As the end of October neared, Eau Claire prepared itself for the many Ultimate teams that would arrive to T some D (toss some disc). This year the Women's Division was set to have 10 teams- continuing to grow! Thankfully we were able to avoid any last minute dropouts which seemed to be the theme for our side of things last year (yikes!!) And with the addition of a few teams who would be attending the Chillout for the first time ever (Sol Alumni and friends, Wisconsin and Mankato) it looked to be a fun and competitive weekend!
Saturday
It was an awesome day for Ultimate!!! Easily the best weather the Chillout has seen in my time here so far! No rain, excessive wind OR snow. Our pool consisted of Bella, Milwaukee, Duluth and Mankato. We saw Milwaukee at Hucktoberfest and had lost to them so we really wanted to redeem ourselves with a bigger squad at the Chillout. We were able to go 3-1 in our pool, only losing to Madison(and pretty solidly losing at that...). The Fall season is awesome because each player is stepping out of their comfort zone doing new things whether they are a new player trying many different positions in a zone, a new returner learning how to be a primary cutter or a returner challenging themselves to learn to handle.
It's funny because some practices where we are missing a few girls and only have 14 or so it feels so small. I am so used to having 20 teammates around me, but as peoples schedules are busy it is hard to get everyone at every practice. Saturday of the Chillout it finally felt like a full team! Our sidelines had a lot of energy and I was getting concerned that people weren't getting enough playing time as opposed to having to play so many points like our other Fall tournaments. Finding and promoting "funtensity" was a big part of this weekend. Really demonstrating who we are as a team to all of the new girls was great (since we were a little short on numbers and/or returners the past two tournaments)!
Saturday night was a chance to hangout with the girls on a few of the other teams, or for others share a movie night! All I can really say is the Bella women are craaaaazy! What a fun group! And getting the chance to hangout with one of the newest teams of the Central Region, Mankato, was pretty sweet!
Sunday
Sunday arrived and teams were anxious for a chance to be crowned Chillout Champions and inherit the prize of a free bid to next year's tournament (previously won by Carleton). While the winners of pool play were still sleeping, enjoying their reward for winning their pool with no games till noon, two rounds of play had already finished! Sol was able to win both games and was set to face the Sol Alumni + Friends team in the semi-finals but sadly, the alumni team was short numbers as the awesome ladies that came to EC from the cities for the day on Saturday could not stay for Sunday. So that game was forfeited and we waited to see how the Carleton/Madison game would play out to see who we would face in the finals.
It was hard to chose a team to cheer for since the Carleton ladies had stayed at my house all weekend and I only came to love Elise even more but I was wearing my Bella jersey and had the chance to hangout with a few of those ladies the previous night. So I just stayed neutral, heckled and got ready for Finals! Bella ended up winning so we got ourselves ready for a rematch!
The previous day I think we only scored 3 on Bella, so improving on Sunday was our intention! And improve we did! Down a few girls from the previous day(due to the need to skydive and who knows what else...), but with about 3 of our alumni popping in to play a few points here and there we ended up losing to Bella 7-11. A much better game than the day before, but alas those Madison folk ended up with the victory and a free bid to the Chillout in 2012!
After a complete Fall season, iamsoexcited to be apart of this team and help it grow and get better all Winter long! Oh, and hangout with everyone!
Best Pasta Cooker: Kim Holub
Handler to Watch Out For: Alex Lindstrom
Most Improved Field Setter-Upper: Sarah Ramirez
Likely to Get More Reps Cutting: Meredith Bray
Get ready for indoors!!
The University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Women's Ultimate Team
Monday, October 24, 2011
Fall 2011: Do It For Schneids
Welp, with the end of the Eau Claire Chillout also came the end of our Fall season. It seems too soon for that! Three tournaments in the record books and now we start looking forward to the indoor season to prepare for Spring! But for now a recap!
Hucktoberfest- October 1st- 2nd (Neenah, Wisconsin)
Club Regionals and other life commitments assisted in taking away some Sol women for this tournament, sending the ladies of Eau Claire with less players than we are usually used to. I am probably not the best person to write this recap since I wasn't there... BUT from what I have heard it was an opportunity to finally put together all the skills we had been learning up to that point in the season. We even had new players (like Oliva Lee) handling without ever having practiced at all! Ultimate is great and all but I think the thing I personally was most sad about missing was being apart of all the shenanigans that went down this weekend!!! As of last year our team has heavily gotten into pranking, and apparently all the new girls are ALLABOUTIT! Foreshadow: this year is going to be nutzo. Bad news: Schneids MC got pretty beat up and will be out till next Fall and one of our new players, Kim, severly fractured her ankle.... But I am most confident they will both continue being huge assets to Sol while they focus on healing themselves!
No Wisconsequences- October 15th- 16th (Delafield, Wisconsin)
For the past few years this has been the premiere Fall tournament in the Midwest, so once again we looked forward to seeing many different teams and really putting our newly learned zone defense to use! And that we did! It was awesome to see how quickly all girls, new and old, picked up on learning different positions in zone D. It is really awesome to see all the new girls finally get tournament experience under their belts and see returners step up from being a n00b to an experienced player.
