Fall 2014 USA Ultimate Magazine by USA Ultimate

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VOLU M E X X X V ISSU E T H R EE

FALL ISSUE

P6 WORLD JUNIOR ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIPS Monisha White looks downfield during the U.S. National Team’s pool play game against Russia at the 2014 World Junior Ultimate Championships in Lecco, Italy. Photo: Kevin Leclaire/Ultiphotos

P11 US OPEN COVERAGE Seattle Riot left Minnesota with both a 2014 U.S. Open Championship title and the Team Spirit Award. Photo: CBMT Creative

P35 YOUTH CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS COVERAGE Cincinnati Flying Pig’s Jordan Monnin lays out during the U-19 boys’ final at the 2014 Youth Club Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

P23 MASTERS AND GRANDMASTERS COVERAGE Ripe’s Brigitte Newsom (left) and Hot Flash’s Kristi Schmeling both give their all for their teams at the 2014 Masters Championships. Photo: Billy Dzwonkowski/Ultiphotos ON THE COVER: Leah Farris battles the rain and her Canadian defender during the U-19 girls’ gold-medal game at the 2014 World Junior Ultimate Championships in Lecco, Italy. Photo: Kevin Leclaire/Ultiphotos

P51 WOMEN AND COACHES U-19 Girls’ National Team Head Coach Kyle Weisbrod talks with a group of tryouts in Atlanta, Ga. Photo: Christina Schmidt

U S A U LT I M AT E

FALL 2014 3 Letter to the Members 5 By the Numbers: World Junior Ultimate Championships 6 World Junior Ultimate Championships U.S. OPEN COVERAGE 11 MEN’S: All About Development 15 MIXED: A Mixed Bag For Drag’n Thrust 19 WOMEN’S: Making Connections MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS COVERAGE 23 MEN’S: Somos Tejas. Queremos Mas. 27 WOMEN’S: The Reincarnation of a Punk Little Team from Philly 31 GRANDMASTERS: Surly Boxes out Shadows YOUTH CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS COVERAGE 35 U-19 BOYS: Legacy, Grit & Team Chemistry 38 U-19 GIRLS: Angels in Minnesota 41 U-19 MIXED: Upsets: Spirit of the Competition 44 U-16 BOYS: Future Stars Shine at YCC 47 U-16 GIRLS: GUM Sticks to U-16 Girls at YCC 51 Women & Coaches 56 Above the Competition 58 Injury Timeout 60 Nutrition Matters 64 Coaches’ Playbook 66 The Spirit Circle 68 What’s the Call 70 Local League Spotlight 71 News & Notes

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

USA ULTIMATE’S CEO ON ULTIMATE HAPPENINGS

SPREADING THE WORD

A MESSAGE FROM

IN THE U.S.

DR. TOM CRAWFORD USA Ultimate Chief Executive Officer

I recently had the pleasure of attending our first U.S. Olympic Assembly as an official member of the Olympic family. The Olympic Assembly is a large annual gathering of all the members of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), including all of the national governing bodies, groups like the NCAA and the National High School Federation and youthserving groups like YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, Catholic Youth Organization, Jewish Community Centers, etc. The Assembly functions as the one event each year that summarizes the state of sports in the United States, looks forward to major national initiatives and challenges, and provides a large number of ‘best practices’ discussions. It was a very interesting and informative week, and I thought I’d take this opportunity to reflect on and share a few of the more fascinating discussions.

we’ll likely see a few bring groups of kids out to the National Championships in Frisco. There were also quite a few groups that, until the Assembly, had no idea how far ultimate has come as a sport. We’re making progress, but we still have lots of work to do gaining visibility and credibility for our sport.

First, we were fortunate to be given several opportunities to present at the Assembly and received a great reaction to our sport and our new membership in the USOC. The first presentation was in front of the Multi-Sport Organizations, including several of the youth-serving groups mentioned above: Catholic Youth Organization, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Boy Scouts, National High Schools Federation and many more. Several of these organizations were very excited about the prospect of adding ultimate to their menu of offerings, and

Creating relationships with groups like the Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA and other youth-serving organizations through the USOC will help ultimate spread to countless new athletes around the country. Photo: CBMT Creative

U S A U LT I M AT E

A LETTER TO OUR MEMBERS cont. The second presentation was to the NGB Council, a group comprised of all the other national governing bodies. Here, we received similar reactions, with many people expressing surprise at our size, growth and the level of athleticism in our sport. One comment from a senior member of the group summed up the general reaction well, when he said, “Man, that’s really impressive.”

was very disturbing to many of the representatives of non-revenue Olympic sports sitting in the room, sports like track and field, gymnastics and swimming, who have relied for decades on the NCAA talent pipeline to field competitive national and Olympic teams. The athletic directors essentially said that the NCAA is currently a mess, and there is no telling what the future holds. Their best guess is that the future will be largely driven by economics, and many universities will likely end up cutting non-revenue sports in order to pour additional financial resources into revenue-generating sports like football and basketball. It is also possible that smaller Division I schools, particularly those outside the new “Big Five” conferences, will opt out of trying to compete at that level and scale back to becoming Division II and Division III programs. It became clear that developing a robust and welldesigned club structure will become important for all non-revenue Olympic sports. As a result, I received many questions about our club sports structure and how it works across the country.

Some other very interesting discussions centered on the USOC’s new safe sport initiative. For those who have not been following this development, the U.S. Olympic Committee will be creating a new, independent organization to oversee all sport activity in the U.S., with a drive to make sports safe for children. The initial focus will be on preventing sexual abuse and swiftly investigating any reported incidents that occur in youth sports. The new organization will function in a manner similar to the United States Anti-Doping Association; it will be a totally independent body that will educate the U.S. sports community about best practices in safe sport, adjudicate reported cases of abuse and enforce their decisions via the NGBs. The organization will be funded by the USOC and the NGBs. As a member of the USOC, we will be required to participate in this initiative. It is great to see the USOC take the lead in this crucial area, particularly with all of the negative stories coming out of the sports world these days.

In a separate session, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Executive Committee and the USOC Board of Directors described some of the changes currently underway at the IOC. Over the next several months, the IOC will be announcing changes to many facets of its programs, such as which sports are included in the Olympic program and new processes for adding or eliminating sports and disciplines. We, along with WFDF, will be watching these developments very closely. Overall, the week was a great success. We turned some heads and received both a warm welcome and great reaction. As one attendee passed along to me, “There’s a lot of buzz about ultimate!”

Another major area of focus was the sweeping set of changes now underway at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which had many top staff in attendance. In one very interesting panel discussion, the athletic directors from Notre Dame, Duke and Stanford described the changes and the impact they would likely have on non-revenue college sports. Their message was not positive and

FALL 2014

BY THE NUMBERS

WJUC

WORLD JUNIOR ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEDAL COUNT

OPEN DIVISION

MEDAL COUNT

TOTAL

GIRLS’ DIVISION

TOTAL

SWEDEN

UNITED STATES

CANADA

COLOMBIA

FINLAND

JAPAN

CHINESE TAIPEI

AUSTRALIA

GERMANY

SWEDEN

AUSTRIA

FINLAND

COLOMBIA

LATVIA

JAPAN

GREAT BRITAIN

U.S. WJUC COACHES TO ALSO COMPETE AT WJUC

WJUC MILESTONES LARGEST DIVISIONS {2014} WJUC EVENTS

OPEN & GIRLS’ DIVISION

GIRLS’ DIVISION

OPEN DIVISION

PARTICIPATING NATIONS SEPARATE FROM WUGC/WUCC

OPEN DIVISION ONLY

U.S. PARTICIPATION of 17 ( 7 OF THE 8 FEATURING ) 12EVENTS A GIRLS’ DIVISION

OPEN DIVISION

GIRLS’ DIVISION

HOST NATIONS

IN THEIR WORDS: 2014 JUNIOR WORLDS By: Jonathan Neeley

The United States Junior National Team competes at the World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC) every two years. Commonly known as Junior Worlds, WJUC has been good to the U.S.’ best under-19 players, with the open and girls’ teams amassing a dozen medals since first competing in the tournament in 1988 in Leuven, Belgium. For more immediate perspective, glance over an old Junior Worlds roster, and you’ll find a who’s who list

of recent National Championships. If you blinked, you might have missed this year’s Junior Worlds experience: after tryouts in the spring yielded a girls’ team of 21 players and five alternates and a boys’ team of 24 and six, there was a weekend training camp for the girls in June and a week-long camp for both teams in July. After that, the teams were off to Lecco, Italy for the tournament, which lasted only six days. There was team chemistry to build and gold medals to win, and both needed to happen quickly.

2014 WJUC Opening Ceremony. Photo: Neil Gardner/Ultiphotos F A L L 2 0U-19 1 4 Open team member Mac Hecht waves the flag for the U.S. National Teams at the 6

PART

BUILDING THE TEAM BUILDING THE BEST POSSIBLE TEAMS MEANT INSTILLING A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP AND AGENCY IN PLAYERS.

Baker Pratt (USA Ultimate Manager of Youth Competition and Athlete Programs, manager of both U-19 National Teams): “The team has a very short shelf life; you have a group that’s going to come together very quickly.”

Eli Motycka (Open team): “Once we got to camp, we played twice a day, six hours a day. We had meals together as a team, we had roommates, we hung out. It was really hard not to get along with everyone. You feed on that on the field.”

Leah Farris (Girls’ team): “Team building was strongly encouraged by the coaches. Even before training camp, they had us doing buddy group Skype chats to get to know each other.”

Sam Lehman (Open team): “It’s really hard for players to adjust to their roles on the new team. That was something I really struggled with. It’s incredibly hard to go from being ‘the man’ on your team to a role player on U.S.A.”

Angela Zhu (Girls’ team): “Knowing that we had a twoweek season pushed us to make every second count. We actively tried to learn about our teammates by doing routine emotional and physical check-ins and putting in the effort to be genuine with each other.”

George Stubbs (Open team assistant coach): “We’re trying to mold them into a group of 24 players that all play their roles and create something that’s greater than themselves. That’s very explicit in this situation.”

Kyle Weisbrod (Girls’ team head coach): “Our goals were beyond just winning gold. We wanted to do it in a certain way.” Piper Curtis (Girls’ team): “Part of our goal was to set a new standard for teamness – a word we used because we couldn’t think of another word to describe being great teammates to each other and having really good team chemistry.” Weisbrod: “We wanted to not just be a team, but create an ideal team experience that the players could use as their benchmark for the rest of their careers.”

Jaclyn Verzuh (Girls’ team): “On this team, we could all put all our energy into fulfilling a role – shutting down one player on defense, working the system as a cutter.” Moses Rifkin (Girls’ team assistant coach): “I’m a high school teacher, and one thing I’m hearing more and more in teaching circles is talking about the hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum here was how the team formed and getting to a point where they were playing for each other and not just themselves.” Below Left: Madeline Gilbert gets up over her Colombian defender in the semifinals at the 2014 World Junior Ultimate Championships. Photo: Brandon Wu/Ultiphotos Below Right: Josiah Mort bids for the D in the U.S. National Team’s match up against Switzerland in pool play at WJUC 2014. Photo: Brandon Wu/Ultiphotos

U S A U LT I M AT E

LECCO, ITALY

THE LECCO EXPERIENCE PLAYING INTERNATIONALLY IS A SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY. FOR SOME, IT’S A CHANCE TO TRAVEL FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND FOR OTHERS, IT TAKES THE WAY SPORTS GIVE US COMMON GROUND TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL.

PART

Farris: “I’ve never traveled far, so this was definitely a new experience for me. It was my first time carrying my passport with me, so I was very conscious of it all the time, not wanting to have to deal with losing it! Getting home was a huge relief when I could just forget about it.” Verzuh: “During the lightning breaks, all the teams had to go to one giant white tent.” Farris: “Waiting for the thunderstorms to pass, I had the opportunity to wander away from the U.S.A. and go on a tour of the world. I played ‘flutter-guts’ with the Swiss and Ninja with the Germans.” Lehman: “There was a really special moment when we had just beat Spain, and we gave our Spirit disc to a kid, and he was just crying so hard because it meant so much to him to get a disc from the U.S. He had us all sign it and took pictures with all of us.” Zhu: “Two years ago, a Colombian girl and I became good friends, and we’ve kept in touch. This year, we got to see each other and catch up about what we’ve each been doing for the last two years. Last time, we were talking about finishing high school, and this time, we talked about college.” THERE WERE, HOWEVER, A NUMBER OF LOGISTICAL HICCUPS: AMONG THE WORST WERE TOURNAMENT HOUSING WITH COLLAPSING BEDS AND A LACK OF AIR CONDITIONING THAT LEFT PRATT SCRAMBLING TO BOOK A HOTEL, SOLVE TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES THAT FOLLOWED THE MOVE AND SUPPLEMENT LIMITED FOOD AND WATER SUPPLIES AT THE FIELDS. NONE OF THESE ARE IDEAL WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO PERFORM AT YOUR ATHLETIC PEAK.

Ryan Hiser and Aaron Peterschmidt celebrate a goal against Austria in pool play at the 2014 World Junior Ultimate Championships in Lecco, Italy. Photo: Brandon Wu/Ultiphotos

Monisha White runs through a tunnel comprised of the U-19 boys’ team heading into Friday’s pool play games. Photo: Kevin Leclaire/Ultiphotos

Motycka: “We had a really good coaching staff that stressed not worrying about the uncontrollable things.” Weisbrod: “As we left the captains meeting to head to the opening ceremonies hungry for lunch we realized that every restaurant was closed – there was a gelato place open. ‘What’s our Motto? Eat Gelato!’ became a cheer to remind me to let go and focus on the controllables.” Pratt: “Some of it’s just traveling to Italy. You have to switch your mind a little bit. In the U.S., we’re very used to things being a bit more structured. It’s a bit more laid back. You have to roll with having different amenities. There’s not much ice over there.”

FALL 2014

III PART

GAMEPLAY IN BOTH 2012 AND 2010, THE U.S. GIRLS WERE OUSTED BY COLOMBIA, AND IN 2008, THEY WENT DOWN TO JAPAN. THEIR LAST GOLD MEDAL CAME IN 2006, WHEN THEY DEFEATED CANADA. THIS YEAR’S TEAM RIGHTED THE SHIP, GOING 10-0 WITH A GOAL DIFFERENTIAL OF 170-34 AND DOMINATING CANADA IN THE FINAL, 17-9.

Curtis: “Most of the games we played were a lot easier than training camp because we had 15 subs we were training against the team that would be world champions.”

Lehman: “I think if you play that game a couple more times, there’s no question that we’re matching teams. I’d really love the chance to play them again.”

Weisbrod: “We scouted the Colombia/Canada pool play game, and it was clear that our depth was a big advantage for us. We put a lot of focus on our pace – minimizing time between points, keeping the flow of our offense high-paced [by] looking early to resets to keep it moving, and fastbreaking on turns.”

Stubbs: “You can’t prove [it]. But the reality is teams have to experience adversity to know how to respond to adversity, and the adversity we had experienced up until then was minimal at best. We had never been in a bad spot, never had our backs up against the rope.”

Nhi Nguyen (Girls’ team): “I didn’t not notice that we were winning handily. I felt like every time someone scored on us, the score was a lot closer. During the week, we didn’t really focus on scores. We focused on our goals and values.” Sadie Jezierski (Girls’ team): “Right before the finals, Team USA decided to have a dance party while Canada had a very serious team huddle.” Nguyen: “Our song this year was ‘Rather Be’ by Clean Bandits. You’ll hear it in our highlight video. It was nearly silent in the stands, and psychologically, our singing at the top of our lungs and dancing probably got to the heads of the Canadian girls. I sure would glance over if I were in their huddle.”

Sparling-Beckley: “The coaches had a conversation about what we were doing there. I would not be honest to say that we don’t care whether we win or not, because that’s not the truth. But there’s so much more that goes into what we’re hoping to accomplish than just losing by one point to a team with some great athletes, and the kids were doing it. People were turning inward to the team and leaning on each other, which is honestly the point of team sports in my opinion.” Motycka: “I think if we had gone through the tournament and gotten the gold without having to challenge ourselves, that would have been less valuable. I don’t have any complaints.”

Claire Revere (Girls’ team captain): “The message it sent was that we were ready. We didn’t need those last few minutes to go over strategies because we knew our game.” DIFFERENT FROM THE GIRLS, THE LAST TIME THE U.S. BOYS DIDN’T WIN GOLD WAS 2002. BUT THIS YEAR, DESPITE AN EQUALLY DOMINANT POOL PLAY SHOWING AND A 144-61 GOAL DIFFERENTIAL, THEY LOST A HEARTBREAKER TO CANADA IN THE FINAL, 17-16. BEFORE THE FINAL, THEIR CLOSEST GAME WAS A 9-6 WIN OVER CANADA IN THE CROSSOVER GAME, WHICH WAS SHORTENED DUE TO A LIGHTNING STORM. CANADA WAS AMIDST A RUN WHEN THE GAME WAS CALLED, PROMPTING SPECULATION THAT A COMPLETE GAME WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE U.S. BOYS A NEEDED CHALLENGE. Chase Sparling-Beckley (Open team head coach): “Going into the final, we were really trying to focus on nerves and keeping people focused in the moment, really harping on the foundation from a team chemistry standpoint we had been building the previous two weeks.” Amy Wilbur (Open team parent and chaperone): “In terms of competition, they weren’t challenged! We were never behind until we got to the finals.” 9

Mia Bladin rips a forehand during pool play against Finland at WJUC 2014. Photo: Neil Gardner/Ultiphotos

U S A U LT I M AT E

IV PART

PARTING WAYS JUNIOR WORLDS IS MEANT TO BE A TRANSFORMATIVE TIME SPENT LEARNING THE VALUE OF FOCUSING ON PROCESS RATHER THAN OUTCOMES AND ON SEIZING THE MOMENT. THE HOPE IS THAT RATHER THAN SIMPLY MAKING FOR A MEMORABLE SUMMER, JUNIOR WORLDS SETS PLAYERS UP FOR A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCES VIEWED THROUGH THIS LENS.

Curtis: “I don’t think I have a single best memory. One of the best was in our last nightly meeting before the finals when we were talking about how we had so little time left together as one team, but how we could make the most of it. I had a moment of realization that we were all so close and so much a team after just two weeks.” Rifkin: “I’m marveling at the fact that we covered so much strategic and emotional distance in such a short time. There are a lot of people on the team that I really care about, which is a strange thing when we go our separate ways. It’s a weird reality.” Stubbs: “In the end, we won what ultimate as a sport is supposed to do. We won it by leaps and bounds.” CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The U.S. U-19 boys’ team took home a silver medal after a hard-fought championship game against Canada. Photo: Neil Gardner/Ultiphotos Terrence Mitchell gets up over his defender in the boys’ team’s pool play match up against Israel. Photo: Kevin Leclaire/Ultiphotos Claire Revere and Angela Zhu celebrate winning the gold medal with a finals win over Canada. Photo: Neil Gardner/Ultiphotos Sam Cook makes a great layout grab for a score in the WJUC championship finals. Photo: Kevin Leclaire/Ultiphotos The U.S. U-19 girls’ team took home their first gold medal since 2006 from WJUC 2014 in Lecco. Photo: Neil Gardner/Ultiphotos

MEN’S | US OPEN | MN

All About

DEVELOPMENT BY: JONATHAN NEELEY

My favorite moment of the 2014 men’s season so far was watching Revolver play Johnny Bravo in the semifinals of the World Club Championships. That I wasn’t there is actually a big reason why it was so fun: from half a world away, I woke up to an early alarm, made coffee and watched Revolver mount a second-half comeback en route to a 16-14 win.

