And the incoming class is....

Coming in just a few minutes....

tell your friends to come online now. Feel free to spread speculation in the comments, will traditional ultimate powerhouses pick up more recruits? Is it all big schools and no love for the small liberal arts?

Tune in in the hours after the list is released for the best in high school ultimate news and commentary, and then in the weeks and months ahead comprehensive coverage of YCCs and the rest of the summer competition.



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[Site Updates] PlayUltimate on Twitter

PlayUltimate is on Twitter! Follow us @PlayUlt

The site updates the Twitter feed automatically, so if you want to make sure you know exactly when we post the 2009 NCUSD List hit follow now!



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Last chance to NCUSD 2009 - Sign up now!

The list will be saved tomorrow morning then published at 5pm tomorrow night, if you still want to get on the list you had better submit your info quick.

Sign up for the facebook event and come out tomorrow to see what schools are picking up the top recruits in the country.

See you tomorrow.



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National College Ultimate Signing Day 2009 - You want to be on this list.

Only a few hours left...

The 2009 National championships just wrapped up, with Carleton taking the prize 15-11 over Colorado on the open side and UCSB winning over University of Washington on the ladies end.

Now you can start looking forward to next season!!

A brief preview of the list: the following nationals qualifying schools have players signing on Wednesday...

• Carleton
• Pittsburgh
• Colorado
• Virginia
• Illinois
• Stanford
• Tufts
  

... to name a few. If you haven't signed up yet, DO IT RIGHT NOW, and forward the message to your friends and other leagues you might know.

Remember to tune in, and tell your friends to tune in on Wednesday at 5pm to see the list released.



Some Background:

For the past three years (2008, 2007, 2006) PlayUltimate has compiled a list of high school seniors and their college choices. It has grown into the National College Ultimate Signing Day. Now everyone will be able to see which colleges have the best recruiting classes and maybe even begin to look into the crystal ball a bit.

This year we will announce the list on Wednesday, May 27th, at 5 p.m. so the deadline to submit college choices will be May 26th. The form is a little bit more detailed and in depth, but it will provide a very interesting picture of the coming college season.

Please forward the link to friends, fellow teammates, your league message boards etc. Post it on facebook (link below every post) or MySpace or whatever you use.

I know many (most, if not all) have not finished applying for school at this point, let alone heard back or picked one. But we want to get an early start this year and have a very comprehensive list.

So, without further ado, you can start submitting information here.

If you have any suggestions on other information we should gather leave it in the comments.

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Throwback Post: Role models for young players?

Originally posted a tad over 3 years ago, wonder if anything's changed?

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Role Models for "Young" Players

So this issue has bugged me for a little bit, and since it is the "off-season" for most high school ultimate players, i figured i would bring it up.

first off a little exercise...

1. name five nba players
2. name five nfl players
3. name your top 5 sports role models from any sport

not too hard eh? ok now try this -

name five upa club players
name your top five ultimate role models

for most high school players, this is where the difficulty comes in. as a sport, we dont have, at least as far as i can see, those players that are universal. everyone that plays basketball has heard of michael jordan. everyone that plays soccer has heard of pele, for cycling - lance, etc.

as a sport i think this is something perhaps we are lacking. we have the local role models, the coaches, the alumni of your teams, perhaps local college players you've seen play, etc. but what we lack is the nearly idolized distant role model. the one you watch from afar, perhaps send for an autograph.

so - to the point of this long rambling post. if you disagree with me, who are the universal role models for ultimate? (name names) and if not, have you seen any players (lets keep it in club, which is undeniably the closest thing to pro for ultimate right now) who are worthy of such acolades?

i wanna hear names here. and if you cant answer either of the above questions, how about this one - do you think ultimate needs or wants a michael jordan?

Maybe even more interesting from that post was the discussion it engendered in the comments. - Check it out for yourself.


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2009 National Ultimate Signing Day: Only 8 DAYS LEFT!!!

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

If you are reading this please forward the message to your entire team and league. We are on pace to break the record of 119 students from 45 high schools announcing their intent. Please help us get the word out! We have only 8 days left!

For the past three years (2008, 2007, 2006) PlayUltimate has compiled a list of high school seniors and their college choices. It has grown into the National College Ultimate Signing Day. Now everyone will be able to see which colleges have the best recruiting classes and maybe even begin to look into the crystal ball a bit.

This year we will announce the list on Wednesday, May 27th, at 5 p.m. so the deadline to submit college choices will be May 26th. The form is a little bit more detailed and in depth, but it will provide a very interesting picture of the coming college season.

