Churchill Open Dirty Deeds HL Video

Just finished this evening by Dylan Freechild & myself, this video highlights our open team at Dirty Deeds, hosted by Western Washington a few weekends ago in Lynden, WA.

CHS Open Dirty Deeds HL - itunes version (.mp4 640x360 38MB)
CHS Open Dirty Deeds HL - web version (.mov 640x360 38MB)
CHS Open Dirty Deeds HL - google version

Weekend Open Thread - Born to Dive edition

The big high school tournament this weekend will be taking place in Trenton, NJ in the form of Born to Dive, hosted by the illustriously hyped Pennsbury.

Teams attending (RRI)
- Pennsbury (2432)
- HB Woodlawn (Yorktown) (2370)
- Stuyvesant (2510)
- Watchung Hills (1980)
- Princeton High School (2310)
- JP Stevens High School (2043)
- The Pterodactyls (2006)
- Central Bucks East (2475)
- Pennsbury B (1773)
- West Windsor-Plainsboro North (2545)
- YHB JV (2039)
- Columbia High School (1658)
- Stuyvesant JV (1776)
- Watchung Hills JV (1401)

Early predictions have some mix of Yorktown, Columbia and Pennsbury in the finals, with a possible Princeton showing. Wildcards - CB East has yet to report scores for the spring season, so who knows how they will show. Same with JP Stevens (shoutout to Edison, town of my birth!).

Should be interesting how it turns out, if you have reports or recaps of the games feel free to post them as comments.

[upa tournament site]

Weekend Tournaments and Games - Discussion

Lots of high school ultimate this weekend (as well as a ton of sweet posts on the blog, just scroll through the archives and check them all out.)

so lets hear what people have to say a few of the big things -

• Amherst loses Needham 8-11, this is the first time in i believe 4 years they have been beaten?
• Pennsbury wins over Yorktown in the finals of the YHB Invite
• Lexington Catholic, out of Kentucky, has 12 wins under their belt with their only losses coming at the hands of large colleges
• Paideia has an undefeated season thus far apparently playing against University School of Nashville (Tenn.) and Andover High School (Mass.) this weekend.

So very interesting stuff, lets hear the comments..

NUTC 06 Camper/Counselor Game Clip

This just in from Tiina via RSD:

If you are looking for a 2 minute diversion while waiting for the Centex scores to roll in, please check out a clip from our NUTC promotional video which was shot last summer. It may be hard to identify the players, so look for Zip, Dylan, Jennie Yang, Jeff Graham, Jody Avirgan, Chelsea Dengler, and, of course, George Cooke, who also provides the background music with his hit single entitled, "Motor Cycle Girl."

Churchill HS Girls Dirty Deeds HL Video

Just finished this evening by Kimber Coles (#5) and Christine Wilson (#19), this video highlights the girls run at Western Washington Universities Dirty Deeds Tournament held in Lynden, WA this last weekend.

CHS Girls Dirty Deeds HL - itunes version (.mp4 640x360 42MB)
CHS Girls Dirty Deeds HL - web version (.mov 640x360 43MB)
CHS Girls Dirty Deeds HL - google version

Churchill HS Open PLUBBQ HL Video

The tournament is now nearly 3 weekends old, but due to the horrible footage recorded, we were delayed in getting a Highlight video made. Dylan Freechild of Churchill (9th - #45) just finished the video this afternoon. He and along with Kimber Coles and Christine are finishing the videos from last weekends Dirty Deeds tournament in Washington. Expect those videos sometime this coming week.

CHS OPEN:
CHS Open PLUBBQ HL - itunes version (.mp4 640x360 36.8MB)
CHS Open PLUBBQ HL - web version (.mov 640x360 36.5MB)
CHS Open PLUBBQ HL - google version


And again, here are the girls links:
So-Chill Girls PLUBBQ HL - itunes version (.mp4 640x360 34.8MB) -redone larger
So-Chill Girls PLUBBQ HL - web version (.mov 640x360 35.4MB)
So-Chill Girls PLUBBQ HL - google version

2007 PHUL Analysis: Preseason Predictions (First Edition)

With the 2007 PHUL (Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League) season under way, I am writing this to report on how I see things shaping up. My predictions are fairly similar to how the teams finished up in 2006, so there's always reason to believe I could be wrong; and I'd love nothing more than to see some of my predictions wrong as it will show that competition in PHUL is continuing to increase.