“You will have the opportunity to test yourself against the strongest in North America...” Watching a Worlds game from the comfort of my own home the same way I would the World Cup or the Olympics was cool in its own right. But the other factor that made the experience was that the U.S. Open, which happened a month before Worlds, had tipped me off on what to look for. I had seen Bravo’s Kurt Gibson, arguably the game’s most skilled player, match up against Revolver’s Beau Kittredge, its preeminent athlete; I had seen Bravo play a tournament without one of their best throwers (Nick Lance, who was at Worlds but not the U.S. Open) and wondered how Revolver would fair in the same situation (Ashlin Joye was at the Open but not Worlds); I knew that Revolver’s defensive offense struggled to huck the disc and that Bravo’s creative throwing on offense could mean feast or famine. In other words, I watched the Worlds semifinal as an educated fan. And this season, my learning had started at the U.S. Open.

San Francisco Revolver took home their second 11 consecutive U.S. Open title in 2014. Photo: CBMT Creative

U S A U LT I M AT E

Three years into its existence, the U.S. Open has come a long way. In its first go-round in 2012, Chain Lightning and Doublewide were the only semifinalists from the previous year to attend (the idea is for all four to be there), and each brought skeleton squads that included players still trying out. The tournament felt incomplete.

Lucas Dallman comes down with the disc for Revolver during their semifinal match up against Ironside at the U.S. Open. Photo: CBMT Creative

FALL 2014

This year, the Open looked a lot more like the marquee event USA Ultimate wants it to be. All four 2013 semifinalists – Revolver, Sockeye, Ironside and Bravo – were there, and the competition was intense. Highlights included Bravo’s blockbuster new lineup having a strong first day, beating Ironside in a close one and handing Revolver the first blowout loss anyone can remember Revolver taking in a long time; Sockeye looking like Dr. Jekyll in wins over Bravo and Ironside but Mr. Hyde in a first-round collapse against Furious George and last-round leveling at the hands of Sub Zero that kept them out of the semifinals; Sub Zero capping their impressive semifinals run with a spectacular second half against Bravo; and Revolver coming out on top by, simply put, playing the best ultimate during the tournament’s most meaningful rounds. The explanation for why this year’s U.S. Open was so good is sitting five

paragraphs up: Worlds. While the Open went on to give me context for watching Worlds, Worlds – the opportunity to be crowned the best club team in the world, which comes only once every four years – is the biggest reason why teams went so hard at the U.S. Open. For those heading to Lecco, the stakes were raised because the Open was both their first and last dress rehearsal. But the thing is, what’s important is not necessarily what catapulted the U.S. Open to a new level – it’s that the level has been reached. The U.S. Open kicked off the world’s most competitive ultimate circuit this year, setting a high standard for itself moving forward. And high standards are a huge ingredient in outstanding results. Still, it’s fair to ask whether the tournament will mirror this year’s quality when Worlds isn’t in play. Will Deaver, USA Ultimate’s Managing Director of Competition and Athlete Programs, acknowledged as much. “Next year, we won’t have that same thing going on, so it’ll be interesting to see the progression – does it continue on the same trajectory?” But Deaver answered his own question as quickly as he had posed it, pointing toward USA Ultimate’s plan to move the Series into August as reason to

MEN’S | US OPEN | MN LEFT TO RIGHT: Some of the strongest teams from around the world make the trip to the U.S. Open each year to take on America’s best. Photo: CBMT Creative London’s Clapham Ultimate was one of the international teams who competed at this year’s U.S. Open in Minnesota. Here, Ollie Gordon goes up over Johnny Bravo’s Brett Matzuka during pool play. Photo: CBMT Creative Revolver’s Robbie Cahill just misses a layout D against Johnny Bravo’s Dennison Bechis during the U.S. Open finals. Photo: CBMT Creative

think the U.S. Open will continue its upswing. “I think teams are adapting to the idea of getting ready sooner, and maybe Worlds just kind of helped give that more momentum. I think we’ve gotten over that hump.” Another reason to think the U.S. Open will retain its momentum is that when a tournament is presented like a championship event – ESPN cameras, sponsorship banners, games played in a stadium – players naturally rise to the occasion. “The U.S. Open is becoming a big tournament not in terms of preparation for the season, but in its own right,” said Mike Payne, Revolver coach and president of the USA Ultimate Board of Directors. “Guys want to perform well when they’re on an ESPN broadcast as Revolver, in front of their friends and their fans.” “It’s hard for guys to turn off their competitive instincts,” adds Sockeye’s Tyler Kinley. “And the Open felt big because of the cameras and reporters and whatnot. That changes how people frame it.” Coupled with full buy-in from the U.S. semifinalists, the other half of making the U.S. Open a complete tournament is rounding out its international side. The goal is to bring in four of the best

teams from around the world to play those U.S. teams, but given travel costs and season schedules that don’t line up with the Triple Crown Tour, doing so has been understandably difficult. Still, the progress is there: in 2013, Ragnarok (Denmark) became the first team to cross the Atlantic to play at the U.S. Open, and this year, Clapham (London), Europe’s best team for over a decade, made the trip. While they had a rough go of it at the Open, notching only two wins, Clapham went on to take Revolver to double-game point in the quarterfinals at Worlds in a game that many called the best of the tournament. Clapham leadership credited their run to what the team learned at the U.S. Open. “We had been beaten by them at U.S. Open by starting our game with bad execution on our deep shots, something which could be directly addressed pregame,” said captain Marc Guilbert. “Defensively, we knew of their fast breaks and had more knowledge in the likely role each player would take.” Clapham’s experience is important for the U.S. Open because it gives other strong international teams reason to think they’ll benefit from making the trip.

U.S. for quite some time,” says Stefan Rekitt, the coach of the German national team. “The U.S. Open is perfect for international teams that want to compete with the best U.S. teams. The round robin format ensures that you can play all teams, so you will have the opportunity to test yourself against the strongest in North America for sure.” In the past, the U.S. club season has kicked off without much fanfare. Ironside, GOAT and a few other east coast teams might start off with the Boston Invite, the west coasters would go to Cal States or Solstice, and everyone else would attend whatever was convenient. The first time anyone would see them all in the same place would be ECC in mid-August – and with a top team or two that usually skipped the trip, even that wasn’t a guarantee. Moreover, international club teams were more of a novelty than anything else. This year, though, was different: the U.S. Open anchored the season in a single tournament, so when I loaded up that Worlds game, I had a whole lot of context for what I was watching. It felt good for me as a fan, and it feels good for ultimate.

“I have been thinking about bringing a German team to a tournament in the

U S A U LT I M AT E

Final Standings 1 - REVOLVER 2 – JOHNNY BRAVO 3T - IRONSIDE 3T - SUB ZERO 5 - SOCKEYE 6 – FURIOUS GEORGE 7 – CLAPHAM ULTIMATE 8 - EVOLUTION

Revolver and Ironside battle for a disc during pool play. Ironside came out on top in the game 15-13. Photo: CBMT Creative

TEAM

INDIVIDUAL

Spirit Rankings:

Spirit Awards: CLAPHAM ULTIMATE

MARC GUILBERT

EVOLUTION

16.86

EVOLUTION

DANIEL JIMENEZ TATIS

IRONSIDE

15.86

FURIOUS GEORGE

ANDREW BROWN

JOHNNY BRAVO

14.71

IRONSIDE

MILES MONTGOMERY-BUTLER

SOCKEYE

14.43

JOHNNY BRAVO

BRETT MATZUKA

REVOLVER

14.29

REVOLVER

DEVON ANDERSON

SUB ZERO

13.86

SOCKEYE

TYLER KINLEY

CLAPHAM ULTIMATE

12.86

SUB ZERO

GRAYSON PANGBURN

FURIOUS GEORGE

11.88

With their championship title, Revolver also earned $2,000 in prize money. Photo: CBMT Creative

MIXED | US OPEN | MN

A Mixed Bag for

DRAG’N THRUST

“When we have seven players on the field all glued to their opponents, it takes many teams out of the game completely.”

ABOVE: Boston Wild Card and hometown team Drag’n Thrust faced off in a windy semifinal at the 2014 U.S. Open in Minnesota. Photo: CBMT Creative

BY: CHARLIE ENDERS

The 2014 U.S. Open Championship was basically a home tournament for Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust. The 2013 National Champions began the tournament as the overall one seed, with a horde of devoted family and fans following them around the fields at the National Sports Center. Although their support was constant, Drag’n’s U.S. Open was full of ups and downs, and like the discs in the heavy wind, it sometimes went in ways no one expected. Drag’n is a tight-knit group of friends that has been playing together for what seems like forever. While they do take a few new players every year, their core remains remarkably consistent. Drag’n has been a mainstay in the mixed division since

2009, and is currently anchored by steady handling from captain Austin Lien, big plays from the towering James Hron and the constant cuts of 2013 U-23 Worlds player Sarah Meckstroth. As far as strategy goes, Drag’n prides themselves on defense. Captain Austin Lien believes that it really is the aspect of their game that sets them apart from the rest. “While we do occasionally mix in some zone defense, everyone really enjoys being able to focus in on one player and rise to the challenge of stopping them,” said Lien. “When we have seven players on the field all glued to their opponents, it takes many teams out of the game completely.”

U S A U LT I M AT E

“If it wasn’t for Drag’n’s initial cushion, Wild Card’s defense may have gotten the best of us.” The San Francisco Polar Bears celebrate their U.S. Open title in Blaine, Minn. Photo: CBMT Creative

With 2014 being a World’s year, Drag’n decided to use the U.S. Open as a bit of a tune-up before heading to Lecco, Italy. When asked about his expectations for the team going into the Open, Lien said it was about finding an identity. “Since this was our first big tournament, we did not know what exactly was going to work coming into the weekend,” said Lien. “We have had four new players come into the mix this year: Sarah Anciaux, Mike Clark, Jacob Lien and Emily Regan. With our rookies all taking on fairly significant roles right off the bat, we were challenged to try a lot of different things to see what worked.” At least initially, everything seemed to work for Drag’n. Though the weather was a bit chilly, they began day one of the U.S. Open on fire. In perhaps the least windy game of the tournament, they trounced Colombia’s One to One, led by cutters Jay Drescher and Sarah Anciaux. Yet as high as Drag’n was flying after their first game, their second match up, this one against Boston Wild Card, brought them back down. Although Drag’n took an early and substantial lead, they took their foot off the pedal for a moment, and Wild Card took advantage. Despite Drag’n having the lead at 11-6, Wild Card slowly chipped away, eventually bringing the score to 14-11. Drag’n needed only a single FALL 2014

point to pull out the victory, but Wild Card took the next two points, only to lose at the hard cap. “If it wasn’t for Drag’n’s initial cushion, Wild Card’s defense may have gotten the best of us,” Martha Harris wrote on the team’s blog. “Looking back, our games against Wild Card this weekend were easily our two most defensiveoriented. They challenged our offense and gave us something to work on in our upcoming games.”

One to One made the trip from Bucaramanga, Colombia, to face off against some of the best teams from North America at the U.S. Open. Photo: CBMT Creative

The final round of day one featured a much-hyped rematch of last year’s national championship final between Drag’n Thrust and the Polar Bears. After the Wild Card scare, Drag’n’s offense snapped back into form. After a fairly even first half, the Minnesotans went on a run to finish the game 15-9. Boosted by the stellar play of Pat Niles 16

and James Hron, Drag’n finished the day 3-0 and went home to recuperate for day two. After a calm first day, the wind was an entirely different story on day two. Heavy gusts made for turnoverheavy games, and many teams simply played for field position, electing to punt and make teams work upwind rather than risking turnovers near their own end zone. The conditions were a bit of an equalizer and may have been a major factor in bringing Drag’n’s first game versus Philadelphia AMP to double-game point. Early on, Drag’n was in control, but as the wind got stronger, so too did AMP. The Philadelphia squad came roaring back to tie the game at 12s. Finally, after 20 minutes and multiple turnovers from both teams, Lien found Tallis Boyd in the end zone for the 13-12 Drag’n victory. Later, Lien would reflect on how the game was one of his favorites of the tournament. “I didn’t consult with any of my teammates, but I can pretty confidently say that we enjoyed [the games against Wild Card and] our nail-biter victory over AMP a huge amount,” he said. “[They] were our closest games, and they were against the two teams with the most challenging defenses.” The rest of Drag’n’s day was fairly uneventful, and they took a 6-0 record into their final pool play game against

CLX on Saturday morning. Over the years, Drag’n v. CLX has become a classic North Central rivalry. In the team’s five-year history, Drag’n has played CLX more than any other team. Their games have been tight, intense and, to Drag’n’s chagrin, slightly in CLX’s favor. Heading into Saturday’s match up, CLX had won eight of 13 meetings between the teams while only outscoring Drag’n 172-165. Yet despite the precedent, tied at fives at the U.S. Open, Drag’n clamped down and went on an 8-2 run, ensuring their widest margin of victory ever over CLX, evening up the series a little.

play match up. On serve at 4-4, a muffed Drag’n throw gave the Bears a short field. After a few swings, An Chi Tsou had the first break of the game. Another followed, and at halftime, the Polar Bears led 8-5.

The wind may have been at its gustiest on Saturday, but it remained present to some degree for the rest of the tournament. Playing inside the stadium provided no relief, and Drag’n’s semifinal rematch against Wild Card was played straight upwind-downwind. Wild Card started out hot with two breaks out of the gate, thanks to superb handling from captain Ian Engler and Vincenzo Vitiello. But Lien’s composure behind the disc helped tally the next up-winder for Drag’n, and just as quickly as Wild Card’s two breaks came, they were gone. The game was riddled with windinduced turnovers, but eventually, Drag’n came away with a 10-8 win and a finals berth.

But just as quickly as Drag’n’s momentum came, it left. The Polar Bears steadied the ship, and the teams traded points to 10-10, when a Polar Bears switch to zone generated a short-field turn, and the San Franciscans converted. Another break put Drag’n down 12-10, and despite Drag’n’s best efforts, the Polar Bears put the game away, 15-12.

At each of the first two U.S. Open Championships, Drag’n was eliminated in the semifinal, so just getting to the championship game was a big deal. “[We] knew that the 15-9 win over Polar Bears wasn’t an indicator of how this game would play out, since the 2010 National Champions and 2011-13 runner-ups always fought with passion and pride,” wrote Pat Niles. “In the four times [we] played the Polar Bears before the 2014 season, the series was tied up 2-2, with Drag’n holding the slight edge in points scored, 54-50.”

MIXED | US OPEN | MN

Half came at the right time for Drag’n. A long break to slow down the Polar Bears’ momentum was exactly what the team needed, and it showed when play resumed. Drag’n’s defense clamped down on the Polar Bear handlers, forcing heavily contested deep shots. Four consecutive breaks gave Drag’n the lead at 9-8.

Upon reflection, Niles believes the U.S. Open was a success overall for Drag’n. “Going into this tournament with a new squad, we were largely untested,” he said. “We didn’t know what the new faces on the team could contribute or how they would perform when pitted against the best teams in the nation. It is safe to say that, after this weekend, we’ve got high hopes for the rest of the tournaments this year. We’ve learned what we’re good at, and our opponents have exposed some of the weaknesses that we’re sure to focus on.”

CLX's Ryan Tucker goes up and over his counterpart from The Ghosts during pool play at the U.S. Open. Photo: CBMT Creative

Lien confirmed the sentiment, relaying the team mantra, “Love the battle; love the war,” he said. “Coming out on top can be fun, but that’s not why we’re here.” Drag’n Thrust’s Jaime Glader outreaches the Polar Bears’ Linh Hoang during the finals at the U.S. Open. Photo: CBMT Creative

And Niles was absolutely correct: the final was nothing like the teams’ pool 17

U S A U LT I M AT E

After winning the inaugural U.S. Open, the Polar Bears won their second championship this year. Photo: CBMT Creative

Final Standings 1 – POLAR BEARS 2 – DRAG’N THRUST 3T - THE CHAD LARSON EXPERIENCE 3T - WILD CARD 5 - AMP 6 – UNION 7 – THE GHOSTS 8 – ONE TO ONE Kevin Cocks gets a D for the Polar Bears in the finals against Austin Lien and Drag'n Thrust. Photo: CBMT Creative

TEAM

INDIVIDUAL

Spirit Rankings:

Spirit Awards: AMP

Melanie Berlin

THE CHAD LARSON EXPERIENCE Blake Larson

ONE TO ONE

13.57

UNION

12.86 12.00

DRAG ‘N THRUST

Pat Niles

POLAR BEARS

THE GHOSTS

John Sandahl

DRAG’N THRUST

11.57

ONE TO ONE

Harving Suarez

THE GHOSTS

11.00

POLAR BEARS

Meeri Chang

THE CHAD LARSON EXPERIENCE

10.43

UNION

Katherine Jardine

WILD CARD

10.00

WILD CARD

Vincenzo Vitiello

AMP

8.57

WOMEN’S | US OPEN | MN

Seattle Riot’s Calise Cardenas manages to hang on, despite great defensive pressure from Boston Brute Squad’s Chelsea Murphy. Photos: CBMT Creative

Making

CONNECTIONS BY: ALYSSA WEATHERFORD

When I think of the U.S. Open this year, one of the first things that comes to mind is all the connections that were made. There were on-field connections with my Riot teammates, mental connections with the strategies we had learned in the lead-up to the U.S. Open, reconnections with people we only see at tournaments, new connections with people we met for the first time and community connections through the amazing messages Riot received from fans after winning the tournament and spirit award.

Looking back at the experience as a whole, I think about all the things an individual can gain, on and off the field, at a tournament. I feel very fortunate that I was able to make all these connections at the U.S. Open, and I believe everyone on Riot has been able to do the same. I think community connections are one of the main things that has shaped our season so far, and it was wonderful to have a venue at the U.S. Open to continue that growth. 19

U S A U LT I M AT E

While sidelined with an ACL injury last year, more than anything, I missed the connections you make with teammates while you compete sideby-side. This season, Riot only added three rookies and three people who

had each other’s backs – no matter if we gave up two consecutive breaks in the finals or had multiple turnovers in a single point. We plan on continuing to build on that trust throughout the season.

“I think about all the things an individual can gain, on and off the field, at a tournament.”