Please forward the link to friends, fellow teammates, your league message boards etc. Post it on facebook (link below every post) or MySpace or whatever you use.

I know many (most, if not all) have not finished applying for school at this point, let alone heard back or picked one. But we want to get an early start this year and have a very comprehensive list.

So, without further ado, you can start submitting information here.

If you have any suggestions on other information we should gather leave it in the comments.

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Open Thread: Westerns and State Champs

Thoughts on this weekend's state championship tournaments? Westerns? Easterns?

A rundown of the state championship winners...

• Maryland Mixed: Magruder 13-10 over Paint Branch
• Maryland Open: Urbana 15-2 over Mt. Hebron
• Ohio Open: Holy Family Catholic 14-10 over St. Xavier
• Virginia Open: LC Bird 14-12 over HB Woodlawn
• Virginia Girls': Woodlawn 12-6 over LC Bird

Other tournies this weekend:

• PHUEL Girls' Championship: Lower Merion 13-6 over Haverford (PlayUltimate writeup)
• St. Johnsbury Invite - Girls: Longmeadow 15-7 over SJA
• St. J Invite - NEPSUL: Hotchkiss 13-12 over Philips
• St. J Invite - Open: Watchung Hills 15-8 over Amherst JV
• Thrillito: Apple Valley High School 8-7 over Como Park

Anything on your mind? Have a recap? A link to some video or pictures?

Throw it in the comments, let's get some discussion burnin.




Psst - only 9 days left until 2009 National Ultimate College Signing Day


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Westerns: We have winners: Nathan Hale (Girls) and Hopkins (Boys)

Hopkins took the open crown 15-9 over South Eugene

Nathan Hale over Northwest 12-11 on the girls side.

Congrats to all, if you were there let's hear some color commentary in the comments...



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Westerns: finals happening now

On the open side its a pool B final with South Eugene facing off against Hopkins - Hopkins is up 11-8 right now.

For the girls' : the top seeds are battling now with Nathan Hale up 7-3 on The Northwest School.


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PHUEL Girls Championship Writeup

Girls high school ultimate is still growing in the Philadelphia area, but this year they had a city championship of their own, with all four teams playing at Edgely Field this Saturday, opening straight into the semifinals.

Top seeded Lower Merion met Radnor on one field. Radnor is in their first year of existence, and I can attest that over the course of this year, they have significantly improved. They've gone from bagels to fighting for every point, and hopefully Lindi Sabloff can continue their rise. However, they were no match for LM's Lady Babaganouj today, with a callahan on the first point by LM's Hannah Garfield starting the scoring -- a couple early points went long and were hard fought, but LM came up with them and never let up.

On the other field, defending champion Cardinal O'Hara had their hands full with Haverford High. Both schools had their proms last night, and multiple members of both teams were either missing or not at 100%. Despite this, the action was intense, but HUDA seemed to come up with every swilly throw from either team, and managed to cut way down on the turnovers, and took at 7-5 halftime lead. O'Hara fought back to tie it up at 9-9 and force a universe point, but HUDA fought through and scored a large upset over O'Hara to earn their spot in the finals.

The finals would then pit two Central League foes, LM and Haverford, in their fourth matchup of the season, with at least one more to follow under the lights at a nice little event hosted by Haverford this Thursday (featuring both school's JV, boys, and girls teams), and certainly allowing for the possibility of tangling once more at states next weekend.

But no other games, past or future, mattered today. Both teams came out fired up, and Haverford's energy from their previous win certainly poured onto the field. Impressive cuts by Natalie Nunez and impressive catches all around kept the teams close early, but a mid-game run by Lower Merion was able to put Haverford away, highlighted near the end by a beautiful 70-yard huck from Emily Eisner, followed up by a deep cut of her own to seal the game winning point, giving Lower Merion's Lady Babaganouj their first ever PHUEL City Championship, and putting them in a strong position to make a run for the state title next week.

Full results here:
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=33&id=6462

Westerns: Upsets in pools play

The action has just gotten started in Blaine, but already there has been an upset Minneapolis South over Lakeside 10-9 in the second round of play. There is a point by point recap of that game on Twitter c/o NextLevelUltimate

As mentioned in a previous post you can watch for live updates from the field from these three links...

• http://twitter.com/NextLevelUlti
  
• http://twitter.com/hotlou
• http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23upawesterns

On the girls' side pool B has been a little crazy - Cathedral pulled an upset over Seattle Academy and Alameda, but Alameda upset Cretin-Derham.

