Daily Updates from the 2006 US Junior Teams!
Friday, August 18th – “All day, boy!” Sam Kanner, Grant Lindsley, Christian Foster, Casey Ikeda, George Stubbs, Alex Kapinos, and Eli Friedman took the line for the US’ starting D point in the gold medal match at the 2006 World Junior Ultimate Championships. “All day, boy!” had become the rallying cry for this year’s US Boys a team that could easily be called the best Junior team ever assembled. The US Boys started with a force forehand defense on the first point and forced a turnover after Canada had worked it down to the redzone. The US Boys showed their standard efficiency as they worked it down the field before Foster reeled in the goal on a nice lay-out catch on a backhand from Lindsley.
The US Boys had won their previous match-up with Canada on Tuesday, three days earlier – but three days is like mid-season for a team that only has ten days between the first time they play together and the last and a lot can happen over those three days. Several of the US Boys had picked up or aggravated injuries over that time in the grueling five day tournament including Ollie Honderd who was not playing because of an ankle sprain suffered in the semifinals against Colombia.
The Canadian Boys would not let the second point go the same way and on the second possession of the point Russell Street hit Pat L'Esperance on an up the line cut to tie the game up and it was on. For their first offensive point the US Boys worked out of a horizontal stack and Jeremy Norden found Andrew Hollingworth with a very nice deep throw. The US then ran off three consecutive break points two with a force backhand and the third with a 1-3-3 to take the lead 5-1 before Canada called a time out to regroup. On a short pull against man defense Canada worked it up from their vertical stack and Jasa Grant found Street for their second goal of the game. The US Boys answer back with efficient horizontal offense to make it 6-2.
At this point Canada needed to find its throws and just complete passes, but the US Boys defense was tenacious. The US came back with a tight 1-3-3 with the Robin Stewart-Demartino mark and Canada had two nice possession saving lay-out catches before they turned it over in their own redzone. Adam Miller hit Kanner right away to break to 7-2 and then after another Canada turnover Miller found Foster deep with a beautiful backhand huck. Canada added their third point on a huck from L'Esperance to Keilan Way past a bidding Hollingworth but the US would take half on a throw from Stubbs to Ben Feldman.
Cherish. These boys are the future of Ultimate in this country and this is the first and last time all 19 of them will step on the field together with the same jerseys on. Perhaps some will play on the same teams together in college or club, but these ten days will be unique and the experience and memories are fleeting. One half left to savor it. One half left to aim for perfection. One half left to attain mastery.
The US scores on O out of half with a nice lay-out catch by Foster on a throw by Miller and then breaks again to 10-3 on a huck from Lindsley to a wide open Foster. Canada calls another time-out, but at this point it’s about deck chairs while the US is an indomitable ice berg. Canada manages to thrash the 1-3-3 that’s been plaguing them to make it 11-4 and a break after two US turns and a Way catch past on a throw just past a laying out Lindsley. This was Canada’s first break of the game and the US’ first turns on an O point – the US throughout this game was incredibly stingy with the disc. Taylor Lahey hits Feldman deep on the next point (11-5) and Foster scores the next two the first from Stewart-Demartino and the second from Chris Brenenborg to bring his total to five goals on the game and the US’ lead to 13-5. After a couple of turnovers the US gets a coverage sack D (one of many in the game like it) and Darden Pitts hits Hollingworth for and Amherst connection.
The Canadian’s make one last push to as Miles Wilson makes a nice catch and then finds Way in the endzone and then add a break on a throw from Scott Hislop to Way (15-7). Lindsley makes a huge crowd pleasing lay-out catch on a slightly bendy backhand from Kosednar to bring the US to game point. The US puts Norden, Hollingworth, Stewart-Demartino, Feldman, Kanner, Kapinos, and Ikeda on the line and after a Canada throw into the ground and disciplined offense from the US Hollingworth throws the game winner to Norden at the opposite cone.
What made this team great is that they were a team; 19 all star players that bought into a system and bought into their coaches.
The Girls final against Canada was a completely different story. After two wins against Canada earlier in the tournament the team was feeling confident, perhaps cocky as the heavy favorites. They had proven that they could beat Canada in the wind with their 14-5 victory on Monday and they had proven that they could beat Canada without wind in their 17-8 victory on Wednesday.
The wind had picked up for the 1pm start time of the finals and the US started going upwind on D with a starting line of Georgia Bosscher, Claire Suver, Amber Sinicrope, Chelsea Murphy, Dory Ziperstein, Shannon O’Malley, and Patty King. The US ran a straight-up mark to respond to Canada’s horizontal offense. In a play that would work all day long Anne Mercier hucked it deep to Alexa Kovaks and after a couple of passes Audrey St. Arnaud found Madeline Hall for a turnover free first point and the 1-0 Canada lead. The US responded with a huck from Claire Suver to Bosscher (1-1). The US again came down straight up and Canada turned it but Tiffany Lin got it back with a point block on King and after another turnover from each team Andrea Cheng laid out for the goal from Lin (1-2). Canada then added two breaks to open the lead to 4-1 on goals by Kovaks and Hall – Canada had come to play.
