QCTU is in the books and Pres Day looms ahead. Our QCTU recap is up on Skyd and my personal recap should be coming shortly via USA Ultimate. The weekend was relatively uneventful aside from one big insurance issue. Lang and Lily did a fantastic job- I wish every tournament were like this one. It was good to see tons of friends I haven’t seen in a while, namely the Wash U and Penn State girls. I also got to meet the Wilmington leadership. It’s always a fun transition to go from internet friends and video chat tournament planning to real life interaction. It was less awkward than I expected and they brought me some fun presents including a jersey, 3 mix CDs (Nicki Minaj, Thug Lite, and Thug Life), as well as a chain to improve my street cred (which has suspiciously gone missing). They’re a good bunch and I appreciate how much they let me push them… on well… everything. When I was watching the finals on Sunday, it dawned on me that it is very possible that I will watch more points of college ultimate than anyone else in the world this season. I’ll be at six regular season tournaments, likely at least one set of Conference Championships and Regionals, and both D-III Nationals and D-I Nationals.
The weather forecast looks terrible for the weekend. We have backup fields so things could definitely be much worse, but the weather certainly isn’t making this week less stressful. We also have a clinic planned for Saturday, and that is a beast of its own. I am going to need to spend some serious time tomorrow re-planning the clinic for inclement weather. I’ve been through this bad weather stuff enough times that I have a decent handle on what needs to happen, but somehow that never makes it less stressful. Nat and Jane are also doing a fantastic job keeping things under control. Regardless of the weather, I’m looking forward to seeing the Texas girls, as well as West Coast and Midwest friends.
We had a Centex planning meeting tonight. Technology is amazing. Suede called in from South Africa and I was able to call in from Boulder, plus there was a contingent in Austin. We have a lot on our plates, but I’m feeling a little more confident about the weekend now. March / April is going to be a tough stretch as I will have a ton of responsibility for Easterns, Centex, and Keystone.
I’ve been having lots of interesting conversations with people about Without Limits. I’m learning by doing and not learning fast enough. There is so much to figure out. My background in Architecture, Econ, and City Planning has only taught me one thing- how to operate without sleep. I’ve been struggleboxing a bunch, but the little things have been getting me through. One of my kids sent me this text over the weekend: “I’m so pumped right now to play, you motivate me to be better every time we talk.” These are the people who make it worth it and the fact is that they motivate me to be better.