In pool A Hopkins upset South HS 8-7, Lakeside upsets Lakewood, and Lakewood upset Hopkins. Oi vey, so so far only the Northwest School has kept their seed in pool A.

If you have score updates or more info, post it here. Or if you see something particularly interesting from the Twitter accounts.

Side note: no scores in yet from any of the state championships this weekend, we'll update when we have something.

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UPA Westerns on Twitter

Catch the latest UPA Westerns tweets:

• http://twitter.com/NextLevelUlti
  
• http://twitter.com/hotlou
• http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23upawesterns

Please also note that these updates are not a UPA endeavor. If you would like for the UPA to make live score reporting at championship events a priority, please let them know it is important to you by calling 800-872-4384 and asking to speak with Will Deaver or emailing will@hq.upa.org. You can also contact the entire board of directors: upa_board@upa.org

The UPA Score Reporter for Westerns

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Open Thread: we're not dead yet!

Sorry for the lack of updates here. I (Matt) was in my last semester of college (at Pitt) taking 25 credits, playing for Pitt B, internships etc yada yada.

But! I should have a little bit more time now to post here. Granted some of the action might be over - congrats to the Easterns winners - but Westerns are coming up this weekend as well as a slew of state championships.

A reminder though - if you are looking for more ultimate content - PlayUltimate.us (http://playultimate.us) ALWAYS has the latest content from everywhere on the web - blogs, newspaper articles, RSD posts - whatever. It's all there, and if it isn't there you can add it. So check that out if you get bored here. (Also there are anonymous comments, which as i remember were quite popular at one point.

So stay tuned here for more updates, tell your friends about the site and play ultimate.

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HS Easterns: Congrats to Pennsbury

On the open side, Pennsbury upset Amherst 15-11 in the final. But, the upset of the tournament was North Hills (seeded 10) who ended up tied for 3rd. On the girls side, Paideia (seeded 1) followed through and took the tournament over Amherst 13-7. 

OPEN FINAL: Their tournament play gave Amherst the edge, but they were surprised early with two scores from Pennsbury. Pennsbury’s early success with the huck pulled Amherst out of their usual, controlled game and into a long-throw contest they couldn’t win. Senior Misha Herscu was Amherst’s MVP with a series of standout plays in all parts of the field, while teammate Spencer Diamond ran a game-long clinic on how to read a disc. Several Pennsbury players earned mentions for extra effort—#69, Mike Auld, picked a high disc out of the sky and got the assist (two, if you count the do-over) to #2, Zach Kauffman, for a score. Dennison Bechis chased down a long huck to score at 13-10 and Isaac Saul tipped an Amherst dump to get a D on the goal line. High spirits from both teams made for a nail-biting final.

GIRLS FINAL: Amherst’s Hannah Yee set the game rolling with a strong layout D against Paideia. The game was fast and energetic and each team gave its all. Players were laying out and jumping all over the field. Amherst pulled an unexpected zone on Paideia to force a turn over and a score, but Paideia came right back ready to work the cup slowly up the field. Amherst’s Keri Lambert was a strong member of the cup who did not easily give up. Her efforts where met by her teammate Claudia Tajima who made several D’s and played aggressively on offense. Paideia worked the cup and moved effortlessly up the field, including several connections between Sophie Darch and Lane Seidor. Although both teams played hard, in the end Sophie Darch was able to connect with Rachel Kessler in the end zone for a final of 13-7.

PHOTOS HERE.

An announcement from the Director of Next Level Ultimate:

We are excited to announce that Next Level Ultimate will be putting on
its first annual summer camp in Madison, WI, from July 25-30. During
this 5 day overnight session, High School players from across the
country will have the chance to advance their skills, refine their
game, and get tips for success from some of the most accomplished
ultimate players in the country.

The instructors at Next Level Ultimate Camp are dedicated to
developing camper's athletic ability, confidence, skill base, and team
concept through the same drills and focused scrimmages used by top
university and club level players. Emphasis will be placed on
instilling in each camper the balance of team work and self-reliance,
fun and competition found in the most successful ultimate players and
teams.

Our Counselors*:

Ron Kubalanza : Seattle Sockeye
Hector Valdivia : Minnesota SubZero
Sam Harkness : Seattle Sockeye
Dan Miller : Minnesota SubZero

*More to be announced soon!

For more information on the camp check out our website at:
http://www.nextlevelultimate.com

Please feel free to email us with any questions. We look forward to
seeing you in July!

Matt "Skip" Sewell
Next Level Director
info@nextlevelultimate.com

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