Saturday
During pool play, we were able to go 2-2. With losses coming to half of the Saucy Nancies from U of Iowa and Northwestern Gungho. We were able to beat one of the Madison Bella Donna teams as well as Michigan State! Our pool was crazy- the 1 seed lost to the 3 seed, the 3 seed lost to the 4 seed, the 4 seed lost to the 5 seed, but the 1 seed beat the 2 seed. Main point: Fall seedings are rarely accurate. It's a lot of guesswork trying to determine which teams will be better than which so early on! Michigan State was most impressive with few ladies and lots of athletic moves! They seem to be a really fun and hard working group of women. After a long day of Ultimate with many small victoies under our belt, we headed back to the Haller residence!
A HUGE shoutout to the Haller family will be necessary. Now in my 4th year at Eau Claire I have been lucky enough to stay with this family at least once a year and they are way too nice to us EVERY TIME! They are generous people and we owe them a million thank you's. Their hospitality is outstanding! All the Sol family and friends that we have been so lucky to stay with have been too nice! Only a handful of Sol folk (including our new Coach Dan Kaler) went to the always fun tournament party. Most of us were wayyyyy too tired to make it out the door!
Sunday
Wisconsin- Eau Claire Sol vs. University of Iowa X Saucy Nancy
Feeling well rested after mostly staying in Saturday night we hopped in our cars and zipped over to the fields. First up we were to play the other half of the Saucy Nancy team. We lost by a few points the previous day to the other Saucy team, so going into this game playing better right from the start was a priority. We were able to fight for a decent lead and were able to keep them from scoring for a bit! It ended up being a close game- we won on UNIVERSE POINT! That always makes for an exciting ending and gives you a lot of momentum going into your next game!
Wisconsin- Eau Claire Sol vs. University of Illinois Menace
Up next we had Illinois Menace, a team I don't think Sol has played for some time. I must say I was for real surprised by how good this team was! They were very athletic and their throws were solid. I don't remember the final score of this game, but I think we lost by something like 3? Menace seems to be a very fun team. It looks like more of their players are starting to play Club- which is always great to see! Illinois went on to lose to one of the Wisconsin teams in the semi's, well done!
Wisconsin Eau Claire Sol vs. Winona Bad Monaz
This was another team that caught me off guard with how good they were! It was a really back and forth game as the wind was mostly upwind/downwind. Their throws were very solid against our zone. We did a really good job of adjusting on the fly with many things-especially our new players! They showed so much versatility in what they can do and were open to trying new positions they weren't as comfortable with. But hey, you learn more when you are outside your comfort zone (and learning how to play Ultimate provides plenty of opportunities for that). We ended up losing this game and finishing 7th- not too shabby with 26 women's teams in attendance!
After an eventful stop at McDonalds to celebrate our weekend of no more severe injuries (lets keep that trend going) we were on our way back to Wisconsin's most beautiful campus (Eau Claire of course). Although injuries are the least ideal thing, life always goes on. In the event of injuries I think people are given another reason to push themselves even harder. Everyone loves Schneids and since her first Sol practice she has been extremely dedicated (not an over-exaggeration). Now that she can't play for a little while each Solmate should always remember that if you feel like giving up tell Schneids that you can't push it anymore. If you could look at Schneids and tell her that (as she would probably do anything to be able to play over the next few months) you cannot do another sprint, or another push up or another rep of a drill then it is believable that you have pushed yourself as hard as you possibly could have. If you aren't to the point that you would be able to tell Schneids that you can't try harder then try harder and do it for Schneids. And remember, sometimes injuries are blessings in disguise.
Hucktoberfest- October 1st- 2nd (Neenah, Wisconsin)
Club Regionals and other life commitments assisted in taking away some Sol women for this tournament, sending the ladies of Eau Claire with less players than we are usually used to. I am probably not the best person to write this recap since I wasn't there... BUT from what I have heard it was an opportunity to finally put together all the skills we had been learning up to that point in the season. We even had new players (like Oliva Lee) handling without ever having practiced at all! Ultimate is great and all but I think the thing I personally was most sad about missing was being apart of all the shenanigans that went down this weekend!!! As of last year our team has heavily gotten into pranking, and apparently all the new girls are ALLABOUTIT! Foreshadow: this year is going to be nutzo. Bad news: Schneids MC got pretty beat up and will be out till next Fall and one of our new players, Kim, severly fractured her ankle.... But I am most confident they will both continue being huge assets to Sol while they focus on healing themselves!
No Wisconsequences- October 15th- 16th (Delafield, Wisconsin)
For the past few years this has been the premiere Fall tournament in the Midwest, so once again we looked forward to seeing many different teams and really putting our newly learned zone defense to use! And that we did! It was awesome to see how quickly all girls, new and old, picked up on learning different positions in zone D. It is really awesome to see all the new girls finally get tournament experience under their belts and see returners step up from being a n00b to an experienced player.
Saturday
During pool play, we were able to go 2-2. With losses coming to half of the Saucy Nancies from U of Iowa and Northwestern Gungho. We were able to beat one of the Madison Bella Donna teams as well as Michigan State! Our pool was crazy- the 1 seed lost to the 3 seed, the 3 seed lost to the 4 seed, the 4 seed lost to the 5 seed, but the 1 seed beat the 2 seed. Main point: Fall seedings are rarely accurate. It's a lot of guesswork trying to determine which teams will be better than which so early on! Michigan State was most impressive with few ladies and lots of athletic moves! They seem to be a really fun and hard working group of women. After a long day of Ultimate with many small victoies under our belt, we headed back to the Haller residence!