Before I start my analysis, I just wanted to let everybody know that this year looks to be the biggest improvement in Pittsburgh league history as there will be upwards of 40 teams, including a girls division that could be as competitive as they come. The skill, experience and growth of this league is something that I feel is unmatched in other parts of the country and only looks to get bigger.

So without further delay, here is how I see 2007 in PHUL.

THE CHAMPIONS

North Hills:
With the 2006 title under their belts and a trip to the Paideia Cup in mid-April, the North Hills boys are this year’s favorite to win it all. Having lost no players to graduation and acquiring Nick Kaczmarek from the University of Pittsburgh to coach them, North Hills will be a force in PHUL. The handling duo of Alex Thorne and Ben Funk brings something to the offense that no other team in PHUL can match. The speed and skill of Colin Conner (last year’s finals MVP) will continue to impress the league, while the presence of Jeff Olko and Jack Gazdik will make it tough for opponents to score. With more players on Pittsburgh’s Youth Club team than any other team in PHUL, experience and skill will be the underlying reason why North Hills will be the team to beat this season.

THE CONTENDERS

Mt. Lebanon:
In 2006, Mt. Lebanon suffered a devastating PHUL finals loss on universe point. There is no reason not to believe they won’t be hungry to have revenge and get that finals trophy that seemed to slip out of their hand at the last second. To help achieve this goal, Mt. Lebanon hired Jake Christian and Evan Jenkins from the University of Pittsburgh to coach them. The skills and knowledge of the game that these two men have will only help to surge the confidence of this team. The consistency of Peter Imler is something that opponents will need to worry about, while the arm and accuracy of big-time handler Julian Hausman will keep other teams running up and down the field; and the speed and intensity of Zach Ehler will help compliment a team that lost only two players to graduation.

Hampton:
With two losses in the semifinals in both 2005 and 2006, Hampton looks to finally break that streak and have their chance in the finals. The hiring of David Vatz from the University of Pittsburgh is sure to help them. With captains Lukas Truckenbrod, Perry Martin and Cody McInnis, Hampton will continue to build up their experience and be a legitimate contender in PHUL. The handling core of Hampton is about as good as they come and the deep threat is always there with confident throwers and receivers. A solid recruiting class by the team, who graduated only three players, will help them in their quest for a PHUL championship.

THE SURPRISES

Pine-Richland:
Having been able to watch a little bit of the non-divisional scrimmage between Hampton and Pine-Richland on Thursday, it was clear that this team has the ability to upset some teams and make a deep run into the playoffs. They got off to a quick 4-1 lead on Hampton, but suffered when a zone was thrown at them. If they can master their zone offense with the help of new coach Jack Miller, then Pine-Richland will be a team to fear.

Shady Side Academy:
Every year Shady Side plays quietly in PHUL and making it into the playoffs where they just explode. They’ve made it to the quaterfinals the past three seasons and putting up a good fight in those games. They always seem to get hot at the right time, but this year look for coach Matt Weis to keep them hot the whole season.

Montour:
Last year was Montour’s first season in PHUL and coach Darren Shultz was able to teach a bunch of athletic seniors how to play the game and we saw them cruise all the way to the semifinals. They graduated a solid amount of players, but that doesn’t matter because the skill, knowledge and ability to coach a team of Darren is what will make this team scary for a second season in a row.

Fox Chapel:
After a disappointing 2-6 season in 2006, there is no reason not to think that Fox Chapel is working hard to erase that from their minds. Returning players Dan Berk and Ariel Altschuler will look to turn this team around and make some noise during the playoffs. Having lost very few seniors to graduation, a solid recruiting class could make Fox Chapel very dangerous.

