Cara and Team USA bring back Gold!
By: Michael “Tank” Natenberg
10,000 cheering fans, stadium lights, locker rooms, trainers, masseuses and chiropractors, managers, instant reply on the Jumbo-Tron! The players at the 8th World Games hosted in Kaohsiung City, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) experienced all of this. From July 19th thru 21st, Ultimate Frisbee was on display in the main stadium specifically built for the World Games; think a smaller but no less impressive Bird’s Nest. 6 countries: USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and Taiwan competed for the medals.
Although Team Canada came into the event with the #1 ranking, many believed Japan and the USA were the teams to beat. The three-day tournament was a round robin format to medal rounds, 6 total games. Each day was split into a morning and evening session. While I was there to support Cara, I also worked as a line official for WFDF (World Flying Disc Federation). This was an amazing opportunity that gave me a sideline view of all the games and access to the World Games venues and Team USA.
USA faced stiff competition on the first day winning a close game 13-11 against Australia in the morning and playing a near perfect game under the lights against Canada, winning 13-6. On Day 2, the USA easily took care of Great Britain and Chinese Taipei. The first upset of the tournament happened under the lights on Day 2 when Australia pulled out an ultimate point win over Japan in one of the most entertaining games of Frisbee I’ve ever seen. The morning session of Day 3 was the last round of pool play, while the evening would be the medal round. Japan and the USA faced off during the latest round in the morning in blazing heat. Team USA played short-handed after Cate Foster started to show signs of heat exhaustion, and lost a close game. I was inspired to see how quickly Team USA was able to move on from their loss and regain their swagger and confidence in preparation for the Gold medal round.
The USA absolutely dominated in the finals to earn their Gold Medals with a 13-6 win over Japan. The men and women out played their match-ups every point. I was most impressed with the chemistry and winning culture Team USA developed in the short time they were together and the focus they were able to bring to the big games.
Cara made Austin proud with steady play as one of Team USA’s main handlers. Besides seeing Cara celebrate with Team USA after the final goal, one of my favorite memories of the trip was watching her come down with a great grab over her defender and poaching male defender in their first game against Japan. Fortunately, I was not officiating this game so I was able to celebrate and cheer from the sideline.
For photos and videos recapping Team USA’s time in Taiwan check out this link: http://upa.org/programs/intl/worldgames2009/updates
Picture above is from the UPA's flickr feed.