This year, the Riot leadership started the year by throwing a ton of strategy at the team. We started practice in April by refreshing some fundamentals and then dove into new offensive and defensive strategies. We practiced for about two and half months before we got to play against other teams at Eugene’s Summer Solstice and then finally got to compete for four days against some of the best teams in the world at the U.S. Open. There were many trying moments before we got to Minnesota, as we worked on our new approaches. Are these new ideas going to work against players who do not know exactly what we are doing, against teams that have different strengths or in different weather conditions?

did not play last year, so we had a jump start on the process of building on-field chemistry. As a result, at practices, people constantly want to learn more, ask questions, figure out each other’s favorite throws, value growth and process over outcomes, and just flat out enjoy people’s company. We brought that mindset with us to the U.S. Open. Additionally, when one is able to honestly talk through rough moments with teammates, it makes those on-field connections even more powerful. We certainly had some rough patches to work through at the U.S. Open, especially as the wind picked up throughout the weekend. But it felt like there was a foundation of support for each other and a sense that we FALL 2014

The frustration was worth it. At the U.S. Open, there were light bulbs turning on all over the place. I loved it. It validated all the weeks of work we had put in. Not every strategy we had practiced worked perfectly, and the wind meant we weren’t able to fully explore some of the tools we had been developing, but the whole team was still a part of the process of 20

learning something, seeing and feeling it work, and then continuing to think about how we can get better. What is the next step? What do we need to change about it? Is there another level of complexity we need to add? Those vital questions were critical in helping us prepare to see teams like Scandal and Fury again at the World Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC) less than a month later. When I was in college, I remember going to tournaments and seeing people run across multiple fields in excitement to hug their friends who attended schools all across the country. I also remember being a little bit jealous; I thought to myself, how do all these people know each other? This year at the U.S. Open, I again saw, and this time was lucky to experience, similar acts. I saw players warming up in their friends’ jerseys, even though they were about to compete against that rival team. I saw people running across a field to hug-tackle a former teammate from U-23 Worlds. I got to meet one of the women I had been exchanging emails with for months regarding the Girls’ Ultimate Movement (GUM). I think back to these moments and feel extremely lucky to be part of such an amazing community. I cannot think of many times in which you can be both best friends and

WOMEN’S | US OPEN | MN

LEFT TO RIGHT: Scandal’s Huldah Gronvall gets up to make the grab over Fury’s Lakshmi Narayan during pool play. Photo: CBMT Creative Chelsea Murphy extends to grab the disc for Brute Squad in the finals against Riot at the 2014 U.S. Open. Photo: CBMT Creative Riot’s Dominique Fontenette gets away from her Iceni defender during pool play at the U.S. Open. Photo: CBMT Creative

competitors at the highest level. I have been particularly impressed with my experiences in the women’s division in this way. I love being able to talk fairly about calls, chat on the sideline and feel so connected to people who live all over the country. Before the tournament, it was fantastic to see all the support players gave Without Limits and the Simple Pledge group. After the finals, I was proud to be part of a sizable group sporting new tank tops as a display of solidarity with growing the role of women in ultimate. In many ways, the U.S. Open is the perfect venue for establishing and building these connections across teams. The convention aspect of the event helps foster new relationships and momentum, as I saw firsthand in the packed room while GUM organizers presented our proposed action items for expanding girls’ ultimate.

because of how much we give back. Until this year, Riot has never felt so connected with the people who read our blogs, like our Facebook posts and watch our games. There is no doubt the coverage of the U.S. Open on ESPN3 helped lead to much of the additional exposure from which our team has benefited. It has been amazing to feel so supported by other people who play, coach or just love our sport. We couldn’t ask for a better group of fans, and it has been really exciting to see a new group of people connecting to our team this year. Our fans and supporters help fund our season, are invested in following the sport, care about women’s ultimate and are ready to take action to help spread the word

about ultimate (even helping to get a women’s clip from the U.S. Open on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10!). It feels like momentum is building, and we couldn’t be happier. The U.S. Open was a huge learning experience for Riot, and we took many of the lessons from Blaine with us to Lecco, Italy for WUCC. We plan on continuing the same process of adjusting and learning throughout the season as we set our sights on the USA Ultimate National Championships. I really cannot wait to see which new connections will be gained at every track workout, lifting session, practice, fundraiser and tournament for the rest of the season. The year has been a great ride so far, and we are still in the midst of writing our 2014 story.

After winning the tournament and the spirit award, Riot received supportive emails and messages from fans all over the world. We heard from family, people from Seattle, Riot alumni around the U.S., and players from the countries that have welcomed us into their communities during our team’s international clinics. One person came up to me and said he was very happy Riot was doing so well this year Bamboo’s Catalina Borrero lays out for a score against Scandal during pool play at the U.S. Open. Photo: CBMT Creative

Final Standings 1 – RIOT 2 – BRUTE SQUAD 3T - TRAFFIC 3T - FURY 5 - SCANDAL 6 – SHOWDOWN 7 – ICENI 8 – BAMBOO

Battle of the Titcombs: Qxhna (right) of Brute Squad marks her sister Rohre (left) of Riot during the finals at the U.S. Open. Photo: CBMT Creative

TEAM

INDIVIDUAL

Spirit Rankings:

Spirit Awards: Sara Builes

Riot

16.57

Brute Squad

Vicky Negus

Iceni

16.57

Fury

Darragh Clancy

Fury

15.43

Iceni

Meryl Kusyk

Scandal

15.43

Riot

Hana Kawai

Bamboo

15.14

Scandal

Molly Roy

Brute Squad

14.71

Showdown

Tina Woodings

Traffic

14.29

Traffic

Eva Cham

Showdown

13.86

Bamboo

Riot took home their second U.S. Open title, as well as the Team Spirit Award and $2,000 in prize money in 2014. Photo: CBMT Creative

MASTERS: MEN’S

For most of the last three quarters of a decade or so, the men’s masters division has been all about Minneapolis Surly. And for most of the last half decade, Raleigh’s Boneyard has been close behind. Surly won their first national championship in 2008, and before this year, had won four more consecutive championships. Three of those victories came in finals wins over Boneyard. But this year, with the World Ultimate Club Championships diverting some of the nation’s most-recently touted masters talent to Italy and away from the return of the Masters Championships to Sarasota, the time was ripe for a new champion to emerge in the division. It was just the opportunity Tejas had been waiting for. Tejas first qualified for the Masters Championships in 2011 as a Lone Star State conglomeration that claimed Austin as home base. But most of the team had already been playing with or against each other for more than 15 years. The core of what eventually became Tejas started out together in Houston in 1995. A dozen of the athletes on their 2014 roster were also on the 2011 team that qualified for the Masters Championships, which was then still a part of the Club Championships event.

After being held alongside the Club Championships since its inception in 1991, the men’s masters championship joined the women’s masters and grandmasters divisions in a combined Masters Championship event for the first time in 2013. During its days as a division at the Club Championships, the masters teams competed in Sarasota 15 times, including 13 consecutive years from 2000 through 2012. So for Tejas, heading back to Sarasota, where they first competed together for a national title in 2011, made the weekend all the more special.

“ It is an overwhelmingly wonderful feeling to have home grown our talent, kept it together across many years and have it come together to result in a championship,” said team captain Sean McCall.“ This is certainly something we have all dreamed of, and it is especially sweet to have it occur in Sarasota.”

ABOVE: Brandon Perales (left) and hometown team Woolly Mammoth had a strong run at their first-ever Masters Championship, meeting Tejas in the finals. Photo: Billy Dzwonkowski/Ultiphotos

U S A U LT I M AT E

MASTERS: MEN’S At the Masters Championships in Denver last year, Tejas finished fifth, following up seventh- and eighth-place finishes from the two previous years. Given the trend, they were bound to keep moving up this time around. Like many of the country’s top masters teams, Tejas prepared for their title run by competing against men’s division teams at other early season tournaments. Both the tournaments they attended, they won, a great motivator and confidence builder heading into the masters season. Everyone competing in Sarasota had to battle through the mid-summer Florida conditions – heat and humidity were unavoidable, even with the ocean so nearby – but the weather may have worked as an advantage for the Texans.

“ Hot and humid in Florida in July was perfect for the conditions in which we train and prepare,” said McCall.

Day one of play provided only one true challenge for Tejas. They defeated the Triangle Area’s Ra 13-6 and Cincinnati’s FoG 13-4 in the first two rounds of pool play before running into D.C.’s Black Cans & Highlands, the second seed in the pool, and like Tejas, a consistent presence at the Masters Championships. (Before rebranding in 2013, Black Cans & Highlands had made several appearances at Nationals as Chesapeaked.) In what became one of their closest games of the weekend, Tejas persevered and emerged from pool play undefeated, earning themselves a bye into the quarterfinals on Saturday morning. And for their trouble and strong performance on Friday, Tejas was matched up against stalwart masters champions Surly in the quarterfinals. On the upside for Tejas, they weren’t facing the same Surly team that competed at the World Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC) in Lecco, Italy, a few weeks later, or the same team that qualified for WUCC in Denver last year. Of the 2014 WUCC Surly squad, only six athletes also competed in Sarasota; four of those competed with the Surly Grandmasters team, leaving just two with Surly in the men’s masters division. And only three of the men who competed with the masters Surly squad in Denver were also with them in Sarasota. Tejas pulled out the win 14-10, handing Surly only their sixth loss since, the season in which they won their first masters championship title. One of those six losses came on day one in Sarasota this year. In the semifinals and eventually the finals, whatever advantage Tejas may have had in the tough Florida heat CENTER: Don Tom outreaches Woolly Mammoth’s Adam Young during the men’s masters championship final in Sarasota, Fla. Photo: Billy Dzwonkowski/Ultiphotos

and humidity fell away. They had to battle through two teams from the Southeast, teams just as familiar with the conditions as they were, if they were going to claim the title. In the semifinals, Tejas took on Reckon, a team based primarily in Georgia and Tennessee. Despite their plentiful masters-level experience and some big-name pick-ups for the 2014 championships, Reckon couldn’t overcome a clicking Tejas team. Tejas advanced to the finals with a solid 13-9 victory. In their final pre-game meeting on Sunday morning, still in their lodgings on Siesta Key, everyone on the Tejas roster committed to play with focus, intensity, selflessness, tactics and execution. Everyone was on board.

“ The amount of desire communicated in simple body language was tremendous,” recalls captain Marcus Gavin.

They arrived back at the Sarasota Polo Club ready to take on the local upstart team, Woolly Mammoth, who had rolled their way to a finals berth with a huge win over Philly Masters in their semifinal match up. Both Woolly Mammoth and Tejas were undefeated entering the weekend’s biggest game. Tejas struggled a bit to start the game, with unforced offensive errors creating plenty of break opportunities for Woolly, several of which were converted. But Tejas battled back. After being down two breaks, they tied the score at 7-7. But Woolly was up at the break and received to start the second half. Tejas came out with a renewed energy after the break. Neither team led by more than two during the course of the game, and when hard cap went on, Woolly had just tacked on an extra point, but Tejas was still up 12-11. And that was all she wrote.

ABOVE: Tejas’ Patrick Mackie steps out and around the mark of Woolly Mammoth’s Tim Darnell in the finals. Photo: Billy Dzwonkowski/Ultiphotos

MASTERS: MEN’S In the end, Tejas accomplished what they had set out to do, perhaps unwittingly, when they began playing together all those years ago.

Final Standings 1 - TEJAS 2 - WOOLLY MAMMOTH 3 - RECKON 4 - PHILLY MASTERS 5 - BAM! 6 - SURLY T7 - HORSE T7 - OHIOLD 9 - RA 10 - SLOW COUNTRY BOIL 11 - BLACK CANS & HIGHLANDS 12 - CRAWL 13 - FLASHBACK 14 - FOG 15 - POLAR VORTEX

“ It’s the perfect culmination of what most of us have been working towards since college,” said Gavin. “And to have done it with the same guys we’ve played with for most of that time makes it all the more satisfying. Some of us have won championships with other teams, but this is our team. It’s our championship. We worked together to get here, and it feels so good to have done it together.” And it’s not over for Tejas. As their motto goes, “Somos Tejas. Queremos mas.” So they’ll be back. They plan to take the field together again in 2015, with eyes on defending their new national championship title.

TEAM

Spirit Rankings: 5.0 - Polar Vortex 5.0 - Tejas 4.8 - Horse

INDIVIDUAL

Spirit Award Winners:

4.8 - Surly

BAM!

Nikolas Radey

4.8 - BAM!

Black Cans & Highlands

Wei Lu

4.8 - Slow Country Boil

Crawl

Adam Carberry

4.8 - Flashback

Flashback

Joel Pitney

4.8 - Woolly Mammoth

FoG

Roy Stephens

4.8 - FoG

OhiOld

Jay Martin

4.5 - OhiOld

Philly Masters

Brian Lo

4.5 - Black Cans & Highlands

Polar Vortex

Eric Newman

4.4 - Reckon

Nat Taylor

4.0 - Crawl

Reckon

Chris Church

4.0 - Ra

Slow Country Boil

Lincoln Wilson

4.0 - Philly Masters

Surly

Graham Brayshaw

Marty Bakko Spirit Award:

Tejas

Don Tom

Woolly Mammoth

Boe Quisenberry

Lincoln Wilson (Slow Country Boil)

LEFT: Don Tom gets horizontal to try and save possession for Tejas in the finals. Photo: Christina Schmidt/Ultiphotos RIGHT: OhiOld’s Jeff Kula throws around the mark of Black Cans & Highlands’ Christian Heneghan during the pre-quarterfinals at the Masters Championships. Photo: Billy Dzwonkowski/Ultiphotos

MASTERS: WOMEN’S

The Reincarnation of a Punk Little Team from Philly

By: Becca Tucker

So there we were in Sarasota, wearing our mandarin orange jerseys. Pulling it on made me feel a little fierce, I’ll be honest. Because Loose Cannon was always fierce, win or lose. They never played anything close to the chest. On the very first play of a high-stakes game, they’d put up an ill-advised Hail Mary-type huck and come down with it, and spike it. But that was forever ago. This was masters. Everyone had grown up at least a little, mellowed out, discovered there’s more to life than ultimate, had their sharp edges filed down over the last six years. Right?

Let’s go back in time, to the founding of the flash-in-thepan Philadelphia women’s team with the orange and silver jerseys and the chip on their shoulder.

“Loose Cannon was never supposed to exist for more than one season,” explained the team’s founding captain, Erin Crider. “We wanted to burn out in a…rainbow blaze of glory.” ABOVE: After largely cruising through the competition in the early rounds, Loose Cannon and Ripe played a tightly contested championship game. Photo: Bob Hume/Ultiphotos

Krisztina Jozsef saves possession for Loose Cannon on double-game point. Photo: Marshall Goff/Ultiphotos

In its original incarnation, Loose was a team full of big names and big personalities that ended up existing for two high-drama years. (“The team’s original philosophy was to be drama free. That ended immediately. We were fueled by drama,” said Crider.) Both seasons ended in Nationals runs, despite the fact that they didn’t practice. In 2007, Loose placed 14th at Nationals and in 2008 took 13th, and both years came in dead last in spirit. As a rival during those years, I can attest that the non-practicing thing was annoying, especially when they beat you.

It was time for Philly’s most raucous team to re-emerge in the division it was perhaps best suited for. Masters teams don’t tend to practice, and not practicing was Loose Cannon’s best thing. So here we were, a band of 17 teammates and rivals plus some new faces, bringing it in as Loose Cannon for the first time. For most of us, it was the first Nationals we’d been to that we actually thought we might win. We had no time to get comfy, though. We had to prove ourselves starting with the very first game, which pitted us, the second seed in our pool, against the first seed from Seattle.

“We just wanted to have as much fun as possible and make Nationals, to live the dream,” said Crider. “We were definitely a team that played really hard and ruffled a lot of feathers. We were very young, and we didn’t particularly care what other teams thought of us, as long as we were having a good time.”

“We’re going to keep the rotation tight this game,” said Crider.” It will open up later,” she added, “but this is a big game,” and, she informed us in characteristically unpublishable terms, she wasn’t sure how bad some of us were. She cackled her cackle. We went on to score the first four points and win the game handily.

After Loose disbanded, its players scattered to more stable, close-to-home teams. Green Means Go replaced it as the Philly women’s team a few years later. That was that, until we all started turning 30.

Yup. Loose Cannon still had its edge. Over the next two days, we lived up to the team’s feather-ruffling legacy, cleating up five minutes before games and getting cockier as we racked up scores like 15-4 and 15-1, bringing in middling spirit scores (although they were also the highest spirit scores Loose Cannon had ever gotten), having too much fun at the beach party while the women we’d face the next day hydrated.

Word started percolating: Crider’s putting together a team. The news traveled up to New York and down to D.C., neither of which was sending a team to the Masters Championships this year. The rumor spread to those who’d duked it out playing not only with but against Loose Cannon. But let us give credit where credit is due. This team is mostly Loose Cannon, and its roots are in Philly. That’s right, Philly. If that surprises you, Loose’s Liz Willetts, who played for Backhoe and Ozone after learning the game at UPenn, will furnish you with a list of bullet points explaining the ways in which Philadelphia is a sort of unsung ultimate incubator.

“I actually thought we were pretty mellow on the field in terms of getting in fights or threatening to kill people, but maybe teams are more sensitive at masters?” suggested Crider.

Anyway, our little roster was beginning to look enticing. Sarasota in July is a tough sell, and the Loose Cannon crew had scattered to the winds over the years, so our out-ofregion wait list was starting to look like the Dead Sea Scrolls. Still, difficulties seem to vanish alongside the prospect of a national championship. We might just win the title.

Our hashtag, we decided: #ourmastersteamcanbeatyour clubteam. Then came Sunday, bringing with it a dose of reality. We went down a break early in the semifinals to the Minneapolis Cougars, the first time we’d trailed all weekend. Fun though it is, it’s usually not a good thing to sail through a tournament

I’m in if you’re in. FALL 2014

MASTERS: WOMEN’S untested, because you just don’t know, when you face a little adversity: are we going to crumble right now and blow this? “With Loose Cannon, you have to watch out for more pratfalls than other teams,” said Crider. Would our hubris turn out to be our undoing? Eventually we pulled ourselves together for a 15-10 win, the closest game we’d had. The good news, as our scorekeeper dude kept pointing out, was that the other semifinal on the next field was turning into a heated battle. In that game, Cincinnati’s Hot Flash gave the one seed, North Carolina’s Ripe, a run for their money before Ripe took the game 13-10.

but to the club players I’ve always played against, top players from Backhoe and then Phoenix, faces that most of the time had been on the winning end of our match-ups. Oh it’s Sasha. Oh crap, Cate’s masters eligible, too? Wasn’t she on the World Games team like a second ago? This game was going to take everything we had and then some. But we weren’t bringing it. Like when we called a zone for five throws and half the team forgot to transition to man, and Ripe passed it back and forth to ridiculously open people and scored. They took half. The situation appeared dire.

It had to be at least 100 degrees. As soon as you moved, you turned into a fire hydrant. And the final was at high noon. So we mostly awaited the big game in our typical style, by sitting under the shade tent with ice in our hats and sports bras, not moving.

Then the second half started, and that’s when Tropical Storm Dorko hit. Keri Dorko, captain of Philly’s Green Means Go, is perhaps accustomed to the unbearable Florida heat because she spent two years riding around on a motorcycle or something while living in Miami. In any event, she shook herself out of her post-party stupor and flew past her in-cutting woman for an exquisite layout D – and she didn’t get up.

Lo and behold, on the other side of the field, there was the other team – which looked like it had a lot more players than us – doing a full-blown warm-up, all in a line, wearing their jersey; you know – like a club team. They were serious.

“Given that her body is composed primarily of sinew, tendons and cheeseburgers, Dorko staying down for that long meant the injury was legit,” the Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance reported.

I can’t remember much about the first half of the game except that it was a dog fight, and we weren’t winning it, and it was so sweaty it was hard to throw a forehand, let alone huck one. Drying off your hands between points and rubbing them with dirt was futile.

She’d hit the ground so hard her shoulder had popped out of its socket. She was eventually carried off the field, holding her arm like it was going to fall off, the rest of her club season in jeopardy. (She’d be back a few weeks later playing at Colorado Cup, against medical advice, but hey.)

What I do remember is hauling my butt down the field to play D and recognizing one face, then another. (In my old age I have become a bit blind, so it’s sometimes a surprise when I get downfield.) The faces belonged not to old ladies,

That D kept us alive and solidified our will, but Ripe was still leading 10-9 when the cap went on. Game to 12. Even the Gatorades were sweating profusely. It was so hot it was

With a layout D and a bookends score, Margalit Gould sealed the championship for Loose Cannon, 12-11 over Ripe. Photos: Marshall Goff/Ultiphotos

MASTERS: women’S hard to root for anything other than the game’s conclusion, but Dorko had not sacrificed her body so we could come in second.