Bethel Park:
With trips to finals in 2004 (won) and 2005 (loss to Fox Chapel) in their history, Bethel Park looks to keep things moving in that direction. Only two points away from defeating eventual the PHUL champions (North Hills) in quarterfinals last year, this team can do it again in 2007 and upset some teams. Players Zach Reinhardt and David Macurak will bring experience and skill to a team that could start winning games this season at the right time.

It's important to realize that this is just a small breakdown of the large amount of teams in PHUL. I will be looking for upsets, close games and surprises throughout the entire season and hope that this year will be the most competitive season to date. I plan on writing at least a weekly article that can be found both here on PlayUltimate and on the Pittsburgh-Ultimate website. Next week’s edition will have a game of the week recap, something I plan on doing to begin to get a better grasp on some of the teams in the league, as well as news and analysis from around the league, including my input and predictions on the 2007 PHUL Girls Division.

2007 College Choices - Part 2 of a Monthly Series

The second of many posts regarding high school ultimate players and their college choices. If you've been following along you know that last year we compiled a list of where many players from around the country were attending colleges. (You can find last year's list here)

Well we are doing it again for 2007, and the deal is all the information is user submitted, so comment below with...

College
Last Name, First Name
High School
HS State
HS League
Height
Right Handed / Left Handed

later we'll add Xs next to the names that get selected to YCC teams. It ends up being a very fun list and an early indicator of which college programs are trending up or down.

So if you have decided on a college yet, post your information below and you will be added to the list. If you prefer to keep it a surprise until the Official College Ultimate Signing Deadline, on May 27th (when the list will be released) - you can email the site at PlayUltimateBlog@gmail.com, just put "2007 College Choices" in the subject line.

Looking forward to seeing where people are heading...

(If you would like to see all of these college choice posts, and their comments, in one place you can click on the "College Choices" label)

Easterns/Westerns Deadlines in Two Days!!

Easterns and westerns applications are due in two days!!! Who has already sent in a bid? Who plans to fax them last minute? (is that even possible?)

Since so much of the country has yet to thaw/dry out how hard do you think it will be for the UPA to come up with the top 16 teams for each event. Do you think the bid deadline should have been later to allow for teams to see how they fair in the first few games of spring?

Chat away folks.

[UPA Easterns/Westerns Homepage]
[UPA Easterns/Westerns Application] (.doc)


(come back tomorrow and let us know where you are going to college, the second in our monthly College Choices segment will be posted.)

Dirty Deeds Tournament Recap

I don't have much to say since it is nearing midnight and we just got back... But, if there are some of you up in the late hours of the night or have morning reading done on this site, I wanted you all to know how Churchill, Northwest and South Eugene did this weekend:

Special Note: The rain had been coming down all week on the fields we were using and continued rainfall on Saturday eventually led to the fields being closed after the second round of pool play. The tournament was postponed until Saturday 7am when we would get a call and be told what was happening. They moved the fields to Skagit River Park in Burlington. The girls division started with their 3rd and final pool play round, while the boys skipped their 3rd round and played out the 4th and 5th before moving into the same 10 team championsip brackets originally planned.

OPEN DIVISION:
1. South Eugene: Leaving eary Friday afternoon, South attended with only 11 guys (a couple no shows and other complications led to a smaller than intended squad). They went 0-3 in pool play with convincing losses against WWU 04-13, Satan (WWU Alumni) 05-13, and Gonzaga 06-13. South was then was placed into pre-quarters against Victoria and lost fairly badly 06-13 (or something close to that). They decided to be done after this espcially considering Jacob Janin went out hurt with another ankle injury. They ended the weekend with a 12/13 spot overall.
2. Northwest: Went 2-1 in pool play, beating Satan who beat WWU... This created a 3 way tie in pt diff and gave them the number one seed in the B pool. This earned them a first round bye in the Championship bracket, which would have been really nice if it were on Sunday only, but it created a funky bye round for them in the middle of the day. They then played the winner of the South/Victoria game who was Victoria. Somehow they lost to Victoria 10-13 in Quarters. They then played Whitworth in the 5th Place Bracket and won (score unknown). They ended teh day with a 5th place tie.
3. Churchill: Went 1-2 in pool play against BC 05-13, North Seattle Community College 06-13, and then Victoria 13-07. They were then given Washington B in the pre-quarters and took the game 13-08. Quarters were against Western Washington who we would lose to 06-13. With little energy for anothe game, we agreed to play Gonzaga to 11 in 5th Place Bracket. We would lose 08-11, but have a great game and finish the weekend tied for 7th.

