an open thread to discuss whatever your heart desires (concerning the junior worlds team)
rumors have it that the official announcement is coming soon......
Friday, March 31, 2006
junior worlds open thread
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I submitted an application and was one of the 14 players (open) waitlisted for spots at tryouts. I'm interested in what sorts of players they ended up choosing for the team. I think it's great that so many contries are sending junior teams to this tournament. It should be fun for those who get to go!
-Benjamin Honey
(formerly captain of the Hawaii high school team, DFI Gravity)
Prescott, Arizona
So unless I'm mistaken...this team only took 4 college players even though they had 6 spots? Were the high school players that much better?
I was at tryouts, and overheard (so secondhand info) that the only reason the USA took any college players was because Canada has no discrimination against college players. By this I mean that UPA ultimate program wishes to promote High School Ultimate over 'Junior' ultimate (under 20).
So, the USA wanted to take only High School ultimate players, but didn't want to lose the competitive edge over Canada; but in the spirit of promoting High School Ultimate, they tried to take as few college players as possible. That's my inference from the overheard statement.
-Eddie
Other than Darden, this team seems to really be lacking deeps. It loos like they were going for quick players, but they don't have a lot of height to work with...
Is the official announcement ever going to be made? I'm curious about the women's side too. Wasn't it supposed to be made yesterday?
It seems to me that if it's an under 20 tournament, then we should send the best under 20 players there.
If we just have 4 or 5 college players, that means that around 80% of the team is still in highschool. If most of them are still eligible for worlds in 2 years (or at least, more than 4 or 5), they will definitely have the talent and the experience to make the team again. But then are we going to cut them just because they're in college?
And what about kids who skipped or repeated a year? will they cut a 17 year old just because he's in college, and keep a 19 year because he's still in high school?
It doesn't seem right. If you're trying to get the best team to worlds, you should take the best team. No need to limit yourself to 4 19yr olds...
My 0.02
I was at the Atlanta try out, and it did not seem like there was a gap in skill from the high school players to the college players. After seeing the final list of the team I think they did a very good job of picking the best players out there. If you were at the tryout it was easy to tell that picking this team would not be easy at all.
Post a Comment