Final Standings 1 - LOOSE CANNON 2 - RIPE 3T - HOT FLASH 3T - C.O.U.G.A.R.S. 5 - MINT 6 - YEEHAW 7 - RESTLESS 8 - ATLANTIQUES 9 - MAUL 10 - DC MADDAMES

“Decide now if you want to play to win,” said Crider. Simple. Effective. Universe point, 11-11: Loose pulled. Ripe’s best line was in. They’d just missed one shot to win the game, on a hammer that sailed inches high, and they were not going to take any chances this time. We’d have to go and get it. Margalit Gould, one of our biggest players in every way, did just that, going full Superwoman on her in-cutter and just crushing the D with both hands. We worked it back down the field, slowly, slowly. All was silent, like the non-sound after a big snow. Time seemed to open up, this possession felt like hours: a controlled layout to save a low disc, dump, swing, and we’d gotten it to Linda Dolan on the end zone line – which is about as good a guarantee as there is in this game. Dolan pivoted around her mark and put up an outside-in backhand break into space for Gould, who leapt and brought it down for universe point bookends. The observer’s arms went up, and Gould just kept running in a big arc around the end zone with the disc held high overhead, yelling.

TEAM

Spirit Rankings: 5.0 - Restless 4.8 - C.O.U.G.A.R.S. 4.8 - DC MadDames 4.6 - Hot Flash 4.6 - Mint 4.5 - Maul

Loose Cannon, the little punk team from the in-between city. Who would’ve thought?

4.4 - Atlantiques 4.4 - Yeehaw 4.3 - Ripe 3.2 - Loose Cannon

INDIVIDUAL

Spirit Award Winners: Atlantiques

Emily Merkle

C.O.U.G.A.R.S

Jenna Grady

DC MadDames

Sora Kim

Hot Flash

Mary Uthuppuru

Loose Cannon

Lindi Sabloff

Maul

Karla Koch

Mint

Ann Huang

Restless

Jill Durham

Ripe

Cate Yackey

Yeehaw

Rebecca Smith

Cate Yackey reels in the disc for Ripe during the championship finals against Loose Cannon in Sarasota, Fla. Photo: Pete Guion/Ultiphotos

Surly Boxes out Shadows By: Wayne Peacock

The Sarasota Polo Club is a familiar site for ultimate players, but rarely in the heat of summer. As July’s 2014 Masters Championships arrived, Sarasota greeted ultimate’s savvy veterans with temperatures in the 90s and high humidity. Through these conditions and a strong grandmasters division, the Twin Cities’ Surly GM squad endured long enough to claim their second grandmasters title.

The finals were every bit as closely fought, though both Surly and Shadows maintained the Spirit of the Game. This was reflected in the game, which Matty described as an “ideal match,” as all players remained civil and respectful toward one another.

Although he’s usually the man behind the word processor, Surly’s Matthew “Matty” Spillum, a 25-year ultimate veteran, recently took some time away from his busy work schedule to share his experience at the Masters Championship, Florida’s “unquestionably hot and humid” July and, of course, his team’s just-as-unquestionable, well-earned win.

“I think one of the things we did really well this year was put ourselves into a position to win,”SPILLUM added.

“It’s one thing to win a game when you’re playing a team you know you will beat, but it’s another when you’re playing a team that’s fighting you with as much force as you’re giving them,” he said, recalling the semifinals game against Georgetown Brewing – the same team that defeated Surly in the semifinals of the 2013 Grand Masters Championship in Denver. While the game was intensely contested and the Seattle side scrapped to the end, Surly came away with the win this time, at 11-10, booking their place in the finals.

“It was an honest game,” Spillum said.

The team’s 11-10 defeat of the Shadows drove them into the number one spot this year. It was an exciting game, and the win really came down to staying focused and remembering the key to a successful tournament – respect for the players of the game. That doesn’t mean Surly didn’t experience any complications along the way. Florida’s summer heat and humidity were challenges in the finals this year, and a few players had to get medical attention for dehydration. ABOVE: Surly celebrates their semifinal victory over Georgetown Brewing, avenging a loss in the same round at last year’s Masters Championships. Photo: Pete Guion/Ultiphotos

U S A U LT I M AT E

Ricky Eikstadt’s block on double-game point gave the disc back to Surly with a short field. A dump-swing goal later, they had the championship. Photos: Marshall Goff & Christina Schmidt/Ultiphotos

“If you’re not careful, you can get yourself into a little bit of trouble, especially when you’re of a certain age,” Spillum explained.

“My workouts will soon consist of waking up and changing diapers,” he teases. Spillum and his wife are expecting their first child in September.

Notwithstanding the challenging climate, most of his teammates would have preferred to compete rather than manage their health on the sidelines. However, with all the running and sprinting involved in this sport, it’s possible to expend all your energy in just a few short plays, if you’re not careful.

Richard “Ricky” Eikstadt, another 25-year veteran of the sport also provided some insight into this year’s Masters Championships. He began by explaining that Surly functions just like any great team. All the crucial roles, whether it be leading on the field or designing plays, are done in ways that pull the team together, not apart.

“It’s wiser to prepare your body for the game, rather than recuperate from a poor decision,” he added.

“All versions of Surly I’ve been a part of have been able to check every critical box in terms of team structure so that when it’s time to play, we get the job done,” EIKSTADT explained.

Spillum enjoyed catching up with the players he sees only once each year, and even looks forward to seeing new faces in the coming years. Valuing the connections made with players from other teams comes easily. “We’ve all been in the sport for so long that we’ve established great connections with other team members,” he said. “Just like with old friends, we can pick up a conversation right where we left off the year before.” Throughout the year, Spillum stays in shape however he can, including participating in the Twin Cities’ indoor league during autumn and winter. He also spends time coaching Bethel University’s team. Though he isn’t sure he’ll be able to spend quite as much on ultimate in the fall or winter this year, as he’ll be busy at home. FALL 2014

Everyone plays an important role, from solid, steady handling by Rich Berger and Johnny Hock to potent downfield cutting by Mark Furigay and Paul Anderson. “And teammates like Dave Steglich, Perry Nacionales and Sky Davey glue us together,” he added. Eikstadt said this year’s final was exciting because the Shadows offered some really tight competition. They defended the cones well and were athletic in the air. And having Mark “Paco” Enright on the field made an enormous difference.

GRANDMASTERS

Final Standings 1 - SURLY 2 - SHADOWS 3 - NO COUNTRY 4 - GEORGETOWN BREWING 5 - SUPER CALI FRAGILE DISC 6 - BROOKLYN 7 - MAN DOWN 8 - WSUC 9 - OLD LINE 10 - BIGWHEEL 11 - SICK HAMMERS 12 - CHARRED GUYS 13 - OZARK HILLBILLYS 14 - KINGFISH

Near halftime, the Shadows had a chance to seize control of the game, but Brent “Rex” Nystrom came through with a catch block to defend the Surly goal line, so they marched the disc down the field to keep the game within reach.

He understands first-hand the complications that can arise if precautions aren’t taken. Each moment he wasn’t playing, Eikstadt had to work to maintain his body temperature to make sure he could be ready when called upon.

“Without that play, I don’t think Surly would have been able to pull off the win,” Eikstadt recalled.

“As soon as you fell behind on maintenance, you were toast,” Eikstadt said. Normally, players want to chip in vocally from the sidelines as much as possible and help their teammates keep rolling on the field. “But this year, I had to spend more time keeping cool,” he said.

In the Shadows’ last possession, Surly’s defense forced a challenged underneath pass that was blocked by Eikstadt himself. Surly took advantage, and a dump-swing goal later, they had the win. “The entire weekend was so much fun,” said Eikstadt, “but being involved in this final, critical moment was a highlight for me.” When asked how he would compare this year’s championship to Surly’s 2012 win, Eikstadt said that the 2012 win featured a similarly tight semifinals game against Boulder Gun Club, though it never came down to a final possession. “Whereas, this year, with Georgetown Brewing, we managed to gut out a universe-point victory on a blade to Marc Furigay, in the middle back of the end zone, as Georgetown was defending really well on game point,” he said.

Regardless of which team won this year, there’s something to be said about the camaraderie involved in these games. “The grandmasters event is like a shooting star,” said Eikstadt. “You work hard in a short period of time to build esprit de corps and chemistry, but it’s over just when you hit your stride as a team!” Although Eikstadt said he wouldn’t have wanted to play another day in those steamy conditions, he would have enjoyed spending more time sharing pints of Surly with his teammates.

Eikstadt was thoroughly impressed with the “competition and fire” everyone brought to the event this year, despite the heat. 33

U S A U LT I M AT E

GRANDMASTERS

Surlyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sky Davey beats his defender to the disc during the grandmasters final in Sarasota, Fla. Photo: Christina Schmidt/Ultiphotos

TEAM

INDIVIDUAL

Spirit Rankings:

Spirit Award Winners:

5.0 - Charred Guys

BigWheel

Paul Dorsey

5.0 - Kingfish

Brooklyn

Syed Ali

4.8 - BigWheel

Charred Guys

Darren Mace

4.8 - Surly

Georgetown Brewing

Johnny Springer

4.7 - Old Line

Kingfish

Schuyler Smith

4.7 - Ozark Hillbillys

Man Down

Steve Peterson

4.7 - Brooklyn

No Country

Joel Thompson

4.6 - Sick Hammers

Old Line

Michael Meyers

4.5 - WSUC

Ozark Hillbillys

Jon Bitler

4.2 - Man Down

Shadows

Frank Flores

4.0 - Shadows

Sick Hammers

Mark Newton

4.0 - Georgetown Brewing

Super Cali Fragile Disc

Cliff Hanna

3.8 - Super Cali Fragile Disc

Surly

Rich Berger

3.8 - No Country

WSUC

Brian Sullivan

FALL 2014

r Ninet e en

B o y s

Triangle Triforce’s Terrence Mitchell evades his diving defender during the U-19 boys’ final at the 2014 Youth Club Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

LEGACY, GRIT & TEAM CHEMISTRY U-19 BOYS BY NICK RYAN The next generation of top players. Teams from Seattle to Maine and everywhere in between. Dedicated parents. Great coaches. Anticipation. There was an electricity in the air as the horn signaled the start of play on Saturday at the 2014 Youth Club Championships (YCC). A year’s worth of dedication burst onto the scene and didn’t fade until well after the National Sports Center parking lots emptied on Sunday. After a team dropped at the last minute, Saturday play in the U-19 boys’ division was reformatted to include two power pools. The power pool format pits the top-ranked teams against each other from the very beginning. Because youth tournaments in general, and YCC in particular, are difficult to seed, the initial tournament seeding rewards returning teams by using previous years’ results. Of course, those past results may not be indicative of the current year’s team. As a result, many coaches had opinions on the new format. Pittsburgh coach Kevin Tang liked the opportunity to get his team into the fray and playing the best teams

right away, while Atlanta coach Matthew Knowles felt his players could get ground down by vigorous play too early on. But enough about the power pools. Youth ultimate has leeched into the sporting culture of Texas, hiked into the wilderness of Maine and braved the recently snowy winters of Georgia. Youth ultimate is growing and growing fast, but given its dependence on age, it’s also a constantly rotating wheel of athletes. The Atlanta-area youth scene demonstrates a good defense against the constant turnover of youth players by spreading ultimate into the community, cultivating elementary and middle school players to build their future high school teams. The brother of one of the Atlanta ATLiens mentioned that one of the Atlanta area’s long-time coaches, Michael Baccarini (who was not at YCC this year), is a physical education teacher at an elementary school and shamelessly teaches his students how to play ultimate. But there are other vehicles for spreading the sport as well. According to Maine Ultimate Rising Tide coach Tommy Stoughton, once 35

U S A U LT I M AT E

r Ninet e en

B o y s

ultimate gained popularity in the state, the tight-knit, almost familial atmosphere of Maine lent itself to the rapid growth of the sport. Blaine, Minn., and the National Sports Center are a fairly central location, but it’s still a long trip for many teams. Those far-flung teams have to reset their watches as time zones change, contend with jetlag and road weariness, and often play without the support of family or heckling friends on the sidelines. But some teams refuse to play the victim. Despite their long trip, Texas Two Step still managed to fill their sidelines with dedicated parents who either committed to flying up or braved the 14-hour drive with shade tents and coolers in tow, even going so far as to build a collapsible PVC flag pole which was carried onto a plane and assembled at the fields. This outpouring of support can make all the difference in a team’s performance. For example, Texas faced Colorado in their first game of bracket play on Sunday. Every Texan point was followed by a deafening roar from the sidelines, the sound of unwavering support. And it helped carry Two Step to an upset. Atlanta and North Carolina were also shadowed by large followings. North Carolina drew on their support all the way to the championship; although, championships cannot be won on the merits of spectators alone. It is rare for a YCC roster to have large numbers of athletes who also play together during the year. Most teams come together from different schools or represent a large region. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither can cohesion be built in a day. Dennis Servaty, the head coach of South Dakota’s Sodak, remarked that filling out their already small roster with two players from Utah made it difficult to engender collaborative play. Meanwhile, Triforce of North Carolina’s Triangle Youth Ultimate League (TYUL) boasted a team chockfull of returning players, natural leaders, chemistry and flow. Coach Jonathon Nethercutt said that the veteran players on his team have spent countless hours playing together this past year; he went on to say, “You can’t teach [team] chemistry.” As a matter of fact, six of seven Triforce starters have been playing together for three years and won the first-ever YCC U-16 boys’ championship together in 2011. Having strong veterans such as Eli Miller, Terrence Mitchell, Sol Yanuck and Nathan Kwon helps new players learn and develop simply by playing together throughout the year. It’s no surprise that TYUL also fielded a B team, Carolina Sky, in the U-19 division for a second consecutive year, but it was a bit of a surprise when they defeated the third-seeded DEVYL in the prequarterfinals. Like Atlanta’s development pipeline that constantly feeds experienced players into the area’s YCC program, the continued growth and success of Carolina Sky, and the Triangle’s U-16

FALL 2014

Triforce's Marc Rovner looks up-field during the finals against Cincinnati Flying Pig. Photo: CBMT Creative

program, will help ensure future success for Triforce and the TYUL program as a whole. Seeding did not and could not have predicted the finals match up where Triforce (4) overcame Cincinnati’s Flying Pig (9). Because they began the weekend seeded ninth, Flying Pig just missed Saturday’s power pools. Pig won all three of their Saturday games with wide margins, quickly establishing themselves as a major threat come Sunday. They relied heavily on the superb handling abilities of Dominic Schuster, who was often able to find the 6’3” Jordan Monnin downfield. Sunday’s opponents proved better challengers for Pig. But despite tougher competition, the time cap wasn’t an issue for Flying Pig. They managed to finish full games to 13 against each of their opponents over the course of the weekend. Triforce’s weekend looked quite a bit different, with tough game followed by tough game on both Saturday and Sunday. Triforce tallied an 10-11 loss to Seattle Salvo in their last pool play game and did not win a single game by more than four points until the final. And what a final it was. Long, hotly contested points filled the last game of the tournament. In the end, Triforce relied on practically two full lines of veterans who consistently displayed expert full-field handler movement as well as both in- and deep-cutting finesse to claim their first YCC championship. After several years of climbing the YCC ladder and making a name for the Triangle Area youth scene on the national level, Triforce finally combined their skills and experience in the right way, and along with the help of a supportive sideline of family and friends and some true determination from each team member, took home the U-19 boys’ division trophy at the 2014 Youth Club Championships. 36

U-19 BOYS FINAL STANDINGS: 1 - TRIANGLE TRIFORCE 2 - CINCINNATI FLYING PIG 3T - ATLANTA ATLIENS 3T - BOSTON BUDA 5T - SEATTLE SALVO 5T - TEXAS TWO-STEP 7T - CONNECTICUT INSOMNIA 7T - TRIANGLE CAROLINA SKY 9T – CHICAGO U-19 ELITE 9T - MINNESOTA SUPERIOR A 11T - DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL 11T - NASHVILLE NASHVILLAINS 13T - COLORADO CUTTHROAT 13T - PITTSBURGH IMPULSE 15T - BIRMINGHAM FORGE 15T - INDIANA INFERNO 17T - MAINE RISING TIDE 17T - MINNESOTA SUPERIOR B 19 - NEW YORK VOLCANYC 20 - MICHIGAN SEMI 21 - WASHINGTON, D.C. DEADRISE 22 - SOUTH DAKOTA SODAK 23 - NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS: BIRMINGHAM FORGE

18.67

TRIANGLE CAROLINA SKY

17.83

TEXAS TWO STEP

17.80

WASHINGTON, D.C. DEADRISE

17.50

SEATTLE SALVO

16.33

TRIANGLE TRIFORCE

16.25

SOUTH DAKOTA SODAK

16.20

ATLANTA ATLIENS

16.17

MINNESOTA SUPERIOR B

15.60

MICHIGAN SEMI

15.60

CINCINNATI FLYING PIG

15.29

COLORADO CUTTHROAT

15.25

NEW YORK VOLCANYC

15.20

PITTSBURGH IMPULSE

15.00

INDIANA INFERNO

14.63

CHICAGO U-19 ELITE

14.60

BOSTON BUDA

14.50

MAINE RISING TIDE

14.00

MINNESOTA SUPERIOR

14.00

NASHVILLE NASHVILLAINS

13.00

NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE

13.00

CONNECTICUT INSOMNIA

12.25

DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL

11.50

INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARDS: ATLANTA ATLIENS

ANDERS OLSON

MINNESOTA SUPERIOR B

TOM DURET

BIRMINGHAM FORGE

JASON RUSSELL

NASHVILLE NASHVILLAINS

MATHEW SUI

BOSTON BUDA CHICAGO U-19 ELITE CINCINNATI FLYING PIG

MAC HECHT ADAM WONG

NEW YORK VOLCANYC

BERNIE TYSON

PITTSBURGH IMPULSE

NADEEM DAMIAN

SEATTLE SALVO

STEVEN BENALOH

SOUTH DAKOTA SODAK

SAMUEL MALLETT

DAVID MILLER

CONNECTICUT INSOMNIA

KEITH MOYA

DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL

ETHAN SCHWAB

INDIANA INFERNO

JACOB THARP

MAINE RISING TIDE

CAMERON JACK

MINNESOTA SUPERIOR

MICHAEL NELLY

STEPHEN BABCOCK

COLORADO CUTTHROAT

MICHIGAN SEMI

NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE

TEXAS TWO STEP TRIANGLE CAROLINA SKY

DAVID FINCH

LUKE SIMERLY ETHAN COLE

TRIANGLE TRIFORCE

VALERI KOZAREV

WASHINGTON, D.C. DEADRISE

BEN WEINSTEIN

DONNIE WOOD 37

U S A U LT I M AT E

r Ninet e en

G i r l s

The spirit of the South Dakota Angels shows as they celebrate a goal against cATLanta in the ninth-place bracket during Sunday play at the 2014 Youth Club Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

ANGELS IN MINNESOTA U-19 GIRLS Atlanta Metro: 6.1 million. Boston Metro: 4.5 million. Seattle Metro: 3.5 million. Denver/Boulder Metro: 3.2 million.