GIRLS DIVISION:
1. Churchill: We would go 1-2 in pool play against PLU 08-13, WWU 09-15, and then Simon Fraser 13-05. The Chapionship bracket was redone after Bellingham and British Columbia left the day before and didn't return Sunday. WWU and PLU got first round byes into the Semis. CHS took on Puget Sound in quarters and won convincingly 15-03. Next was PLUB and CHS went up early and kept the lead and eventually pushed ahead in the end with a a 15-09 victory. The finals were against Western Washington. After losing the first half 7-8 and an extremely close game, our girls fought back and won 14-09. This was the first tournament our girls have ever won and they deserved it!

All Photos
HL Photos

Dump swing video tutorial

C/o fellow contributor Jason Becker, a video to help explain and demonstrate the finer aspect of the dump swing...



enjoy, and remember submissions for the highlight reel contest must be received by may 1, 2007.

PLUBBQ So-Chill Girls HL Video

I know that I've had 3 posts in a row... but, I think that there are some ladies (and hopefully some boys) who will appreciate this little video made by our very own #5 Kimber Coles and #19 Christine Wilson. Both spent a few hours in my office this week editing video and getting this done in time for Dirty Deeds this weekend.

The Highlight video shows SO-CHILL's (Churchill and South combined for this tournament) road to a 3rd place tie at this last weekends' PLUBBQ Tournament in Tacoma, WA. There were 11 Girls teams present, including 2 HS teams (Northwest was there as well).

Two ways to watch:
1. PLUBBQ07 Girls HL Video - (.mp4 format) - 2min57sec - 18MB
2. Googlevideo - (a little less quality, but streams it right now!)

YCC Bids Awarded!

The emails have been sent... Teams and programs have been given the word as to whether they've been awarded a bid or not...

And, now here is the list for those who will be going to the big show in Blaine, MN this coming August 11th & 12th.

3/19/07 - Teams Announced on UPA Website

Girls Division
BUDA High School Ultimate League - New England - HS
Denver Youth Summer League - Denver, CO - Youth/UPA
Disc Northwest Spring Youth Single Gender League - Seattle, WA - HS/UPA
Eugene, OR - at-large team
Madison Youth Spring League - Madison, WI - HS/UPA
Minnesota High School Ultimate League - Minneapolis, MN - HS/UPA
Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League - Pittsburgh, PA - HS/UPA
Youth Ultimate Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH - HS/UPA

Mixed Division
Atlanta High School Ultimate League - HS
BUDA High School Ultimate League - New England - HS
Denver Youth Summer League - Denver, CO - Youth/UPA
Disc Northwest Spring Youth Single Gender League - Seattle, WA - HS/UPA
Minnesota High School Ultimate League - Minneapolis, MN - HS/UPA
New England Prep School Ultimate League - New England - HS
New York City High School Ultimate League - New York, NY - HS
Philadelphia High School Ultimate Educational League - Philadelphia, PA - HS

Open Division
BUDA High School Ultimate League - New England - HS
Denver Youth Summer League - Denver, CO - Youth/UPA
Disc Northwest Spring Youth Single Gender League - Seattle, WA - HS/UPA
Madison Youth Spring League - Madison, WI - HS/UPA
Minnesota High School Ultimate League - Minneapolis, MN - HS/UPA
New Jersey High School Ultimate League - New Jersey - HS
Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League - Pittsburgh, PA - HS/UPA
Youth Ultimate Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH - HS/UPA

PLU BBQ (Tacoma, WA) Quick Recap

16 College & 3 HS Open teams along with 9 College & 2 HS Girls descended upon Tacoma, WA for the annual Pacific Lutheran University Invite (PLU BBQ). Along with the rain there was a fair share of talent among the college teams despite being a "B Level" field.

