Winter league against Trey’s team. We came out hot and never let up. Diana, Anna, Billy and Nick played especially well. Butter asked me before the game to take it easy on deep shots, and I think I did an OK job of that.
Winter league against Trey’s team. We came out hot and never let up. Diana, Anna, Billy and Nick played especially well. Butter asked me before the game to take it easy on deep shots, and I think I did an OK job of that.
Played a WL game against Vanni’s team. We had all of our guys there, so I didn’t really play that much. They also weren’t that strong, so the game was pretty relaxed for us. My fav play of the night was Robb throwing me a thumber just outside the endzone, and then me turning and throwing Billy a Rochester for the score. Final score: 39-15
Played against Bills team and Delaware in winter league. The first game was very close and very heated, esp towards the end. We were up 1 most of the game but they caught up in the fourth quarter, then passed us. We ended up losing by 1 after some fouling and clock-rewinding in the last few seconds of play. In the second game, Delaware was up the whole first half, but in the second half we switched to flick and pulled away for a solid win. In general, our team played solid O (though sometimes a bit huck happy or risky) and fairly good but not excellent D. Personally I threw and caught a bunch of goals, but also had a lot of turns on rushed goal attempts and inside backhand breaks. Those are my two areas of focus for next time. Brandon Silverman told me during the game that I’m really good at going to the disc, so that’s another plus.
Last regular-season game, and it’s against the 1 seed. They didn’t play like they’re the best team in the league, but they did beat us by 10 or so and they are solid all around. We played pretty well, and having Leo really helps. He’s a great thrower and he knows when to cut deep. If only we’d had Tom, Ashley and Ashley, we could have had a really close game.
Beat Trey’s team by 1 point in an exciting back-and-forth indoor game. We finally had our whole team. They were missing Trey, but had everyone else. They played the Trey zone with TC as the big man deep, but we were disciplined enough to work through it most of the time. We also played well on D and got a decent number of blocks on dumps to TC. He played really well and did almost everything for them. But in the end, Ashley put up a full-field buzz beater to Tom to win it.
Played against the Heva Havas indoor team. They had a double header and looked pretty tired against us, so it wasn’t a tough game. But we still tried to push ourselves to play better. They did get off too many breakside hucks, and moved the disc fairly well on O. They also hucked it deep a lot, which lead to some scores but way more turnovers. Personally I threw away a bunch by putting them just a little too far in front without enough float. Need to work on throwing to space, not to the exact spot I’m looking. Also IOs still need work. Final score: 37-24.
Played a full game against Delaware’s college team. They were pretty athletic and had decent throws, but their girls were not great and they didn’t have the experience we had. The game was close in the first and most of the second quarter, though it was our fault for turning over a lot of endzone opportunities. We got our shit together some more in the second half and pulled away to win by 6 or 7. I had a good amount of inside breaks for goals, but I also turned over a bunch. Butter is right, my IO flick needs work.
Had a long meeting about the upcoming Amp season. We talked about the importance of player retention, changing up the practice structure (midweek practices, more intense weekends, fewer but longer weekends), focusing on cutting and on-field problem solving, tryouts and setting the roster early, and many other things. It was mostly a brainstorming session as well as a feedback-for-the-captains session. There was some disagreement about early-season tournaments and whether going to a beach weekend with a bunch of people you don’t know is a good or bad things for new players. We also talked about holding each other accountable and creating standards of fitness. Dre mentioned that every DI program she’s ever coached or played for has fitness standards, and they are a good way to force people to get in shape, but she would not advocate them for Amp because the primary goal is not to win a championship at any cost.
After the meeting, we went to Spinners practice. We mostly scrimmaged and worked on dump offense and defense. I threw some good throws but also had a few bad turnovers. My D was fairly good allaround. I’d give me a 7 out of 10. Or maybe 6. Need more work.
Played a full 48 minutes of winter league tonight. Our team only had one sub of each gender (thanks Allie for picking up with us) so I didn’t sub at all. We got crushed, but it was still good practice for playing tired. I also came to realize that Butter is right about my flicks: the shape of the throw is off, especially on inside outs. They all end up outside ins and they don’t float at all. I threw at least two hucks that would have been goals except that they trailed away from the cutter at the end of the throw.
3 hours of Phoenix tryouts at Maple Zone. We spent most of the time doing drills. The first few drills were pretty cool - 4 stations, each with a different set of cuts, and you run the cuts as fast as you can. There was a straight 40, a 10yard incut followed by a 40 deep, and two drills with 2 short cuts each. We ran each set of cuts once and were timed.
After the cuts, we had 4 more stations to rotate through:
Finally at the end we got to scrimmage two games to 7. I wish we had played more, but it was still fun.
Played against the Spinners team (the Baers, Brando, Zargham, etc). They were missing half their guys, but still gave us a great game. I don’t think the point diff was ever more than 4, and the final score was 32-31. We won on a last-second Raha handblock and score to go up 1, then a D from Satell to seal the win.
I did not play very well. It was cold and my hands were freezing again, so my throws were not good. I was also pretty tired from yesterday, so my D was weak at times. Now it’s time for a day off to prepare for Phoenix tryouts tomorrow night.
Lots of utlimate tonight: core winter league at Ampro, then Spinners practice at Tee’s. I got lucky and found rides from/to everything.
We played a great game tonight and pulled off a strong win against a (possibly) better team. We stuck to our goals (don’t get beat to the force-side cone, always have a dump), played great defense and smart offense. We got out to an early lead and held it the whole game, never letting them come within 3 points. Thanasis and Eddie had a great game, coming up with some nice Ds and some big skies. Our ladies also did well on offense, and their defense is improving each game.
To be fair, Jake’s team was missing Jack Kelly and Jake was not at 100% because he’s just coming back from a long hamstring injury recovery. But I still think we played our best game yet and the improvement is very encouraging. I did not expect us to win a single game this season and had switched focus to coaching and working on fundamentals. But maybe that’s the secret?
After our game, Jake and I went to the practice. We did a short warmup, some 3-man handler weaveing, a drill to work on our first step, and then some scrimmaging. We mostly worked on dumps to the open side (and dump defense). We also played 2-minute segments with no subs, alternating 5v5 and 4v4. Finally, we played a few 5-minute quarters with subs.
I felt pretty good throughout the practice. It was really cold at Tee’s and my hands were freezing, so my throws were not as quick or accurate as usual. But the main thing that’s holding me back right now is fitness. I gotta in better shape. Also, better footwork would be great. Ben’s first-step drills should be helpful here.
Played the first game with my high schooler team. We worked on setting goals that are within our control: always having a dump and not getting beat to the force-side cone. For the first half, we didn’t have those explicit goals and we played pretty poorly. After half, our focus improved and we matched Gooch’s team point for point. But we didn’t really convert any breaks and they rode their first-half lead to the win.
I ended up staying to watch the second game and throw with Cuatro. Then it turned out that Norm’s team was shorthanded, so I picked up with them for my second game. They are a more experienced and disciplined team, so our game was a lot closer. Fern played especially well for us. But Drexel put together an athletic team and pulled away in the second half to secure their victory. Two losses in one night.