A HUGE shoutout to the Haller family will be necessary. Now in my 4th year at Eau Claire I have been lucky enough to stay with this family at least once a year and they are way too nice to us EVERY TIME! They are generous people and we owe them a million thank you's. Their hospitality is outstanding! All the Sol family and friends that we have been so lucky to stay with have been too nice! Only a handful of Sol folk (including our new Coach Dan Kaler) went to the always fun tournament party. Most of us were wayyyyy too tired to make it out the door!
Sunday
Wisconsin- Eau Claire Sol vs. University of Iowa X Saucy Nancy
Feeling well rested after mostly staying in Saturday night we hopped in our cars and zipped over to the fields. First up we were to play the other half of the Saucy Nancy team. We lost by a few points the previous day to the other Saucy team, so going into this game playing better right from the start was a priority. We were able to fight for a decent lead and were able to keep them from scoring for a bit! It ended up being a close game- we won on UNIVERSE POINT! That always makes for an exciting ending and gives you a lot of momentum going into your next game!
Wisconsin- Eau Claire Sol vs. University of Illinois Menace
Up next we had Illinois Menace, a team I don't think Sol has played for some time. I must say I was for real surprised by how good this team was! They were very athletic and their throws were solid. I don't remember the final score of this game, but I think we lost by something like 3? Menace seems to be a very fun team. It looks like more of their players are starting to play Club- which is always great to see! Illinois went on to lose to one of the Wisconsin teams in the semi's, well done!
Wisconsin Eau Claire Sol vs. Winona Bad Monaz
This was another team that caught me off guard with how good they were! It was a really back and forth game as the wind was mostly upwind/downwind. Their throws were very solid against our zone. We did a really good job of adjusting on the fly with many things-especially our new players! They showed so much versatility in what they can do and were open to trying new positions they weren't as comfortable with. But hey, you learn more when you are outside your comfort zone (and learning how to play Ultimate provides plenty of opportunities for that). We ended up losing this game and finishing 7th- not too shabby with 26 women's teams in attendance!
After an eventful stop at McDonalds to celebrate our weekend of no more severe injuries (lets keep that trend going) we were on our way back to Wisconsin's most beautiful campus (Eau Claire of course). Although injuries are the least ideal thing, life always goes on. In the event of injuries I think people are given another reason to push themselves even harder. Everyone loves Schneids and since her first Sol practice she has been extremely dedicated (not an over-exaggeration). Now that she can't play for a little while each Solmate should always remember that if you feel like giving up tell Schneids that you can't push it anymore. If you could look at Schneids and tell her that (as she would probably do anything to be able to play over the next few months) you cannot do another sprint, or another push up or another rep of a drill then it is believable that you have pushed yourself as hard as you possibly could have. If you aren't to the point that you would be able to tell Schneids that you can't try harder then try harder and do it for Schneids. And remember, sometimes injuries are blessings in disguise.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Want to Become a SOLmate???
As we are getting close to the end of Summer, the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year is about to begin! This is the best of news as the beginning of the school year also marks the beginning of the 2011-2012 Ultimate Season! If you are interested in being apart of a team full of talented, amazing and FUN women, SOL is a great competitive outlet for you! In a short time you will feel like family! We will practice 4:30-6:30 Tuesdays and Thursdays on Towers Field with an optional practice on either Monday or Wednesday (TBD). Stop by and check out what we have to offer! (Practices starting Tuesday, September 6th! Or look out for us during CUBEfest!)
Contact Bethany Mitch (mitchbp@uwec.edu), Meredith Bray (braymj@uwec.edu) or Brit Gartner (gartnebm@uwec.edu) for more information!
SOLove <3
Contact Bethany Mitch (mitchbp@uwec.edu), Meredith Bray (braymj@uwec.edu) or Brit Gartner (gartnebm@uwec.edu) for more information!
SOLove <3
Monday, May 16, 2011
SOL Awards 2011
Every year at the end of our season, members of the team receive special awards to thank them for standout things they did!
Most Improved
Lauren "Stu" Stepanik #21
Best Motivator
Samara Thompson #37
Loudest Sideline
Melissa "George" Jordan #23
Freshman of the Year
Megan "Schneids" Schneider #2
Spirit of the Game
Jess "Holla" Haller #24
Best Facials
Caty Ferris #34
Most Graceful
Kristin "Huhot" Huot #16
And introducing our 2011-2012 SOL captains:
Brit Gartner #11
Bethany "Beef" Mitch #10
Meredith "Lays Out on Her Face" Bray #32
Congrats ladies!! Looking forward to an awesome season next year!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Fiasco That was Regionals 2011
The week before Regionals, SOL had no idea what was going on thanks to the fact that the fields in Appleton pulled out and suddenly we were without a location to play on. A shout-out goes off to our fearless Regional Coordinator Mikey Lun for pulling off a very successful tournament weekend.
And now down to business...