In the Open division, Northwest, South Eugene, and Churchill (the only High School's in attendance) were split up into different pools (A, B, and C respectively). Each ended up breaking seed on Saturday, but NWS did the most damage upsetting the number one seed overall UW, remained undefeated all day 4-0, and earned a first round bye into Sunday Quarters. South did not do as well as thought going 2-2, but did earn the C2 team for Sunday mornings Pre-Quarters. Churchill broke seed and went 3-1 for the day earning the C2 spot and thus the chance to play South Eugene in Pre-Quarters.
Sunday morning deals were struck so that Churchill would draw Whitmon instead of South Eugene, while South would earn Reed. Churchill easily won their game, drawing Northwest, whom they wanted to play all weekend. South beat Reed in a surprising game that they come back from. South would lose their next game badly against Seattle Community College (made up of Nate Castine and a cast of former MOHO players). Churchill would lose to NWS 12-7 (but as previous posts have said, got as close as 9-7).
NWS would then lose in the semi-finals, while Churchill and South combined to play PLU A for a fun consolation game that included points played by Seth Wiggins (and even myself).

In the Girls division, Churchill (including 4 South girls) would come into the tournament the 5th and last seed in their pool. They would go 2-2 for the day, surprising many including themselves. They would lose only to WWU 08-13 and the PLU Alumni 06-11. Northwest School would go 1-4 I believe (no scores online, but I think this is right). They never ended up playing Churchill or even got close enough to see because the fields were so spread out. Their outcome on Sunday was unknown, but lost the first round game.
Churchill on the other hand drew Whitmon in the Pre-Quarters and would win 10-06. Next was Lewis & Clark in the Quarters who went up on our girls 7-2 in the first half. Churchill would fight back and end up winning 10-08 in hard-cap. The Semi-Finals would put our girls again against the PLU Alumni who would end up winning 13-07. The PLU Alumni and WWU ended up in the finals, the only two teams to beat our girls all weekend.

Though not a professional, a parent of ours took a numbef of photographs (only a few were taken by me):
Highlights
Saturday
Sunday

Next up, Dirty Deeds...

Easterns/Westerns - Bid deadline almost here - (March 23rd)

From the desk of Director of Youth Development Meredith Tosta -

The March 23^rd due date for applications to the 2007 HS Eastern and HS Western Championships is quickly approaching!

Go to the Youth Division page for information about eligibility and the application/selection process and to download an application. We are looking forward to an exciting spring of high school Ultimate! Email Will Deaver and Meredith Tosta with any questions.

Thank you!

Meredith Tosta
Director of Youth Development
Ultimate Players Association
4730 Table Mesa Dr. Suite J-200
Boulder, CO 80305
Phone: 800-872-4384 ex 115
Fax: 303-447-3483

That said, who has applied? Who plans to apply? Given the likelihood of certain applications, who do you think the Quarters or Semis of each will consist of?

Lets hear it in the comments...

SLUJ Spring League Preview

Below, you will find a long-winded and mostly uninformative preview of the SLUJ (St. Louis Ultimate Juniors) High School Spring League. It’s biased, opinionated, and I offer no guarantees of accuracy. I tried to be as fair-minded as possible, but if you happen to disagree or take umbrage with any of the below, forgive an excited league organizer who just wanted to tell the world about the incredible juniors ultimate being played all around St. Louis, Missouri. Our league continues to grow: 8 teams in 2005, 12 teams in 2006, 14 teams in 2007! As the number of players grows (I’d estimate around 400 this year), so does the level of competition. Check it out.

