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!!
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