By rip (that's right, I've still got access)
For some of you, the end of college seems ages away. For others, it seems way too close for comfort. As a person with a somewhat professional career (Auditing/Accounting) and a somewhat amateur ultimate career, I wanted to share some of my insights and offer you a glimpse of the club ultimate scene outside of Champaign (FYI, Goose and Jim run a damn good team in FC Champaign).
Author’s Note: I know quite a few readers are still upset over club sectionals. I’m still quite disappointed in how Beachfront won, and I don’t think either team would have felt good about winning or losing that game. But moving on…
Let me start by saying that my experience may not be typical and other alums who are also currently tearing up the club scene (Dave, Joel, Pat) may have different opinions, so when making a decision involving a club team, it may be beneficial to talk to more than one person. However, I have always been of the opinion that personal experience is far better than external advice.
After graduating, I took a break from ultimate in order to settle into my new job, new marriage and new house. (At some point, real life is going to compete with ultimate. Make sure you know your priorities before that happens. Making decisions will be much less stressful that way.) In order to keep my throws from getting too rusty, I looked for random pick-up games. I first found this one group of high-school kids near my first apartment. While playing with them gave me a significant ego boost, it did nothing for helping me stay competitive with the big dogs.
It wasn’t until winter when I found a decent pick-up game. In that, I got somewhat lucky. I found a group of people who knew what they were doing, and some were involved in the local ultimate scene, ultimatechicago.org. I got talked into signing up for a mixed spring league that I hoped would get me ready for club tryouts come May. The team I played with was a random mix of masters players (many of which were Illinois Alums), recent college grads, college players and a high school player. Playing on such a team was a vastly different experience from playing on Illinois.
Given that we had no experience playing with each other, no set plays, and no set defenses, it forced me to immediately communicate with my teammates to learn how we fit together to win games. I also had to assess who the throwers were, who the main cutters were, and who was looking to actively switch on defense as well as recognizing the same characteristics in my opponents. At the same time, I also had to assert my role on the team. This type of experience directly translates to the club tryout experience. (Side note, I can now add Chicago Spring League Championship to my list of accomplishments. Taste it Cozza, Denis and Bill Finn.)
I went to the tryouts for the Chicago Club teams: Machine, Haymaker and Beachfront Property. At the tryouts, we ran a set of drills that many of you would find familiar, e.g. break side cut to, Randy Moss, Triangle of Death. Then we were put in 3 v 3 games and 7 v 7 games. Here’s where playing with a group of people you barely know comes in handy. The teams are random, and you have to work with your teammates as well as stand out in order for the tryout to be a success.
Yes, Illinois Ultimate attracts a diverse group of athletes, but our ultimate schooling is virtually identical. Playing with others who learned the game under different schools of instruction only enhances your ability as an ultimate player and your ability to deal with different/bad calls or situations during a game. Not to mention that it broadens your exposure to a variety of offenses and defenses and effective strategies for defeating said offenses and defenses.
I didn’t make Machine, which was a bit of blow considering that I bribed Joel, but I found a home playing with most of the Beachfront guys. So I continued the tryout process with them.
to be continued…
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