Canada for its part was a very different team than the US had seen in their two pool play matches. In those games Canada had avoided tipping their hand and in the finals they tightened up their subbing rotation, played stronger dump and downfield defense, and stepped up the intensity of their marks. The marks were particularly noticeable as they were very physical and the counts were noticeably fast – we’ll chalk it up to the adrenaline. The US responded by looking downfield too long and not sticking to their dump swing offense.
Bosscher, O’Malley, Leila Tunnell, and Maise Richards must have been having flashbacks to 2004 and their complete collapse against Canada in the gold medal match. These four returning players must have remembered how after the US went down the whole team played tentative as Canada got run through d block after run through d block. But this US team was not the US team from 2004. While at 4-1 tightness began to creep in it was not accompanied by the fear that held the team back in 2004. This team was still confident in their abilities.
At 4-1, after a turnover each the Claire Suver found O’Malley for a goal. Canada responded again to keep the lead at three with a throw from Carrie Lugg to Lin (2-5). The US O ran a split stack on the next point and after three turnovers and then an Alison Douglas D, Ziperstein hits Claire Suver in some nice endzone offense. Canada calls a timeout but the US wins it by getting two breaks the second after a sweet Sam Valesano point block in the 4-2-1. Canada calls another timeout but it doesn’t stop the surging Americans who get a D in the 4-2-1 and work it downfield despite a nice bid by Mercier and eventually Bosscher hits Richards for the US’ first lead of the game at 6-5.
Anne Mercier is a force to be reckoned with. She has been mentioned earlier in the week for her abilities, but she has continued to prove to be the dominant force on the field this week at the World Junior Ultimate Championships. The US was unable to stop her from getting the disc and she was almost always able to hit her receivers deep particularly very fast Alexa Kovaks. Mercier is also a strong defender making good, smart bids. Both of these players will continue to be gamers at whatever level that they play at for the next several years.
At 6-5 the US came out in their 4-2-1 and transitioned at about midfield before Mercier hucked it to Kovaks. Canada’s Lin turned it over on the goal line, but Claire Suver gave it right back. O’Malley came up big with a point block, but Claire Suver gave it back again before Canada tied it up with a throw from Kovaks to St. Arnaud (6-6). Hall comes up with a huge D on the next point and Mercier hits Kathryn Pohran and the game was back on serve (6-7). Drew Johnson saves a US possession with a big layout catch while Hall attempted to get a second straight lay-out block and Valesano finds Murphy to tie the game back up (7-7). The two teams traded to 8-8 and then Valesano pulls one down over Kovaks after a Canadian turnover and two passes later Ziperstein and Valesano connect for the halftime lead (9-8).
While the US retook the halftime lead, their offense was still having considerable trouble with the Canadian defense and it did not look as easy as it had earlier in the week. Mercier and Kovaks were playing virtually every point and Hall, Lin, Cheng, Lugg, and St. Arnaud were seeing a lot of the field as well. These players were peaking at the right time and the Canadian coaches were subbing smartly all week for this moment.
The US started the second half going downwind on offense but Bosscher is point blocked by Mercier and Canada gets the upwinder and tie it up at 9s. The US turns it again on their next possession but Tunnell gets a big D in the air to prevent a score. Mercier then gets a big D on the other end in the air, but Sinicrope responds with a lay-out block on the US goal line and she then hits Fiona McKibben for the goal (10-9). The US gets another D with their 4-2-1 and puts it in for the break and 11-9 lead. The US goes to the 4-2-1 well again, but Canada goes to their Mercier to Kovaks well and Canada’s well is deeper (11-10). At 11-10 the US is caught looking downfield too long on several possessions and despite big Ds by O’Malley and McKibben, the six US turnovers result in a Canada break and another tie game (11-11). At 11’s a huck goal from Bosscher to Tunnell is called back on a travel and then Bosscher is stalled. Two turnovers by each team later, O’Malley got a point block and Suver and Sinicrope work the disc into the endzone as the cap went on, 12-11 game to 14.
With the end in site and a World Championship on the line the tension went up drastically. The US tried a new D, a box in one, with Bosscher manned up on Mercier. The US transitioned out of the zone and Claire Suver comes up with a block but a foul is called, contested by Suver and sent back. Valesano got a D on the next pass, Ziperstein turned it over, and then Valesano gets another D as she gets her hand on a high pass to Lugg coming in, but that D is also called back on a contested foul. After play resumed, Lugg dropped the disc, Bosscher hucked a turnover, and then Autumn Tocchi got a point block but Lugg came up with a big lay-out to save the possession. Cheng hucked deep to Kovaks and a few passes later Cheng connected with St. Arnaud to tie the game up at 12s.
Canada pulled out of bounds at 12-12 and the US started out of a split stack from the brick with Canada forcing backhand. After a two passes Sinicrope hucked deep but it hangs and a crowd gathered under it. Johnson got a hand on it after it was knocked around but didn’t hold on and calls a strip on Mercier which was quickly contested. After each team added a turnover Ziperstein hit Murphy in the endzone for gamepoint US, 13-12.
Canada called a timeout between points. The US came down zone and transitioned out at about midfield. Despite two bids by O’Malley who is matched up on Kovaks, Kovaks was able to score on a pass from Hall to make it double game point, 13-13.