South Dakota: 845,000. But somehow, against the odds, the South Dakota Angels ended up in Blaine, Minn., competing at the 2014 Youth Club Championships. A group of 15 girls made the trip from South Dakota to Blaine, Minn., to represent their state in the U-19 girls’ division at the Youth Club Championships, a first for South Dakota youth ultimate. Spearfish High School in Spearfish, S.D., is the current home of the state’s youth scene: the only high school in a town with a population just over 10,000. A group of friends at the high school started their club team in the fall of 2011, and with the help of head coach and current USA Ultimate State Youth Coordinator Dennis Servaty, the group has evolved to also organize summer and fall leagues for kids and adults alike. As a result of the league’s and the team’s development, South Dakota was able to field a boys’ team at YCC for the first time in 2012, laying the groundwork for further development in the state’s youth scene. FALL 2014

Two years later, enter the state’s first-ever traveling U-19 girls’ team. Like many of the state’s male youth ultimate players, most of the Angels hail from Spearfish. The girls recruited to supplement the Spearfish crew and round out the team made the trip from the state’s only other youth ultimate “hub” of Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s largest city with a population of about 160,000. The two towns couldn’t really be much further from each other, while still managing to stay in the same state. Spearfish sits right near South Dakota’s western border, while Sioux Falls is on the eastern border, right where Minnesota and Iowa meet and just about 400 miles, or five and a half hours, from Spearfish. Not surprisingly, the distance makes ever practicing together or competing against other teams extremely difficult. In the lead up to YCC, the two groups practiced separately each week. Neither group was able to scrimmage against other teams or participate in any tournaments before YCC. Their only practice together came in Blaine, the night before competition started. When Saturday morning at YCC finally rolled around, other teams were focusing on implementing the strategies and skills they had developed during months of practices together, while the Angels first had to learn the names, faces and strengths of each of their new teammates. But it was worth it. 38

“As I look back at YCC, I see a team that went from being strangers to a team that formed an everlasting friendship,” said Angels captain and founder Jessica Peterson. “I wanted this team to compete because I believed that it would be a great opportunity for ultimate to spread in South Dakota and give women the opportunity to play this sport.”

South Dakota. It is incredible how much you care for the other teams and want to see them succeed.” The team scored their first point in YCC competition on Saturday afternoon while playing Cincinnati’s Belle. In addition to it being their first point as a team, for multiple Angels, it was their first-ever point in an ultimate tournament of any kind. The excited cheers and delighted reactions echoed across the fields at the National Sports Center and brought smiles to the faces of more than one competitor, more than one coach and more than one spectator.

Despite her determination and excitement for putting this group together, the difficulties of organizing a team in such a sparsely populated state weren’t unnoticed by Peterson. She admits to having considered scrapping the idea altogether on more than one occasion, particularly when, even on the day of the roster deadline, the Angels didn’t have 12 confirmed players, the roster minimum for YCC. But throughout the process, she had the support of Servaty and the local ultimate community. It may be small, but it is tightknit and strong.

Many of the 2014 Angels will not be eligible to compete at YCC next year, but local organizers, including Servaty and Peterson, are optimistic about a return trip to Minnesota for the South Dakota girls next year. Peterson is currently a freshman at Iowa State University, but she is among the Angels that will still be eligible to compete at the Youth Club Championships in 2015. Her steely resolve and efforts, along with her fellow returning members of the inaugural Angels squad, should help ensure the girls will make a repeat trip to YCC next year.

After playing Atlanta at YCC, where the South Dakota U-19 boys’ team was voicing their support of the Angels from the sideline, the team’s coach, Sarah Zietlow, shared her observations of that strength. “I have never seen a community of people so dedicated to keeping each other positive and encouraging each other than the teams of

SEATTLE STILL CREAM OF THE CROP In the largest U-19 girls’ field ever at the Youth Club Championships, Seattle emerged victorious yet again. This year’s squad from the dominant DiscNW youth program, Cyclone, claimed another gold medal with an 11-5 win over Denver Cutthroat in the championship finals, their second consecutive finals victory over Colorado. After a scare from Maine Riptide in their second game of the weekend, a game Seattle managed to sneak away with 8-7, Cyclone put their collective foot back on the pedal to eliminate any doubt that they are still the strongest force in the girls’ division. Despite large-scale roster turnover, returning only three girls from the 2013 squad and the loss of seven athletes who participated at the World Junior Ultimate Championships in lieu of YCC, the Seattle girls’ average margin of victory in Blaine was still more than seven points per contest. With the support of one of the nation’s largest youth ultimate scenes behind them, for the foreseeable future at least, Seattle is still the team to beat in the U-19 girls’ division. Seattle Cyclone's Tian Qing Yen just gets her hand on the disc in front of Colorado Cutthroat's Caitlyn Lee in the U-19 girls' final. Photo: CBMT Creative

U-19 GIRLS TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS: ATLANTA CATLANTA NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE

16 16

COLORADO CUTTHROAT

15.67

BOSTON BUDA

14.75

MINNESOTA SUPERIOR

14.60

SEATTLE CYCLONE

14.60

DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL

14.33

CINCINNATI BELLE

13.25

SOUTH DAKOTA ANGELS

12.50

TRIANGLE WARHAWKS

12.20

PITTSBURGH MOXIE

12.00

MAINE RIPTIDE

8.40

FINAL STANDINGS: 1 - SEATTLE CYCLONE 2 - COLORADO CUTTHROAT 3 - CINCINNATI BELLE 4 - TRIANGLE WARHAWKS 5 - DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL 6 - MAINE RIPTIDE 7 - NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE 8 - MINNESOTA SUPERIOR 9 - ATLANTA CATLANTA 10 - BOSTON BUDA 11 - PITTSBURGH MOXIE 12 - SOUTH DAKOTA ANGELS

INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARDS: ATLANTA CATLANTA BOSTON BUDA CINCINNATI BELLE COLORADO CUTTHROAT DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL

SYD TAYLOR-KLAUS EMILY MCCARTER AMBER KARKIEWICZ ZOE WEINBERG JESSE SONG

MAINE RIPTIDE

EMMA LANDIS

MINNESOTA SUPERIOR

AIDAN ZIELSKE

NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE PITTSBURGH MOXIE SEATTLE CYCLONE

LAUREN WEIL MIRANDA KOSOWSKY EMMA GOIDEL

SOUTH DAKOTA ANGELS

HANNAH STADEM

TRIANGLE WARHAWKS

KATIE CUBRILOVIC

Allison Bashford of the Triangle Warhawks reaches for the disc during Saturday pool play. Photo: CBMT Creative

Minnesota Superior’s Natalie Cooper awaits the disc at the 2014 Youth Club Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

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Colton Clark gets horizontal to save possession for Oregon Flood. A 12-11 win over Washington, D.C. Swing Vote in the semifinals brought them to the championship game. Photo: CBMT Creative

UPSETS: SPIRIT OF THE COMPETITION U-19 MIXED BY: NINA FOGEL The mixed division at the 2014 Youth Club Championships (YCC) was full of excitement and upsets as new teams made their presence known. There were 10 teams in the division this year, and only four played at YCC last year. Between all the new teams and the absence of many superstars as a result of the World Junior Ultimate Championships, pool play included plenty of very competitive match ups, doublegame points and comeback opportunities. Good defense and athleticism led teams to victory. But even during pool play, it was evident the road to the finals would not be easy for any team. BUDA and Minnesota, the division’s original top seeds, did not make it to the championship bracket. But the upsets didn’t end in pool play. On day two, Washington D.C. and Seattle had byes into the semifinals, but they each lost and ended up playing each other for third place. Seattle took home that victory 11-9.

The finals was a west-coast battle. As they had against their semifinal opponent, Oregon lost to the Happy Cows on double-game point in pool play and earned the opportunity to avenge the loss. The points were long and contentious as both teams battled for every possession. The Bay Area squad committed some crucial turnovers which Oregon was able to take advantage of, to the tune of a 7-5 lead at the half. Although the Happy Cows looked strong on defense, they struggled to score, and Oregon opened up a three-point lead. The Bay Area squad started a comeback, but hard cap went on before they could close the gap, and Oregon took home the mixed division championship title with an 11-7 win. When asked what made Oregon so successful, coach Patrick Buermeyer said, “The single biggest factor in our success was winning the mental game.” Oregon struggled on day one with team chemistry, but they were able to work out their kinks in time to bring home a championship. Though the team had less preparation than many of the other top teams at YCC this year, the well-rounded nature of their players allowed them to succeed. Oregon did not rely on a few key players; instead, their entire roster had the ability to defend, throw and score.

After losing their first match up against D.C. on doublegame point in pool play, Oregon fought tooth and nail to earn a late victory over Swing Vote in the semifinals. D.C. started strong again and took an early 4-1 lead, but Oregon came roaring back in the second half, capitalizing on D.C.’s turnovers to tie the game at 10-10. Oregon took the lead at 11-10, their first lead of the game since the first point, and followed it up with another quick point just before hard cap went on. D.C. scored the final point, but Oregon came away with the 12-11 win. In the other semifinal, the Bay Area Happy Cows were in the midst of a close game of their own against Seattle. Seattle took a 3-1 lead, but the Bay Area fought back and took half 7-5 before going on to win the game 8-6.

YCC is an amazing tournament, and for the teams, it is the culmination of a summer of hard work. The kids selected for their area’s teams know how to play ultimate. They can catch and throw and are very athletic. But with all-star teams such as the ones put together for YCC, learning how to play ultimate together is what most of the teams worked 41

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Oregon Flood celebrates their comeback semifinal victory over Washington, D.C. Swing Vote. Photos: CBMT Creative

on all summer. Many teams have players from a plethora of schools, all miles apart from one another. And these players only have a few opportunities to get to know their teammates, on and off the field, before they compete together on the national stage. But the teams take advantage of the opportunities they have; they prepare in any way they can. They practice, play in tournaments and field summer league teams. Possibly even more crucial to time spent playing together is time spent off the field. The teams have dinner, go swimming and communicate constantly with each other using social media. As BUDA coach Josh Seamon remarked, “There is a direct connection between the success a team has socially, off the field, with how they perform on the field.” As the weekend progressed and the intensity of games increased, it was the teams that were able to work through their mistakes and maintain their flow, keep their sidelines energized and their communication positive, that emerged with victories. The mixed division includes some unique challenges, especially at the youth level. Most kids play singlegender on their high school teams, and many girls even play on open teams. So YCC coaches made a very conscious effort to work on team dynamics. They did everything from highlighting great plays the girls were making to putting the girls in charge, so the boys would trust them. But beyond encouraging mutual respect, they taught self-respect too. One coach separated the guys and the girls in the beginning to help the girls increase confidence in their throws and look up-field, while the boys worked on other individual skills. The teams with the strongest girls were most successful. Most teams played with one or no female handlers, but girls going deep and looking for up-field throws were crucial to the success of many teams. Seattle and Madison had some of the strongest roster depth in the division when it came to their girls, and they took advantage by playing FALL 2014

four girls and three boys on many occasions, often to great success. The games all included very good spirit, and after every match up, the teams formed spirit circles to highlight the positive aspects and great players of the game. The good spirit and friendly team demeanors do not mean play was not competitive or heated and contentious at times; after all, this is still the most prestigious youth ultimate tournament in the United States. But spirit and comradery between teams and players are huge parts of the YCC experience. The mutual respect that is needed, especially in the mixed division, and the high level of spirit and competition at YCC demonstrate that either ultimate attracts respectful, passionate kids, or ultimate turns you into a great kid. Regardless of which is true, as Vermont coach Syrus Amedore said, “If these kids can keep up that attitude and poise throughout their ultimate careers, then they will continue to be great ambassadors for the sport.”

Spirit of the Game was evident throughout the weekend in the mixed division; spirit circles amongst the teams followed each game. Photo: CBMT Creative

U-19 MIXED FINAL STANDINGS:

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS: MINNESOTA SUPERIOR

19.17

GREEN MOUNTAIN MIXED (GMX)

19.00

NEW YORK SKYSCRAPERS

17.83

MADISON YCC

17.60

WASHINGTON, D.C. SWING VOTE

17.50

BAY AREA HAPPY COWS

17.40

BOSTON BUDA

15.50

SEATTLE SKYFALL

15.40

COLORADO CUTTHROAT

15.17

OREGON FLOOD

10.33

1 - OREGON FLOOD 2 - BAY AREA HAPPY COWS 3 - SEATTLE SKYFALL 4 - WASHINGTON, D.C. SWING VOTE 5 - MADISON YCC 6 - GREEN MOUNTAIN MIXED (GMX) 7 - BOSTON BUDA 8 - MINNESOTA SUPERIOR 9 - NEW YORK SKYSCRAPERS 10 - COLORADO CUTTHROAT

INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARDS: BAY AREA HAPPY COWS BOSTON BUDA COLORADO CUTTHROAT SEATTLE SKYFALL NEW YORK SKYSCRAPERS

NICK TOLFA ANTHONY SCRIMA EMMA GANN NARIAH-BELLE SIMS TIFFANI TENG

GREEN MOUNTAIN MIXED (GMX)

YASMIN BOZEMAN

MADISON YCC

BRITTNET KOKINOS

MINNESOTA SUPERIOR OREGON FLOOD WASHINGTON, D.C. SWING VOTE

DOM FULK JAYDRA ROTOLANTE CALEB MERRIAM

LEFT: Swing Vote defeated Flood in their first match up of the weekend during pool play, but Flood battled back from an early deficit in the semifinals to earn a big victory. Photo: CBMT Creative RIGHT: Seattle Skyfall’s Abby Kauff snags the disc during their semifinal match up with the Bay Area Happy Cows. Photo: CBMT Creative

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Seattle Doomsday’s Cylas Schooley squares off with Triangle NC Hammer’s Teddy Randby in the U-16 boys’ final at the 2014 Youth Club Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

FUTURE STARS SHINE AT YCC U-16 BOYS BY CHARLIE ENDERS

Ultimate is exploding. From coast to coast, participation is skyrocketing, but how? In a word: youth. It’s undeniable that the best way to grow a sport is to get kids to play. Youth leagues are sprouting up in metro areas all over the states and introducing the sport to kids at everyounger ages. In fact, youth ultimate memberships are the second-largest sector of total USA Ultimate memberships, behind only college players. But where can this thriving demographic really test their skills? Where can they play against the best young players in the U.S.? Enter the U-16 division of the Youth Club Championships (YCC). This relatively new YCC division brought together 14 teams from around the country this year. This event not only gives the players a chance to show their skills on a national level, but also provides the public a window into the men who, in the future, will be at the top of the collegiate and club levels. Amanze Oleru, Jeremy Dozeal-Ng, Tyler French and Mack Hodges are only a few of the outstanding players from this year’s tourney, and they (and many others) will continue to be at the top of their level for years to come. The FALL 2014

coaches of these teams are often proven top-level players themselves, players like Reid Koss, Khalif El-Salaam, Haley Reese and Josh Hartzog. These accomplished players bring big-game experience and steady hands to teams that are often inexperienced and emotional – as is to be expected of a team comprised of young teenagers. Koss, El-Salaam and Eddie Feeley coached the eventual champions Seattle Doomsday in the lead-up to YCC. But with Koss attending the World Ultimate Club Championships in Lecco, Italy, El-Salaam and Feeley took the reins of this fiery and athletic team in Blaine. While the coaches were clearly a contributing factor in Doomsday’s eventual national title, the team was prone (as nearly all young teams are) to the ups and downs that adrenaline brings, which made for a bumpy road before they reached the proverbial Promised Land. Doomsday began their campaign on Saturday morning against Chicago Deep Dish, a team they bested easily. Flying high, Doomsday was pulled back to Earth by the stubborn Bay Area Aftershock in their second game of the day. Big 44

plays from captain Ivan Lee helped the team overcome some offensive miscues and take the game 12-10. In their last game on Saturday, Doomsday matched up against New Jersey DeVYL. While both teams had already qualified for the quarterfinals, the game was still important in order to determine Sunday morning’s match ups. In a back-and-forth game, Seattle pulled out a squeaker 11-10. Standout Amanze Oleru was fantastic for Doomsday, going deep from the handler position and pulling down hucks, as well as playing stifling man defense after any turnovers. Amanze and Lee represent what Doomsday was all about: speed, speed, speed. DeVYL was baffled by Seattle’s constant give and goes, with defenders being left in the dust multiple times. Sunday morning saw a semifinal match up between Doomsday and Atlanta ATLas. Perhaps more than any other team at the tournament, the typical ATLas player was the complete opposite of Seattle’s. While Seattle was typically small and squirrelly, Atlanta’s players were tall and gangly, with four players listed as breaking the six-foot mark. Determined to use their size advantage, and knowing Seattle was probably a bit faster, Atlanta decided to use a zone defense for a majority of the game, and it proved effective. Doomsday, despite the absence of wind, turned the disc multiple times while attempting to go over the top of the zone. ATLas’ Sam and Luke Smith both earned multiple defensive blocks working in the cup. Yet Atlanta could not capitalize on their opportunities. At 6-3 Seattle, a fantastic downwind pull pinned ATLas deep in their own end zone. A mis-throw was scooped up by Doomsday’s Ronnie Estoque for the backbreaking Callahan to take Seattle into half. DiscNW never looked back and finished ATLas, 13-5. After the mayhem of the early rounds of bracket play, Seattle Doomsday met the Triangle Area’s N.C. Hammer in the finals. If a true rivalry exists in the U-16 division, it’s between these two teams. Since the division was introduced in 2011, Seattle and the Triangle have now met in the finals in three of those four years. The Triangle took the inaugural title

Doomsday's Amanze Oleru gets big in the finals against NC Hammer. Oleru was one of several athletes to stand out in the division over the course of the weekend. Photo: CBMT Creative

in 2011, but Seattle has reigned supreme each year since. Hammer was surely hungry for some revenge after last year’s finals loss, but they didn’t show it to start. Seattle rode preposterous sideline energy and stellar play from the amanzing Amanze Oleru to a 5-1 lead. But Hammer wasn’t done yet. Tyler French made his case as the best player in the U-16 division on Sunday. With tighter lines in the finals, he played a majority of points in the second half, taking it largely upon himself to pull his team back into the game. The strategy worked. Hammer began to earn their breaks back, stifling Seattle’s creative and agile throwers with a huge cup. French found Will Mangum for multiple goals, and before anyone realized what had happened, the score was 9-8 Seattle. But with the time cap looming, Seattle’s Ivan Lee skied for a downwind score that all but sealed Seattle’s championship. Although Hammer scored the next point, the cap was on, and the game was over. There’s something you don’t see everyday: a national title for a team that didn’t score the last point. Regardless, Seattle took the game and a third straight championship with a 10-9 victory.

NC Hammer's Matthew Schinsky hangs on to the disc during the finals in Minnesota. Photo: CBMT Creative

U-16 BOYS FINAL STANDINGS:

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS: COLORADO FRY

18.25

ATLANTA ATLAS

17.80

MAINE NEAP TIDE

17.67

CHICAGO DEEP DISH

17.50

MINNESOTA SUPERIOR

16.50

BAY AREA AFTERSHOCK

16.20

SEATTLE DOOMSDAY

16.00

DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL B

15.17

TRIANGLE NC HAMMER

15.00

SOUTH DAKOTA STORM

14.60

CINCINNATI FLYING PIGLETS

14.17

PITTSBURGH PULSE

13.80

DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL A

12.20

NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE

11.67

1- SEATTLE DOOMSDAY 2 - TRIANGLE NC HAMMER 3T - ATLANTA ATLAS 3T - DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL 5T - PITTSBURGH PULSE 5T - BAY AREA AFTERSHOCK 7T - CINCINNATI FLYING PIGLETS 7T - NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE 9 - MAINE NEAP TIDE 10 - CHICAGO DEEP DISH 11 - MINNESOTA SUPERIOR 12 - DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL B 13 - SOUTH DAKOTA STORM 14 - COLORADO FRY

INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARDS: ATLANTA ATLAS

DANIEL FRIDKIN

BAY AREA AFTERSHOCK

EMMET HOLTON

CHICAGO DEEP DISH CINCINNATI FLYING PIGLETS

SEBASTIAN KUNKEL

COLORADO FRY

ANDREW THORESON

DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL A

CHRIS MCLAUGHLIN

DELAWARE VALLEY DEVYL B

AVI ZUCKER

MAINE NEAP TIDE MINNESOTA SUPERIOR NEUQUA VALLEY NIGHTMARE PITTSBURGH PULSE

SKY FRIEDLAND JIM KAISER BRENDAN MCCLUSKEY TRISTAN CROOKS

SEATTLE DOOMSDAY

LEO KITCHELL

SOUTH DAKOTA STORM

BRETT HERSCH

TRIANGLE NC HAMMER

KENNETH RANDBY

Tyler French gets the disc moving for NC Hammer in their finals match up against Seattle Doomsday. Photo: CBMT Creative

FALL 2014

JOHN CHIRAYIL

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GUM STICKS TO U-16 GIRLS AT YCC BY: HEATHER ANN BRAUER Cincinnati Belle’s Teressa Kenny throws around the Triangle Space Cats’ Vanessa Beeler in the inaugural U-16 girls’ division at the Youth Club Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

As other divisions were starting their first games of the 2014 Youth Club Championships (YCC), 50 girls under the age of 16 were setting the stage for the future of girls’ ultimate. Cincinnati, Seattle and a North Carolina team with free agents from around the country gathered in a circle to kick off the first-ever U-16 girls’ YCC division.

