High School Division Game Updates 6/28

Coach Bob Michael (HS Blue) says:
A very successful day for the BLUE team. We had 10 of 14 players come out to play at Hank Anderson Park in 100 degree heat in the name of chasing plastic. We began with basic throwing skills and some stretching while the team members got to know each other. Then we moved on to the go-to-drill to practice throwing and catching in real game situations, stack offense/defense, marking the thrower, and a discussion of the rules of the game. Due to the extreme heat we shortened practice a little and started the game against the Black Team early.

This was the pre-season game and the excitement of both teams was palpable. Black played a great game with a savage squad (meaning they only had 7 players total) and shot to a 8-1 lead. Blue was able to score another 3 points with a late game rally before Black ended the game 10-4. The Blue team used the game to develop their stack offense and to learn the value of patience. Winds were high on the fields, leaving both teams scrambling after less than accurate passes. This too was a good lesson in team communication, understanding which throws survive on a windy day, and gaining a better field sense. The Blue Team needs to work more on throwing accuracy and developing "flow" from the stack after the first pass is complete. Also we'll work at this weeks practice on Wednesday at Forest Hills Park to establish a few end zone plays to prevent turnovers in the red zone. It was a very fun day to be out in the sun playing Ultimate!

Coach Dan Parrish (HS Green) says:
Yesterday's game between Green and Red was hard-fought, with Green taking it 12-5 (I think). Red employed a conservative, "stack-first" offense, while Green looked to fastbreak (aka "bomb it") as much as possible off of the pull and/or off of turnovers. Green prevailed due to great defense and at least in part because we were able to "borrow" Ben (last name unknown) from the Black team. Also, Green was playing savage (even with Ben), so kudos to the players for toughing out a lot of points.

It's Started!

It's Holly here, one of the TYUL Committee members. Just wanted to congratulate everyone on a successful start to the very first Youth Ultimate league in the area! Yesterday started our *official* games!

Middle School Red V Green
I spend much of the day in Raleigh with the Middle School division. I got a chance to help out with the Green Machine's practice and thoroughly enjoyed it. I showed many of them how to follow through on their backhand throws to make them go further... Then they played the Red team, whose name may or may not be Mast of the Red Terror (MORT) Phoenix. There was dispute about that among the players. Haha. The teams decided to play 3 games to 5 to allow for lots of water breaks. The second two games to 5 were slightly modified. One game mixed up the players for both teams and played each other. This was a great idea since the green machine had several players with at least a full year of experience (several under one of our very own Jen Waldrup) and the red team is still very new to everything. So I was happy to see them mix it up. This, to me, is exactly what the league is about. Especially at the middle school level where we have a greater range in sizes and ages. And I have to applaud the more experienced players for having patience and helping out the other kids! The other game actually included one coach on the field for each team (back in green and red squads)... I also really liked the outcome of this game because it allowed for the coaches to help direct traffic. And often, at the beginning level, turnovers happen simply because no one is open. The coaches gave the kids something to throw to in many instances, so the movement on the field greatly improved in this last game.

Congrats to MORT Phoenix and Green Machine for an awesome day! And I especially think the coaches did a great job running everything!

I didn't watch much of the Blue V Black game, had to leave before it started, so I don't have any update on that. Perhaps I can get one of the coaches to send me some kind of write up to post... More on that later...

Middle School Blue V Black
Coach Aaron Frye (MS Blue team) has this to say about the Blue V Black games from 6/28...

"We played 2 games to 5 (coaches) where the blue team fought hard to overcome their taller, more experienced opponents. Experience prevailed in the first game, with blue losing 2-5, but playing much better than the score demonstrated. With 2 subs, blue rotated and tired out black. The second game to 5 was down to the wire, with black putting in a huck for a 4-5 win. Then, blue went 4v4 without coaches and used sheer numbers and middle-school energy to win the last game 2-1 (in a game to 2)."

Hat League this Satuday and Teams Formed!

Good Afternoon All! Last night the committee had a meeting in Raleigh and formed the teams. We should have that information posted on the website soon. Please keep in mind that these teams are subject to change. They will be finalized early next week after our Hat League this Saturday. We are waiting on last minute registrants and trying to make sure teams are organized well geographically. This is complicated. Sheesh!

You should be receiving an email from your coach soon about time and location for this Saturdays activities. Ideally you will get to meet your coach, some of your teammates, do a little throwing and maybe a drill or two. But really we want you playing ultimate! So we're gonna mix up the teams and PLAY! for most of the time.

Please bring friends with you! And WATER and SUNSCREEN! If you have questions there will be TYUL Committee members around (probably in some obnoxiously bright colored shirt so we stand out).

We are going to have all the High Schoolers out at Cardinal Gibbons and all the Middle Schoolers at Henry Anderson Park (**Just for this Saturday's Hat League). Keep checking your email and the website for detailed information on times, locations and directions.

http://sites.google.com/a/tfda.org/tyul/Home

MAJOR UPDATES

1. Registration
is going to continue indefinitely. A hard push for marketing is being done now and we encourage all to invite any legitimate participant to sign up.

2. new schedule:
June 21st: Hat tournament
June 28th: Hat tournament
July 12th: Pool play
July 19th: Pool play
July 26th: Pool play
Aug 2/3: Semis
Aug 9/10: Finals/Consolation Finals

Why? Well, quite honestly, we have yet to secure a desired amount of players to form a strong league. We want to form two divisions at this point and have (4) teams in each division. Right now, are numbers are a bit shy of being able to do this successfully. Teams are going to begin forming as soon as the coaches have completed their two coaching clinics. During the hat tournaments, already registered participants will be encouraged to bring friends and have them sign up for the league after testing it out. Teams can begin practicing as soon as their core is formed (approximately, in the next week). All games will either be at Henry Anderson Park in Carrboro, NC or Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, NC. All teams will be playing at both locations at some point in the season but practices should be near their homes.

3. Coaching Clinics

Are occurring right now! We had our first Skills and Drills clinic Sunday at Lake Crabtree from 3-5pm and it was a blast! The next one is scheduled for this Sunday at Lake Crabtree from 3-5pm and then we will have two clinics on logistics - June 16 and June 17th - location and time TBD. Thank you Jen and Raj for providing all prospective coaches with a great manual and putting on a well run clinic. Thank you all coaches for volunteering!!!

4. Jerseys

We have a logo. Our jersey guy is just waiting for us to pull the trigger. Turnaround time should be about a week. Since we have a logo, we have also ordered discs.

5. Check out the website for updates and to read our minutes from our committee meetings.