International Focus - Australia WJUC team announced

The Australian teams for WJUC were announced on April 2nd, we apologize for the delay in posting here, but we figured it would still be interesting and relevant.

Anyone recognize these names? Hype?

Open Division Team (c/o AFDA website)
Piers Truter - Coach
Abra Garfield - Assistant Coach
Lisi Jarrott - Physiotherapist
Bruce McNaughton - Team Manager

John McNaughton - QLD - Co-Team captain
Daniel Rule - VIC - Co-Team captain
Liam Kendrick - NSW - Offence Captain
Luke Turner - NSW - Defence Captain

Matthew Bessen - NSW
Peter Blakeley - NSW
Ashley Button - TAS
Nick Dowle - NSW
Stephen Gangemi - NSW
Matthew Hill - VIC
Myall Hingee - ACT
Dave Jarrot - NSW
Stephen Johnston - VIC
Nick Kendrick - NSW
Lachlan McDonald - VIC
Tarrant Meehan - VIC
Brett Middleton - SA
Andrew Moroney - VIC
Tom Tullett - NSW
Philip White - NSW

Womens Division Team (c/o AFDA Website)
Nikki Shires - Coach
Matthew Faulkner - Assistant Coach
Lisi Jarrott - Physiotherapist
Bruce McNaughton - Team Manager

The players:
Alicia Bearman
Julia Birchall
Megan Carrarro
Tara Carrarro
Arwyn Cartledge
Liz Dodd
Amanda Eastwood
Angela Fehlner
Claire Gavin
Barbara Hough
Greta Hunt
Mel Jackson
Sam Miller
Sarah Pillar
Carol Seeto
Ellie Sparke
Lucy Stevenson

Hampton High school featured in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

very cool for Hampton and the Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League.

Read more at www.post-gazette.com/pg...

im not sure exactly how they went about garnering this coverage, but may i present this advice to anyone out there who is looking for some recognition for all the hard work they do for their respective team - press releases.

news organizations rely on press releases in a very big way to report the news.how is a newspaper supposed to know you are having a game, tournament or otherwise without you telling them? the news industry doesnt work through magic, nor esp, nor mindreading. and many many many times papers and magazines are looking for something new, fresh, interesting and exciting to print - and if you think like me, ultimate is all of those.

never written a press release before? fear not, they are extremely easy.

heres a little tutorial to get you started - http://www.stetson.edu/~rhansen/prguide.html

basically what you want to remember though is to make it sound as much like an actual news story as possible. you want to make the story appealing and easy to read, and make sure to include easily accesibly contact information.

writing a poor press release - with spelling or simple grammer mistakes can often have the opposite effect, turning an editor or reporter off to the idea of covering your event because it is so frustrating to read.

also, concrete things are always better. if you can hand your release over personally to someone in the office (or fax it) it is always better than sending an email which can easily be removed with the click of a button.

the more professional things look the better your chances.one final note - if you are interested in this type of stuff, start out small, no doubt you have a high school newspaper, talk to the guys on their staff, give them a press release, and then move up from there.

good luck, and if (when) you have any success feel free to email the site - playultimateblog@gmail.com to let us know and we can feature the news on the site.

Hip Hop on Pop 2006 - Pools released

Division I (Edgely)
Pool A             Pool B            
1 Pennsbury (PA)   1 Pterodactyls (PA)
2 Yorktown (VA)    2 Dublington (PA) 
3 Cheltenham (PA)  3 Columbia (NJ)   

Pool C             Pool D
1 Princeton (NJ)   1 Wissahickon (PA)
2 CB East (PA)     2 Council Rock South (PA)
3 Stuyvessant (NY) 3 Hampton (PA)

Division II (Edgely)
Pool E                  Pool F
1  St Joes Prep (PA)    1 Neshaminy (PA)
2 Cardinal O’Hara (PA)  2 Delaware Valley Friends (PA)
3 Yorktown B (VA)       3 Cheltenham B (PA)

Division III (Medford, NJ)
teams:
- Lower Merion
- JP Stevens High School
- Ridgewood
- Delaware Valley Friends School
- Lenape
- Pennsbury B
- Lower Merion-B
- Columbia HS B

POOLS COMING SOON

Well there ya have it, HipHop, one of the largest and most prestigious tournaments on the eastern seaboard kicks off this weekend. Featuring teams from 4 different states, it promises to be a rocking good time, and for most teams is the first big test of the season.

