As a far-from-typical scrimmage ““ one full of excessive left-handedness and players clad in skirts ““ comes to a close, the women’s club ultimate frisbee team continues a yearly tradition that takes place at the end of its last practice before nationals.
In a scene reminiscent of a basketball game at Pauley Pavilion, the team known as Bruin Ladies Ultimate lines up shoulder-to-shoulder on a sideline of North Athletic Field. Each player receives a robust introduction, though this is by seventh-year coach Alex Korb, and sprints down the line of teammates, giving high-fives. Then, of course, comes the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in unison.
All part of the preparation, insisted Korb, a fifth-year graduate student and Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience who has coached the team since its inception. This procedure came from its first trip to the nationals. In the finals, the teams sang the national anthem and ran down a line, giving each other high fives.
“My team was completely bewildered about what they were supposed to do, and I feel like it made them nervous, so every year since then, (we do this) to mentally prepare them for the finals,” Korb said.
That “always be ready” attitude will be on display this weekend, as the team affectionately known to its players and fans as BLU will compete in the USA Ultimate College Championships in Madison, Wisc.
This will mark the fifth consecutive year that the team has qualified for nationals, but far from the easiest. A laundry list of maladies ““ a torn ACL, stress fracture, broken leg and broken ribs, in addition to other nicks and bruises ““ has hampered the young team all season.
“We’ve had a seriously injury-prone season,” said Meredith Callan, a third-year economics/international Area Studies student. “We’ve just had a lot of freak injuries.”
BLU qualified for the nationals by securing the last of the four bids at the Southwest Regionals in Colorado. The team heads to Madison as the No. 11-overall seed and will have to face off against No. 2 seed Wisconsin and No. 7 seed Stanford in pool play.
Coming off a run that has seen BLU make the finals in 2006 and at least the quarterfinals every year since, the No. 11 seed might be viewed as a disappointment. But to Callan, the seeding doesn’t tell the whole story.
She believes BLU is one of the strongest teams in the nation, despite having been considered better in the past.
“We’re always in the top ranks,” she said.
Ultimate frisbee itself requires endurance, agility and leaping ability ““ things that BLU works on during its mandatory practices and tournaments throughout the year. Yet stereotypes seem to impede ultimate from gaining credibility as a sport.
“I feel like people just don’t know about it,” said team captain Sarah Peters, a fourth-year mathematics/economics student, whose final season was cut short by an ACL tear earlier in the year.
“People don’t know there’s a huge network of ultimate. … It’s played all over the world.”
Two qualities not lost on the ladies of BLU are competitiveness and camaraderie. Their passion for the game is unquestioned on the field, and off the field the team stays a very tight-knit group.
Every single member of BLU also has a nickname. Peters is “Atari,” Callan is “Orlando,” and third-year biology student Kyle McBard is “Rex.” Don’t ask them the reason behind the names, though.
“It’s a part of our secret,” McBard said.
With its sights on nationals, BLU will first look to advance by finishing in the top three of its group. If the practice run of player introductions and the national anthem is any indication, this team wants to win it all.
“Honestly, I know that we’re definitely the underdogs this year, but I think we’re going to do great,” Callan said. “We’re about to go big.”