From the Eyes of a Rookie

After spending the summer working two jobs and playing minimal ultimate, I am extremely excited to be back in Ames for so many different reasons. Although not necessarily ready to start classes, I cannot wait to be within walking distance from all of my teammates.  

This coming year is going to be a lot different than last. I am so excited that I have the opportunity to play with most of the same ladies as last season. I am also extremely sad that Love, Jessy, and Jazz will not be playing with us, but these feelings are overcome with thankfulness that I was able to play my first year with them. 

My first year for Woman Scorned was more that I could even begin to explain. I grew as a person and a player. I was able to play at college nationals, a tournament that some players only dream of competing at. More important to me however was the way that Woman Scorned made it to nationals. As a team we were always confident that we could do it, but I will admit, some days I was unsure. It seemed that our spring semester started out a little rough while we tried to figure out what worked for us. We had the talent and the determination, it was just a matter of getting our players to work together to reach our true potential as a team. In my opinion that was the greatest part of our season, the fact that we truly spent all season trying to figure out what worked, and what didn’t. We were never satisfied with how we played, we constantly worked to improve our offense and defense, and never stopped until nationals was over.  

Two specific games this year stick out to me as games that Woman Scorned never gave up. Before these games, I don’t think I truly knew what it was like to play every minute of a game. They are the Wisconsin game at regionals, and the Iowa game at nationals. Both were games I can’t remember specific points, but both are games I will never forget.  The heart and desire that our team showed during these games made the win at regionals that much more exciting, and it made it impossible to be mad about the loss to Iowa.

Although I am excited to play with Woman Scorned again, I think I am more excited to be back in Ames. As a rookie I was able to experience so many firsts with Woman Scorned, and I don’t know what I would have done without them. There are so many off the field experiences from the last year that I couldn’t trade for anything. From “breakfast for dinner” at Hogwarts, to nature walks at Ledges, long car rides, being a sober cab, WS Thanksgiving dinner with turkey ball, Vagfests, rookie dinners, intramural basketball, broomball, and volleyball, library parties, snack attack, gchatting, class, gchatting in class, email threads, and sneaking upperclassmen into the dining centers; everything was amazing. I don’t think there was a day that went by that I didn’t spend time with at least one member of Woman Scorned.  As a rookie, having 18 other girls to ask questions about anything from classes to on the field questions was an incredible resource.

Now as I get resettled into Ames and start recruiting and planning for the upcoming season, I realize that I have to pass my rookie status onto the next class of recruits-A new crop of people who will have their own first season, hopefully filled with similar stories, and experiences that I was so lucky to have experienced myself.

All In: the Rewards of Commitment

My sophomore year of college I joined the ultimate frisbee team. The women’s team at Iowa State was far from new, and their intense workouts and dedication to having a good time were more than enough to get me hooked. I definitely didn’t take the entire thing very seriously at first, and I can actually remember thinking “this is a great workout to get me in shape, but there is no way I will stick with this for very long.” Needless to say, I was very wrong.

My story with Woman Scorned started in 2008, but it was by no means the beginning. The team was founded in 2002 and had 6 years of insanely talented ladies who pooled resources together and built a program that I was lucky enough to walk on to and reap the benefits of their hard work and dedication. In 2009, Woman Scorned installed our first 100% attendance policy and our season resulted with our first showing at the College National tournament. Woman Scorned placed 15th with only one win in the tournament, but we were given the opportunity to play teams from all over the nation (and Canada) who we had never before had the chance to compete against.

The following season was definitely eye opening for the team. After becoming a “nationals team” all sorts of doors started to open. Invitations to tournaments we had not previously attended like Centex and Philly Invite were extended to us, allowing us the option to play elite college teams like we had only seen at Nationals. Knowing our biggest hurdle the previous season was our lack of exposure to these teams, we took advantage and attended five non-series tournaments in the spring (three of which were run by Without Limits). Iowa State also hosted a winter scrimmage to gain more exposure to our regional competition and build relationships between teams. Unfortunately we were unable to pull together to perform to potential in this season. At Regionals, injuries and under-performance resulted in a 5th place finish for Woman Scorned, and powerhouse programs Wisconsin and Carleton again took the two Nationals bids for the North Central Region.

Although our 2010 season’s ending was far from ideal, we used it to fuel our 2011 season. One of our biggest focuses for the new season was team cohesiveness. It was important to us that everyone from our rookies all the way to our veterans we were working toward the same goals and accomplishing them together. We built depth by playing fall tournaments with open lines, and we continued attending highly competitive Without Limits tournaments in the spring. Through strong leadership, intense dedication, and hard work from everyone on our team, Woman Scorned peaked at a prime time this past season, winning sectionals, placing 3rd at regionals, and taking 10th place at Nationals.
 

Although Woman Scorned has grown to become a more competitive program, we still maintain the same personality as a team. We have set our goals higher with each season but our core team values have not changed since we began:

1: Having fun is the most important thing. Winning does not dictate fun. If you play the game right and give all you have, ultimate is fun whether you win or lose.
2: We want to be the team that every team wants to play. Compete your hardest against every opponent but never at the sacrifice of spirit.