So lets have at it, opine.... (look for a tournament preview coming later in the week from our local contributors)

PHUEL All-Star second hand recap

being in Pittsburgh for school i must put this out there first - i was not at the game - however, c/o the one and only Mark Rosser (league coordinator for PHUEL) i can offer you the following details...

Quoth Rosser, "Saturday's "Diapers vs Depends" was postponed until Sunday ... due to wetness. Go figure."

Regarding the matter of who won between the regional masters powerhouse and the [editorializing here] cocky group of juniors upstarts... wellll...... sometimes age does matter? sometimes experience can factor in? sometimes big rick caaaan tear apart your zone? so for the record : SAG 2 PHUEL All-Stars 0

but the day is coming SAG (and for that matter all masters teams), so you had better keep on your collective "A" games

Anywho, because of the rain delay, some of the teams that would have sent all-stars could not because of scheduling, no matter, below is the list of the attending all-stars....

Blue Team
David Brandolph, Sam Herman, Andrea Bowring, Chris Vanni (Lower Merion)
Alex Bui, Nichole Smith (Upper Dublin)
Jason Pardini, Cate Romano, Chrissy Nevin (Cardinal O’Hara)
Todd Herman, Jordan Greenberg (Shipley)
Ethan Bookspan (DVFS)
Matt Lowenthal, Jason Kunsa (Haverford High)
Matt Bohacz (BC Tech)
Mike Plunkett (Wissahickon)

White Team
Josh Lipschultz, Cody Noll, Amanda McGrosky (William Tennent)
Art Shull, Carly Mocanaghy (CB East)
Greg Olson, Molly Rose (Abington)
David Rosenberg, Alex Posmontier (Cheltenham)
Noah Saul, Frank Harris, Mark Dundala, Jane Day (Pennsbury)
Christian Schweier (Perk Valley)
Dustin Fry (Souderton)
Jason Besecker, Jon Saft (Haverford School)

for the discussion of the populous - does your league have any sort of all-star game? or a game similar to the SAG matchup? what do you think of the prospect of selecting (or voting) all-state teams, similar to that of the all-region selections in college ulty?

Future of Juniors Mixed Division...

I'm curious what others out there are thinking in regards to the future of the juniors mixed division. It would seem to me that there is a general bias towards open/womens, and a mixed is often an after-thought or something done just for fun. I want to make it clear that I do not think mixed should be more important or even equal with open/womens, but simply that I think I see a trend in our country. Could this be because the most dominate schools in the country run open/womens programs nearly exclusively? And thus, as the role-models for those of us a few years behind, help push us to develop open/womens programs more than mixed? Can schools offer both? Is it possible to run a mixed program while also running an open/womens?

We at Churchill High School in Eugene, OR tried that for the first time last year. The fall was exclusively mixed, helped by the entire lack of HS open/womens tournaments and inability to get into preseason college tournaments. The spring then became an end to our mixed season with the Spring Reign tournament in early April. After that we went to open/womens practice to gear ourselves up for Westerns. Would we have been a better open team for Westerns if we would have practiced sooner? I think so, but cannot tell for sure. Would we have lost a few of our newer players who are now becoming some of our better players if we would have dropped the mixed program that allowed them more flexibility and playing time? Maybe, but I cannot tell for sure.

What has the experience of your teams been at your school? Do you run both mixed and open/womens programs, or just one? What is the logic or reason behind it? Has there been a change in the past few years that you've seen?

weekend tournament open thread (april 8/9 edition)

courtesy of score reporter...

2nd Annual East Invite in Colorado
Ridgefield Invitational in Connecticut
PHUEL All-Star game was this weekend i believe as well? Actually from what i hear there were TWO all-star games, one featuring the best players from around the league battling each other, and a second game between the top PHUEL players and the OLD SAG masters team. Dubbed the "Diapers vs. Depends" by PHUEL organizers, i believe it is the second annual game of its type.

speaking from experience last year - SAG rolled us 21 to 5 i believe? im pretty sure we didnt break double digits, and im pretty sure SAG didnt break a sweat. I'm interested to hear how it turned out this year.

im sure we will have recaps rolling in from our contributors very soon, but in the mean time consider this an open thread to talk about all things ultimate... from the last weekend.