"For the first time in years, SOL walked away from Regionals without tears or any disappointments whatsoever. That is huge coming from this team. Every single SOLmate played to the best of their ability and left it all on the field. I could never be more proud of this team. We may not have made it to Nationals this year folks, but just you wait. SOL has the potential to become a powerhouse team in the next few years. As a primarily freshman/sophomore building team this year SOL saw just a glimpse of that potential. I cannot wait to follow SOL's journey next year." - Kathleen Nottingham
Regionals Day 1:
The wind was king this day at Blackhawk fields in Madison, WI. During warmups our dear Princess Estelle was defeated by a deadly flying disc and had to make a quick visit to the dentist. Her royal highness returned ready to play but not without showing off her beautiful new clean tooth! (love you Estie)
Eau Claire SOL v. Luther Freya
For the first game of Regionals, it was windier than ever. This game mainly consisted of Luther and SOL trading downwind points all day every day. This pattern continued until hard cap went off and Luther was ahead in the end. Both teams played well, but I'd say SOL worked the disc more. We came so close to scoring upwind but weren't able to pull it off in time. Luther's Freya won this time.
Eau Claire SOL v. Minnesota Ninja
The windy conditions continued as SOL played our next game against the Minnesota Ninja women. A very similar pattern of trading points happened yet again with that darn Megan Nimmo chucking it downfield, making SOL work the disc back up repeatedly :P The Ninja's had a really good team this year, especially with Christie Dosch coaching them. They've improved quite a bit and SOL had fun playing against them. SOL came out on top for this game with a score of 9-8 over Ninja.
Eau Claire SOL v. Iowa State Women Scorned
SOL and Scorned have a friendship that knows no ends. We love us some Women Scorned. This game was again very influenced by the wind. Scorned had a strong handler line and was able to work very well upwind. Luckily our zone defense was able to keep them at bay. In the end hard cap went on and Scorned came out on top. SOL finished the game with an awesome upwind score so we still felt like champions in the end. B.Gart also decided to debut her rapper self to give Scorned a nice little cheer.
Eau Claire SOL v. Wisconsin Bella Donna Crossover Game
Bella was out for blood this game since their defeat at Conference a few weeks ago. They dominated the game and pulled ahead faster than SOL was able to keep up in scoring. In the end Bella got away with the game, but SOL was already thinking about the next day and how we could play to the best of our ability.
SOL arrived back at Mamma Bray's house for a delicious meal of the most amazing lasagna we've ever tasted. At least that's what Samara, our official Lasagna Connoisseur said. Our delicious meal was soon followed by a secret SOLmate exchange and our traditional Saturday regional bonding activity. We headed for bed but not soon after listening to Brit get her pre-sleep munchies on, listening to Browndog's strange breathing sounds, and making sure Princess had a snore-free place to sleep.
Regionals Day 2:
The sun came out this second day of Regionals. No tooths were knocked out and SOL knew we were going to have a blast.
Eau Claire SOL v. Luther Freya
Our first game was once again against Freya. But this time, with different fields and a crosswind, SOL was able to play our game and come out with a win. We were able to maintain control up to and after half. SOL maintained control of the game and won! We also discovered that getting that disc upwind was indeed possible and capitalized on that.
Eau Claire SOL v. Iowa State Women Scorned
SOL went into this game knowing we had to win again in order to play in the backdoor game to go to natties. Scorned came out and definitely earned a win against us. Their team is really strong this year and we had fun playing each other as the underdog victors of our conferences.
Eau Claire SOL v. Minnesota Ninja
SOL and Ninja played a shorter game so we could watch the backdoor game of Scorned v. Bella. We had more fun than ever playing these ladies again and dominated the game with Emily calling out scoring lines like no one had seen before. That darn Megan Nimmo really likes to chuck that disc. So we had to figure out ways to shut her down and keep the disc near the Ninja end zone. In the end SOL came out with a win for 5th place overall. We gathered together in happiness and extreme satisfaction with our performance over the weekend.
We then proceeded to watch Iowa State defeat the Bella Donna's for the 3rd bid to Natties. Extreme celebration was had.
The weekend could not have been more complete without Kathleen mooning someone on the road. We all drove safely back to Eau Claire after probably the best weekend SOL ever had together.
And now down to business...
"For the first time in years, SOL walked away from Regionals without tears or any disappointments whatsoever. That is huge coming from this team. Every single SOLmate played to the best of their ability and left it all on the field. I could never be more proud of this team. We may not have made it to Nationals this year folks, but just you wait. SOL has the potential to become a powerhouse team in the next few years. As a primarily freshman/sophomore building team this year SOL saw just a glimpse of that potential. I cannot wait to follow SOL's journey next year." - Kathleen Nottingham
Regionals Day 1:
The wind was king this day at Blackhawk fields in Madison, WI. During warmups our dear Princess Estelle was defeated by a deadly flying disc and had to make a quick visit to the dentist. Her royal highness returned ready to play but not without showing off her beautiful new clean tooth! (love you Estie)
Eau Claire SOL v. Luther Freya
For the first game of Regionals, it was windier than ever. This game mainly consisted of Luther and SOL trading downwind points all day every day. This pattern continued until hard cap went off and Luther was ahead in the end. Both teams played well, but I'd say SOL worked the disc more. We came so close to scoring upwind but weren't able to pull it off in time. Luther's Freya won this time.