Cincinnati Belle and Seattle Uprising rotated through some mini scrimmages, giving North Carolina & Friends, who donned the name Space Cats, a chance to practice as a unit for the first time. One common thread gleaned from the GUM focus groups that were held with current girls’ athletes was that what makes ultimate so special to them is a lot more than a winloss record:

The Girls’ Ultimate Movement (GUM) was a familiar backdrop for some, as they had added their voices through focus groups in their cities or followed along with the task force’s action items presented at the U.S. Open. Others were hearing about the GUM for the very first time. All were excited to be the first-ever recipients of GUM stickers!

“When you play other teams and match up against other players, you know you’re meeting someone else who loves ultimate. It’s like an instant connection.” – Atlanta U-16 girls’ athletes from all over the country had the unique opportunity at YCC this year to join the tournament as a “free agent.” Girls from San Diego, New Jersey and Seattle joined 10 athletes from North Carolina for a unique experiment at the top youth tournament in the country. It presented a fun challenge for coach Aisling Winston, who successfully brought the team and parents together, utilizing a number of coaching tactics, the least conspicuous of which was team-wide shin-high socks featuring cats in, you guessed it, space. It was a phenomenal growth experience for the girls, and was also a great experience for the spectators and coaches to watch unfold. The practice time built some early chemistry for the Space Cats, helping lead them to a win in the first-ever U-16 girls’ YCC game.

Building on the voices of girls through both the GUM National Survey for former youth players, organized by Zara Cadoux, and girls’ focus groups around the country, the first half of Saturday focused on community building. What better way to start community building than by warming up our high fives using the 2013 U-23 Women’s National Team dynamic warm up? Teams mingled through an icebreaker game and then rotated through three mini-clinics run by Ohio State Fever coach DeAnna Ball, Cincinnati Belle coach Kayla Fry and myself, coach of Seattle’s Uprising. Opponents became teammates though sessions on handler movement, hucking and defensive positioning. Learning as a unit created connections and, most of all, laughter. 47

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Ally Constantino and Seattle Uprising left Blaine, Minn., with the first-ever U-16 girls' championship in 2014. Photo: CBMT Creative

Community, Friendship, Spirit: These three words defined the inaugural U-16 girls’ division at YCC. Each participant brought home her own stories centered on these topics, but here are three of my own that highlight how important community, friendship and spirit are to the growth of girls’ ultimate.

COMMUNITY By the end of the weekend, GUM stickers were plastered to all U-16 girls’ water bottles in hopes of bringing the movement back to their local communities. As I handed out more stickers to the U-19 girls in both the mixed and girls’ divisions, we had dialogues about growing girls’ ultimate, ways they could get involved, and a goal – help create a U-16 girls’ team in your community! Girls’ teams that had counterparts in the U-19 and U-16 divisions cheered one another on. And the clinic format again delivered on what was requested by the GUM survey and focus groups: “I would love for these teams to be coached and run by collegiate and club players – women who are current, active members of the ultimate community so that girls would have role models to look up to.” – Colorado The Cincinnati community had a great approach to connecting across divisions: their two girls’ teams practiced together throughout the summer, which proved helpful for both teams in competition. The Girls Ultimate Movement recently launched the GUM Challenge, an initiative for teams to run girls’ clinics across divisions before the end of 2014. The hope is that FALL 2014

The Space Cats' Karen Ehrhardt marks Belle's Mary Claire Fibbe at the 2014 Youth Club Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

opportunities such as these will further connectedness in the community and help grow the U-16 girls’ division in the year ahead.

FRIENDSHIP This photo (opposite page), taken at the end of the weekend, sticks out in my mind, even a month later. An Uprising player is lost in the hugs of a herd of Space Cats; it perfectly captures the friendships formed across all three teams. Early in Uprising’s second game, I realized that we had gained some additional sideline support in the form of a Space Cat! I noticed that Belle had done the same. These players, on a bye, were excited to squeeze every moment out of their experience in Minnesota. Both Uprising and Belle welcomed these players. I let the players take the lead, and in a matter of moments, new friends were joining us in huddles and cheering with us on and off the field as the line between opponent and teammate blurred into friendships.

U-16 GIRLS FINAL STANDINGS: 1 - SEATTLE UPRISING 2 - CINCINNATI BELLE 3 - TRIANGLE SPACE CATS

TEAM SPIRIT RANKINGS:

These players will continue to share fields in the years to come, and the connectedness created and fostered during this experience will set the stage for many more friendships across the girls’ ultimate community.

SEATTLE UPRISING

16.50

CINCINNATI BELLE

15.00

TRIANGLE SPACE CATS

14.75

INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT AWARDS:

SPIRIT High fives were in abundance all weekend – from congratulatory high fives for awesome plays to sideline high fives just because. Spirit of the Game came completely naturally to this group and was encouraged by all coaches and organizers.

CINCINNATI BELLE

ANASTASIA CAPPOZZO

SEATTLE UPRISING

ADA BOWLES

TRIANGLE SPACE CATS

ZOE CHEN

Anyone who had the chance to share a moment on the sideline with these young women was undoubtedly captivated by their energy, pure love of the game and dedication to one another. It was a remarkable experience of which to be a part.

Spirit circles were the norm from the beginning. Captains were a bit shy after the first Saturday morning clinics with just a few quick words about the game or their opponent, but by the final spirit circle of the weekend, the captains were enthusiastic and had lots to say about the shared experiences on the field.

These young women will be the speakers for girls’ and women’s ultimate in the years ahead. They will be community leaders and the force that drives GUM. Some of them have already begun: The Space Cats’ Ali Montavon (along with U-19 North Carolina players Amanda Maxson, Sydney Rehder and Kate Lanier) is leading the Girls’ Ultimate Peer Initiative (GUPI) to recruit new girls to the sport in the Triangle Area. The Seattle Uprising girls have partnered with Seattle Underground to run a clinic for elementary school girls this fall. Opportunities for U-16 girls’ play are increasing in California, New Jersey, Minnesota and Maine.

Why spirit circles? As U-19 Girls’ National Team coach Kyle Weisbrod put it, “We belong to such a wonderfully rich community that has its foundations in that mutual respect among opponents. That moment of making eye contact and recognizing our shared experience after games is both a wonderful testament to this respect as well as an opportunity to continue building it.” These circles also gave players a voice, an opportunity to connect with one another and a forum in which to reflect on their time together. GUM’s data showed that girls want to have their voices heard in the community. These circles provided them with an opportunity.

The future is bright for girls’ ultimate. We are so lucky. Email gum.taskforce@usaultimate.org for more information about how you and your community can get involved! 49

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

WOMEN’S

ULTIMATE FEATURE

Coach WHAT A

CAN DO FOR A TEAM By: Leah Brown

THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT COACHING IN SPORTS HAS A HUGE BEARING – OR PERCEIVED BEARING – ON HOW A TEAM PERFORMS... OFTEN THE CHOICE OF A COACH IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE CHOICE OF THE PLAYERS.

Zara Cadoux (right) is a player for and former captain of the Baltimore women's team Backhanded and is a prominent girls' ultimate volunteer. Here, she coaches one of the Learn to Play participants at the 2014 College Championships. Photo: CBMT Creative

WOMEN’S

U LT I M AT E FEATURE

“We dominated our section for the first time in years.” Even with all their varying styles, coaches like Ohio State women’s coach and National Team selection assistant DeAnna Ball bring an outside perspective and can provide valuable insight to a team. Photo: Christina Schmidt

Allow me to digress into my own experiences on a young women’s team that didn’t want a coach.

THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT COACHING IN SPORTS HAS A HUGE BEARING – OR

The Ohio Valley is a competitive place. We have a good mix of larger, more competitive teams and smaller clubs that focus a lot on the Spirit of the Game (SOTG). Since Ohio is small, we get to know all of the teams in the area very well. Often we played the same teams at every tournament, fall and spring. While I was playing, the big, competitive teams had coaches sometimes, but almost none of the D-III teams did.

PERCEIVED BEARING – ON HOW A TEAM PERFORMS. HOW MANY TIMES DOES A COACH WHO CAN’T CONVERT A TEAM FULL OF TALENTED PLAYERS INTO A BUNCH OF WINS GET SACKED AFTER ONE OR TWO SEASONS? OFTEN THE CHOICE OF A COACH IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS

This had two effects on style of play, especially on my team. First, we knew what to expect and exactly how to combat every style of play we would come up against each season. Second, we used a lot of the same drills, same teaching tactics, same plays, year in and year out – because we knew what to expect.

THE CHOICE OF THE PLAYERS. BUT WHAT WE DON’T ALWAYS HEAR ABOUT, ESPECIALLY IN ULTIMATE, IS WHAT A COACH CAN DO FOR A TEAM,

As a result, there was little shake-up in the status quo of the region. We knew which teams were going to be hard to beat and which ones probably wouldn’t cause too much trouble for us.

ESPECIALLY A WOMEN’S TEAM.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The writer played for a D-III college women’s team in the Ohio Valley Region for four years. She also helped coach the team for one season.

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Our talent carried us far enough. We would nip at the heels of teams advancing to regionals in the spring. Sometimes, if

one or more of those teams dropped their bids, we would get to go anyway. We weren’t the bottom of the bunch, but we were having a hard time breaking through to the next level of competition, despite our growing numbers and talent. Then we got a coach. He was hands off. He didn’t want us to become any more competitive in our attitudes than we already were. But he made slight tweaks in our style of play, and results quickly followed. We dominated our section for the first time in years, but we were still acting as we had before. We still played with good spirit, but we were winning more. It was not only exciting to win, but exciting to become closer to other teams in the region.

and being an observer allows you to see the whole game. I would see certain things while I was playing and then others when I was off the field, and it’s hard to address it all.” Zara Cadoux, a player for Backhanded, a women’s club team based in Baltimore, also struggled with balancing coaching and playing for a team. “I captained by myself without a coach two seasons ago,” she said. “It was definitely extremely stressful to try to keep so many factors in my head at one time, lead the team on the field and start this new program. I think this particularly came out at regionals when I made some subbing choices that weren’t necessarily true to the spirit of our program at that point – I tightened the lines a lot when I shouldn’t have.”

If my team could go from middle ground to winning our section in one year – and making our first-ever D-III Nationals appearance in two – with such minimal input, what could a full-time coach do for a team? But more importantly, what effect will coaching have on the team’s SOTG? Teresa Smit, a player on Dennison University’s women’s team, had much the same experience I had. Dennison’s club does not currently, and has never had, a coach. Each year, the team has to start over in terms of teaching the sport because of the college club aspect. New girls are introduced to the sport every year. “There have been some players who come back from playing club or something and have a bunch of new drills or plays that we try out,” she said. “However, we often end up resorting back to what we know and with what we are comfortable. I know this year I bought UltiCards and plan on using them to introduce new drills into the mix this upcoming season.” “It’s also difficult because we have to reteach the game every fall and sometimes even in the spring. That often causes us to rely on using the same drills that we learned with, which may or may not be the most effective.” She describes the download of knowledge on the team as stagnant. Although they also have some great talent, it is difficult to move past the fundamentals fast enough to really build a strong team. Not to mention players are acting as captains and – in most cases – coaches. “I was playing most of the game as one of the experienced members on our team,” Smit said. “It was hard to address any teaching moments for our rookies when they went off. It also affected what I saw. Watching a game as an observer versus a player is totally different,

IT SEEMS THAT NO MATTER THE GOOD INTENTIONS OF HAVING PLAYER/ CAPTAIN/COACHES, THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF SKILL IN WOMEN’S ULTIMATE SUFFERS FROM NOT HAVING AN OUTSIDE SET OF EYES. Having coaches often allows star players like 2014 Callahan Award winner Cassie Swafford (left) to focus on playing and leading on the field. Photo: CBMT Creative

There is no good way to teach, keep up SOTG and create effective, new strategies for continuous improvement – something every player wants in some capacity. Alyssa Weatherford, a player on Seattle Riot and veteran coach of another women’s team, knows the importance of taking that burden off her players. Riot continually does well on the field, and Weatherford’s second team is quickly improving because of the changes she has implemented. Instead of the old-school techniques that work but aren’t as effective as they were in the past, Weatherford focuses on what will make her current team the most effective. “I flip-flop from O to D yearly. I change it with the personnel,” she said. “I look at our strengths and weaknesses from the season before.

U S A U LT I M AT E

WOMEN’S

U LT I M AT E FEATURE

“I am convinced that if more teams would share information, ultimate would be growing faster.”

Coaches can provide structure and help increase focus for teams at any level, from youth to college to club and beyond. Photo: Christina Schmidt

“There is something to be said for consistency, but when you have someone there to help you call lines it’s a lot easier. My eyes were totally opened to so many things that I had never seen before and never even thought of before. It wasn’t even just strategy so much as team dynamic.” In her experience, not only does separating the roles improve play overall, it also improves spirit. With the separation, leaders will not get as frustrated in trying to do too many things during play, and every other player won’t have to worry about disagreements with their peers. An added benefit of coaches is the ability to share information on a much more consistent and continuous basis. “I am very much convinced that if more teams would share information, ultimate would be growing faster,” Weatherford said. “They should share everything from recruiting to how to fundraise.”

– someone who could look in from the outside, weigh all the facts and make the best decisions for the team as a whole. Those decisions can’t be made in the heat of the moment when a player is in the midst of trying to teach, play and be competitive. It just makes sense to separate the player/captain/coach roles women are trying to take on for their teams. In my own experience, and according to other ladies in the ultimate community, it’s time to take the leap. Having a coach doesn’t mean the death of the ultimate we love. It makes it even better. As Weatherford aptly pointed out, “We are kind of doing it all by ourselves. We need to start investing in the community around us.”

The change from a captain-led team to a coached team may be scary for some. But when the right coach is found, one that cares about SOTG as well as honing skill and being competitive, teams can really achieve anything. For my own team, spirit improved when we started converting the talent we all knew was there into wins. That conversion was only going to happen with a coach

FALL 2014

U-19 Girls National Team assistant coach Moses Rifkin talks with several of the girls who tried out for the team in Atlanta, Ga. Photo: Christina Schmidt

ABOVE THE COMPETITION

ADVANCED SPEED, STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING TRAINING TIPS

Functional Squat Progression for Ultimate Players

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

Squatting is one of the most fundamental patterns in human movement. Benefits of squatting include hip mobility and leg and core strength, as well as centering and symmetry development. At some point in our lives, we all had the ability to squat down fully. Go ahead and try it. Can you squat down with ease? Due to long periods of sitting, lack of hip movement and simply not using the pattern, many of us have lost the ability

to squat fully. If you can squat fully, perhaps your squat feels weird and off-center? Ultimate creates imbalances that can show up when we try to perform a symmetrical movement such as the squat. In this issue of Above the Competition, we will groove out the bodyweight Toe Touch Squat before grabbing the kettlebell and heading to the field for some Sumo Squat Stretching and the Goblet Squat!

PHASE 1 - THE TOE TOUCH SQUAT

STEP 1: START WITH YOUR TOES FORWARD, FEET SHOULDER-WIDTH APART AND ARMS OVERHEAD. STEP 2: TOUCH YOUR TOES AND STRETCH. STEP 3: ACTIVELY PULL YOURSELF INTO THE DEEP SQUAT.

STEP 4: DRIVE OUT ON YOUR KNEES WITH ELBOWS AND STRETCH. STEP 5: PUT BOTH HANDS UP, ENSURING A NEUTRAL SPINE. STEP 6: DRIVE THROUGH HEELS TO STAND. TAKE YOUR TIME AND STRETCH THROUGHOUT. REPEAT TWO SETS OF 10 REPS.

FALL 2014

PHASE 2 - THE SUMO SQUAT STRETCH STEP 1: START WITH YOUR TOES FORWARD, FEET SHOULDER-WIDTH APART AND THE KETTLEBELL IN THE GOBLET POSITION. STEP 2: PLACE YOUR ELBOWS ON THE INSIDE OF YOUR KNEES AND DRIVE OUT. MAINTAIN A BIG A CHEST. BE SURE TO KEEP YOUR CHEST UP AND THIGHS PARALLEL TO THE GROUND. REPEAT FOR TWO SETS OF 20 SECONDS.

PHASE 3 - THE GOBLET SQUAT STEP 1: ATTAIN SQUAT STANCE AS ABOVE. STEP 2: ENGAGE THE CORE AND LATS BY PULLING DOWN ON THE BELL WITH ELBOWS IN TIGHT. STEP 3: PUSH YOUR BUM BACK AS YOU DRIVE YOUR KNEES OUT. STEP 4: SQUAT DOWN WHILE KEEPING THE SPINE NEUTRAL. STEP 5: DRIVE UP THROUGH THE HEELS. REPEAT THREE SETS OF 10 REPS.

2-5

TIP: IT’S IMPORTANT THAT YOUR HEELS STAY IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND WHEN SQUATTING. IF YOU COME ONTO YOUR TOES CONSIDER ELEVATING YOUR HEELS ABOUT ONE INCH AND ADDING SOME ANKLE MOBILITY DRILLS TO YOUR ROUTINE.

Featured athletes: Bryant Dean and Alex Jacoski of Baltimore Medicine Men and Ocean City Humiliswag

U S A U LT I M AT E

INJURY PREVENTION TO KEEP YOU PLAYING, REHAB TO GET YOU BACK

INJURY TIMEOUT HIP PAIN

JUSTINE M. CROWLEY, DO

HIP PAIN.

PAIN IN THE BACK OF THE “HIP.”

Those two words can mean so many things and can affect how an athlete performs in so many ways. This article will talk about some of the common causes of hip pain. It will not address traumatic hip pain or hip pain that radiates down the back of the leg. If your hip pain is accompanied by fevers, seek immediate medical attention. Please seek out medical treatment if you have any questions on concerns.

The pain can come from the sacroiliac (SI) joint, the external rotators of the hip (piriformis, etc.) or be referred from the back. If the pain is in your buttock and does not radiate down the leg, it is most likely related to your piriformis and external rotators. Yoga and lunges strengthening the glutes through exercises like glute bridges and glute-ham raises can all help prevent this type of pain. The stronger your big pelvic stabilizers are, the more the small muscles can concentrate on their jobs instead of trying to stabilize the pelvis.

Some causes of hip pain are potentially preventable while others aren’t as easy to avoid. You may notice a theme when I talk about injury prevention: core strength and stability. Referring back to the article on low back pain (USA Ultimate, Spring 2014), if you can control your limbs and body in space, you are much less likely to get injured. FIGURE 1

Stretches that can help with this type of pain include the half pigeon yoga position and the figure-of-four stretch (see Figures 1 and 2). As seen below, the figure-of-four stretch can be done on the ground or in a seated position. The beauty of the seated position is that you can do it while at school or sitting at your desk at work. Tightness of the hip external rotators can also affect the SI joint. So if you’re having pain (without fever) at the SI joint, try the figure-of-four stretch and stretching your hip flexors. If those stretches don’t help, the SI joint can be treated with manual medicine.