The last point could be a whole post in and of itself. At 18 minutes long, at least six turnovers by each team, two US timeouts, two injury time-outs, and numerous stalls and receiving and marking fouls (most of them contested), the outcome of this game was secondary to the heart of the players on both of these teams. The US began the point with the same line that they started the game except that Valesano was in for Murphy. On the US’ first possession Mercier had a huge lay-out bid and came up with the disc at the same time as Bosscher and did not argue the tied catch call. Later on that possession Ziperstein called a timeout on the goal line but two passes later Claire Suver tried to force an inside-out break that opened the floodgate of turnovers. The Mercier and Bosscher match-up was intense with both players battling hard. King came up big with a run through block mid-way through the point and a fist pump to go with it. After a couple turns early in the point, Claire Suver looked a bit gun shy but had the guts to do what needed to be done when she saw King busting open deep towards the endzone. King clap caught the final pass of an incredible point of an unbelievable game for the world title. While the US will take home the gold, it is difficult to say if they were in fact better than Canada today; in the finals both teams were even on breaks and turnovers, the US just got their breaks at the right time.
As the game went well beyond the expected time, and with threats of long lines at airport security, many US players spent fewer than five minutes saying their goodbyes at the field before skpping the awards ceremony and busting off to the airport. But for all 39 players and 7 coaches, this will be a week that they cherish forever.
Thursday, August 17th – Day four of the World Ultimate Junior Championships opened with the US Boys last round pool play game against Australia at 9am. The Australians have looked good all tournament long giving Canada a difficult game on the first day. They are lead by John McNaughton a lefty with quick releases and pinpoint throws as well as strong downfield cutting. The game mattered very little; unless the Australians could be the US Boys by 7 points the semifnals would pit the US vs. Colombia and Australia vs. Colombia. As such, neither team was at their top form. The US came out stronger and opened the lead to 6-0 despite McNaughton’s strong handling against the US Boys 1-3-3 defense. Chris Kosednar made a nice run through catch block at 5-0. At 6-0 the Aussies shredded through the US’ 1-3-3 and the transition to man before McNaughton hit tiny Stephen Gangemi for their first score. The US Boys took half 9-1. In the second half the teams traded points for most of the second half and the game ended in favor of the US 17-8.
The US Girls bested Finland for the third time in the tournament in the semifinals 17-1. With this win the US Girls secured a birth in the finals tomorrow at 1pm against Canada. Canada won their semifinals against Australia 17-6.
In the Boys semifinals the US faced Colombia. Colombia, the surprise of the tournament beat many the traditional European powers Sweden, Finland, and Great Britain, to secure their spot in the semifinals. Colombia is a short, fast, and athletic team with a handful of skilled handlers that have quick fakes and good break mark throws. IN their pool play match-up the US shut-out Colombia, but a very different Colombia came to play in this elimination round. While the US opened up a 6-0 lead behind a Robin Stewart-Demartino lay-out catch for the fourth score, Colombia scored their first point against the US and then broke on a nice huck from Andres Palomares to Jorge Aguilar. The US took half 9-3 and scored the first point out of half before Palomares came up with a nice point block after a turnover and then Aguilar hit Juan Seabastian Prieto to bring it to 11-4. The US scored the next point on efficient offense when Matty Sung found George Stubbs. Colombia responds by shredding the US 1-3-3 with quick passes as Martín Searrano hit Esteban Arango. The US scored the next two points to take the lead to 14-5 but looked a little sloppy doing it. On the first of those two points the horizontal offense began losing discipline with the cuts starting too deep and then coming to close to the handlers. In the next point the US’ 1-3-3 to man transition was slow and had many holes. The US team finished the game 17-6 with a throw from Stewart-Demartino to Grant Lindsley. The moments of sloppiness were likely a sign of the player’s exhaustion after 9 full days of focusing and playing Ultimate. But whether the US can focus for the finals against Canada or whether the team already peaked earlier in the week remains to be seen.
Tonight is the always exciting trade night and then a tournament dance party for a little last night socializing.
Wednesday, August 16th – Wednesday marked day three of the five day competition. For the US Girls, both games were rematches and yielded similar results to the first match-up. The US Boys faced newcomers Israel in the morning round and Sweden, one of the original Junior teams, in the afternoon round.
Chelsea Murphy laying out for team USA - Image by Brian J. CookAfter the US Girls win over Canada on Monday, the Canadian girls appeared to be shocked.
The demeanor of the team changed from serious to light-hearted and it was unclear if they were trying to loosen themselves up to take the pressure off or if they were resigned to having a good time shooting for second at the World Championships.
On Tuesday they were singing songs between games, during warm-ups and at lunch.
It was unclear what to make of it.
But as soon as the second pool play game between the US and Canada started it was clear that Canada had come to play.
The wind was lighter than it had been in their earlier match-up and the US tore through the Canadian 4-2-1 on the opening possession.
After the transition
Patty King hit
Sam Valesano to open the game 1-0.
At 2-0 the teams found themselves in a hell point, but the US pulled it out after a near miss on a sweet lay-out bid by
Chelsea Murphy and a goal line point block by
Dory Ziperstein to go up 3-0.
Canada’s Anne Mercier helped Canada to their first score with a nice put to the speedy Alexa Kovaks.