Parkway North: After unseating Kansas City powerhouse Rockhurst in the state tourney last year, PNH is back to defend their champion status, but they might as well be competing under a different name. As far as I know, less than 10% of last year’s team is still around after they graduated a senior-heavy roster in 2006. One of those graduates was Brian Parrish, the team’s star handler, and most importantly, son of the team’s VERY knowledgeable coach, Doug Parrish. This year, the team is going coachless, and from what I can tell, starting from scratch. It appears that hungry teams might have a shot at the champion this year.

Marquette: Nearly the exact thing that happened to Parkway North also happened to Marquette, with the slight difference that my sources inform me that THEIR very knowledgeable coach, Jack Curran, is still somewhat involved with the team. Last year, he was able to turn a team of rookies into a team of very talented handlers. Will he be able to work the same magic this year? Depends on his level of involvement, I’d say. The more he’s around, the better Marquette will be.

Parkway Central: The Chillaxers were a team with major potential that just couldn’t get it together last year. Dwindling attendance had them forfeiting their last couple of games, and showing to at least one that I know of with only five players. After talking with their captain, I get a frighteningly similar impression of this year’s team: athletes who play other sports who will “try and make time” to attend ultimate games. Their competitiveness will pivot on the buy-in that the team’s captain is able to achieve.

Desmet Varsity: Coach Pete Lenzini is back again with the maroon tide! This year, to be sure developing players get enough touches during league play, he’s split the squad into a JV and Varsity. It’s bound to benefit the varsity team, and since Desmet’s teams perennially have some of the best fundamental skills in the league, look for them to get hungry and push for a return to dominance this year. On a side note . . . Last year, I slandered the Spirit of Desmet’s players, even cast a shadow of doubt on Pete himself. This year, I’m here to say that I was wrong. Desmet was a frontrunner in the spirit voting at last year’s state championship, and our encounters during the league were better than civil, they were positively bursting with the “basic joy of play.” Rules were followed, applied fairly, and disputes were resolved amicably.

CBC: Three coaches. THREE COACHES?!? Yes, CBC has three coaches. It was neat to see the team progress last year. They may not have been the most athletic team in the league, but they ran a technically sound zone defense and worked hard to maximize the possessions they earned with that zone. If I remember, the team was young last year, too. Look for CBC to climb the ranks this year, but unless they’ve added some athletic talent to the squad, I’d bet they’ll hover somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Francis Howell Central Varsity: This is the team I coach. We only lost three seniors last year, and I’ve shortened the roster a bit and made playing-time a little more competitive, a tough decision for someone who got into this only to advocate the sport, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided that it was an appropriate move for a growing program like ours. Last year, our program’s second year, we also ran a JV team, and this year we’ve been able to draw a few of the more talented players from that team to fill the spots left by the graduating seniors. Due to the depth of our throwing talent, I’ve been able to move things around and hopefully open up the deep game a little. Once again, I see us as quicker, higher-jumping, and smarter than we were last year. With FHC, though, our success has always turned more on our mental/emotional game, rather than our physical/technical game. If we can get over the obstacle of our own self-doubt, we could easily surprise a few of the more established teams.

Clayton: This team has a pair of very experienced coaches working with it and a reported roster of over 30 players! Many of these, though, are reported to be “part-timers,” showing up to the occasional practice and not investing much in the team. In the past, they’ve been a bottom-half team. They’ll need to gather a core of dependable players from that list of 30 if they want to compete with some of the more organized teams in the league.

Priory: The Spirit winner at last year’s state championships, Priory is back with their brute-squad of six-footers. Reportedly, they’ve added a few more Adonises to the list; however, strategically they didn’t do much last year other than outrun and outsky people. I almost hope they never get a coach. If they did, we’d all be in trouble. Fun to play, fun to watch, but I fear they’ll never be a true contender until they have someone to teach them at least some of the more fundamental concepts of the game.

