HS Players Playing in the Club Series

Much like the previous post, this one is about the Club Series that is already in full swing. Many locations have already had their sectional level tournaments...

Unfortunately, many HS teams are not able to get themselves up and running before the Club Series starts. All the HS teams in Oregon have only just started practicing this last week with their first week of school.

But, there are a few HS teams who have players with connections in the Club level. I'm curious how many schools have sent players into the Club Series with either an Open, Womens, or Mixed team?

Add your school and players in the comments section.

Fall Season West Coast Tournaments... (updated)

There are currently three tournaments this fall season on the West Coast that have either exclusive HS only teams or HS Divisions

10.28/29 - Cold Fusion
Tournament website
Description: Started around 5 years ago by Sheldon HS when it was the only Eugene HS team, Cold Fusion continues to be a location where teams from as far away as the California Bay area and northern Seattle meet for some great mixed ultimate. Last year had 16 teams with 2 Middle School teams. This year there is a call for more MS teams.
Location: Eugene, OR (Ascot Fields)
Cost: $175
Bid deadline: Around October 10th with deposit of $100
Contact: Jeremy Washburn - washburn_jeremy(at)hotmail.com


10.28/29 - UC Davis Junior Invite
Description: On behalf of the UC Davis team, we'd like to invite any juniors teams around the area to a Juniors tournament in Davis this October the same weekend as Cold Fusion. We can hold 16 teams, max, on our field. We have not decided Mixed or Open at this point in time.
Location: Davis, CA
Cost: $150-175
Bid Deadline: The bid window will close on Oct. 1st.
Contact: Taylor Lahey, x-CVHS Red Hand Captain and now UC Davis Freshman (email coming)


11.10/11/12 - TBO: TurkeyBowl 3
Tournament website
Description: Happening for the 3 year in a row, Turkeybowl will continue to be the premiere tourney for newer teams looking for a first experience. New this year will be the three day format and inclusion of a Varsity/A division. Churchill and South Eugene HS will be the tournament hosts. Housing will be provided for all teams who get on the ball early. The format will be extremely cool and suggestions are already being made in the comments section of this post.
Update: The UofO might be hosting their OFUDG tournament with us, meaning that HS and College teams will be together. It also means that HS Open & Girls teams will be able to enter into this tournament and play College teams. It also means that we might have 60+ teams if both OFUDG and TBO are in the same place!
Location: somewhere close to a Latitude of 44.1105 and Longitude of -123.2117. This will be different from where it has usually been (Churchill HS) as we will need to accomodate 32+ teams.
Bid: $0 if you are outside OR/CA/WA (otherwise it is $200/team)
Contact: Luke Johnson - luke(at)chsultimate.com

HS Teams Attending Club Series?

Ben, from CHS, posted a comment in the Eastern Tournament section that I think is pretty interesting. How many HS teams are attending this year's Club Series?

If your team is attending Club Sectionals, please list what division and how well you expect to do.

BREAKING: CSTV Releases entire 2006 UPA Champs online

CSTV has just released not only the finals of the 2006 UPA College Championships online, but also footage from the Open and womens Semis, and Quarterfinals, as well as Pre-Quarters!!!

While only the finals and a highlight show were aired on CSTV's cable station this coverage blows
away previous years' in terms of volume.

More expansive analysis after i have time to watch all of them? Definitely.

Check out all the videos here. Comments welcome - does this symbolize a more expansive future of coverage in the future from CSTV? Thoughts?

Upcoming East Coast Tournaments...

There are a few major east coast tournaments coming up, for your discussing pleasure...

9/16-17 - Founders Club Sectionals
Description: while not an exclusive high school tournament club sectionals is attracting the more seriously competitive teams in the Philadelphia areas. Look for Pennsbury, Cheltenham, and Columbia HS to start off their seasons with a leg up on the rest of their leagues because of strong preseason schedules.
Bid Deadline: already passed

10/1 - 11th Annual Kat in the Hat
Tournament website
Description: one of the oldest high school tournaments around, definitely one you want to get to if you can. Teams tend to come from the Philly area as that is where it is held but every year it seems teams come up from Virginia, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey to compete in one of the premier tournaments on the east coast.
Location: Brandywine Polo Fields
Cost: $100
Bid deadline: asap, this tournament always fills up - every single year, if you want to play you had better send in your bid quick

