience – as a player, a coach and a very competitive personality – that commitment to sportsmanship is an ongoing effort. In the 1997 College Championship finals, my last game as a college player, I waggled Greg “Hollywood” Husak after catching a comeback cut. Greg and I are now friends who have shared the field many times as both opponents and teammates. In my club days with Jam, I got into a yelling match with Lou Burruss of Sockeye when he questioned a call I made. Lou Burruss, who coaches the University of Oregon women’s team, and I now work together on the USA Ultimate Spirit Committee and on an effort to engage the top men’s collegiate programs in sportsmanship discussions. In my first year as coach at Colorado, I took a disc that an Oregon player had pushed into the mud after his turnover and threw it into the parking lot.

Oregon coach Jay Janin has forgiven me, I think, and we both encourage respectful competitiveness in our programs.

After competing against one another in the club division, Lou Burruss (right) and Jim Schoettler have both moved to coaching successful college teams and now work together with the USA Ultimate Spirit Committee in efforts to engage current teams in discussions of sportsmanship. Photo: CBMT Creative

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USA ULTIMATE’S STANDING RULES COMMITTEE CHAIR RESPONDS TO COMMON RULES

WHAT�S THE CALL

BY

COLIN MCINTYRE , Chair, Standing Rules Committee

QUESTIONS.

IN HIS FIRST EDITION OF WHAT’S THE CALL, NEW STANDING RULES COMMITTEE CHAIR COLIN MCINTYRE TAKES A LOOK AT A FEW OF ULTIMATE’S MOST COMMON AND COMMONLY MISPLAYED SITUATIONS.

TRAVEL! WHEN I MARK, I WATCH THE THROWER’S PIVOT FOOT AND CALL “TRAVEL” IF I SEE IT MOVE. SOMETIMES, MY TRAVEL CALLS ARE CONTESTED, AND THE THROWER AGREES THAT HIS FOOT MOVED, BUT CLAIMS THE FOOT DID NOT MOVE UNTIL AFTER THE THROW WAS RELEASED. I CANNOT ALWAYS SEE THE RELEASE IF I AM FOCUSED ON WATCHING THE PIVOT FOOT, SO HOW SHOULD I RESPOND TO THESE CONTESTS? If you only saw the foot move and did not see the release of the throw, you should withdraw your travel call. For the future, you should also change the way you call travels (and watch for travels), only calling a travel if you see the foot move and see that the disc has not been released.

There are two rules at play here. First is XVI.A: “An infraction may only be called by a player on the infracted team who recognizes that it has occurred.”

Second is a rule on traveling, which defines whether the infraction has occurred, XVI.J: “The thrower must establish a pivot at the appropriate spot on the field and keep all or part of the pivot in contact with that spot until the throw is released. Failure to do so is a travel.”

SUMMER 2014

In this case, the possible infraction is that the thrower failed to keep the pivot in contact with the appropriate spot on the field until the throw was released (XVI.J). Therefore, in order to recognize when this infraction occurs, a player needs to see the pivot move off the appropriate spot and needs to know that the throw has not been released. If the marker is only watching the foot move and does not look up and see the disc in the thrower’s hand (not yet released), he or she may not call a travel.

Perhaps the most important take-away is this: If you are not certain that a travel occurred, do not interrupt play by calling a travel.

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PICK! IF A DEFENDER CALLS “PICK” AND THE RECEIVER CONTINUES TO RUN FOR SEVERAL YARDS BEFORE THE THROWER ACKNOWLEDGES THE CALL AND STOPS PLAY, HOW SHOULD THE PLAYERS REPOSITION? DOES THE RECEIVER COME BACK TO WHERE HE OR SHE WAS WHEN THE DEFENDER CALLED THE PICK, OR DOES THE DEFENDER CATCH UP TO WHERE THE RECEIVER WAS WHEN PLAY STOPPED? In this situation, all the players return to the locations they occupied when the pick was called (XVI.C.4)(a)), and then the defender is allowed to move to recover the relative position lost because of the pick (XVI.I.3). Note that if the

Observers will signal when calls are made and help resolve any unclear or contentious situations. Photo: CBMT Creative

thrower had thrown a pass, the repositioning under Rule XVI.C.4 could have been slightly different, depending on whether the disc went back to the thrower or if the result of the play stood.

