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
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