Eau Claire SOL v. Minnesota Ninja
The windy conditions continued as SOL played our next game against the Minnesota Ninja women. A very similar pattern of trading points happened yet again with that darn Megan Nimmo chucking it downfield, making SOL work the disc back up repeatedly :P The Ninja's had a really good team this year, especially with Christie Dosch coaching them. They've improved quite a bit and SOL had fun playing against them. SOL came out on top for this game with a score of 9-8 over Ninja.
Eau Claire SOL v. Iowa State Women Scorned
SOL and Scorned have a friendship that knows no ends. We love us some Women Scorned. This game was again very influenced by the wind. Scorned had a strong handler line and was able to work very well upwind. Luckily our zone defense was able to keep them at bay. In the end hard cap went on and Scorned came out on top. SOL finished the game with an awesome upwind score so we still felt like champions in the end. B.Gart also decided to debut her rapper self to give Scorned a nice little cheer.Eau Claire SOL v. Wisconsin Bella Donna Crossover Game
Bella was out for blood this game since their defeat at Conference a few weeks ago. They dominated the game and pulled ahead faster than SOL was able to keep up in scoring. In the end Bella got away with the game, but SOL was already thinking about the next day and how we could play to the best of our ability.
SOL arrived back at Mamma Bray's house for a delicious meal of the most amazing lasagna we've ever tasted. At least that's what Samara, our official Lasagna Connoisseur said. Our delicious meal was soon followed by a secret SOLmate exchange and our traditional Saturday regional bonding activity. We headed for bed but not soon after listening to Brit get her pre-sleep munchies on, listening to Browndog's strange breathing sounds, and making sure Princess had a snore-free place to sleep.Regionals Day 2:
The sun came out this second day of Regionals. No tooths were knocked out and SOL knew we were going to have a blast.
Eau Claire SOL v. Luther Freya
Our first game was once again against Freya. But this time, with different fields and a crosswind, SOL was able to play our game and come out with a win. We were able to maintain control up to and after half. SOL maintained control of the game and won! We also discovered that getting that disc upwind was indeed possible and capitalized on that.
SOL went into this game knowing we had to win again in order to play in the backdoor game to go to natties. Scorned came out and definitely earned a win against us. Their team is really strong this year and we had fun playing each other as the underdog victors of our conferences.
Eau Claire SOL v. Minnesota Ninja
SOL and Ninja played a shorter game so we could watch the backdoor game of Scorned v. Bella. We had more fun than ever playing these ladies again and dominated the game with Emily calling out scoring lines like no one had seen before. That darn Megan Nimmo really likes to chuck that disc. So we had to figure out ways to shut her down and keep the disc near the Ninja end zone. In the end SOL came out with a win for 5th place overall. We gathered together in happiness and extreme satisfaction with our performance over the weekend.
We then proceeded to watch Iowa State defeat the Bella Donna's for the 3rd bid to Natties. Extreme celebration was had.
When everything was done, SOL drove over to our favorite chinese buffet. I smiled to myself because that is where I ate my first and now last post-tournament meal with SOL. It was a good finish to my years with SOL. We learned quite a few things about our team during this meal. Schneids is deathly afraid of the sound of chopsticks rubbing together. Brit demonstrated the sound of chopsticks banging against everything everywhere. A family of walrus took over half our table. Schmal thinks that baby squid taste like chicken. And Mitchy looks hilarious with these.
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| SOL Regionals 2011 |
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Megan Schneider- FOTY 2011
As a returning player the Fall is the time to meet, recruit and teach anyone interested in joining Ultimate. You get a feel for which players will stick with it and which players will probably leave your team shortly. Since Day 1 Megan "Schneids" Schneider was one of the recruits you had no doubt would stick with it. Her positive, bubbly and competitive nature kept her with this team without any previous Ultimate experience. As much as it was a good decisoon for her, it was an even better decision for Sol. Often times new players are unable or unwilling to fully committ to whatever practice schedule their new found college team has adapted. Schneids did not fall into that category as she has been one of the most committed players on Sol since her first practice. Starting a new sport there is only room for improvement and she has improved tremendously since the Fall season.
Schneids has been able to discover a love for Ultimate and really invested her time and energy to be able to contribute in a significant way to our team. Her energy and positive attitude alone make her an irreplacable member of Sol. Her ability to cut, pop, play defense and throw are only added bonuses of her presence on our team. She has become one of our strongest defenders, and as a freshman that's a big deal. Her ability to get open and read deep discs is impressive.
You can have the ability to perform every skill in Ultimate flawlessly but none of that is important if you do not have the heart to care. This is something that Schneids has every time she steps on the field. It's something that can never be questioned. Having the heart and refusing to give up will get you further in Ultimate than having the best throws, being the fastest or jumping the highest. Megan Schneider has the heart and luckily for her has the Ultimate skills to make her a great candidate for Freshman of the Year.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Pat Niles- COTY 2011
"One of my former High School Coach's once told me 'The people you respect the most are the people you feel like you can say anything to'. The ability to openly speak your mind, whether it's a positive or negative thought, creates an often rare respect between two people. Having the ability to play under and lead with Pat Niles has presented me with the opportunity to push myself to be a better leader." - Brit Gartner
For the past 3 years, the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire Women's program has fallen just short from making it to Nationals in the game to go. Last year, Sol felt that with the strong players we had that it was our best shot at Nationals in our programs short history. We didn't make it and graduated our 3 best players. With a shallow roster, graduating 3 players put Sol in a position for 2011 to be a rebuilding year.