Mercier is Canada’s strongest handler and will be a force in the future.
She had several sweet throws and lay-out bids and she plays very much like Alex Snyder, this year’s Canadian bred Callahan winner.
Georgia Bosscher had a strong lay-out catch block at 3-1 to retake the momentum and the US rode that to an 8-1 lead.
Out of half
Amber Sinicrope hit Bosscher with a beautifully placed 60 yard backhand for the 9-3 lead.
The US kept the pressure on with some strong marking by
Autumn Tocchi and a lay-out catch by Murphy and the US quickly found themselves at game point 16-5.
Before the US could close it out Canada scored three times with tight defense and efficient offense in what is perhaps a glimpse of the Canada that will show up in the almost certain finals match-up.
(Above) Georgia Bosscher makes a layout catch-block against Canada - Image by Burt Granofsky Israel, along with Colombia, is another first time team at the World Championships.
Ultimate has been booming in Israel for the last two years with the creation of the Israeli Flying Disc Association (FLOW).
In addition to the 11 players from Israel that the team brought, four Israeli nationals living the in the US joined the team including Yossi Kakou from Hopkins HS in Minnesota who had a strong showing at the US’ team try-outs in March.
The team is young and almost the
same squad could return to the WJUC for two more cycles (in 2008 and 2010).
Kakou, a very experienced player spent a lot of time teaching his younger teammates in English while another teammate translated Kakou’s words into Hebrew.
It was amazing to hear the game being explained in Hebrew with English words like “dump” and “swing” peppered in.
After defeating Canada, the US Boys team’s biggest rival, in Tuesday’s showcase game the team needed to refocus.
They managed to bring that focus in their 9:30am game against Israel.
The team has continued to improve and managed to score seven straight first half points without a turnover.
After half the US Boys continued to be stingy with the disc and vigorous on defense and won the game 17-0.
The win was a team effort with not many individual plays to note.
On an interesting note,
Chris Kosednar, who is right-handed, has strong pulls from both is left and right side and can use them effectively.
The talent and skills of this next generation of Ultimate players will soon be taking over the college and club games here in the US.
(Above) Alex Kapinos gets up for the disc - Image by Burt GranofskyAt noon all of the teams' coaches faced off in a highly anticipated coach game that had greater intensity than one would expect. WJUC head media guy Tony Leonardo had some really nice plays and US Girls Asst. coach Miranda Roth had a nifty point block and then bookended it with a score on US Boys Asst. Coach Jason Simpson.
At 2:00pm the US Girls faced Finland for the second time in the tournament. The team played a solid all around game and made quick work of the Fins 17-1.
(Below) Team USA Boys Celebrate - Image by Burt Granofsky
At 2:30pm the US Boys played Sweden.
Sweden is historically the strongest Juniors team in the world and has taken home the gold medal 6 of the 12 times this event has been held.
The team has not performed as well as of late falling to 6
th in the 2004 event, the first time they had not medaled and losing to Columbia on the first day of play at this year’s event.
They have, however, maintained a virtual stranglehold on European Juniors Ultimate and are coached by former DoG player Stefan Carlsson.
The wear and tear on the US Boys team after three days of play is evident as they definitely looked slower in their afternoon game today.
Sweden matched the US to 2-2 before a handblock by
Robin Stewart-Demartino helped the team to a 3-2 lead and a surge of energy.
Stewart-Demartino has an incredible mark and, while there are no stats being taken in this category, must lead the tournament in point blocks.
The US rode that momentum to a 9-3 lead.
At 16-5
Adam Miller dropped a pull and Sweden called a time out on the goal line.
Off the check, Stewart-Demartino got another handblock, this time on a scoober, leading US World Games Coach, Ted Munter, who had just walked up, to quip “not what I would have called off the timeout.”
The US worked the disc down the field and Kapinos pulled down a huck from
George Stubbs while toeing the back line for the 17-5 win.
Tonight’s activities include two showcase games; DoG will face Twisted Metal and Brute Squad will face a Godiva combo squad.
Tomorrow the US Boys finish pool play against Australia and will likely face Colombia in the semifinal match-up while the US Girls will face Finland for the third time in the semifinals.
Tuesday, August 15th -
(Below) Oliver Honderd bids against Canada - Image by Burt Granofsky
Both US teams continued to improve Tuesday on the second day of the World Junior Ultimate Championships. The US Boys began with Colombia at 9am in light rain. The Colombian Juniors team is brand new to the international scene but they managed to win their first game in international competition against longtime Juniors stalwarts Sweden on Monday before scoring six on the highly skilled Australian team in the afternoon round. The Columbian team is short and quick with a few highly skilled players. The US began the game on offense and Colombia played a force forehand while the US ran its effective and improving horizontal stack. The US worked it efficiently down the field before
Jeremy Norden found
Alex Kapinos for the goal. The US Boys kept up the offensive efficiency while the defense was stifling and the game ended at 17-0 in favor of the yanks. The almost highlight of the game was an attempted greatest from
Christian Foster to a bidding
Ben Feldman. While the final score was lopsided it did not reflect the great potential of the Colombian squad.