More than 16 teams...

I don't want to be controversial or against the UPA, but I have to wonder about the current position being taken at Westerns and Easterns.

I'm not sure how many teams applied this year for either division at either Easterns or Westerns. But, it looks to be more than 16 at least in the open division for Westerns (two teams from Oregon applied and did not receive bids: Crescent Valley & Sheldon). This got me thinking... Why not open it up to more teams? Why not open it up to 20 or 32? Or who ever can make it? When does the growth of ultimate and number of teams interested in traveling to a national-level tournament, dictate the size and type of championship available? Is there value to limiting the number of teams who can attend? If so, what is that value? Does it raise the level of play? Maybe...
But, if the timing could be worked out, which I believe it could, when will it make sense to have a qualifying tournament before Westerns & Easterns (& eventually a Centrals)?

I've read what the UPA has had to say (click here for it), but would love to hear what others think about this?

Is it time to start thinking about having a sectional/regional qualifying tournament? If we are to consider Westerns and Easterns as the premiere Youth Tournament for Open & Womens teams, I believe we may be at that point...

WJUC Team USA: in depth bios coming soon...

in the coming weeks we will have an individual bio up for every player selected for the WJUC team, complete with pictures, physical stats (height, throwing hand etc), times for 40s (if we can get em), what colleges they are considering/committed too, and anything else you could ever dream to know about the team members (that they will share with us of course).

so keep it tuned here for all the latest in high school ultimate news, commentary and analysis.

[a brief side note - we are still looking for contributors from the following areas - Georgia, Tennessee, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington DC, Maryland, South Carolina, Minnesota, Virginia, and Maine - just shoot an email over to playultimateblog@gmail.com if you are interested.]

Junior National Teams - my thoughts

First of all, congratulations players, parents, coaches - of those chosen, of the alternates and of those not chosen this year. As an assistant coach, I saw both tryouts, mostly the girls, some of the boys. The level of play was extraordinary and the personalities were unique, interesting and fun. I was on the junior national team in 2000, back when you just sent in letters of recommendation, and let me tell you, juniors ultimate has come a long way since then. The boys' coaches had to turn players away from the tryouts because there were so many applications. The average length of ultimate career of these kids is about as long as i've been playing...now. Their resumes included middle school, high school, college, club, coaching - everything you could think of. These teams could win college nationals and could almost certainly make club nationals, at least out of the central region.

I'm particularly happy to be a part of this program as we are representing the country well geographically and from what i've seen, the attitude of these juniors is of pure sportsmanship, gratitude to their coaches and parents, and respect for their teammates and opponents. I look forward to seeing the improvements made over the next few months and then watching them pleasantly dismantle their opponents.

Fun facts about the team and the tryouts (for more check out http://www4.upa.org/juniors/2006nationalteam):

In general, the west coast tryouts were more athletic and made more dynamic plays (layouts, skies, etc.)
In general, the east coast tryouts were more skilled and made better choices (throws, cutting, etc.)
It was rainy and windy on the west coast, beautiful on the east coast

Fact - kids are fast. We had some sub 10 80s run on the girls' side and some very strong miles on the boys' side
Fact - kids are jacked. We had gals pulling out the back of the endzone...yikes!

At least three of these players are younger siblings of former national team competitors

If you're not on the team, you should really try to come watch the team play - they are the cream of the crop and the people who will be setting the ultimate trends for many years to come.
If you're on the team - get ready to bring it. Though it may feel weird to represent your country, remember that you are representing your country's ultimate community and i'm sure you can think of more than one person to play for when it's USA vs. everyone else.

Can't wait,
Miranda

Junior National Team - Boys

Chris Brenenborg
Ben Feldman
Christian Foster
Eli Friedman
Andrew Hollingworth
Oliver Honderd
Casey Ikeda
Sam Kanner
Alex Kapinos
Chris Kosednar
Taylor Lahey
Grant Lindsley
Adam Miller
Jeremy Norden
Stephen Panasci
Darden Pitts
George Stubbs
Matt Sung

Alternates:
Nathan Castine
Jonathan Hirschberger
Sam Kittross-Schnell
Noah Saul
Ryan Schwartz
Broderick Smith
Robin Stewart DeMartino
Paul Weeks

Junior National teams announced - Girls

USA Girls' Team:
Georgia Bosscher
Emily Damon
Brenna Hokanson
Drew Johnson
Hana Kawai
Patty King
Shannon McDowell
Emelie McKain
Fiona McKibben
Chelsea Murphy
Shannon O'Malley
Maisie Richards
Amber Sinicrope
Claire Suver
Molly Suver
Autumn Tocchi
Leila Tunnell
Samantha Valesano
Dory Ziperstein

Alternates:
Aubri Bishop
Hazel Crowley
Alison Douglas
Emma Fuller
Katie Shafer
Elizabeth Silverstein
Anna Snyder

Easterns & Westerns Announced!

