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07 November 2009 09:30 GMT

Womens Indoor Regionals

Due to clever pool arrangements last Saturday saw WOW leaving Oxford in the maxi-mobile (17 seater for 7 people, Josie at the wheel) at a reasonable 9.30 am, arriving in Sheffield 3 and a half hours later, ready for a good warm-up and game number one: Lancaster. A really good game to start with - most of them were beginners, and we found our center rather nicely considering we had never played together before. Score was 8-1 or something.

Next on was Staffordshire, a pick up team, who played a good long game (with amazingly accurate long curvy throws into the endzone) - we managed to cut that down, final score: 7-4 (?).

Then they were up: The Other Blue. We scored. They scored. We scored. There was no turnover until point 3. Both teams really wanted this. Then one of the Cambridge players collided with one of us and was lying on the floor. Seven minutes later, after the first aider has arrived and she was feeling better, the game was continued. Two more points were made. At the whistle the score was 4-3 and Cambridge, being the fair team that they are, called it quits. Suddenly WOW was first in the group and second in the entire tournament!

Next was Sheffield Hallam, a complete beginners team that threw just about anything. But caught it, too. A fun game. Final score was a lot to one.

Last was Too Many Pies 2, composed again of mainly beginners. A good game. Final score 8-1.

We were top in our group and could not come lower than the top 12 now.

Saturday was very good: it showed us how we could work together as a team. We discovered that possession and patience were our strength as well as running hard and not giving the opposition an inch of space. Everyone got a D, scored a point and was generally awesome.

In the maxi-mobile we navigated the dark streets of Sheffield to our house that Laura Ertmer had amazingly organised for us from the other side of the Atlantic. Our hosts had cunningly disappeared for the weekend, leaving us with a lovely place to stay just to ourselves and the biggest house rabbit imaginable to look after (who was called Socrates). Needless to say that we stayed in and ate excellent Pizza, especially considering that the theme of the party was 90s – some people had real difficulties coming up with costumes (“They wore t-shirts and jeans in the 90s, right?”) or could remember ALL of the 90s and thought that they were generally too recent to have a party about.

Second place meant that our first game was not until 10 on Sunday and after having gotten lost slightly on the way to the sports centre (Sheffield is actually the worst sign-posted city in the world) we were facing York, who had only lost against Bears in their group. York played a zone which was initially hard for us until we discovered the space in the middle in front of their players, and playing with 3 handlers we won 5-3. And now we couldn’t come worse than the top 4.

Up next were Jedi (Leeds), seeded 3rd. This was probably the best game of the weekend. Their playing style was very similar to ours – both teams found it ridiculously hard to get away from their mark, many dumps and little passes were thrown. Both teams played intense man marking. This game also saw the longest most exciting point of the weekend – about 7 minutes for one point which WOW finally scored 10 seconds before the whistle. Don’t remember the score (something like 3-2), but WOW won with one point.

The final against Too Many Pies 1 happened 3 hours later. Too Many Pies 1 had won against Bears earlier in the day. Again both teams man marked hard but Too Many Pies had the nicer flow and better organised cuts. Unfortunately WOW did not play as well as we could have done but even so, TMP would most probably still have won. They are an awesome team. Final score 6-3 (or similar) to them.

And that was it – WOW had made it from seed 14 to seed 2 in two days, with a team that had never played together before. And we are now in Nationals (5/6th December, Loughborough)!!!

Nadine was our main handler and advisor, Mags did awesome long and short cuts, Helena got amazing Ds, Nancy handled and got sweet Ds on people twice her height, Clare run hard and scored beautiful points, Marie was mainly responsible for ridiculous post-game speeches and fitting entire pies into her mouth. Special thanks go to Josie, who not only ran, scored and D-ed as hard as everyone else but also drove the maxi-mobile up and down the country (possibly illegally?).