The US Girls began against Finland and like the boys they faced a force forehand and ran a horizontal offense. They scored the first point on their second possession when
Brenna Hokanson found
Chelsea Murphy with a forehand. In the game Finland found the endzone twice, once to make it 4-1 and a second time to make it 11-2. At 12-2
Amber Sinicrope made a nice lay-out catch and then threw an inside out backhand to
Maise Richards for the goal. While the final score was 17-2, like the boys first round game, the score did not reflect the Finnish team's talent and potential. Their offense was wide open and several possessions were ended on throws just off the fingertips of their receivers.
(Right) Claire Suver comes down with the disc - Image by Pete KrautscheidBecause of the small number of girls teams the division is set up in a double round robin. At 1:45, the US Girls faced Australia in their second pool play game against the team. The Australian girls have improved greatly in their first three games of the tournament and it showed in this game. Australia changed their game plan and game itself opportunities for big yardage gains
deep. Throughout the game they hucked against the US Girls 4 person cup zone (henceforth known as the 4-2-1 for brevity) and on a few occasions came up big. The US Girls took half 9-2 behind strong play including a nice grab by
Shannon McDowell at 3-1, some good dump defense by
Claire Suver to create a turnover at 4-1, and a well placed huck from
Sam Valesano to the speedy
Patty King to open the lead to 8-1. The US Girls scored the first point out of the second half before losing focus and letting the Australians score four of the next six points including the second offensive break that they have allowed all tournament as the Australians attempted to climb back into the game at 12-6. The US Girls called a time-out and refocused to take the next five points behind a lay-out endzone D from Hokanson at 13-6 and a poach block by
Drew Johnson at 15-6.
(Above) Georgia Bosscher stretches for the disc in the endzone - Image by Pete Krautscheid On Tuesday the US Boys got their opportunity to play in the showcase round and their 4pm match against Canada was eagerly anticipated. Prior to the round both teams were 3-0. The last time they played the US Boys beat the Canadians in the 2004 gold medal match 17-9. The US Boys were impatient to prove that they were as good as the 2004 squad and the Canadians were ready to prove that they were the team to beat.
By game time the clouds were long gone and the sun had come out with a slight upwind downwind breeze.
The US started on offense going down wind with Kapinos,
Casey Ikeda, Norden,
Grant Lindsley, Foster,
Sam Kanner, and
Chris Kosednar on the starting line.
The Canadians began with a force backhand while the US started with their well-practiced horizontal offense.
The US moved the disc downfield patiently.
Canada had a look at a D on a bid from Andrew Vogt and two passes later Lindsley saved the possession with a nice lay-out grab before Kanner threw a forehand to Ikeda for a score and the 1-0 lead.
The US came out backhand on their first defensive point and Kapinos got a poach D about four yards outside of the Canadian endzone.
Adam Miller pickedit up and as the stall count got high
Eli Friedman cut from the dump position to the open side for the goal and the 2-0 lead.
On the third point of the game Canada got on the scoreboard on a nice catch by Jordan McPhee over the US’
Andrew Hollingworth on a huck by the Canuck’s Joshua Magnusson.
The US scored on their second possession of the next point as
George Stubbs picked up the trash with a big lay-out catch on a huck intended for Kapinos.
The intensity ramped up on the fifth point when the US came out in a 1-3-3.
Robin Stewart-Demartino got a point block on Canada’s Russell Street, but Street reacted quickly and layed out to maintain possession for Canada.
Kanner got a piece on the next pass and Foster finished off the D and the US headed towards the endzone with Friedman finding Foster for the 4-1 lead and a Canada timeout.
The US Boys kept the pressure on and at 6-2 Stewart-Demartino got a footblock in the 1-3-3 which lead to a sweet Kanner to Kapinos goal on a counter (turn-the-page) cut.
At 8-2, both teams showed some weaknesses as the teams combined for nine turnovers.
On the point Canada’s Pat L’Esperance came up with a nice layout block, but goal line turnovers doomed Canada and the US put it in for the goal and the half, 9-2.
The two teams traded out of half to 11-5 before Canada got the first break on the US offense for the tournament to make it 11-6.
Canada came out strong on D again and at stall nine Ikeda pulled out a perfectly lucky 50 yard hammer to HS teammate Norden for the score.
At 13-7 Keilan Way of Canada came up with a nice block but it deflected right to Kosednar and a few passes later Foster finds
Darden Pitts for the score.
The US then put the pressure back on and took the last three points to win the game going away 17-7.
While Canada certainly had a handful of unlucky breaks and uncharacteristic miscues they will need to really step up to have a shot against the US Boys later in the tournament.
In the evening teams shared a great pasta dinner and then enjoyed some freestyle from the Spinning Bees.
Tomorrow the US Boys face Israel and Sweden while the US Girls will see both Canada and Finland for the second time of the tournament.
Monday, August 14th - Tick, tick, Boom! The US Junior Teams started the World Junior Ultimate Championship off with a bang on Monday. We'll take this one chronologically.