SLUH: They’ve regained their school-sponsorship and picked up a coach, and although they were a fairly young squad last year, they improved dramatically over the course of the season. With the new sense of legitimacy and the new leadership, look for SLUH to vie for one of the top spots, no doubt. They always do a great job of mixing it up defensively and making the most of their personnel on offense.

Vashon: A brand new team to the league in 2007, this is reportedly another team of pure athletes (basketball, football, track, etc.) None of them, however, have EVER played the game before. They do have a talented coach in Ben Taylor, but I’d bet they don’t hit their stride until after mid-season. Established programs should out-think them early in the season.

Francis Howell Central JV: Lots of new faces on the JV this year, and a roster of 17 means lots of fresh subs. It’s so interesting to see the JV squad improve and grow together over the course of the season. With a few new teams in the league and lots of turnover on the older ones, JV just might surprise a few of them.

Lindbergh: Now-senior and three-year captain Kevin Kneupfer continues to lead this team in 2007. These guys (and, occasionally, girls) play hard and with great Spirit, so they’re always a threat and always fun to compete against. They may have picked up a coach this year in local player Allen Moentmann, although I can’t confirm that he’s actually been involved. If so, the focus on strategy that he may provide might give Lindbergh the edge it needs to finally move up from the middle of the pack.

Kirkwood: Like Parkway Central, this team collapsed mid-season in 2006 due to inconsistent attendance at games. This year, the “Godfather of St. Louis Ultimate,” Buck Schnieder, is coaching the team. Still, there seems to be some question of whether or not they’ll be able to consistently field a team this year, since just getting their formalized roster ready in this week before league games start. If it happens, this team will actually be composed of players from three local schools (Kirkwood, Webster Groves, and Ladue) pulling the most interested and dedicated players from each of these schools (each of which has unsuccessfully tried to start a program in the past) may result in greatness.

Desmet JV: I have no idea what to expect from Pete’s JV team this year. Two years ago, the school’s JV team won a surprising amount of games in a league with mostly Varsity-only programs. I’m just glad that FHC’s JV will have a counterpart somewhere in the league. I hope that, as local programs grow, we might be able to move to a JV division . . . but with only two right now, we’re just not ready.

Announcement: High School Ultimate Highlight Reel Contest

Announcing the first annual High School ultimate Highlight Reel Contest.

The basics -

1. video of your team
2. compiled into a highlight reel
3. no less than 30 seconds long
4. no more than 3ish minutes (Changed from 2 mintues)
   
5. upload to youtube, google video, break.com, metacafe or your choice of hosted video
6. send us a link (playultimateblog@gmail.com)
1. include your name
2. address to send award/prize
3. teams featured in the film
4. tournaments etc
5. and any other relevant information
   
7. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in two categories - Editor's Selection and People's Choice
1. people's choice will be decided by a vote on the website

Deadline: all video links must be submitted by May 1st
(winners will be announced by May 8th - a week before Westerns)

Prizes: there will be prizes! (to be announced later - if you are an ultimate merchant and would be interested in sponsoring this competition email us at - playultimateblog@gmail.com)

So start up those video cameras, not to worry there will be some sweet prizes, but I wanted to announce this soon enough so everyone can get a head start working up some sweet videos. As soon as you are done send us a link.

This is a chance to showcase your team's ultimate skills, your creative talent, your league's prowess and more.

I'll continue to post reminders perhaps once every two weeks or so, but dont delay send in your submissions now!

(Prizes will be announced by April 28th)

PHUEL Spring Preview 2007

The snow is melting yet again, and the discs are beginning to fly in the Philadelphia area. Lower Merion just sent me their spring schedule, and it already has me excited. Their first game is next Monday, against Cardinal O'Hara, and they'll kick the season off well, I'm sure. (If any other teams lay claim to starting the season, I apologize; by all means, let us know, and please post your games on the score reporter!)

With the college season already in full swing (and Paideia making their noise there), high schools are soon to gear up as well. Pennsbury, one of Paideia's main obstacles at the Amherst Invitational and the Paideia Cup, will look to dominate PHUEL action this year, but some other teams would certainly like a say in the matter.