Everyone enjoyed themselves, the Cambridge girl is fine and we got into Nationals for the first time ever. What else could you possibly want from an Ultimate weekend?

07 November 2009 11:00 GMT

Brookes Practice Game

With the women away at regionals we decided it was safe to invite BUF up to uni parks for a little scrimmage.

The first half was an integrated beginners game, making sure everyone was involved with lots of pitch time. Brookes have pulled in an impressive number of freshers but the newbies on both sides looked comfortable and competant, really encouraging to see.

Once the children had had their fun we upped the ante and kicked off an experienced game. This game was really close and intense for a Saturday morning with both teams trying different things and making some really nice plays. In the end the score was 11-9 to us, our first ourdoors victory against BUF in a while, and we finished off with a refreshing Red Bull call.

2 Nov 2009 10:42 GMT

Indoor Regionals Report

Indoor Regionals for midlands were held in Nottingham. Top 3 went through to Div 1 Nationals, 4-6 through to Div 2.

We drove down on Friday evening, and arrived on the doorstep of a Random Fling player's house, where we were immediately invited to a rollerdisco. No bloody way. We're here for business.

Our group for the Saturday included old rivals Cambridge, newer rivals Aye-Aye, a team from Lincoln, and a seconds team, from I can't remember where. Confidence was high, with phrases such as 'let's just win by loads', and 'hey, looking forward to a bit of Cambridge bashing', being banded around. ANd justifiably so, for with the quality of the players we took, our squad was definitely looking to compete with the top sides.

We started the day well, and dispatched both of the group's weaker sides with relative ease. The scores were flowing, everyone was feeling good, and we could only get more comfortable in our strange windless setting. Next up were Aye-Aye. This was one of my favourite games of the weekend. It was really closely fought, with some quality play from both sides. As the clock wound down, OW clawed back a small deficit to level the scores at 5-5 (?) with a minute left on the clock. And with possession secured, we should really have seen out the win. However, the side were let down by a rash endzone pass from their captain, lost possession, and got caught out by a quick hammer break to lose the game.

This was a pivotal game, for this now meant we would have to beat Cambridge to come second in the group. (there was a game in between these two, but it was against a fairly weak side, and we won despite some sloppy play). Time to refocus for Strange Blue! And we came out pretty pumped up into a game especially significant to those who's experienced stinging defeats at Varsity last term. This game was fairly symptomatic of our general performance over the weekend. Some of our offensive play was outstanding, with the whole team involved in working the disc smoohtly, and quickly, around the pitch. However at times we lacked a cutting edge in front of the endzone, and crucially we failed to convert too many times. Cambridge, by contrast, were clearly more used to the quick, short movements required for the indoor code, and were also able to exploit a defence which, while committed, was at times exposed by fast thought and faster hands. Cambridge were also a very tall team, and used this to their advantage. We didn't have enough Bens or Hugos. 9-3 I think.

So the day ended with us having finished third in our group, still with a chance to go through to nationals.

Sunday.

Weighed down by tonnes of Chinese food, we nevertheless arrived feeling good for Sunday. We needed to win our first match to go top 8. This was against Darkside (the Brookes of Cambridge). This was a game we really should have won. Man (and woman) for man we were the better side, and furthermore had more, and faster legs. However this game more than any other proved the value of training indoors. Darkside had one outstanding handler who was able to scoober, blade and hammer the disc into our endzone. Our defence was unused to there being a constant threat to the endzone, and thus too many times were caught man-watching as some kind of break pass drifted all too easily into the endzone. Many of our players also made some basic errors, which only compounded our frustration. THis game went down to the wire, though, with a chance to win it at the death. However, the captain again blundered (I am now realising that his mistakes essentially cost us the two most important points of the weekend. Hmmmm), and Darkside converted. Very disappointing.

