Despite the windy, wet, and muddy conditions, this tournament started out considerably better than last season. When compared to Chicago Invite 2010 and Philly Classic 2010, MWTD was Florida and the others were Alaska. We came out ready and pumped up to play some outdoor ultimate.
On Saturday, SOL was placed in Pool B so we got to see Iowa’s Saucy Nancy, Northwestern’s GungHo, and St. Louis’ SLU.
GungHo was our first game. It took a while for our team to get into the swing of things, but once we did, we adjusted to the wind and got some really good plays in there. GungHo is a decent team. They had a good fast game with their movement between handlers and cutters. A lot of zone was played which was predictable for the weather conditions. It gave our team a chance to apply the zone strategies we’ve been practicing. Our newer players got to see how useful zone can be outdoors (our indoor practices don’t give that realistic look as there is no wind).
For our second game, we got to play against our friend Robyn Fennig and Saucy Nancy. This team has significantly improved since last year and is definitely a contender for a central regionals victory. There were times when you could tell they are still learning, but their victory said it all. SOL played well during this game. We had some sick plays against the force that is Robyn and our team got to see another view of a team we’ll play at regionals.
Our third and final game was against SLU. SOL saw it’s first victory against them. These ladies put up a good fight and some of the game was call and answer as upwind and downwind advantages were exchanged. Despite our wet frozen feet SOL played a good game and won. It was a good finish to our day followed up by a delicious meal at an authentic Mexican restaurant and a visit to the St. Louis Arch.
Day 2:
The sun came out for SOL on Sunday. Teams we got to see were Ohio State’s Fever, Iowa’s Luther College, and the Kansas Bettys. During our games against Ohio State and Luther, we had some really good standout plays from newbies and vets alike. Our team was in much higher spirits and started playing with more funtensity than we had in a while! We saw the difference when playing just intense than when enjoying the game and playing intense. Our team’s flow started coming together a lot more and we finished both games with a score, leaving us happy and satisfied with our playing. Our last game of the day was against our lovely Betty friends. We took advantage of our improvements and applied them throughout this game. SOL was also able to apply much of our new drills and techniques we’ve learned in practice this winter.
All in all, it was a great weekend. Our team will continue to get better and grow throughout this spring. The scores don’t show it but play-wise, we WILL bring it as the season moves along. By regionals, our goal is to utilize everything we learn at MWTD, Easterns, and Centex to bring it for a chance to see nationals. Our team may be newer but anything can happen this season and everyone on SOL fully believes that.
Personally I enjoyed this tournament a lot. I was super pumped to get out there and play. My personal development has improved significantly and I can’t wait to continue developing. My field vision and defense is there, I just need to play smarter and see the bigger picture of things. I also need to keep myself positive and not let silly things get in the way of my love for playing the game of ultimate.