Woman Scorned does not make cuts and we are only just reaching the point where we can attempt to field a B team. We focus on developing every player to be well rounded, and we value dedication and spirit above playing ability. Most importantly, we hold each other accountable to ensure that every player is dedicated to the team and working towards the same goals. Beyond the game, we are all friends and that is truly what brings us together as a successful team. The sacrifices we make are not just for ourselves, but each of our teammates. This team mentality has truly accelerated our success as an ultimate program.

Success did not come to us over night or even in one season. It takes time and dedication, and often the ones who give the most don’t even get to experience it. In my opinion, however, the best way to become a better team and create a program is to give all of yourself and not hold back. Make the commitment and challenge your teammates to do the same. One person can’t make a team successful alone, but you can be the first one to step up and bring your teammates up with you. Every single person on a team has the potential to make an impact on that program; big or small, good or bad. It is when you truly make this commitment that you will realize how many resources are actually available to you.

The story of Woman Scorned isn’t extra glamorous, and it doesn’t include any national or even regional titles. However, I am very proud to say I am a part of it. It is the story of a small team who, through hard work and dedication, has built our program up to reach the goals we have set. By pushing ourselves as well as each other and reaching out to utilize the resources we can access, Woman Scorned has become one of the top college teams in the nation. Thankfully, our story is far from over. Who knows where our future will take us, but my hope is that with the expansion of resources, Woman Scorned and other dedicated teams will also continue to prosper.

-Lindsey Gapstur

Current Woman Scorned 5th year

Current Revoloution player

Flipping the Switch: Scorned 2009

Central Regionals 2009 in Northfield, Minnesota was cold and wet when Sunday came around. I sat for well around a half hour’s time stripped down to my last layer of clothing letting a shower-head bath me in hot water before the game-to-go.  As I kept pushing the knob towards the red further and further, letting the water temperature rise, I contemplated how the Iowa State women had risen to the challenge by those same little pushes, higher and higher.  Granted, nothing but the divine could really have resulted in some of the best big breaks I can remember of that weekend: a second round of bracket play forfeit from Luther after a devastating loss to Carleton (setting us up against an evenly matched Eau Claire with a little something extra then what they had) and, biggest of all, a Cultimate fiasco that resulted in the UPA (as it was then) burgeoning their power and expanding the College Ultimate Nationals to a twenty team tournament.  Central Region won that third bid and Iowa State was poised to strike after being kept under the thumb of the powerhouses that were Carleton and Wisconsin.  Iowa State won their first ever Nationals berth with the realization of many years of program building since inception and learned a season’s strength that an ultimate hungry group of girls could achieve.  How might your own team “flip the switch” from a new program to a force to be reckoned with?

A team leader that finds themselves in the poised position to take their team to greater heights must first really figure out the team is truly in the want to go there.  They may not.  Your own choices cannot dictate the majority.  If your team wants to have fun by winning the party every tournament, your goals will be different.  You find out the teams’ goals from the year beginning meeting and if they do decide pushing their competition and winning to new levels is where they want to go, then you react accordingly: by offering the standards by which you can all attain a higher achieving program.  It may take several years or may take just that one but there are several benchmarks to set for the individuals of your team that will yield players of higher competitiveness before your team has reached the status of A and B squads:

1) Expect and demand a high percentage of Attendance: No one can argue...you HAVE to be there if you want to become better and become better together.  But what everyone is always expecting of the leaders, must apply to each and every one of your teammates.  Iowa State’s own attendance policy of 2009 was built upon the premise that tournaments were the best part of what the team and playing was about.  Punishment and reward was in accordance with tournament attendance.  If you could not fully attend practices and make-ups (for those necessary academic absences) within reason, missing a part or all of a tournament was your result.  Decide how your team can be more present and uphold it.

2) Request that players who are able, seek to play in the club season however they can.

 Sometimes, you may have to play co-ed and that does NOT need to be frowned upon.  I still see the benefit in earning the ability to hang with the opposite sex on the ultimate field.  Maybe the team you choose isn’t even a high achieving women’s team but either way, you’re out there and playing and learning from new and different teammates and opponents.  The benefits are brought back to your college team and everyone reaps the rewards of those individuals further practice.

3) Request that whomever can, play in summer leagues and/or run a tournament or clinic.  Teaching is the highest form of learning.  Even if your summer league is underdeveloped, let individuals take it as a chance to teach players who have less experience or let players learn the demands of commanding a team on and off the field.  Running tournaments or clinics raises the community of ultimate you live in. You surround yourself with more ultimate and your team will only benefit.  If there is a player that finds playing with a club team is impossible, this can still be their way to contribute to raising the teams skill levels.