10/21-22 - Fall Brawl
Tournament website
Description: Hosted by Noah Saul and the Pennsbury Peyote this tournament promises to attract the better competition in the immediate area as well as more distant teams. One of the key factors in hosting an elite tournament is that the host team is itself solid competition - Pennsbury's performance at PA States and Easterns this past year leaves no doubt about that, now it just remains to be seen who will attempt to take Peyote down on their home turf. Needham from Mass. has already signed up, and one can expect Wissahickon and other Philly powerhouses to make appearances.
Location: Mercer County Park - Trenton, NJ
Cost: Varsity Div - $200, JV - $125
Bid Deadline: 10/6

early predictions? is your team planning on attending? lets hear it people...

Coming soon to PlayUltimate...

- Announcement of 2006-2007 PlayUltimate Contributors
- Fall tournament preview
- Guest blogging from selective tournament directors
- Podcasts?

and much much more.

Interested in contributing for the site? Send an email to PlayUltimateBlog@gmail.com with your name, location, why you think you should be able to contribute and anything else that would help you get the job, and we'll get back to you.

Specifically we are looking for contributors in the Minnesota, Georgia, Colorado, Iowa, New York and New Jersey markets, but please send an email even if you are interested and from another area.

Have suggestions for content? Features on the site? Any suggestions at all? Anything and everything is welcome, post a comment or send an email to the site.

Look for all that stuff coming in the next few weeks and of course stay tuned here for everything and anything regarding high school ultimate.

On Subbing . . .

I mentioned this in a comment on Luke's "Priorities" post. Last year, I really thought that our team had reached a kind of "critical mass" of talent, and so I decided that it was time for us to play like the big boys and girls. Accordingly, I created an O- and D-line.

What a disaster.

(This recalled a thought I've often had, about exactly how youth ultimate differs from the adult game--a topic for another post, perhaps)

But it got me thinking, really thinking, trying to break outside the box and come up with a good subbing "philosophy." Naturally, this idle pondering produced nothing of lasting value.

So, how 'bout it? What do your teams do? What have you seen out there as far as subbing goes? HOW do you sub? And why?

2006/2007 Potential Powerhouses

An interesting questions was posted in the comment section of the "priorities" article:

Just out of curiosity, what juniors teams that didn't have a great spring season last year are potential powerhouses for the fall?

Please leave your team's potential in the comments section...

Priorities...

About a month ago I posted this question, but due to the YCC & WJC, it didn't really get noticed... So, let me post this once again.

What priorities do you have for this coming fall season? Whether you're a player, parent, or coach, I've created my own list of things that might be going through your mind...

If you want to see what i've listed...

Priorities:
1) For many of you, you'll be having new coaches, captains, core groups, parent teams, or some other derivation of leadership. There may have been a number of seniors who graduated last year and now the question is who will be stepping up from the underclassmen. Maybe you've had a bad experience with your team's leadership and you're wondering what problems will continue to remain and what things will finally be fixed. The leadership and direction of the team will be a priority for you as they are what makes playing ultimate fun or not.
This was one of our top priorities as

2) Many of you are eager to start using the skill sets you've developed over the summer. Maybe something you've learned at one of the many ultimate camps across the country or from the numerous throwing sessions with Nord, Roth, or some east-coat elite. For you maybe the priority is the new plays your team will be developing or how practice will run to teach those things. Your priorities will be how your team will develop the new skill sets and fundamentals.

3) Others of you get most excited about the new players and friends you'll be making. What 8th graders from last year are coming up (or 6th graders if you have a middle school team)? Who will be the stand outs and be competing for the top spots? How big will the team be this year? Will you have an A & B team or maybe even a C team for the first time. For you the team dynamic is the priority and you're wondering what preseason BBQ, pool party, or other such event will be starting things off right and who will be on the field with you this year laughing and throwing the disc...

4) Others of you on a new team or first-year team are wondering what name you'll be going by, what your logo will look like, and what gear you will be wearing. Questions on whether you'll be using Patagonia, VC or Gaia are on your mind. For you the priority may seem like what you look like, but we all know that this too is about the team and being part of something unique at your school.