The Phall PHUEL tournament gave us a great chance to see the field without Pennsbury, though it was still missing some possible contenders such as North Penn. The Pterodactyls took out Cheltenham in the finals, 13-5.

Kit Kat was the chance Pennsbury had to shine, and they took full advantage, never letting anyone come close to them in dominating all day, including a 13-1 win over the winners of the aforementioned Phall PHUEL champion Pterodactyls.

Granted, Fall events don't mean anything on the field in the spring, but they give a good indication of how the field might shape up.

My idea of ranking the top dogs:

1) Pennsbury Peyote
An easy call. They only graduated one senior from last year, the dreadlocked wonder Franky Frank. They still retain an amazing core of handlers that can dominate all over the field, especially Noah Saul, Mark Dundala and Scotty Wright. With everyone healthy as well, something they could rarely say last year, they will be looking to play at a very high level, with a legitimate chance of winning both Amherst and Paideia's tournaments.

2) The Pterodactyls
Peyote's classmates, but rivals on the field, they proved themselves winning the Phall PHUEL tournament. They, too, graduated only one senior, Dave Hanyok who went to play for perennial Nationals contending Brown. Handler Kevin Taylor and deep threat Jinal "Weapon X" Patel will bring this team to play.

3) Cheltenham Spirit Animals
In years past, you could always pencil these guys in for a near-top spot, but a stellar graduating class of '05 made last year a rebuilding year. They took advantage of that year, however, and return most if not all of their top players from last year, should be a very sound team that will take work to put down, and want to put Cheltenham back on the map.

4) St. Joe's Prep Hand of God
Starring Joe Kruse and two of the brothers of the legendary McCabe family, St. Joe's was just outside the elite echelon of PHUEL last year. They return the aforementioned core of the team, hoping to make some noise and atone for a poor showing at Phall PHUEL.

5) Lower Merion Babaganouj
A team that graduated their entire A team, save its lone female, Andrea Bowring, to top schools including Brown, Carleton, and Wash U. Lower Merion was lucky enough to have a B-team that got plenty of experience last year, and features a few players ready to step up and take charge at a higher level, especially Justin Rubin and co-captains Harry Friedman (brother of last year's co-captain Gabe Friedman) and Adrian Galbriath-Paul. They, too, disappointed expectations at Phall PHUEL, and hope to live up to last year's impressive showing for a team in its first year. What will the second year bring?

Note that those 3-5 rankings are more of a nod to the Fall results than anything -- my alma mater LM could easily make some huge strides when playing for keeps with a real A team, and there's no reason St. Joe's shouldn't be far better than they were (and no reason they shouldn't report all their scores on the score reporter).

Also look out for:
North Penn: who missed out on the Fall season, but could very well make some noise this spring, after upsetting St. Joe's for the 5th place finish at Cities last spring.

Pennsbury B-Unit. Yes, _another_ Pennsbury team, but they comported themselves well at Fall Brawl this year, and since Peyote didn't lose anyone, they didn't need to take many players from B-Unit last year, so they're progressing nicely.

Cardinal O'Hara Waste of Life: If PHUEL made a true switch to a mixed division, Waste would have no trouble adjusting, as they can already field an entire girls line, and probably the best girls in the city.

Missing:
Wissahickon: Graduating a few top players to Pitt was too much for them, though we always see to say that and they always manage to surprise us; look out for Michael Plunkett, one of, if not the only, the few non-Pennsbury juniors on SEPDA last year.

CB East Nasty: Again, the top players go to Pitt and Cornell, and the team suffers. Carly Maconaghy will try to lead this team by example, as one of the premiere females in PHUEL.

The state tournament this year is already scheduled (May 12/13), and looks to be even better organized this year. Can anyone from PHUL stand up to the Peyote? Can PHUEL maintain their lockhold over both finals spots for another year? More questions and answers will come forth this spring.