None of this is ground-shattering news (or at least I hope not.)  So go out and find the way to lead the individuals of your team by having them demand more of themselves in your own creative way.  The examples above are some examples of benchmark goals you can outline to set yourself up to achieve a higher goal similar to qualifying for a nationals berth whenever your own opportunity presents itself.  Walk into that dark room and be the person who helps flip that switch.

-Melissa Gibbs
Woman Scorned Alumni and previous captain and coach
Current Revoloution captain
Current WUWU coach

Humble Beginnings

Each player’s experience will be unique, given your relative position on each team and your experience level.  For me, I had to give up teammates of 2.5 years for a handful of girls that I had only met a few times; when a couple of them backed out for our first regionals, it was a bitter pill- I had to miss regionals for the 2^nd time in three years because of others’ decisions, but this time I could have prevented it if I just hadn’t started that women’s team.  I certainly don’t regret it now, but it was tough then.  There were other growing pains, and hopefully by sharing my experience, they can be less painful for you. 

The other big jump was my position on the team- I jumped from slowest, least athletic, and a defensive liability on ISUC, to one of the quickest, definitely the most experienced, and defender extraordinaire for Woman Scorned.  Most of the girls had NEVER played Ultimate before, whereas it had been my life for the past 2 years, and nearly all my friends were Ultimate players.  In the end, being physically hampered in the men’s game lead to an ability to anticipate and defend that many athletes take years to gain.  And starting the women’s team lead to some of the best friendships I’ve made.  I had a fury that ran deep to beat my opponent that carried over to the women’s game and was less common among the female players.  I still was not a fantastic thrower, and with the smaller targets (most men can just cover more space, making them bigger targets), my good ideas and grasp of spacing was not enough to be the handler I wanted to be for the team.  I honestly didn’t want to handle at all, but didn’t have much choice at the time.  In addition, I had become accustomed to calling for help when the disc went up deep; when I started playing with Scorned, more often than not I was the help deep.  So, while I had developed into a much stronger, smarter, and more aggressive player overall by playing with and against (generally) physically superior players, I had also developed some weaknesses that took years to break: lack of touch and precision throwing, lack of confidence in the air, and an over-reliance on the force.

One complaint voiced by other women I sometimes played against on open teams or occasionally picked up with when they switched to women’s was that the game was “too slow”.  It is a different game, for sure, but the game is much what you make it.  If you start the team, it makes it pretty easy to impress your expectations on women, but even if you don’t, there is no reason why playing “balls out” in a women’s game can’t be just as satisfying, if not more, than struggling to even get open in the men’s game.  Remember, you can do more in a women’s game than you can in an open game- you are more likely to be closely matched or to overmatch your opponent, so instead of struggling to do a small part, see how big an impact you can make, both on and off the field. 

 Whether or not you’ve played on an open team, chances are your role on a team will change at some point in your Ultimate career either through personnel changes on your college team or from moving to an entirely new team.  The pitfalls and challenges I faced can be lessons to bolster your effectiveness on any team. 

1.       Never EVER get too comfortable in a role!  You’ve always been a cutter?  That is no excuse not to throw daily & learn what handlers do and why!

2.       Recognize weaknesses as such and work on them; I never exactly gave up on a disc in the air, but while I worked hard at that moment, I did not consciously work on improving my vertical jump or reading skills.  Similarly, though I threw all the time, I didn’t work on my touch until I was over throwing all my teammates.

3.       Be prepared to be what your teammates need you to be! 

4.       STAY POSITIVE!  

I can’t say enough how much I have enjoyed all the divisions I have played- college open, college women, club open, club women, and club mixed.  There is nothing like playing against someone woefully better than you to push you to improve!  

-Rachel Derscheid

Founder of Woman Scorned

Long time Coach of WS

Current CLX player

A History Through Generations of Perspective

As the school year starts up and Woman Scorned comes back together as a whole for the first time since our amazing week in Boulder last spring, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the path this team has traveled to get where we are. I was playing a barefoot pickup game on campus the other day with some freshmen, and despite my attempts to fit in, I was unable to holster a few hucks and inevitably the truth of my ultimate experience was revealed and so all that was left to do was try to recruit these freshmen to the side of competitive ultimate. That look of disbelief appeared on their faces when I said I had just returned from Seattle playing in a tournament with teams from Japan and Australia. Even when I say it out loud right now, it's hard to believe that it's true and how variable the levels of competition are in this sport.

The real truth is that most players and teams start just like this. Woman Scorned started from a few girls whose only experience was playing with the guys at their college. When I started ultimate, I had only played one time at a church camp when I was 10. Many of the girls who play for our team now and the ones we will add to our team this year will be the same; no previous experience. It amazes me how you can start completely naive and rise high quickly with the right attitude and determination. The ultimate community has so many amazing people who are more than willing to offer help along the journey, and together this vast frisbee family is growing and expanding as a whole.

Through a series of blog posts written by several generations of Woman Scorned ladies, I would like to share some insight into our team's past, present, and future. These posts share lessons that we have learned and passed down to future teams, so we can continue improving every year from the experiences we have encountered as a program. I hope you all enjoy these!