The US Boys opened competition against Great Britain. Great Britain has had a juniors team in international competition since shortly after the Junior World Championships began in 1983. Recently youth Ultimate has been thriving in the country. The GB squad started out on defense and came out with a standard zone defense. The US O made quick work of it and punched it in for a 1-0 lead. On the second point the US showed forehand and
Ollie Honderd came up with a poach D. The US worked the disc downfield before
Ben Feldman threw out the back to Honderd (oh yes, WFDF has 18 meter endzones - about 5 yards shorter than UPA sized fields). After two more turns by the US squad, GB found the endzone for their first point to make it 1-1. On the third point the US settled their nerves some and worked it in. They then showed their effective 1-3-3 defense for the next three points and opened up a 4-2 lead. From there it was the US the rest of the way with mostly 1-3-3, a little bit of forehand and backhand and one point of FM. The US sqaud took the game 17-2 with some great handler work from
Jeremy Norden and
Eli Friedman, some solid man d from
Casey Ikeda, and great work on the point in the 1-3-3 by
Robin Stewart-Demartino,
Taylor Lahey, and
Andrew Hollingworth, whose shoulder was feeling much better.
The US Junior Girls opened up against Australia at 10:30am. Australia is a relative newcomer on the international scene at the youth level; 2004 was the first time that Australia sent a team to the World Junior Ultimate Championships, but they have a rapidly developing program. The US started on O and quickly scored their first point and then came out with some straight-up defense and opened up the lead to 5-0 after
Autumn Tocchi came down with a huge lay-out catch following an
Emilie McKain D. The US then came out with a couple of points of 1-3-3 scoring them both, the second on a nifty lefty (off-hand) backhand from
Claire Suver to
Amber Sinicrope to make the score 6-0. The US continued to dominate using mostly force forehand and backhand with a couple of points of 4-man cup zone after half to widen the lead to 15-0. At 12-0
Georgia Bosscher began to assert her dominance with a big block and, on the ensuing possession, a nice lay-out catch and the assist to make it 13-0. Australia finally found the scoreboard on a nice no-turnover point against the US' force forehand defense to make it 15-1. The US closed out the game 17-1 on a pass from Claire to
Patty King.
Since 1983 Finland has been in the finals of the World Junior Ultimate Championships 4 times and have won it all once. In 2004, the US Boys faced Finland in the semifinals and after a tough first half pulled away to win 17-11. Finland typically plays with a variation of a horizontal stack that creates many cutting options for the downfield cutters. The US started their 2pm game against Finland where they left off against Great Britain and came out strong with a 5-1 lead behind two huge
Alex Kapinos layout blocks. It did not stop there as the US continued to roll to a 17-1 victory behind the strength of their 1-3-3 and their efficiency after the turnover. First half highlights included a well placed huck from Ikeda to
Darden Pitts to make it 7-1 and a lay-out catch for a score by Hollingworth on the next point. In the second half Honderd had a sweet lay-out catch for a score to make it 11-1 and
Adam Miller pulled out a swell stall 9 huck at 14-1 to
Christian Foster who then found Ben in the endzone to make it 15-1. On the day Miller played very strongly. He's the kind of player who doesn't make many highlight type plays but will do the right thing consistently - hit the open guy, cut to the right place, and play shutdown defense. The US Boys looked great after day one. Overheard on the sideline: "I didn't know that players who don't have licenses could drive an offense so well."
The 4pm showcase was the game that everybody was waiting to see. The US Girls were slated to play Canada in the first of two pool play games between the teams that met in the 2004 World Junior Ultimate Championship Finals. The two teams split at the 2004 event, with Canada winning the important one in a rout, 17-8. The rivalry between the two countries is friendly but intense with Canada stoking the fires during the opening ceremonies by reminding the field that they were the returning champions. The US girls appeared a bit nervous before the game with captain Claire Suver openly expressing that she was excited but a little bit scared - certainly not the place that you want to be before a game. The wind had picked up in the afternoon and the US Girls started the game on D going straight-up man with Canada in a horizontal stack. The Canadian girls worked the disc down smoothly and while Patty King got a hand on the last pass the Canadian's pulled it down for a score. The Canadian's came out in a four person cup zone and the US offense played nervous. The US O had five turnovers on their first O point including a sweet block by Canada's Anne Mercier (#5). Canada ended up putting in the score to make it 2-0 Canada and it didn't look good. The US Coaches called a timeout to settle the team down. Canada came down with their four person cup again and while the US had some difficulty, after three US turnovers a throw from Georgia Bosscher to Claire Suver put the US on the board. The US then came down in a four person cup of their own and it proved to be very effective. On Canada's second possession of the point
Shannon O'Malley from the wing came through with a big run through catch block on Canada's goalline and then called a time-out. This display of both aggresiveness and poise was what the team needed and O'Malley found Bosscher after the time-out to tie the game at 2's. The US again came with their four person cup and Canada began to look nervous and hucked for field position as soon as they had an open look and O'Malley came down with the D. The US worked it up the field but turned it over. The US proceeded to generate two more turns before O'Malley found Autumn Tocchi on a huge huck to take their first lead 3-2. The US confidence continued to increase as Canada dropped the pull at 4-2 and
Dory Ziperstein hit
Maise Richards for the 5-2 lead. The next point would prove to be the decisive point of the game. The US Girls came down again with the four person zone and for the first time Canada worked it through the zone effectively. At about 25 yards out the US team awkwardly transitioned to a man-forehand defense. Canada proceeded to shred that towards the endzone before Bosscher came up with a HUGE layout block on the goal line on a break side throw. The US Girls then proceeded to work the disc down the field efficiently before Drew Johnson saw Emelie McKain in the endzone. Johnson lofted a backhand to the 4'11" McKain and it looked like a sure turnover. McKain forced her defender to make an early play on the disc by charging the disc and then turned as the disc went overhead to make a big lay-out catch for the 6-2 lead. The US Girls continued to play strong with Bosscher going up strong over a Canadian defender to take the half 9-4. Richards pulled out a nice layout catch of her own in the point to go up 10-4. At 12-4 the wind began to die down and the US girls pulled out a straight-up mark. Canada would score that point as the cap went on, but it would be their last as the US Girls finished the game going away on a throw from Tocchi to O'Malley to win the game 14-5. However, as in 2004, the pool play games are just a warm-up for elimination and past results are no guarantee of future performance. But, while the Canadian's may be the defending champions, the US is now the clear favorite.