I guess in some ways this year has been a rebuilding year. But the height we have rebuilt to in one year is much higher than every single person would have thought possible. Pat has been a great Coach for Sol. You can track the progress this team has made all year. Pat has helped us to focus on improving within each game and when one tournament ends focus is directed to the next. He knew it would take a lot of work to push each member of this Ultimate family in order to help us continue being one of the best teams in the North Central Region. He has pushed us to refuse being complacent. Nothing you have done up to any point you are at matters in the big picture if you do not continue to improve and perform better each time. His willingness to put in countless hours planning weekly practices and monthly timelines of where we need to be has helped put Sol in the position we currently find ourselves in—D-I Lake Superior Conference Champions.
Pat once told our team, "If the outcome of the game was determined by the name on your jersey no one would play Ultimate. There is always a team that is "better" and should win. You play Ultimate because there is always a chance your team can win." He cares about the individual progress that each of the ladies on Sol has been able to make this whole year, just as much as he cares about the success our team hopes to achieve. Pat's enthusiasm for pushing our team to reach the highest level we can reach makes each girl on this team thankful for his willingness to continue coaching Sol. To me, the difference between a group of people that can call themselves a team and one that can call themselves a family is that they have a prominent desire to be around each other outside of the required time for their activity. Sol has generally been a close team from the previous two years I have been a member. This year has honestly been the closest I have ever seen our team, thus making us truly a family. Pat has been a big advocate of us spending time with each other all year with his participation never being questioned, as there is no chance he would miss out! Helping us understand how important it is to actually care about and get along with each of your teammates has allowed Sol to mesh not only off the field, but also while playing.
Every College Ultimate player makes many sacrifices, but coaches give up just as much as their players—Pat being no exception. Giving up weekend plans to be at tournaments, spending money out of pocket to help pay for travel/food/lodging and giving up weekday plans to be at practices. Pat has gone above and beyond those expectations in planning practices, coming early and staying late to help on an individual level, and attending far too many hours of dance practice to help our team reach every goal we set (even the non-ultimate goal of repeating as CenTex Dance Champions). All of these actions have helped build the Sol family. Pat Niles has done great things with Sol this year—try to tell me that you would have picked Sol to win their Conference and have come this far since the beginning of the season, because I doubt you can.
I guess in some ways this year has been a rebuilding year. But the height we have rebuilt to in one year is much higher than every single person would have thought possible. Pat has been a great Coach for Sol. You can track the progress this team has made all year. Pat has helped us to focus on improving within each game and when one tournament ends focus is directed to the next. He knew it would take a lot of work to push each member of this Ultimate family in order to help us continue being one of the best teams in the North Central Region. He has pushed us to refuse being complacent. Nothing you have done up to any point you are at matters in the big picture if you do not continue to improve and perform better each time. His willingness to put in countless hours planning weekly practices and monthly timelines of where we need to be has helped put Sol in the position we currently find ourselves in—D-I Lake Superior Conference Champions.
Pat once told our team, "If the outcome of the game was determined by the name on your jersey no one would play Ultimate. There is always a team that is "better" and should win. You play Ultimate because there is always a chance your team can win." He cares about the individual progress that each of the ladies on Sol has been able to make this whole year, just as much as he cares about the success our team hopes to achieve. Pat's enthusiasm for pushing our team to reach the highest level we can reach makes each girl on this team thankful for his willingness to continue coaching Sol. To me, the difference between a group of people that can call themselves a team and one that can call themselves a family is that they have a prominent desire to be around each other outside of the required time for their activity. Sol has generally been a close team from the previous two years I have been a member. This year has honestly been the closest I have ever seen our team, thus making us truly a family. Pat has been a big advocate of us spending time with each other all year with his participation never being questioned, as there is no chance he would miss out! Helping us understand how important it is to actually care about and get along with each of your teammates has allowed Sol to mesh not only off the field, but also while playing.
Every College Ultimate player makes many sacrifices, but coaches give up just as much as their players—Pat being no exception. Giving up weekend plans to be at tournaments, spending money out of pocket to help pay for travel/food/lodging and giving up weekday plans to be at practices. Pat has gone above and beyond those expectations in planning practices, coming early and staying late to help on an individual level, and attending far too many hours of dance practice to help our team reach every goal we set (even the non-ultimate goal of repeating as CenTex Dance Champions). All of these actions have helped build the Sol family. Pat Niles has done great things with Sol this year—try to tell me that you would have picked Sol to win their Conference and have come this far since the beginning of the season, because I doubt you can.
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Pat Niles made a decision to coach our team this year after considering a move to the Twin Cities for a new job. We appreciate his choice to stay with our team and help us grow together this year. Pat Niles is known as many things. World Champion. Top notch singer and dancer. Best friend. Ultimate lifer. Yet to SOL he has been all of those things as well as a great coach.