Head on over to each tournaments website to see the teams who have made it:

Easterns: http://hs-easterns.upa.org/index.html

Westerns: http://hs-westerns.upa.org/index.html

Preview--St. Louis High School Ultimate League

After shuddering into motion last week (most of the games were rescheduled due to Spring Break conflicts), the St. Louis HS Ultimate League is up and running. Here's a brief rundown of the league's 12 teams.

Division 1

Clayton: A new team to the league, Clayton is a bit of an enigma. They fell 3-15 to FHC's Blue team (my team) during the first week, showing that they had much to learn about the game. Their offense was plagued with drops and flails, and their defense did little to challenge us. This week, however, they were apparently giving perennial powerhouse DeSmet more than they could handle when a serious injury ended the contest at 7-6. Clayton was losing, but just barely. I can't seem to make it out, but I hope that the injury can be overcome, and that Clayton is able to play at top form during the state tourney.

FHC Blue: As I said, this is my team, so excuse me if I'm partial. We worked hard recruiting in the offseason to bring in a higher level of athleticism and dedication, and show a great deal of (as yet) unrealized potential this year. We're faster, we have better throws, and we play harder every point, but we're still frustrated sometimes by lapses in the fundamental skills. As aforementioned, we began the season with a satisfying 3-15 rout at Clayton, and then turned around and fell 15-4 to a Parkway North that we should have done much better against. We were down 8-2 at the half, and then just proceeded to emotionally implode. We'll have to concretize our mental game if we want to realize our potential this year . . .

Parkway North: Fresh of their rookie appearance during SLUA's Fall League, in which they won the whole darn thing, Parkway North is a force to be reckoned with. Also new to the league, this team brings a hyped-up competitive spirit and some VERY talented handlers to the league. Their coach, Doug Parrish, is a very talented and experienced player himself. If I recall, I think he coaches Washington University's Contrabears, as well. They run all out, all game, and should give more established teams a serious challenge this year.

CBC: Didn't win a single game last year, and ended up collapsing during the final weeks of the season and forfeiting its last two games, CBC is back for another attempt this year. They scored 8 points in a loss to Lindbergh in their first game of the season, which is, if I recall, more than they scored in any contest last year. Looks like another "building year" for CBC.

Lindbergh: One of my picks for the most fun team in the league, Lindbergh experienced some serious turnover during the offseason, losing much of its team to graduation, but Double K worked hard and assembled another rag-tag group of novice flatballers for this season's league. They opened the season with a 15-8 win against CBC, but as I said, I don't know much about either team this year. FHC Blue faces them this week . . .

DeSmet: #3 in the state last year, DeSmet always brings a sea of maroon jerseys to the state tournament. In last year's league, though, they were split into two teams. This year, however, coach Pete Lenzini kept the team together for league play, so DeSmet boasts a deep sideline--25 strong. It's an established program with a knowledgable coach and many players who remain active all year long, improving their games relentlessly. Their early score against Clayton would seem to suggest a weakness this year, but only time will tell . . .

Division 2

Jeromans (Priory): Hasn't played a game yet due to forfeits. I know only one thing about this year's team: their captain is a boastful little Scrappy-doo. He's been all over local message boards and mailing lists, talking smack about the scrimmage games that Priory has had. They can obviously talk the talk, but can they walk the walk?

FHC Silver: Francis Howell Central's b-team is comprised of underclassman nubies who are just learning the game. My wife agreed to coach the team, and thus FHC Silver was born. Hopefully, the extra field time and touches this year will translate into further developed players next year. The 2-team structure is a very exciting development for FHC's sophomore program. I'm quite curious to see if it yields the expected benefits in years to come. They dropped a tough 0-15 loss to an Senior-heavy Marquette in their season opener yesterday, but they should have a few chances to add a W to the record before the season ends.

