"Worth a Point"

Since my ultimate birth (3 years ago in February-yey! birthday week #2??) I have heard the term "worth a point(s)" thrown around to describe the number of points per game that a player will have a strong positive influence in. Basically it implies that if you remove a player that is "worth 3 points" from a game, the team will score 3 less points than if that player were playing. It is kind of a rough way to evaluate someone's ultimate skills within the context of the team they are playing for.

When I joined Woman Scorned, I was pretty terrible all around. The mixture of starting a new sport, not having done anything athletic for 1.5 years, and coming in at an intense part of the season was just not pretty... I may or may not have vomited in the president of Iowa State's driveway after that first practice. I remember playing 8's or so at Southerns, my first tourney and feeling so awful because I knew that I was "worth about 5 points" every game...for the other team. Even come sectionals and regionals I did not play very much, but I know that those were the games where I contributed the most to the team- from the sideline.

God has blessed me with a lot in life, but one thing that is no secret is my ability to be very loud when I want to be. Woman Scorned has a reputation of sideline cheers, player cheers, huddle cheers, and really just yelling a lot to each other.

Cheers on the field not only pump each other up, but they keep the focus of the entire team on the game. Having a strong sideline can be an 8th, 9th, or 10th player on the field if utilized correctly.

In one of those few points at my rookie regionals, I remember Derscheid on the sideline yelling, "Force side, turn around, get on the other side of your girl!" I was utterly confused and finally I turned to her (mid-point) and asked who she was yelling at. She responded quite abruptly, "YOU!"

This last Fall I played women's club on Revoloution. At regionals, I was defending a speedy outside cutter for several points. She was much taller than me and probably more athletic, but my teammate Emma was on the sideline encouraging me and letting me know where the disc was and where to anticipate her movements. Emma was at least 40% of that defense, and without her sideline help, I doubt I would have been able to shut my girl down.

I firmly believe that you can be "worth a few points" per game without ever stepping on the field. The value in a strong sideline is something that is almost always underestimated and under-appreciated. Strong teams involve more than just the 7 players on the field. Every single person on a team has strengths, and true team unity is reached when each player is fully engaged and using their strengths for the betterment of the team. Whether you are a rookie or the MVP, there are ways you can make a difference in each point. There are always teammates you can be talking to, encouraging, watching to give suggestions off the field, or learning from to improve yourself. As we come into the spring season, my hopes are that the strength of Woman Scorned's sidelines will just continue to grow stronger. Based on the enthusiastic hard work I can see in our practices and workouts, intensity will not be a problem this season.

This weekend Woman Scorned is traveling to Iowa City to play in a scrimmage against Bella Donna, Syzygy, SOL, and Saucy Nancy. These are the top five teams from the North Central region last Spring. The opportunity to see the competition this early in the season is extremely valuable. We are pumped out of our minds to be able to cleat up and play some ultimate when the temperature is below zero and the ground is covered in snow. Let the spring season begin!

Hell hath no fury, like a Woman Scorned.