Thanks Pat. We love you!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Breathing < Success (SOL=2K11 Conference Champions)
After much chaos caused by Mother Nature herself and wandering around Appleton's Fox River Mall instead of playing games on Saturday, we were left with a one day format to be played Sunday. A big thanks must go to Robyn Fennig and Scott Sawinski for doing all they could to make Conference happen! With only one day to get things done instead of two our team knew we had to commit to executing each point and come out strong.
Our Sunday was to start against UW- Miwaukee Black Cats- a team we faced a few times in the fall and they definitely challenged us so we were expecting the same this time around! It was go time!! Our first point of the day was filled with a lot of zone from both teams and many punts in hopes of getting better field positioning. It lasted 40 minutes and may have been the hardest I have had to work as a deep-deep all year. Usually when points last long it is hard for the sidelines to stay in the game since they are not actually on the field, but it can be said with complete honesty that each player on our sideline was in that point till the second we scored. It felt awesome and made each players job much easier to have someone constantly talking to them. Sidelines have not been our strongest all year, but I think this single point helped each player realize HOW HUGE SIDELINES ARE IN ULTIMATE!! After that point was scored (and the time limit of the game was halfway up...) Sol was able to keep the flow going scoring 5 more before hard cap went on and the game ended with a final score of 6-0 Sol.
Our next two games of pool play were against Marquette Moxie and Stevens Point. After establishing a flow in the Milwaukee game we were able to carry that over into each of these. Our friends on Shockwave were able to sneak one in against us making that games final score 11-1 while the ladies of Marquette were able to put 2 up against us making that final score 10-2.
Winning our pool put us in a position to play the Bellas in the first place game- winner goes to Regionals and loser defends their 2nd place spot in the backdoor game. After playing 3 games leading up to this we were feeling really confident in our play. Our handlers were meshing better than I can remember for multiple games in a row, our cutters were always open when the handlers had a look through the cup and OUR SIDLEINES were still ballin outta control. Bella won the flip choosing to pull with Sol starting on offense. We were able to take the first point causing much excitement within our sidelines! Sol was then able to put in 2 more to go up 3-0 to start the game! It's always good to go up right away in every game, but even more important in games versus teams like the Bellas. It's a team who historically Sol rarely beats. We started to realize that placing first was possible and put our foot on the gas to keep rollin till half where the score was 8-4 Sol. With the Bellas fighting back and making the score 8-6 with hard cap on we knew we had won the game with one point left to play. Going to the line we were fired up and excited to have one more point to score again, but unluckily for us the Bellas were able to take the last point making the final score 8-7. Sol was able to hold on and win with a huge upset.
A smart man (by the name of Pat Niles, world champion) once told our team that "If the outcome of the game was determined by the name on your jersey no one would play Ultimate. There is always a team that is "better" and should win. You play Ultimate because there is always a chance your team can win." On that day we played a team that looking at the name on each teams jersey's we should not have beat. But on that same day we played them and it was our day to win facing much competition from the Bellas.
Great job this weekend Sol! Take the time to think about all the things we have done together to get our team where we are. We were not the same team as we were in the fall, at the Iowa scrimmage or even Midwest Throwdown. 10 days till Regionals 2k11. The biggest tournament of your life to this point. Don't let up now, breathing is overrated anyway.
SOLove <3
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
SB2K11: It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
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| SolZone in Galveston, TX |
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| Schneids sings Happy Birthday to herself |
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| SolZone Formal Night |
Friday of our spring break, SOL piled back into our vehicles and drove to Austin, ready for a weekend of high level competition. We arrived to a pleasant surprise! Heather Wroten and our brand new sublimated Five jerseys! Sick nast - fan orders coming soon! After a revolutionary dance practice in the hotel parking lot, SOL tucked into bed with sweet sweet ultimate dreams dancing in our heads. We woke to discover possibly the best contintental breakfast we had ever seen in our lives.
SOL headed to the Texas Intramural fields for what would soon become...
CENTEX: ROLLED ANKLE FEST 2011
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| Coach Pat dishes out the game plan |
After a long line of our players getting taped by the trainers, SOL began to warm up and played our first two games against Pennsylvania's Venus and Washington's WUWU. We lost both games by about 10 points each. We played well, but weren't able to prevent the turns that would allow us to score. In our last game of pool play we were set to face Dartmouth's Princess Layout, who we've never played before. (We've seen their Five Ultimate sponsorship video - it is hilarious) Dartmouth took the game to half with SOL riding on their tail the entire way. In the second half, SOL went on a 4 point run, bringing the score to 10-7 over Dartmouth. We knew this was a team that we could beat and we definitely wanted to do so within pool play. Soft cap went on, and SOL was able to win with a score of 12-10 after a pass from Porch Cat to Jean Grey. Connecticut's UCONN emerged from the DIII bracket to play us in a crossover game that afternoon. We didn't know who this girl or this girl was but they definitely have some talent to be reckoned with. SOL was able to finish this game with a score of 13-11. 