PAIN ALONG THE SIDE OF YOUR HIP. Pain along the side of your hip can be either iliotibial (IT) band syndrome or trochanteric bursitis. Stretching the IT band can help both of these conditions. And, again, keeping the pelvic stabilizers strong can help prevent this. Running on different sides of the road can help prevent this as well, if you run on a crowned (i.e., the middle is higher than the sides) road. If you always run with one foot higher than the Notice her breast bone (sternum) lines up with her thigh bone, and her right knee is inside her right shoulder.

other, you’re going to develop a muscle imbalance which is compounded by the fact that ultimate players always pivot on the same leg when throwing.

break the iliac crest if you land on it hard enough. If it feels like a water balloon, you likely have a collection of blood called a hematoma. Ice it and pad it if you just can’t avoid playing before it goes down. If you have a hematoma AND you develop a fever, seek immediate medical attention because they can become infected.

Pain at the side of your hip can also be from your abductors (gluteus medius and minimus). Sometimes it can just be a muscle imbalance, but sometimes one can tear these muscles.

Trochanteric bursitis (pain directly over the side of your hip at the trochanter) can also result from a traumatic landing. Ice, stretching and avoiding another impact can help it heal. If you just can’t avoid diving before it has healed, invest in some compression shorts with pads, like the ones football players and goalkeepers wear.

FRONT OF THE HIP OR GROIN PAIN. Now we’re getting into some tricky stuff. Don’t forget about a hernia. Yes, ultimate players can develop them too. If you feel a fullness that comes and goes in the front of your hip crease (inguinal area) or you notice a bulge where there shouldn’t be one, think hernia. These symptoms need to be evaluated by a medical professional and may require surgery.

PREVENTION. Although this article is more a review of causes of hip pain than a true prevention article, for some of the causes reviewed above (piriformis spasm, IT band syndrome, hip abductor tightness), a good strengthening and stretching program is the best prevention. Once you have developed symptoms, do what you can to avoid the aggravating activity until the symptoms are resolved, work on correcting your biomechanics and seek medical treatment if your symptoms don’t improve with activity modification.

Pain in the front of your hip that is worse with sprinting is often from the hip flexor. There are multiple ways to stretch your hip flexors; pick your favorite, and remember that one of your hip flexors attaches to your spine, so stretch your back as well. One of your quads also crosses the hip joint, so stretch your quads too. Pain with an associated click or a locking sensation can be deep in the hip joint itself, or it can just be a snapping tendon. If it gets better with stretching, it is more likely to be a tendon. If it does not get better with stretching, see an orthopedic surgeon who does sports medicine or treats hip problems. There is a cartilage structure in the hip called the labrum that can tear and is best evaluated with an MRI.

A note to those of you who coach youth players: there are some hip conditions that occur only in children and adolescents that can be very serious. If you have an athlete who has knee pain and was told it was “nothing” when it was checked out, they may need to have their hips examined. Hip pain can actually present in the distal thigh or knee, so keep this in mind when you have pre-adolescent or adolescent athletes complaining of knee pain.

Groin pain can originate with the hip flexor, the labrum or your adductors. There can be irritation at the attachment to the pelvic bone or a good old-fashioned groin strain. Groin strains can be treated with physical therapy and by avoiding aggravating activities.

FIGURE 2

Pain where your pubic bones come together can be related to muscles or to malalignment (for lack of a better term) at the symphysis. The malalignment can often be treated with manual medicine by an osteopathic physician, chiropractor, physical therapist or athletic trainer trained in manual medicine.

HIP PAINS THAT CAN’T BE AVOIDED BECAUSE YOU PLAY HARD, LAY OUT AND LAND HARD. Thanks to models Kevin and Shannon!

The really colorful bruise (area of ecchymoses) along your flank/hip after you’ve landed on it really hard is called a hip pointer. It can range from just a small area to something quite extensive. If you are tender over the bony part of your pelvis, think about getting an x-ray; you can actually

The above article represents the opinion of Dr. Crowley. It does not represent the opinion of the Salem VA Medical Center, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the United States Government. 59

U S A U LT I M AT E

ATHLETE-SPECIFIC NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION TO HELP YOU PERFORM YOUR BEST

NUTRITION MATTERS

Meal Planning for Maximum Recovery

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

Imagine you could stop mid-point at Nationals – freeze frame – and grab a swig of Gatorade or eat a Shot Blok. One of the speakers on advanced nutrition for athletes at a recent strength coaches’ conference said that, in a perfect world, the athlete who can refuel the most wins the race. For some athletes, like ultra-endurance swimmers, constant refueling is basically a reality. Those who undertake extremely long distances have boats travel alongside, with teams that constantly provide them calories, fluids and products with no absorption ceiling. The smallest differences are what will separate you from other players, your team from other teams – a millisecond quicker on your sprints, or a quarter of an inch more on your jump or reach on the mark. Now think back to that freeze frame, and imagine what you could do if you were able to constantly refuel during training and competition. With that extra edge, the logical conclusion is you would be that much more likely to win the point, the game and the championship. To not only stay healthy and perform well, but to reach that next level, there are a few basic things to know as you approach competition. It is up to each athlete and qualified professional to decide what small changes in your diet will improve your health and performance. Any specific needs or concerns should be directed to a certified sports nutritionist. With these ideas in mind and your already advanced mental and physical preparation, get ready to run the show.

FALL 2014

FUELING FOR TRAINING AND COMPETITION FOR THE ULTIMATE ATHLETE OVERALL DIET AND MEAL PLAN All athletes are typically advised to follow a balanced diet, starting with adequate nutrient groups and fluids early in the day, continuing in regular intervals throughout the day and limiting sugar and sweets, fried foods, foreign substances and dyes. But there is no one specific diet or calorie requirement for all athletes in any given sport. Many types of activities require different re-fueling patterns, and many types of people with inherent differences in physiology have varying requirements. Every athlete is different, and healthy is a relative term. What is healthy for one person may not be healthy for someone else. Each person has unique preferences and digestion capabilities, basal metabolic rates (energy expenditure at rest), stress levels, energy output during exercise, etc. Therefore, we must use general knowledge, seek out information and experiment with fueling and hydrating patterns to find what works well for us as individual athletes. Because ultimate athletes experience one of the highest loads on the central nervous system and the muscular and cardiovascular systems, our needs for all energy groups are at the highest ends of the spectrum. In addition to the physical load of tournament weekends, training can also be intense. Many ultimate athletes maintain aerobic conditioning workouts late into the season, in addition to jumping and sprinting components. Our carbohydrate requirements are like those of basketball and soccer 60

FUEL BASED ON COMPETITION TIME AND DURATION

players, with needs at 30-60 g/kg/day; for protein, we are also on the higher end of the scale at 1.5-1.7 g/ kg/day, like weightlifters; the same is true for fats, with needs at 3-6 tbsp./day, due to excessive breakdown.

Prior to training or competition, the goal of the meal is to both provide energy for the activity and to avoid the crash associated with dual releases of insulin caused by a meal and epinephrine from exercise. After a meal, insulin is released, helping glucose out of the blood stream and into cells. Epinephrine also lets glucose into the cells, at the onset of exercise. When the signals are released at similar times, glucose levels in the bloodstream become low, causing “low blood sugar,” which is associated with dizziness, confusion, feeling faint, irritability, low energy, etc. This state is detrimental to performance and to short and long-term health.

FUEL BASED ON ENERGY SOURCE BEING DEPLETED In general, the demands of training and competition – such as the type, intensity and duration – will dictate the energy sources needed prior, during and after the exercise. Resume normal meals following exercise with portions of nutrient groups as stated below, and make sure to replace the energy source that was used during the activity, e.g., sport, endurance or strength.

For training or competition that lasts less than one hour (e.g., a workout or pick-up), the athlete must be well-hydrated and consume some carbohydrates within one to three hours of beginning exercise. During exercise, focus mainly on hydration. After exercise, continue to hydrate, and consume mostly carbohydrates and some protein.

Endurance-based activities – Sustained activity at effort levels less than 60 percent of max for more than one hour. Requires mostly carbohydrates and fat. Fuel with mostly carbs before, during and immediately after the training or competition.

For training or competition that lasts between one and four hours (e.g., practice or a single game), consume some carbohydrates before, during and after competition. Protein may also be necessary during and immediately following the exercise bout.

Strength-based activities – Weightlifting, for example. Requires mostly protein and some carbohydrates. Fuel with mostly carbs before and during exercise, with some protein during and immediately following exercise. Sport and other sprint or power-based activities – Intermittent intensity for 30 minutes to two hours. Consume carbohydrates and a small amount of protein during and immediately following exercise.

For prolonged training or competition lasting longer than four hours (e.g., a long practice or tournament day), use the same guidelines as for shorter intervals, but refueling needs will depend on current hydration and muscle glycogen levels.

Prolonged sport and power activities – Would include tournaments or long practices. Consume carbohydrates as often as possible beginning after one hour of exercise, small amounts of protein when possible throughout the day (in liquid form if necessary), and both protein and carbohydrates following exercise.

TABLE 1: TRAINING OR COMPETITION OF VARIOUS DURATIONS

CHOOSE THE FOOD THAT MATCHES THE FUEL Carbohydrates – The least dense energy source, carbs burn the most quickly and are the most immediately available energy source for all cells.

Exercise <1 Hour

1-3 Hours Before

During

After

Carbohydrates

1-3 handfuls

0-1 handful/hr.

0-1 handful

Protein

1 handful

0-1 handful

Fat

n/a

Beverages

0-8 oz.

n/a

0-8 oz.

Water

8-16 oz.

16 oz.

8-16 oz.

Carbohydrates

2-4 handfuls

1 handful/hr.

0-1 handful/hr.

Protein

.5-1 handful

0-1 handful

.5-1 handful

Fat

0-1 tbsp.

1-2 tbsp.

Beverages

8 oz.

n/a

8-12 oz.

Water

12-20 oz.

20-30 oz.

16-30 oz.

Carbohydrates

2-4 handfuls

1-2 handfuls/hr.

Protein

.5-2 handfuls

0-2 handfuls

1 handful

Fat

0-1 tbsp.

1-2 tbsp.

Beverages

8 oz.

0-8 oz.

8-12 oz.

Water

20-30 oz.

16-30 oz.

Exercise 1-4 Hours

Protein – A medium-dense energy source that takes slightly longer than carbs to digest and can also be broken down into carbs. Fat – Also a good energy source (roughly twice the energy as carbs, but it can remain in the stomach for up to nine hours!) and should not typically be ingested close to exercise to avoid gastrointestinal distress.

Exercise >4 Hours

U S A U LT I M AT E

NUTRITION MATTERS cont. SIMPLE MEAL PLANNING GUIDELINES Athletes can use these guidelines to help plan meals prior to competition and training. Liquid calories may be a useful meal substitute for athletes who experience gastrointestinal distress. Carbohydrate sources with protein (e.g., grains and dairy, as tolerated), in addition to a typical diet of fruits and vegetables, protein and good fat, are also key components for fueling during long competitions and for recovery.

Larger athletes will have larger handful sizes, and exact amounts will correspond to needs.

A normal meal for a fit athlete is roughly 4-6 handfuls of carbs, 1-2 handfuls of protein and .5-1 tbsp. of good fat.

Sugar and foreign substances should be avoided since other foods are available for meeting calorie and nutrient needs.

BASED ON DIGESTION RATE OF ENERGY SOURCES: CARBS = 1 G/KG/HOUR PROTEIN = 1 G/KG/4 HOURS FAT = UP TO 9 HOURS.

Ranges indicate that needs will vary depending on the types of activity performed and individual differences. Athletes should choose digestible carbohydrate sources, with a focus on antioxidant and water content (i.e., watery vegetables vs. dense bread).

CARBOHYDRATES:

PROTEIN:

FAT:

1 G/KG BODY WEIGHT PER HOUR; E.G. 4 G/KG IF FOUR HOURS PRIOR TO TRAINING (FOUR SERVINGS OR HANDFULS), 3 G/ KG IF THREE HOURS PRIOR, 2 G/ KG IF TWO HOURS PRIOR, ETC.

1 HANDFUL FOUR HOURS PRIOR, .5 HANDFUL WITHIN TWO HOURS, AND MINIMAL, HIGHLY DIGESTIBLE SOURCES WITHIN ONE HOUR.

.5-1 HANDFUL WITH FOUR OR FIVE HOURS OF COMPETITION OR TRAINING, 0-.5 HANDFUL WITHIN TWO HOURS OF COMPETITION.

TABLE 2: TYPICAL SCHEDULE (NON-TRAINING OR LIGHT DAY) Breakfast

Snack 1

Lunch

Snack 2

Dinner

Carbohydrates

2-4 handfuls

1-2 handfuls

2-4 handfuls

1 handful

2-4 handfuls

Protein

1 handful

1-2 handfuls

.5 handful

1-2 handfuls

Fat

2 tbsp.

n/a

1 tbsp.

n/a

1 tbsp.

Beverages

8 oz.

0-8 oz.

8 oz.

0-8 oz.

Water

16 oz.

16-30 oz.

16 oz.

16-30 oz.

8-16 oz.

FIGURE 1: SOURCES OF MAJOR NUTRIENT GROUPS CARBOHYDRATES Most nutrients,

All fruits and veggies, especially watery vegetables (e.g., leafy greens, squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower,

fiber, antioxidants

onions, tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes)

Some nutrients,

Grains, beans (contain protein)

protein, fiber Mainly calories

Low-fat dairy, white bread and potatoes, corn, cereals, pasta, cookies, crackers, sweets

PROTEIN Complete sources

Meat, fish, eggs

Plant-based sources

Rice and beans, nuts and grain, refried beans and corn, black beans and flour

Dairy

Two-percent or whole milk, cream cheese, cheese

GOOD FAT Oils

Olive, seed, vegetable, coconut

Food-based sources

Avocados, olives, hummus, coconut flakes

Dairy

High-fat dairy sources including cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, ghee (clarified butter)

References: Text: NSCA Essentials of Strength and Conditioning, Third Edition Course Materials: Sports Nutrition CEC, 2008

FALL 2014

U S A U LT I M AT E

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INSIGHT AND TIPS FROM COACHES, FOR COACHES

COACHES’ PLAYBOOK

Poaching: Do It Right or Get Cooked

Presented by:

JIM PARINELLA

Editor’s Note: This column was originally published in the May 1995 issue of the Ultimate Players Association Newsletter, available online as part of the USA Ultimate Magazine archive at usaultimate.org.

if you hang out because it’s not your cut, a smart defender will be able to help out his teammate. NYNY always did a tremendous job of keeping large chunks of the field free from defenders.

The deep game should be an important part of any offense, and the defense should consider ways to counter it. Too many teams misuse it by throwing into crowds or allowing an unfavorable mismatch to occur. Although there’s no substitute for raw talent, you can improve your deep game without getting faster or taller or developing better throws.

Warning: Some of this flies against conventional wisdom, so do it in moderation. “Switching” is considered evil in some parts.

Defensive tip: Poach deep. It is every defensive player’s responsibility to prevent the easy long goal. If you are covering the deepest offensive player on the field, also be aware of any other offensive players cutting deep. If they are beating their defender, you should drop your man and pick up the long cutter. Additionally, the defenders near the back of the stack should also be aware, because the last man back frequently changes.

both defenders are looking for this switch. The last man back can also watch the disc to tell whether the long throw is possible and if he needs to switch. I guess it isn’t an automatic switch, then, in that the last man back should determine whether he is helping the team by preventing the easy goal at the expense of leaving his man temporarily open. At first, then, he probably should yell “Switch.” Later, only eye contact will be needed, until eventually, everyone is of the same mind.

Q. Should one yell “Switch” on such a deep cut switch play? Is it better to have two people chasing the deep cut and no one watching the short cut?

A. Ideally, it should be automatic. It works best if

Offensive tip: Clear the deep area. A long cut should originate not more than 20 yards downfield from the thrower. Every other offensive player has the responsibility to keep their defender from poaching deep. Obviously, you can’t have everybody bunched within 10 yards of the disc. That means if you are last in the stack and see a teammate start to cut deep, you should cut in, either away from the disc to get your man out of the way or towards the disc to get the open pass as your man poaches deep. In any event, when you are moving, your defender thinks you are a threat to get the disc and has to pay attention to you, but FALL 2014

As I said before, though, many people are vehemently against the idea of switching because it’s something different and doesn’t always work. And yes, it’s probably better to have two men deep if it’s a viable throw otherwise, but it’s still better to have the poacher deep and the other defender taking the poacher’s man. It’s a timing thing, and [it] takes a while to develop this skill, so there will be some awkward moments if not everyone is comfortable with it. But I’ve caught way too many long goals after running past three defenders who were stationary in the stack covering their man. 64

Q. Should I poach off my man if he has made an

extra second for the receiver to get to the open, unpoachable space.

unsuccessful short cut and is now returning to the stack when I see a second cutter coming near my side of the field (towards the disc, towards me)?

So yes, it will still work. The idea behind poaching and switching is that normally, a defender has to chase the offensive player around the field, but with poaching/switching, the defender has a better chance. You can view a cut as a race between two players to any spot on the field, but the offensive guy gets to say “Go,” he determines where the race is to, and he can change his mind about the location of the finish line for the first half of the race. Is it any wonder then that it’s impossible to cover a good receiver one-on-one? Defenders who switch can say, “We’ll race you, but if you cut to this place, player A will race you. If you cut to that place, player B will race you. If you cut back to there, C will race you.” With this option, the defense regains a bit of the head start. Of course, there are up to six races going on simultaneously, so it takes a bit of coordinating to have an entrant in every important race.

A. This is also a good question. There are two types of poaches, one to prevent a pass and one to make the defensive play. How you poach depends on your motive. 1. Immediately flare out into his cutting lane, trying to dissuade him from continuing his cut, but with the full intention of returning to your man after a couple steps. Unless your man might be clearing deep for a huck, you might want to do this a lot. Guy cuts in, you shut him down, he clears along the sideline, spend a couple seconds facing the disc while you’re backpedaling as he’s clearing. It clogs their passing lanes, and you might get an easy block. And it usually costs you absolutely nothing (but be careful of the deep clear). 2. Wait until the last possible second, face up-field (away from the thrower), then sprint to where you are anticipating the throw, arriving just before the offensive guy. This is probably more effective against less-experienced throwers, since you learn to avoid throwing into poaches.

As you get more comfortable with the idea of poaching and switching, you develop a better feel for which races you should jump in and which you should allow your teammate to win or lose on his own. Some may consider this an individual gloryseeking defense, but I think it’s more of a team defense than any other man-on-man, requiring timing, cooperation and heads-up play.

Poaching is a timing thing, and it takes practice. It’s habit-forming, though. In casual games, it’s rare when I’m not covering at least three different people over the course of a point (unless, of course, I get a block on the first pass). It should probably be used in moderation, lest you get labeled “lazy…poacher.”

Keep in mind, though, that as fun as it may be, poaching every pass probably won’t work, and the lazy poach is just an excuse to not run. But if the proper places are chosen, and you exert the effort, poaching can be tremendously effective.