DOUBLE TEAM! MY TEAM RUNS A ZONE DEFENSE WITH A THREE-PERSON CUP - ONE MARKER AND TWO DEFENDERS 10 FEET FROM THE THROWER. OUR D-LINE CAPTAIN TOLD US THAT IF AN OFFENSIVE PLAYER COMES WITHIN 10 FEET OF THE THROWER, THE TWO DEFENDERS IN THE CUP MAY ALSO COME INSIDE 10 FEET OF THE THROWER TO TAKE UP SPACE OR GUARD THE THROWER - A LEGAL DOUBLE TEAM. HOWEVER, SOME OPPONENTS HAVE CLAIMED THAT THIS WAS ILLEGAL. IS IT? Rule XIV.B.2 addresses double teams, and it states: If a defensive player other than the marker is within three meters of any pivot of the thrower without also being within three meters of and guarding (II.G) another offensive player, it is a double team.

However, merely running across this area is not a double team.

II.G.: “A defender is guarding an offensive player when they are within three meters of that offensive player and are reacting to that offensive player.”

Merely running through the three-meter area surrounding a throw's pivot is not considered a double team. Photo: CBMT Creative

The strategy your D-line captain described is illegal.

Often in a zone offense, an offensive player will come close to the thrower to receive a short pass. One or more defenders would be allowed to guard that offensive player inside the space within 10 feet of the thrower’s pivot, but they may not enter that space unless they are guarding the offensive player. It is a myth that additional players may guard (or crowd) the thrower whenever an offensive player cuts near the thrower.

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Having the two defenders come within 10 feet of the thrower to “take up space” or to guard the thrower is clearly a double team, and the fact that another offensive player is nearby is irrelevant. There are only two exceptions to the double-team rule that would allow those defensive players to enter the space within three meters of the thrower’s pivot; (i) guarding another offensive player, or (ii) merely running across that area. Neither exception permits additional defenders to guard the thrower or to come within 10 feet of the thrower to “take up space.”

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The highest level of competitive ultimate in North America is back.

Come check it out. Everyone is invited. usaultimate.org/triplecrowntour

NEWS & NOTES

NEWS AND UPDATES FROM USA ULTIMATE HEADQUARTERS IN BOULDER, COLO.

YOUTH MEMBERSHIP CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY IN GROWTH Once again, USA Ultimate’s youth members lead the way in growth. As of May 30, 2014, youth memberships had reached 11,762, already surpassing last year’s total number of youth members.

Thank you to all the youth embers and thousands of people who help grow and support youth ultimate around the country!

2014 U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS & CONVENTION The third annual U.S. Open Championships & Convention is set to kick off the 2014 Triple Crown Tour. Twenty-four of the world’s best teams will converge on Minnesota’s Twin Cities in a celebration of character, community and competition.

NEW TEAM MEMBER JOINS USA ULTIMATE STAFF Rebecca Simeone was recently hired as USA Ultimate’s new Manager of Membership & Sport Development.

She will work to support the membership and sport development department and achieve the organization’s membership recruitment, engagement and retention goals. Simeone will engage with current members and encourage the recruitment and growth of the USA Ultimate membership while maintaining responsibility for many other duties in support of the organization.

Teams from the United States, Canada, Colombia and the United Kingdom will face off in a bid to become the 2014 U.S. Open Champions and the winners of $2,000 in prize money. The semifinal and final rounds will again be broadcast live by ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports.

This year’s convention sessions will include topics ranging from building youth programs to team development to coach training to building and sustaining programs for girls – all from a slate of presenters including Olympians, world and national championship coaches, league organizers and other industry experts.