We played three more games on Sunday, and with no chance of making Nats everyone was given a freer role to get as much disc time as possible, and even 'try out some new things'. The first thing to come of this latter advice was a fantastically ill-advised thumber from Monsieur Clark. However, I, and certainly some of the players who had found themselves slightly limited by the ISO we'd been using all weekend, had a good time playing some tight, and more scrimmage-y matches, which was a nice way to round out the weekend.

Finishing position: 10th.

Everyone on the team delivered outstanding individual performances, with a lack of practice indoors together undoubtedly our main downfall. We were exposed by more polished, and more schmindoors-wise teams. Good fun though, and we'll be building on this in coming weeks.

I'd especially like to thank our new players, Katie, Isaac, and Sam, and also Alex, who should have played, but came down with the flu. Thanks also to all who organised.

Nye

30 Mar 2009 22:04 GMT

Nationals Div 2 Report

OW made a strong showing at NTN, finishing the 7th seed after some close battles. Saturday was cool and windy, and the pitches being cunningly aligned with the gale, the conditions had a strong effect on the games. We struggled in our first game to show our usual passion and pace, and fell to the fourth seed in our pool. In our defense, they were a very strong fourth seed. In our second game we came out a bit more fired up, after watching our opponents battle it out for 20 minutes after the cap in their previous game, struggling to score upwind (or even downwind) points. Our zone was effective at disrupting their upwind play, and after trading downwind points most of the game, solid handling, especially from Phil and Lindsey, drove the team upwind against a solid zone defense for consecutive upwind scores (I believe) and the victory.

In our bye round, most of the team watched an Italy/Wales rugby match, while I slept.

Our third game was crucial, as victory would make us at least the 2 seed from our pool, and possibly the 1 seed. The wind continued, and we fought our hardest match of the weekend, against an equally determined side from some place. The game was dominated by the wind and contested with tight upwind zone defenses. With some chilly handling from Phil, Lindsey, and Andy, and some reckless upwind huck attempts by Sandy, we came tantalizingly close to scoring the key upwind points on several occasions. Our defense was great, with some sick bids (especially from Phil, as expected). But unfortunately we never managed to put it in, and the other side capitalized on a turnover or two near the upwind end zone to win the match. Afterwards we rolled around on a hill trying to slap each other's hands.

Yet we were lucky, and came out the third seed from our pool, which gave us a spot in a 2/3 crossover game in order to qualify for the top bracket on Sunday. We faced a spirited second team (from Edinburgh), and exceptional though they were for a second team, we were never in risk of losing the game. Don't remember much of it, except for miniature tanks.

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Sunday was calmer, but our first game was against Buf, and we knew it would be tough. We tried clever mental maneuvers to take Buf's stars out of the game, nonchalantly showing up at the field after the game was supposed to start. Buff proved too clever for this, however. Again, most points were scored down wind, but Buff's pace and athleticism prevented our zone from being effective, while effectively baiting and D-ing deep passes in the zone. We never lost our determination, and came close to clawing our way back, thanks in part to a sick bid for a score by Jonny. But too little too late.

Our next match I don't remember well. I think we lost. (It was Durham - Jonny)

So then we had to play for the 7/8 spot, and faced the same team we had lost to Saturday morning in our first match. But this was not the same team; they were playing their second stringers who had been managing the sideline all weekend. And so we had some fun, and won easily. We struggled, though, against their innovative "everybody fall over simultaneously" defense, which forced Nye to throw it out of bounds, while not even aiming at somebody in the end zone.

And more miniature tanks.

Many thanks to Laurie for driving and to Nye's friend, Phil G's friend, and Jonny's sister for hosting folk. It was a very fun weekend, and great preparation for varsity. I hope everybody's getting in some good playing time this vacation.

Sandy

05 Mar 2009 10:40 GMT

Regionals OW1 report

Thanks for the shout-outs guys. Here's a fuller recap. Both OW squads represented in Cambridge this weekend. OW2 broke seed by 5 spots, destroying teams like Darkside along the way. I'll let somebody from that squad provide more details on their performance.

