My First Ultimate Experience
By Andy Leffler
It started with a friend introducing me to a pick up game that lead to another pick up game. It became a great way to get the exercise I sorely missed. A couple of the players at the pick up game had said Summer League was going to start and that the pick up game at Patterson Park would end. So when my friend emailed me the link I stepped out of my comfort zone and signed up right away. For the most part sign up was easy. My first attempt was rejected due to some glitch, so I tried again and it worked. It was nice to be able to purchase a disc and jersey, it all seemed so official.
Then came game day, I packed up all my gear before work, I could not wait to play. Then came 6:00 and time to go. I jumped in my car and noticed I had forgotten my shoes, so I sped over to Academy and bought some cleats, by this time it was about 6:45 and so I flew out to Manor. Luckily the directions on the website were intuitive and helped you avoid making a right turn too early. I walked up to field 1 and found out our team was actually on field 6. So I hustled over to the right location. If I only knew you could run in your bare feet, which I thought was crazy among all those wearing cleats. Meeting everyone on the team was quick since I arrived at the last minute. We had guys named Feathers and Skywalker which beckoned the question how does that translate to their playing ability.
At game time the captains tried to draw up some plays on their dry erase board, but the writing could have been Egyptian calligraphy for all I knew. Then these terms started be yelled out like ho stack, mark, cup, and force. This was all foreign to the pick up games I had played in that were much less organized. Kick off reminded me of my days playing football in high school during kick off, but from there this game was very different. I tried to use some of my previous sport experiences, but it felt very chaotic with everyone running around. Even though the field was larger than what I was used to playing on it was difficult to find open space with all the players on the field. We ended up loosing our first game, but I think we began to mesh very quickly after that.
As the season progressed the players continued to teach the less experienced players which helped us to get better every game. Each time I was on the field I practiced cutting up and down the field. On defense the strategy with the force tended to confused me at times, but I started to get the hang of it after a few games. Then I was introduced to the Zone which was quite confusing. But learned you do not want to be in the Cup unless you have the endurance to run back and forth like a metronome. Learning strategy and practicing helps, but the element of conditioning was important. Especially on the longer points where I was out of gas and had to mentally keep going. The longer points were torturous for me, since I am out of condition. It was amazing that some points would go so quickly and then it was like everyone had mittens over their hands and the disc would get turned over. We went on a winning streak that included a game that required us to come from behind and win on ultimate point, it was awesome. Then we had a couple hick ups along the way where I felt we fell out of sync. May have had to do with Street or Tina not showing up for one of those days we lost. But we ended up pulling together and winning a couple prior to the tournament which is always good for momentum.
Once the tournament started I was feeling more comfortable with my game and understood the terminology better, but could not necessarily execute every time. Experience is an important aspect. How to mark properly, front your player or fall off and poach. Luckily our team was not dependant on my play. It was great to watch our players continue to find a way to win in the tournament and at the end of the night we were going to the semi-finals.
The final week came quick and I felt like the season flew by. Each week I looked forward to playing. I would get butter flies in my stomach each time because I did not want to disappoint the team due to my inexperience. The first game was a close match and well played. But in the end we won. I even caught my first score. The sportsmanship of the other team was great. They brought us into a circle where the captains said some words of encouragement. It was great to be sharing this experience with all the players.
Then we were off to the final. It was not a disappointment. The players were competitive and there were a few calls that caused arguments, but this game was for all the glory and bragging rights. We all played a considerable amount compared to the rest of the season. Most of the season we had seven subs and the last week due to school starting we had three. I was not used to playing that much and my body was letting me know, but it was the last game of the season. It was great because I ended up catching one in the end zone. It was my first point all year. In the end we came out victorious. It was a great season because of the players. I cannot wait till winter league. I think this might be the start of something.
Andy received one of the sparkly summer league discs for outstanding play, improvement and sportsmanship.
