Youth Ultimate Cincinnati

OK...so I have been a bit tardy in getting my first post in on the Ultimate scene in the SW Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky area. I've been out tossing the disc in the snow. Is there a better excuse? I coach the Lakota High School team in Cincinnati and will post here as I see interesting things. Today I will talk about our league and other area teams. Future posts will talk about the teams in our league and notable players both past and present.

Here in Cincinnati we are going into our 7th season. I don't know all the details, but our league has the rather unfortunate name of "Youth Ultimate Cincinnati" or YUC. We started with 4 teams in 1999 and have steadily grown to where we had 14 teams last year. We play as a mixed league (usually 5/2) and our season runs from mid-March to mid-May.

The 500-pound gorilla in our league is the Home School team. I'm sure that many of you are now chuckling at the concept of a Home School team, but remember that they only play one sport. They start their kids playing in second grade, so by the time they get to high school every one of them can throw well and knows all about their offensive and defensive schemes. While they are not the most athletically gifted team, they play a decent zone and really make you pay for your mistakes. They have not lost a game in three years including last years' first Ohio state championship.

I am sure that many of you who follow ultimate closely don't know a whole heck of a lot about ultimate in Cincinnati. Historically, we don't travel much. Those of you familiar with the midwest will know that it can be quite a drive to get, well, just about anywhere. Until recently, to find other team to play, we would have to drive to Pittsburgh (4-5 hours), Nashville (4-5 hours) or Atlanta (6-7 hours). So...we chose to spend most of our time beating up on each other rather than travelling around and playing other cities.

All of that is starting to change though. With teams now in Cleveland, Columbus, Indy, Lexington and Bloomington, I am looking forward to taking my team on the road more. Plus, last summer we put a team into the Youth Club Championships. We finished 5th but played pretty well for a team overloaded with freshmen. Look out for us next year.

See you on the field.