Haverween 2005

I attended my first tournament as an alumni this weekend in Haverford, Pennsylvania. I was driven down courtesy of Dave Wexler, who was extremely nice, to watch both NYU teams. The new players on both impressed me a good deal, especially the Women's. This year is huge for them: they can either use it as a stepping stone to further elite play, or be content with simply exceeding NYU Ultimate's traditionally low expectations. They are already overacheivers, and it's up to the Femmes' captains and players to decide where they want to go. They have the potential this year to be quite alive on the second day of Regionals, and since they graduate nobody, a very real shot at Nationals in 2007.

This weekend, they beat several bad teams soundly but lost a windy, hotly contest game to Swarthmore. On day two, they were up 6-1 and 7-3 on one of the Metro East regional contenders, Delaware, but lost on double game point. In my opinion it's a productive loss, because it not only gave them a taste of real elite play against a regional rival, but also kept them hungry. I'm proud of Mia and how she's developed as a leader, and of the other girls who have improved significantly since last year--especially Sarah, who is already a club level player. To paraphrase a former captain of mine, "the captain position attracts competitive people." Mia is no exception, and I have faith in her and the other returners to not be complacent about this season's successes. For once in five years I'm truly excited about the NYU women's team.

On the sideline, Zac and I discussed a good amount about the college women's game and how it differs from the men's. There are fewer athletes. Any former soccer, basketball, or track star will be dominant in college women's ultimate. It's very hard for a team to simply win on pure athleticism as it is in the open division. Fundamental skills, organization and repetition are a lot more useful. It seems as though field position matters more while turnovers matter less, but of course this changes once the competition becomes tougher. After watching this weekend, I have decided to become more involved with the Femmes and try be a part of their run at Regionals this year. I can at least help Zac out a bit.

Both he and I joked about living vicariously through them, since we both never made Regionals and harbor at least some feeling of regret and missed opportunity since we came so painfully close. Helping coach would undoubtedly be extremly satisfying and help in that respect.