The evening activities included a great chicken dinner followed by an ice cream social where the US teams taught the Finnish teams a popular game known as "Big Booty" and the US coaches played a little mini against the Columbian coaches.
Up for tomorrow, the US Girls face Finland at 9am and Australia again at 1:00pm while the US Boys will play tournament newcomer Colombia, who upset Sweden today 14-12, at 9am and Canada, the only remaining undeafeted team, in a rematch of the 2004 final at 1pm. For full tournament results check out
score-o-matic.
Sunday, August 13th - The big news from the US Junior Teams out of Boston today was the last minute addition of
Robin Stewart-Demartino to the US Boys roster. Robin's promotion from the alternate list was prompted by the training camp injuries to
Stephen Panasci and
Andrew Hollingworth. Robin has a wealth of experience from Amherst HS and the club team Twisted Metal and was on the Amherst scout team which played the US Junior Boys on Saturday. His skill with the disc, endurance, and great mark will make him a valuable addition to the team particularly in the role of point in the team's zone defenses.
Today was a rest day for the teams with some light activity. Both teams woke up late and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before heading out to the fields for a thorough warm-up, some stretching and throwing, and a little strategic fine tuning. At 5:30pm the teams participated in the opening ceremonies which began with a parade of all participants followed by a welcome from the tournament director, Linda Sidorsky, and WFDF representative, Brian Geisel. Elder stateman of Ultimate, Steve Mooney spoke to the up and coming players about the ability to help Ultimate evolve and then each team presented a song or skit. Highlites included interactive songs from Finland and Israel. The US Girls presentation was a multi-part competition that included "body traversing" (dominated by
Leila Tunnell and
Amber Sinicrope) and a pickle-eating contest while the US Boys presented a skit featuring the physical comedy of
Grant Lindsley.
Tomorrow games begin with the US Boys meeting Great Britain at 9am and Finland, in a rematch of their 2004 semifinal, at 2:00pm. The US girls will open at 10:30am against Australia before meeting Canada in a highly anticipated match-up against Canada in the 4:00pm showcase round.
Before the first pull the wonderful work of the seven US Team coaches should be acknowledged. The US Team coaches have done remarkable job with the challenging and often thankless (and certainly salary-less) responsbility of taking a group of talented players and in a short time creating a team. The US Junior Girls team is lead by three Seattle players, head coach Vida Towne and assistants Miranda Roth and Julia Weese-Young. Vida's leadership is well supported and complemented by Julia's ability to connect and communicate with the players and Miranda's technical expertise. Most of the players on the team are stand outs on their high school or regular team and as such play the role of handler. The challenge of the US Girls Coaches has been to identify diverse roles for these players and teaching some players to be comfortable in a completely new and unfamiliar role. Becuase of their wealth of knowledge Vida, Julia, and Miranda have been succesful at accomplishing this difficult task.
On the US Junior Boys side head coach Michael Baccarini is supported by assistants Jason Simpson, Chase Sparling-Beckley, and Ben Van Heuvelen. Michael has delegated defenseive strategy to Ben and Jason while he and Chase have tackled offensive strategy work. In addition, Ben has trains the team in mental toughness, Chase provides extensive one-on-one feedback, and Jason lights a fire under the team's belly. Michael, like the rug in the Big Lebowski, really ties it all together. The boys coaches have done a fantastic job of taking 19 all-star players and making them a team. In the parlance of our times, these coaches are sick.
Saturday, August 12th - Saturday was the final day of the US Junior Team training camps and after three days of hard play the Sunday rest will be greatly appreciated. Stepping back a bit, in the team meetings last night the US team captains were decided. For the Boys
Sam Kanner,
Darden Pitts, and
George Stubbs were chosen and for the girls
Georgia Bosscher,
Claire Suver, and
Molly Suver will be the captains. All six of these players are highly respected by their teammates as talented, well-spirited players with great leadership abilities. Darden and George have both gained top level club experience with Boston DoG and Atlanta Chain Lightning respectively and Claire will be playing for Seattle Riot this year.