After wrapping up the day with a 2-2 record, SOL prepared themselves to rock the dance off contest a second year in a row. Dancing is something our team takes very seriously. Coming back to Centex with a dance deserving anything less than first place was not an option. We've been practicing since the beginning of February. Spring break also provided ample time to fine tune our moves. Due to a timer on the lights on the fields, half of our dance was performed in the dark. This didn't stop SOL from getting first place once again.Check out the video here -------> https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150121562423359
(you have to be logged into Facebook, and if you don't have that you are kind of lame)
After a long day of ultimate and dancing, we were ready to teach our newbs the true origin of the taco pizza cheer. (except for the part where we didn't order a taco pizza at Cici's, but hey atleast they got to eat at the place)
Sunday SOL woke up feeling good about the previous day and ready to put it on repeat for day two. The first team we played was Texas A&M's Stacked. We were really able to utilize a lot of our new strategies learned over spring break. This brought us to a win of 9-6 over Stacked. Next we played the other Texas (Melee) and soon realized this was a better team. Melee is a team filled with a lot of athletic and smart ultimate players. They had smart cutter/handler combinations that were difficult to defend. It was an intense game and a nice challenge for our team to face. The final score was 3-12 Texas.
Next up was a game against Colorado's Kali (last year's 3rd place tied team at nationals). Many of our girls had the opportunity to attend nationals last year in Madison, WI and were able to watch Kali break seed like crazy. It was exciting to see what their team would be like this year and get the chance to play against them. After taking it to break, SOL was able to maintain scoring for a win of 10-6 over Kali. This was definitely an intense and hardfought game. It was definitely one of our best games over the weekend.Our final game of the day was against Princess Layout again for the DII 5th place spot (21st overall). SOL's focus in this game was to change up our strategies and challenge ourselves but still play a game that would be fun to end Centex with. The game ended with a score of 7-13 Dartmouth, but SOL didn't feel it was a hard loss because we still finished 10 spots above our original seed. Dartmouth was a fun team to play against and at the end of the day we did an encore performance of our first place dance for them.
Escaping with only 3 newly acquired sprained ankles, a dance champion title, and a 22nd place finish, SOL braced themselves to head back to a snowy Wisconsin.
Over the weekend SOL saw a significant improvement in every single player and in the team as a unit. We were able to find the flow and focus we needed to play strong from start to finish. Its amazing to see how much this team as grown not only in ultimate skill but also from the transition from friends to truly being a family. The best news yet? We still have two more tournaments to keep improving!
The Tournament That Was, and the Tournament That Wasn't....
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| SOL at The Arch |
At Midwest Throwdown, SOL was seeded third in our pool playing against Northwestern, Iowa, and St. Louis. We lost to Iowa and Northwestern but won against St. Louis. The games had long zone points with both teams working with/against the wind. The fields also looked like this making it more difficult to run. It was cool to see the improvements our offense has made when faced with zone defense, especially with a lot of new handlers. Sunday we had the opportunity to play teams we haven't played before or seen in a while. Ohio State caught us off guard because we didn't have any previous knowledge of their playing style. Luther was another team that played really well, especially with their stand out handler defense. We also played our friends from Kansas the Bettys. They are always fun to play and are a hilarious team to be around. Our final game was against Carleton B Eclipse, which was another game we lost. This was probably the most disappointing loss of our weekend because its not a team that we generally lose too. They played well and we were stricken with so many injuries that it was difficult to mentally keep ourselves focused and finish the weekend strong.
After getting our first outdoor tournament of the spring under our belt, we really focused on looking forward to our next opportunity - North Carolina. This was scheduled to be SOL's first Easterns experience. Every one of our girls (especially our noobs) were very excited to be making a trip to North Carolina to participate in a tournament heavily supported by Without Limits. In the week leading up to Easterns so many of our girls were realizing that they would be unable to attend due to finances, family, school, etc. The captains and Pat debated long what would be best for our team and concluded that bringing a very short roster of 12 would not be the most beneficial for our team when looking at the big picture. After much discussion we decided it was still important to provide our team with a alternate weekend that could still benefit SOL- a weekend "retreat" in EC! New tradition..?!
Since North Carolina was now out of the picture, CenTex was where we focused our frisbee and dancing energy :)
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Hello Ultimate World! Meet SOL 2011!
Hey SOL fans! We've got an amazing roster page to show you what/who our team is made of besides rainbows and fluffy bunnies.
You can find this page in the tabs up top or click on this link to go now:
http://solultimate.blogspot.com/p/meet-sol-2011.html
See you at Midwest Throwdown this weekend!!
Come say hello and we might just sell you a sick purple and pink SOL hat......
You can find this page in the tabs up top or click on this link to go now:
http://solultimate.blogspot.com/p/meet-sol-2011.html
See you at Midwest Throwdown this weekend!!
Come say hello and we might just sell you a sick purple and pink SOL hat......
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A little SOL update.....
At the end of winter break this year, SOL traveled to Iowa University to compete with the other top teams in the central region. SOL, UW Madison Bella Donna, Iowa State Women Scorned, and University of Iowa Saucy Nancy all got together for some pre-season ultimate and fun party times. At the end of the weekend, the scores weren't exactly in our favor, but we did get a pretty good idea of what's ahead for our spring season. The newbies also got to see some high level ultimate! Keep an eye out for our next blog entry with a combined recap of Iowa, indoor practices, and the Midwest Throwdown coming up soon!
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| Mmmmm, turf.... |
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| Happy to finally play ultimate! |
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| Ready, set, pull |
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| Three of our alumni joined us! |
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| SOL loves the Packers |
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