Marquette: This is, apparently, a team to watch. New to the league, Marquette was born of a core group of kids who played in SLUA's Fall League. Their coach, Jack Curran, is a very knowledgeable and experienced player who's played in 100's of tournaments at the club open and masters levels. The team is comprised mainly of seniors, and they're extraordinarly tall , fast, and hungry. They've been practicing five days a week since January! I didn't get a chance to see yesterday's game myself; they finished of FHC Silver in just over 30 minutes! I'll be excited to see this new seedling match up against SLUH and DeSmet this year. If these early contests are any indication, they might even have a shot at unseating Rockhurst at State.

Parkway Central: Another team that hasn't managed to play a game yet this season. They placed 3rd in the league last year, I think--but who knows where they stand this year. A dark horse indeed . . .

Kirkwood: Another of my votes for most Spirited team, Kirkwood finds itself under new management this year, after Senior Jon Hinderliter abandoned the team to join the corporate masses (work program). They haven't even turned in their paperwork yet, and so have played no games. May not be able to get it together this year.

SLUH: #2 in the state last year, SLUH has lost an early scrimmage vs. Marquette and scored only 8 points, if I remember correctly. They have a habit of showing up shorthanded, even savage, and still wiping the floor with their opponents. In last year's state tourney, they took on DeSmet's maroon tide with only 8 or 9 players and eeked out a 14-15 nail-biter after the time-cap. It was possibly the most exciting game I've ever witnessed, with players displaying more late-game grit than I've ever seen. Despite the scrimmage loss to upstart Marquette, no one in the league, or the state, should sleep on SLUH. Oh, and they're now playing all of their home games in their new football stadium--artificial turf. Home field advantage, maybe?

My pick for league champion is Marquette, but I don't see any St. Louis team challenging lonely Kansas City powerhouse Rockhurst for the state title this year. Give us another year to build, to grow, and perhaps we can bring our game to that level. Still, I could be wrong--wouldn't be the first time. The STL boasts a very energetic and active HS scene. Anything could happen. Anything's possible. As proof, think George Mason. Huh? Huh? Yeah . . . it could happen . . .

2006 Seattle Spring Reign Coed Youth Tourney Results.

2006 Seattle Spring Reign Coed Youth Tourney Results.

58 Elementary, Middle School, and High School Teams in 7 Divisions @ Skagit River Park in Burlington, WA

Weather: Saturday – Rainy the whole time. Windy a good deal of the time.
Sunday- No rain and less wind than Saturday though gusty on occasion.

Full Results:
High School: http://www3.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=121&id=2296
9th Grade: http://www2.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=121&id=2298
Middle School (and some elementary schools): http://www4.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=121&id=2297

Championship Games:
High School A: Kitsilano (Vancouver, BC) 13 def. Northwest School Coed A (Seattle) 7
High School B: Rick Hanse (Abbottsford, BC) 13 def Garfield (Seattle) 5
9th Grade: Northwest School 9th def Lakeside (Seattle)
Middle School A: Northwest School 8th A def Eckstein (Seattle)
Middle School B: Billings MS A (Seattle) def Seattle Academy A
Middle School C: Bailey Gatzert Elementary (Seattle) def Charles Wright C (Tacoma, WA)

Spirit of the Game Awards:
HS A – University Prep (Seattle)HS B – Nova Alternative (Seattle)9th –Island Pacific School (BC)MS A –Seattle Country Day SchoolMS B –University PrepMS C – Island Pacific School

Special thanks to DiscNW for sponsoring the tournament, William “Bunny” Bartram who stepped in to be TD at the last second, Mary Lowry, Jeff Jorgenson, the SCDS parents who served food for two days, as well as all the volunteers who helped put on the tournament. And of course thanks go out to all the players, families, and coaches who made it a great event.

april 1/2 weekend tournament open thread

looking at the score reporter there were a few tournaments this weekend -

most notably -
Alameda Ultimate Festival - won by Alameda over Castro Valley on universe point
Spring Reign
and Penn Park Potluck - won by Wissahickon

consider this an open thread to talk about those or any tournaments or games this past weekend, until the real recaps and rundowns from the games start to pour in from our local contributors.

(or if you would rather look ahead - Hip Hop on Pop is coming up really soon as is the Madison Mud bath)

chat away!