Saturday morning was cold and windy, close to 0 degrees and much colder windchill. So was Saturday afternoon, and Sunday. OW1 faced some set backs, but scrambled back to the sixth seed the hard way, qualifying for Not the Nationals. Our first four games were against mostly second teams, and saw OW1 pwning opponents in the face while practicing our zone O and D. In a directly upwind/downwind game, Darkside gave us some fits, but all in all a dominant performance. Our fifth and final game on Saturday came against Haze. Both teams came out fired up, playing tough zone and taking some chances. The first two points were tight and long, both team marching down the pitch and failing to make the score. Haze won both points, and took the momentum. Later OW showed some life, scoring a couple points and forcing some turnovers, making Haze work and respect us, but it was too late. Haze took the win, 7-2 or so. Thus did OW1 hold seed on Saturday. Notable performances include Phil G and Tom, playing great defense (mostly in the cup) and making key catches. Niel scored too many points. Big Phil had a ridiculous layout D or two, and several layout catches to save bad dump passes.

After a delicious bout of curry, OW returned to the pitches Sunday to continue the fight to qualify. Nobody remembers the first match, but apparently we played against Strange Blue 2. They were friendly, I think. We won. Then we faced Aye-Aye. Lindsey gave us a full scouting report, but it did little good. We traded downwind points for most of the game, then gave up a break, upwind point, failing to capitalize on a couple of our own upwind opportunities. As the game wore on, OW became more tired and Aye-Aye more confident, and Aye-Aye stole our sixth seeding. We would have to defend our seed against 10, then against 8, before getting another final chance at the sixth seed and the coveted NTN spot. It would be ten games for the weekend.

We played a determined game against Demons, with chilly O and our stifling zone defense, and the score was not particularly close, although they were a quite decent team. Then we faced Jesters, who were also hoping for a Div2 bid. But they faced the same challenge all our opponents faced all weekend (except maybe Haze): how to score upwind against our zone. We took a couple break points, led by the exceptional handling of Lindsey, Rahul, and Big Phil, swinging the disc and calmly finding holes in the opponents cup. (Such holes could rarely be found in our own cup.) Andy stepped up with some massive layout Ds, and proved all weekend to be a brilliantly reliable handler. Niel scored more points. Phil hucked it, and I blazed past two defenders for a quick downwind score. We gained confidence in our deep game, which would prove decisive in the next match.

Again, a couple upwind points made the difference against Jesters, and we prepared mentally for a rematch against Aye-Aye, who had lost to the 5th seed. We also waited in the warm shower room.

Aye-Aye was coming off a loss, while we were coming off consecutive wins. We came out fired up, with a confident and effective deep game, chilly handlers, and our reliable zone. Mad props to the mainstays of the cup, who ran their asses off all weekend to prevent breaks and continuation swings: Niel, Phil G, Tom, Jonny, Sandy, Laurie, and Hugo. (Forgive me if I am forgetting anybody.) Our wings prevented the continuation when the disk was swung to the line, and our short deeps effectively ruled out little passes for yards up the middle. Lindsey dominated the deep-deep, coming down with more desperation hucks than I can remember.

We took a commanding lead at 5-0 against Aye-Aye with our sweet O and hard D. To their credit, they regrouped and pulled back, winning back two up-wind breaks. But we still had the lead, and we had the skillz. We held our downwind points after that, and little Phil had a sick D, coming from nowhere to smack a hammer about to be caught for a score, followed by coming out of nowhere to catch a swilly throw in our endzone. Double-happiness, and the key upwind break that decided the game. The cap went on, and we just needed one more point to win. We got that on the next point. Going upwind, Aye-Aye couldn't get the disc out of their endzone, and Lindsey calmly broke his man to hit (who else?) Niel with a low-release IO flick.

Well done all around. There were a lot of great performances this weekend, more than I mentioned here.

See you at practice,

Sandy

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