World Games try-outs

This past weekend was the first of two try-outs for the Team USA World Games team. I was attending the west coast version as a try-out, but I wanted to blog about it on the UPA Board Blog because the Board played a significant role in ensuring there would be try-outs for this team--which I think was a great decision. As a Board member, I wanted to share with the membership some of the rationale behind this year's increase in the UPA's promotion and support of the World Games team. As a participant, the try-out weekend was an amazing experience that I believe will have far reaching effects in the Ultimate community through strengthening inter-team relationships.

As a bit of background, this is the third cycle of fielding a US team for the World Games. For the 2001 and 2005 teams, the squads were picked by a UPA selection committee and the UPA arranged for sponsorship of the players' uniforms, liaised with the organizations responsible for the event (WFDF and the IWGA), and helped facilitate team fundraising, among other things. This year, the UPA heeded feedback from many of those involved with the 2005 team and established try-out camps to aid the selection process. The Board also committed significant financial resources towards supporting the athletes on the team with their travel expenses, although the travel and direct costs of try-out weekends were paid for by the try-out participants themselves. (You can read more about the 2009 application and selection process on the UPA website.)

Investing in this national team is a smart move on the UPA's part for many reasons, including increasing the competitiveness of the team as compared to our international counterparts, creating a high profile team that can serve to promote excitement about the sport among players, and enhancing the image of Ultimate as it is showcased at the World Games event. By providing up to $1,000 for travel costs for practices and competition before the event to the 20 players on the team (including both alternates and starters), the UPA helped decrease the financial impact of participating on this team and thus increased the pool of qualified candidates willing to invest considerable time, energy, and resources into the team. The try-out camps will also help ensure that the team selected is composed of players of the highest caliber, as the try-outs allow the selection committee and coach to get a more complete picture of players than possible using applications alone. The level of play is increasing rapidly around the world, making the US team's success even more dependent on selecting the best team possible.

In exchange for more financial support, the Team USA athletes have to agree to participate in community outreach at each of the team's practices and tournaments leading up to the World Games. Four years ago, Team USA's interactions with youth players at both its Atlanta and Seattle practices were incredibly positive experiences for all those involved. This year, the ambassadorial expectations of the team are increased, expanding the reach the team will have among Ultimate players in the community. What better way to get young players extra excited about this sport than to provide them with access to some of the top players in the game? Helping to build great role models in the sport can only be a good thing.

Increasing the professionalism in the team building process goes a long way towards creating a positive image of the sport as it is showcased at the international venue of the World Games. This event is one of the biggest exposures Ultimate has among non-Ultimate players and administrators. Past IWGA organizers have been impressed with Ultimate, and it is important to continue to make sure that the team has the resources to seen as a legitimate national team representing a legitimate sport.

As a player, I was absolutely thrilled to have been honored with selection as one of the athletes to compete at the team try-outs. The fact that this was the first time any sort of national try-out had been held for a non-youth team added to the excitement I felt going into the weekend. The West Coast try-out had 32 top players, including college, mixed, womens and open competitors. The schedule that the coach, Greg Connelly, devised for us was grueling and there wasn't a single player who wasn't sore by the end of the weekend. However, the thrill of competing with and against such talented players made the timed runs and demanding drills easily worth it.

Many of the players there had only ever competed against each other on their normal club teams, yet there was instantly a sense of camaraderie among the players there. To me, that is a huge intangible benefit of the try-out weekends: enhancing the sense of community among Ultimate players from around the country. The existing sense of an Ultimate community is part of what makes Spirit of the Game tenable at even the highest levels of competition. Getting to know and respect your opponents by being their teammates for a weekend goes a long way towards establishing the rapport and enhancing the respect that are basic requirements for SOTG to be such an integral part of this sport.

By having the UPA provide an avenue for players from around the country to compete together with a common goal of fielding the best Team USA possible, the UPA continued to pursue its mission through enhancing and promoting the three Cs: community, character, and competition. I'm sure the east coast try-out this coming weekend will be just as much a success for those 43 players and then the only really hard thing will be for the selection committee to make its decisions. Go USA!

Thanks to all who helped make the try-out a success,

Gwen

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All pictures from the west coast try-out by Meredith Tosta.

You can post a message to the entire Board by commenting here (comments will not be publicly viewable, but will be read by the Board), or feel free to send me an email about this or anything else at gwen.ambler@upa.org.