Simeone holds a degree in business administration from SUNY-Geneseo. Professionally, she has spent time interning in public relations, working as a dock master assistant and performing operational support at the State Employees Credit Union headquarters in Albany, N.Y. Simeone was also a staff writer for the Lamron, SUNY-Geneseo’s student newspaper. Her ultimate career includes participating at the division III college level with SUNY-Geneseo, playing with and captaining teams in the Albany Ultimate Disc League and competing with Italy’s Tuscan Ultimate club.

The National Sports Center (NSC) in Blaine, Minn., is the main center of activity for this year’s event. All competition and nearly all convention sessions will take place at the NSC. The location’s convenience and this year’s newly adjusted competition schedule make it easier than ever for everyone to take advantage of the U.S. Open’s unique opportunities to learn from some of the best and most experienced minds in the ultimate community and beyond.

Simeone will be helping to fill a vacancy created by the departure of Anna Schott. A long-time member of the Membership & Sport Development department, Schott left USA Ultimate at the end of May to pursue a graduate degree in public health.

For updates and the latest information about this year’s U.S. Open, visit usaultimate.org/usopen and @ TripleCrownTour.

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U S A U LT I M AT E

NEW DISCS APPROVED FOR CHAMPIONSHIP-LEVEL COMPETITION

member Ryan Farrell, along with Team Leader Byron Hicks and USA Ultimate Chief Executive Officer Tom Crawford accepted the award on the team’s behalf from IWGA President Ron Froehlich and El Pomar Foundation President and CEO and President Emeritus of the United States Olympic Committee William Hybl.

The Discraft UltraStar, Web Mold – Hot Stamp and the Discraft UltraStar, Web Mold – Supercolor Center were both recently approved for championship-level competition. Additionally, the Discraft UltraStar, Web Mold – Full Supercolor was approved for general play.

The approvals mark the third and fourth UltraStar versions currently approved by players for use in USA Ultimate’s championship series and national championship events, joining the Discraft UltraStar, Westland Mold – Hot Stamp and the Discraft UltraStar, Westland Mold – Supercolor Center.

UPCOMING EVENTS U.S. Open Championships & Convention July 3-6

Twin Cities, Minn.

Pro-Elite Challenge July 12-13 M, W: Loudoun County, Va. X: Middletown, N.Y.

WORLD GAMES TEAM OF THE YEAR Following the conclusion of the World Games, the international sporting community elected the U.S. National Ultimate Team as the “Team of the Year” with 16,744 votes over the women’s Tug-of-War team from Chinese Taipei (13,945) and the Netherlands’ mixed Korfball team (3,574).

Masters Championships July 18-20 Sarasota, Fla.

World Junior Ultimate Championships

The U.S. National Team posted a perfect 6-0 record at the World Games in Cali, Colombia last July, capturing the gold medal with a 13-6 win over Australia in the championship game. It was the third-consecutive gold-medal performance, following victories by the United States in 2009 (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) and 2005 (Duisburg, Germany).

July 20-26 Lecco, Italy

World Ultimate Club Championships August 2-9 Lecco, Italy

The International World Games Association (IWGA) formally recognized the U.S. National Ultimate Team as the 2013 “Team of the Year” during a special ceremony at the El Pomar Foundation headquarters in Colorado Springs in March. U.S. National Team

Elite-Select Challenge August 2-3 Aurora, Colo.

Youth Club Championships August 10-11

Blaine, Minn.

Pro Flight Finale August 30-31 Santa Cruz, Calif.

National Championships October 16-19 Frisco, Texas

Ryan Farrell accepts the IWGA's Team of the Year Award from IWGA President Ron Froehlich, on behalf of the 2013 U.S. World Games Team. Photo: Casey B. Gibson, cbgphoto.com

SUMMER 2014

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Join USA Ultimate and the international ultimate community July 3-6, 2014, in Minnesota’s Twin Cities for the third annual U.S. Open Ultimate Championships & Convention.

A celebration of character, community and competition.

3 DIVISIONS, 3 CHAMPIONS, 24 OF THE WORLD’S BEST TEAMS

A C E L E B R AT I O N O F C H A R A CT E R , C O M M U N I T Y A N D C O M P E T I T I O N