Q. If you poach deep, and the person you’re covering has read this, will it still work?

A. If he’s read this, he will have cut out of the way as he saw his teammate sprinting deep. If he’s a little slow and forgets that he read this until his man poaches, then he can cut toward the disc on the same side as the thrower. However, the defender on the first long cutter has also read this and will be looking to switch to the poacher’s man, or barring that, a third man on the defense sees the poachee breaking in and takes him, and someone else takes his guy, who then cuts, is picked up by a different poacher, [and] so on, until stall 10. All this assumes the thrower hasn’t already thrown into a poach or dumped it off because no one is open. A good, experienced thrower will usually wait an

Author’s Note: For the sake of simplicity, the writer has used masculine pronouns throughout this article.

U S A U LT I M AT E

REFLECTIONS ON SPIRIT FROM MEMBERS OF THE ULTIMATE COMMUNITY

THE SPIRIT CIRCLE Spirit of the Game: Players’ Perspective

JIM SCHOETTLER Head Coach, Colorado Mamabird

AS THE 2014 COLLEGE SEASON CAME TO A CLOSE, I ASKED SOME OF THE GRADUATING PLAYERS ON OUR TEAM COLORADO MAMABIRD - TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON SPIRIT OF THE GAME. BELOW ARE THEIR RESPONSES. TODD WOLMA Prior to discovering ultimate during my freshman year at the University of Colorado, my athletic existence had consisted of competitive soccer, where the amount of allowable contact changed from one game to the next. Transitioning to ultimate – where everything was self-regulated – was a unique experience, and it took time to become comfortable with a concept that was fundamentally different. Over the past five years, my understanding and acceptance of Spirit of the Game has evolved. To me, Spirit of the Game is the ability to play ultimate at a highly competitive level while maintaining personal honesty and integrity. It is playing the game the way you would want your opponent to play the game. There are examples of athletes in other sports that embody this ethic, but only the sport of ultimate promotes it as a core aspect of the game. Spirit of the Game is fundamental to all levels of ultimate, and particularly the elite levels, where it enables competition to thrive on a level playing field.

PHIL SUN Spirit of the Game means respect. Respect your opponent. Respect your teammates. Respect the game. And most

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importantly, respect yourself. This respect is the integrity of the game. And this respect is contagious. When it is missing, it infects the players and the spectators. When it is intact, it allows honor in both victory and defeat and produces an experience that is fun to play and fun to watch. The mutual understanding and application of sportsmanship is essential to competitive ultimate.

JIMMY MICKLE Over the last five years, I have watched Spirit change in my eyes and in the college landscape as a whole. My freshman year, I remember playing a Nationals pool play game against Wisconsin that was nearly unwatchable. There were multiple calls every point, on both sides, and observers were limited in their ability to regulate repeated offenses. It was such a frustrating experience that afterwards I wondered if refs weren’t a better solution. Since then, Spirit of the Game in the collegiate division has made large strides. USA Ultimate has improved the observer system to crack down on players who violate the intent of the Spirit clause and repeat offenders. Technical Misconduct Fouls (TMFs) hold teams accountable and helped encourage integrity in individuals’ play. In addition,

Spirit has become a stronger focus in high school programs, and more top-level players are entering college with a better understanding of the importance of sportsmanship to the fabric of the game – especially at the elite levels. This year, I had the honor of playing in the semis and finals of the College Championships – two of the biggest games of my life. These were two of the cleanest games I have ever been a part of. There were very few calls, and when calls were made, they were discussed respectfully, with reason and level heads. When an agreement couldn’t be reached, the observer made a swift ruling. This is the way it is supposed to work – the way the game should be played. Multiple programs – like Colorado and Wisconsin – have recognized our shortcomings and made a conscious effort to improve Spirit, which reflects well on our community and provides an example to those who follow us in the college ranks and beyond.

HIDDE SNIEDER Spirit of the Game has changed dramatically during my college career. In 2010, during my freshman year, we played a Nationals pool play game against Wisconsin which was tarnished by many bad pick, travel and foul calls on both sides. That game wasn’t any fun to play or to watch. It wasn’t fun to play this way. My dad had a conversation with one of the Wisconsin parents after the game, and they were ashamed of how many poor calls had been made. For me, this was a low point in ultimate: if this was the college game, then I didn’t want to play. In the past few years, the game has gotten much cleaner. Experiences like our Wisconsin game were the rule rather than the exception in elite college ultimate in 2010. Over time, our generation of college players has recognized how unfortunate ultimate can be for players and spectators when bad calls dominate the experience and strategy. The coaches – like Hector Valdivia at Wisconsin and Jay Janin at Oregon – deserve a lot of credit for this transformation through their focus on matching competitive play and sportsmanship. And as a result of these changing philosophies, there is significantly more respect among the

top college teams now. Our two games with Oregon have probably been my two favorite games of the year because both teams focused on keeping calls to a minimum, and the calls that were made were appropriate. I am incredibly happy knowing that today Spirit of the Game is again a central component at the highest level and on the biggest stage in college ultimate.

TIM MORRISSY When I started playing ultimate, it wasn’t the Spirit, or the self-officiating that attracted me to it. What I loved was the competitive nature of the game and the opportunity to be the best at it. Until this year, that’s all I ever wanted: to be the best. And although I still strive for this, it is no longer the only attraction. I have been a part of some very good teams that have fallen short. At the time, we had no explanation. We wanted it, we worked for it, we drove ourselves insane thirsting for a championship. It wasn’t until my fourth year on Mamabird, my eighth year playing the game, that I realized I had to completely redefine why I play. I had lost sight of the true beauty of the game, sports and, in general, the human need to be active. It needs to be fun. I laugh at myself now, but it’s true. Fun. Why else play the game? You’re not getting paychecks, endorsements or fame. This year on Mamabird, we took the same steps of years past in regards to focus, preparation and intensity. However, we added one key component in having fun. Throw the football around, crack stupid jokes and realize that if you’re not having a blast playing the game, then there isn’t a point in playing. To me, Spirit refers to the love and respect I have for my brothers on the team. I know that I need to have fun, so they can have fun. If not, there’s no point. This game needs to be played with Spirit that is aimed at growing with your teammates instead of breaking down opponents. Without this, where’s the fun?

University of Colorado Mamabird won their second College Championship title in 2014. Photo: CBMT Creative

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

WHAT�S THE CALL

COLIN MCINTYRE , CHAIR, STANDING RULES COMMITTEE

QUESTIONS.

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

ON DEFENSE, I WAS TRAILING A COUPLE OF STEPS (MAYBE EIGHT FEET) BEHIND MY RECEIVER. ANOTHER OFFENSIVE PLAYER STEPPED IN FRONT OF ME, AND I CALLED A PICK. JUST AS I CALLED THE PICK, THE THROWER RELEASED A QUICK PASS TO MY RECEIVER, WHO CAUGHT IT EASILY. I SAID THAT I DID NOT THINK I WAS CLOSE ENOUGH TO HAVE MADE A PLAY ON THE PASS, EVEN IF THE PICK HAD NOT HAPPENED, SO THE DISC SHOULD STAY WITH THE RECEIVER. HOWEVER, MY CAPTAIN INTERRUPTED TO SAY, “IT DOESN’T MATTER. IT WAS HIS GUY, SO THE DISC ALWAYS GOES BACK TO THE THROWER.” WHO IS RIGHT?

MY DEFENDER CALLED A PICK, AND I CONTINUED MY CUT, CATCHING A PASS 10 YARDS AWAY. THE PICK AFFECTED THE PLAY, SO WE SENT THE DISC BACK TO THE THROWER. I STARTED TO WALK BACK TO WHERE THE PICK HAPPENED, BUT THE DEFENDER INSISTED, “IT WAS A PICK, SO YOU STAY THERE WHERE YOU CAUGHT IT, AND I GET TO CATCH UP.” IS THAT HOW WE ARE SUPPOSED TO REPOSITION? No. First, you reposition according to the rules, and then the picked player gets to catch up. Positioning after a call is addressed in Rule XVI.C.4. If a pass was attempted and resolution of the call results in the disc reverting to the thrower, players reposition to the locations they occupied at the earlier of i) the time of the throw or ii) the time of the call (XVI.C.4.b). In addition, after a pick call, once players have repositioned under Rule XVI.C.4, “The obstructed player is then allowed to move to recover the relative position lost because of the pick.” (XVI.I.3).

Your initial response was exactly correct, and your captain was mistaken. There is no rule that says the disc automatically goes back to the thrower if a defender calls a pick and “his guy” catches a pass. After calling a pick, the obstructed player determines whether the pick affected the play, i.e., whether the outcome of the play might have been meaningfully different if the pick had not happened (XVI.C.3).

In your example, everyone should have repositioned to the locations they occupied at the time of the pick call. Then, your defender would also be permitted to catch up to you to recover whatever distance he lost because of the pick (if he was initially nine feet behind you when the pick happened, but was 15 feet away when he called the pick, he gets to catch up to nine feet behind you).

In this case, your pick call was valid, but you were still trailing behind your receiver by a significant distance. It was reasonable for you to expect that the receiver would still have had an uncontested catch, even if the pick had not happened. Therefore, your determination that the pick did not affect the play was reasonable, and it was correct to have the disc stay with the receiver. (XVI.C.2(b)(2)).

If the disc reverts to the thrower after a call, players should first reposition to where they were at the earlier of the time of the throw the time of the call. Photo: CBMT Creative

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AFTER A TURNOVER NEAR THE END ZONE LINE, MY OPPONENT STOOD BACK AWAY FROM THE DISC, CALLING OUT PLAYS AND WAITING FOR HER OFFENSE TO SET UP. I TYPICALLY DO NOT COUNT THE 20-SECOND PRE-STALL ON END-ZONE TURNOVERS, BUT I REALLY THOUGHT THIS DELAYING WAS UNREASONABLE. I WAS WAITING AT THE END-ZONE LINE AND, AFTER WAITING SEVERAL SECONDS, I TOLD HER TO HURRY UP, AND SHE RESPONDED, “I’M ALLOWED TO DO THIS, AS LONG AS I’M NOT STANDING OVER THE DISC.” EVERYONE WAS READY TO PLAY, AND THE OPPOSING PLAYER JUST WOULDN’T PICK UP THE DISC AND START PLAYING. IS THERE ANYTHING I COULD HAVE DONE TO MAKE MY OPPONENT START PLAYING? Yes, Rules XIX.B and XIII.A.5 provide a recourse for a defender trying to speed up an opponent who is taking too long to start, restart or continue play. Rule XIX.B states: “It is the responsibility of all players to avoid any delay when starting, restarting or continuing play. This includes standing over the disc or taking more time than reasonably necessary to put the disc into play.” The rule is designed to keep play moving, and your opponent was incorrect to claim that she was allowed to delay as long as she did not stand over the disc; there is not a special designated place where a player must stand before the rule applies to her. In fact, the annotations to the online rules specifically clarify that “taking more time than reasonably necessary to put the disc into play” also includes standing back away from the disc. Rule XIII.A.5 provides a procedure for addressing delay of game, a more formal way of saying “hurry up” to a delaying opponent: If an offensive player unnecessarily delays putting the disc into play in violation of rule XIX.B, a defender within three meters of the spot the disc is to be put into play may issue a delay of game warning instead of calling

a violation. If the behavior in violation of rule XIX.B is not immediately stopped, the marker may initiate and continue a stall count, regardless of the actions of the offense. In order to invoke this rule, after announcing delay of game, the marker must give the offense two seconds to react to the warning, and then announce disc in before initiating the stall count. In your case, a good way to enforce this rule would be loudly announcing “delay of game” and then counting down “2-1-0” to provide your opponent a two-second window to react. If your opponent stops delaying (e.g., walks to pick up the disc or runs downfield to continue play from a different position while a new player comes to pick up the disc), then you have succeeded in resolving the issue, and you may not initiate the stall count early under Rule XIII.A.5. If your opponent continues to delay throughout the two-second window, you must first announce “disc in,” and then you may initiate the stall count. Although the rules do not specify a procedure for counting the twosecond window, a verbal countdown is helpful because it lets your opponent know you are counting with a legal cadence, and it cannot be confused with an improperly initiated stall count.

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LOCAL LEAGUE SPOTLIGHT

A LOOK AT LOCAL LEAGUES AROUND THE COUNTRY

LEAGUE AFFILIATES MEET AT U.S. OPEN AFFILIATE As part of a continued focus on the growth of local leagues around the country, the USA Ultimate Affiliates came together at the 2014 U.S. Open in Blaine, Minn., to take advantage of the available learning opportunities, while also using the meeting as a chance to share ideas, successes and challenges.

It was a confluence of ultimate worlds in Minnesota: leaders of grassroots organizations sat discussing local issues while overlooking the fields where many of the world’s top teams were competing against one another in the first leg of the Triple Crown Tour. Many of the youth athletes currently participating in the local leagues they organize could one day end up on that same competition field they were watching at the U.S. Open.

With the help of funding from USA Ultimate, representatives from eight of the nine current USA Ultimate Affiliates, accounting for 15 or 20 people, made the trip to Minnesota from their respective cities and states all across the country to attend the 2014 U.S. Open Convention. The convention is an annual meeting of some of the best and brightest minds from all areas of the international ultimate community, which runs in conjunction with the U.S. Open Ultimate Championships.

The affiliate representatives were also able to attend the event’s Saturday-evening Discraft President’s Reception, which provided them with an opportunity to network with and talk to members of USA Ultimate’s board of directors and other long-time members of the ultimate community who have spent countless years organizing and promoting the sport at all levels.

The 2014 convention included general sessions featuring former Olympic athletes; a look into the organizational future of youth ultimate; updates from the Girls’ Ultimate Movement, a nine-month taskforce charged with developing five action items to encourage the growth of girls’ ultimate; and insight into what makes good coaching from two of the best in the business. But most importantly for the affiliates, the convention closed with two sessions dedicated solely to celebrating the highlights and discussing the challenges of their local leagues, with an opportunity for the presenters to receive potential solutions from their counterparts. Receiving feedback and suggestions from others in similar positions who may have experienced similar challenges was invaluable to the affiliates.

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Based on the affiliates’ highlight sessions, the future of the sport is bright. While only two of the affiliates are youthspecific leagues, Minnesota Youth Ultimate and Neuqua Valley Ultimate, many of the highlights from each of the representatives focused on youth ultimate, as did many of their challenges. The positive aspects of having many highlights to share are self-explanatory, but that the leaders of the sport’s local organizations are consciously working to find solutions to the challenges in developing youth opportunities and have an eye on continuing growth from the bottom up, bodes well for ultimate going forward. The relationships the affiliate representatives built at the 2014 U.S. Open will continue to be a source of insight and information for all those who were able to attend and will help continue the growth of the sport of ultimate at the incredibly important local, grassroots level. 70

NEWS & NOTES In addition to the two medals earned by the open and women’s National Teams at the World Junior Ultimate Championships (see page 6), the U.S. claimed another 12 medals at the World Ultimate Club Championships in Lecco, Italy.

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

Sixteen club teams from around the country made the trip to Italy to represent the United States across five divisions: open, women’s, mixed, men’s masters, women’s masters. At the end of the weeklong event, four gold, four silver and four bronze medals had been claimed for the United States.

U.S. TEAM RESULTS: OPEN

WOMEN’S

1 – REVOLVER (SAN FRANCISCO)

1 – RIOT (SEATTLE)

2 – SOCKEYE (SEATTLE)

2 – FURY (SAN FRANCISCO)

3 – JOHNNY BRAVO (DENVER)

3 – SCANDAL (WASHINGTON, D.C.)

9 – IRONSIDE (BOSTON)

4 – SHOWDOWN (AUSTIN)

MIXED

MEN’S MASTERS

1 – DRAG’N THRUST (MINNEAPOLIS)

1 – BONEYARD (RALEIGH)

2 – POLAR BEARS (SAN FRANCISCO)

3 – JOHNNY ENCORE (DENVER)

3 – THE GHOSTS (BOSTON)

5 – SURLY (MINNEAPOLIS)

9 – WILD CARD (BOSTON) WOMEN’S MASTERS 2 – GODIVA (BOSTON)

REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS For the second year, champions were named for the club regular season, the second leg of the Triple Crown, in each of the men’s, mixed and women’s divisions. All sanctioned games played between registered club teams from June 7 through September 1 count toward a team’s regularseason ranking. The rankings are created using an algorithm originally designed by Ultimate Hall of Famer Sholom Simon. Winners of the regular season claim the second leg of the Triple Crown and are awarded $2,000 in prize money.

MEN’S

MIXED

WOMEN’S

SAN FRANCISCO REVOLVER

SAN FRANCISCO POLAR BEARS

BOSTON BRUTE SQUAD

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WORLD FLYING DISC FEDERATION U-23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

After the success of the Girls’ Ultimate Movement (GUM), USA Ultimate has created a GUM Working Group that will serve as part of the new Education and Outreach Working Group. The group, chaired by Zara Cadoux, will develop guidance and outline next steps to help the organization implement the five action items recommended by GUM at the U.S. Open earlier this year.

USA Ultimate is in the midst of forming three National Teams comprised of the nation’s best players under the age of 23 to represent the United States at the 2015 U-23 World Championships. Applications have been submitted, and tryout camps for invited applicants are scheduled for midNovember. Final rosters will be announced in December.

In addition, USA Ultimate, and Brauer in her new position, will be recruiting girls’ state youth coordinators (SYCs) in every state that currently has a boys’ state championship. In all, USA Ultimate will add 21 girls’ SYCs this fall to work alongside the five current girls’ SYCs.

The teams will have a slate of some of the nation’s top coaches to help lead them through competition at the World Championships. After an extensive application and interview process, head coaches were announced in late August, with assistant coaches selected in mid-September.

For more information, or if you would like to get involved in USA Ultimate’s youth outreach efforts, contact USA Ultimate Manager of Education and Youth Programs Mike Lovinguth at mike@hq.usaultimate.org.

ANNUAL REPORT MIXED TEAM COACHING STAFF

The 2013 USA Ultimate annual report is now available for viewing. The report, the organization’s second-ever, details all things USA Ultimate from the 2013 calendar year, from membership growth to competition results, financial information and everything in between.

HEAD COACH: MARTIN AGUILERA ASSISTANT COACHES: ALEX SNYDER, NANCY SUN OPEN TEAM COACHING STAFF

HEAD COACH: BOB KRIER ASSISTANT COACHES: JODY AVIRGAN, JOE DURST

Visit usaultimate.org/about/usaultimate/annual_report. aspx to view the publication in its entirety.

WOMEN’S TEAM COACHING STAFF

HEAD COACH: MIKE WHITAKER ASSISTANT COACHES: JIT BATTACHARYA, CAROLYN MATTHEWS

All three head coaches led their teams to gold medals at the 2013 U-23 World Championships and are back again for 2015. Jit Battacharya, Joe Durst and Carolyn Matthews are also returning members of the 2013 U-23 coaching staff. At the 2013 U-23 World Championships, the United States won gold medals in each of the event’s three divisions. The U.S. Mixed National Team also earned their division’s spirit award.

USA ULTIMATE YOUTH VOLUNTEER STRUCTURE

UPCOMING EVENTS

In September, USA Ultimate announced expansions to its youth volunteer structure, as part of ongoing efforts to increase youth and girls’ outreach programs. Heather Ann Brauer was appointed National Girls Outreach Director and will use her new position to help USA Ultimate continue to increase the number of girls participating in the sport around the country and assist in the development of best practices for girls’ competition.

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U-23 National Team Tryout Camps

November 15-16 November 22-23

Orlando, Fla Phoenix, Az.

World Championships of Beach Ultimate

March 8-13, 2015

Dubai, UAE

Beach Championships

May 2-3, 2015

Virginia Beach, Va

World Under 23 Ultimate Championships

July 12-18, 2015

London, U.K.

2 015

The highest level of competitive ultimate in North America will return. check it out. Everyone is invited. usaultimate.org/triplecrowntour 73

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