The morning for the boys started off with more focus on offensive strategy before an 10:15am match-up against Amherst HS Ultimate Huricanes players and alums including 2004 US Junior Team members Will Neff and Sam Roberts and coached by former US Junior Team Coach Tiina Booth. The US was playing without
Andrew Hollingworth who injured his shoulder late on Friday's practice. The teams traded to 3-3 but while the 'Canes were firing on all cylinders, finding their deep looks, and not turning it on their O possessions, the US Boys were having more difficulty with their offense and had to work for multiple turnovers when starting on offense. In the second part of the first half
Eli Friedman got a sweet outside shoulder lay-out block and the US Boys stepped up on defense while the 'Canes made some uncharacteristic errors as the US Boys took half 8-5 up three breaks. In the second half, the US Boys opened with a score to take the lead 9-5. The teams traded to 14-10 and the US Boys added another break to take the game 15-10. Both Kanner and
Jeremy Norden played great offense for the US Boys keeping the disc moving and hitting some nice deep shots. Overall the US Boys looked slower than expected as the two days of training had taken its toll. On the other side of the coin, the Amherst team included players from multiple years, including some who had never really played togehter and many who had not been conditioning over the summer.
The afternoon for the US Boys was lighter with a lot of talking and a little endzone work. The light day tomorrow will allow the team to come out strong for their first game of the tournament against Great Britain on Monday.
The US Girls once again had a similar day with a lighter schedule and a game against a scout team made up of Amherst HS players. Their game, however, was in the afternoon. The morning consisted of extensive work on set pieces off of stopped discs and some scrimmaging that saw Bosscher making nice plays. In the afternoon scrimmage the US Girls emerged victorious on the strength of their long game and their red-zone efficiency. Minnesota high school league and Flaming Moe stand outs
Sam Valesano and
Patty King stepped up big with strong cutting. The team looked strong heading into the day off tomorrow. The US Girls day finished with some yoga and a solid round of miniature tanks.
Friday, August 11th - On the second day of the training camp both groups of players have begun to feel like real teams. Both on and off field roles have begun to flesh themselves out, trust has been built, and everybody has begun to feel more comfortable. Once again, the two teams practices were similar. More focus was paid to advanced and alternate strategies on both O and D with a lot of time for focused scrimmages and game simulating drills like 10 pull. I would go into increased detail on the strategies both teams are preparing but will not to avoid tipping the teams' hands. You can use your imagination though to create the most elaborate and cutting edge offensive and defensive schemes but you will be very far off. Both teams' strategies are elegantly simple due to the limited time to practice; The main theme is to be on the same page.
I do want to go into a little bit about the players themselves. This 39 young men and women from across the country are the most remarkable that I've met in the four years that I've been the Director of Youth Development. The character and commitment of these players is unmatched. Their willingness and desire to work and support their teammates is beyond admirable. As one of many examples is two players on the women's side,
Hana Kawai and
Emily Damon. Both players injured themselves in the month prior to the tournament; Hana dislocated her shoulder and Emily tore her ACL. Both have still followed through on their commitment to the US Juniors team and are here at the camp supporting their teammates with their voices and their heart. As any player who has been injured can atest, it is no easy task when your body wants so much to be on the field. This commitment from two players on the team who will never see the field is what makes a team great. Their drive pushes those on the field playing becuase they know they owe their teammates all of their effort.
Jerseys are being handed out and team captains are being decided in meetings right now. Tomorrow I will post the captains and will also talk about the final day of training camp which includes a game between the US Boys and a scout squad of current and former Amherst players.
Thursday, August 10th - Thursday marked the first full day of practices for the two US Juniors Teams. Both teams took the time over their six plus hours of practice to focus on individual defensive skills that require teamwide understanding and execution and basic offensive strategies.
The US Junior Girls used their morning session to focus on man offense including cutting skills, some set pieces, and finishing up with a scrimmage. In the afternoon the focus switched to man defense including talks and drills on the mark, dump defense, basic man defensive strategies, and downfield defensive positioning. The afternoon session finished, as the morning one did, with a scrimmage.
After a thorough warm-up in the morning the US Boys went straight into a scrimmage. The scrimmage was followed by a "pace" drill (focuses on pushing upfield and clearing), discussion of the vertical stack offense, and focused (prescriptive scrimmages). The afternoon included marking, defensive positioning, and concluded with more focused scrimmaging. Unfortunately, Columbia HS star
Stephen Panasci reaggravated a hamstring injury early in the day. While his talent will be missed on the field, he has already begun to make an impact from the sideline.
Dinner was followed by interteam socializing, whiffleball, and ping-pong. At 8 both teams retreated to team meetings where the boys talked more about offensive strategy, goal setting, and the mental game while the girls bonded through charades.
Both teams looked crisp for their first days together.
Wednesday, August 9th - Today the top under 20 players in the United States arrived at Northfield Mount Hermon in Gill, MA to begin their quest for two world titles. Players from around the country flew in to Boston's Logan Airport and met and greeted each other as they waited for the bus. The bus, which arrived 30 minutes late, transported the players to the beautiful Northfield Mount Hermon campus where at 8pm regional players and players that arrived earlier met them. The players and coaches enjoyed box lunches (the cafeteria was closed) and then separated into their respective teams. Many of the players on both teams had never met before.
The players spent the evening in team meetings and playing outside and in the plush Northfield Mount Hermon dorms. There is a lot of work to be done over the next 10 days to mold 18 boys and 21 girls from highly skilled and athletic individuals into championship teams. But the work will be exciting and fun and the players and coaches are up to the task.