5) And even others, and I may venture a guess here and say most of you, are wondering what traveling will be done. For many of you on teams that are newer or first-time, maybe you've never traveled to a tournament or event. But, for the vast majority of you who have, it has been the traveling part of ultimate that has been one of the deciding factors in you playing this amazing sport. For you the priority this fall will be what tournaments, how many, and how far away is the team going to travel this fall and spring season.


What other priorities do you have as you begin to think and dream about ultimate this coming fall? I've thrown out a couple, but I'm sure that there are more priorities out there to you players, parents, coaches, and others.

If you choose to add a comment, please indicate if you're a player, parent, coach (or something else)...

WJUC 2006: Reflections

Another chapter closes in the history of the World Juniors Ultimate Championship and two winners are crowned - USA takes home the gold for the second year in a row in open as the USA women also took first place in a repeat of the 2004 finals with Canada.

Most players im assuming have made their trips home at this point so anyone wanna share some thoughts or reflections? Does it seem to you as if USA will continue to seperate itself from the rest of the pack in coming years, barring unforseen levels of expansion in high school leagues in other countries?

The tournament itself got some very positive press coverage nationwide - in The Denver Post, the Sentinel - (Article 1, Article 2), and the Lowell Sun among others im sure, if you saw any coverage post a link, as im sure people would be interested.

Other media from the tournament:
WJUC Site: Official Photos
Brian Cook Photos
Scoreomatic Results
Kevin Draper (coming soon?)
UltiVillage (more clips of the day coming soon?)

thoughts or comments?

WJUC 2006: Final day

Final day of WJUC:

USA vs Canada in the finals

In open its Colombia vs. Australia for third place, in girls its Finland vs. Australia.

Live scores from Scoreomatic, but if you hear anything before they do feel free to post a comment.

WJUC 2006: Final day preview - USA vs. Canada

Both USA and Canada took their semifinals fairly easily in both division setting up the final day of competition tomorrow with the battle of the 49th parallel, rumor has it the teams have wagered Montana and Saskatchewan respectively.

My preview/predictions will come as no surprise it will be USA grabbing the gold. The boys from up north might be able to give USA somewhat of a game, but the red white and blue crew will prevail as a result of their deep bench.

The first matchup between the two open teams went 17-7 in favor of the electoral college and apple pie and i dont see the final being much different. (The girls' went 17-8, interestingly enough)

Live scores will be posted on Scoreomatic. Comments and contrary predictions welcome.

WJUC 2006: Day 4

Day 4 begins with the last round of pool play looking into the brackets. USA looks poised to capturing both titles with Canada looking at a distant second place.

Whats left of competition -
Open first round today...
USA 6 Australia 0 (first half)
Canada vs. Great Britian
Sweden vs. Israel
Finland vs. Colombia

If everyone holds seed this sets up the following semifinal today at 1:30pm
USA vs. Colombia
Canada vs. Australia


The girls will be starting semifinal play today at 10:30am with the following matchups...

USA vs. Finland
Canada vs. Australia

Look for USA to take both of those semifinals relatively easily, the dogfight in both will be between Canada and the Aussies. If there were an upset id wager it to be on the guys' side of things, but as of right now its looking like a North American world championship is in order.

Other links and media from the past few days
UV Clip of the Day: USA vs. Sweden
UV Clip of the Day: Canada vs. Colombia
Kevin Draper: WJUC Wednesday (w/ pics)
WJUC: Wednesday Writeups, Thursday preview
WJUC: Photos
Brian Cook: Wednesday photos

WJUC 2006: Day 3

Day three commences, first round of play is over -

Open...
Canada 17 Finland 7
USA 17 Israel 0
Sweden 12 Australia 15 - (Tied at 10s before the Aussies took control)
Great Britian 5 Colombia 16

Round 2, set to begin at 2:15pm, buts USA vs. Sweden, Canada vs. Colombia and Australia vs. Israel. Im seeing USA, Canada and Australia come out of those on top, but Colombia might have something of a surprise stored up, ya never know. Showcase game is at 3pm with Finland vs. Great Britian which should be a tight game.

Ladies...
Canada 8 USA 17
Finland 11 Australia 13

Round 2 pits Finland vs. USA, and Canada vs. Australia - USA and Canada both won these matchups earlier in the week, it will be interesting to see which opposing teams [if either] can cut the goal differential, thus far USA has outscored their opponents 82-22