Going for Glory
For a brand-new team, flying across the country to a tournament is bound to be an incredible
adventure and learning experience, and for the girls of Oregon Glory the trip to the 2015 Youth Club
Championships in Blaine, Minnesota more than lived up to expectations.
The team arrived a couple days early to adjust to the weather and recover from the tiring flight
before the tournament began. They ran a final practice together on the night of Thursday the 6th of
August to get out some of the
pre-tournament jitters.
The tournament proper
began for Glory with a 10:30am
game against CATLanta, a team
from Altanta, Georgia. It was an
excellent first game; the handling
line gelled quickly and cutting
movement ran fairly smoothly,
and Oregon’s zone was effective
in shutting down Atlanta offense
with a number of fantastic deep
D’s by Rachael Vega. Glory just
let off one point before half and
one after to win efficiently with a
score of 13-2.
The second pool play game was against third-seeded North Carolina Warhawks, slated to be one
of our hardest opponents. Glory learned soon before the game started that they’d have an instructional
observer; while she was involved in few calls, stricter timekeeping certainly added a feeling of intensity
from the beginning. Glory, pumped up on a solid victory and excited for a tough game, came out strong
and scored the first two points. Warhawks regrouped and came back to tie the game at three-three. Play
was good on both sides, with each team throwing zone and man defense and working hard on offense.
The teams traded points, tied at fives, then
sevens. The game was exciting, but a tired
Glory let off a Warhawks run at the end to
lose 11-9.
The final Saturday game, against
Neuqua Valley Nightmare, was a bit of a
rough battle for the Oregon girls. Exhausted
from a hard fight with the Warhawks, Glory
play was a bit flat; they struggled to finish
and made some sloppy turnovers, and ended
up losing 10-7 to an athletic Neuqua Valley
team.
Saturday dawned pleasant and
cloudy. Tired from a long day, Glory took
advantage of a first round bye; after a slow
morning, they came to the fields early to
watch our fellow Oregon team, Flood, play
Seattle Royale. Then preparations began for
the 1pm game against the Seattle girls,
Seattlesaurus, the team to beat for the
weekend. The air was tense with anticipation;
full of friendly rivals from the high school
season and deep talent, Seattle made exciting opponents. Glory played well, matching Seattle’s talent in
many cases, but struggled to finish and couldn’t quite shut them down on defense. The game was closest
in the first half, with 1-3 and 2-5 scores, but the small Glory team couldn’t quite keep up and ended up
losing 13-2. Still, it was a fun game that both teams agreed was much closer than the score suggested.
Our second and final Saturday game was against Maine Rising Tide, seeded 6th. Glory came out
strong, eager to finish the day with a win. Maine’s zone was challenging at first on a somewhat windy
afternoon, and their tall cutters sometimes came down with big hucks, but by half time Glory had cracked
the zone with efficient handler movement and Maine didn’t have a chance. Not letting off any points
after half, Glory won 13-4. A fun spirit circle, dinner, an exhibition game, and a trip to Culvers rounded
out a great day.
The decisive victory over Maine meant Glory won out a three-way tie for seeding between
Nightmare, Glory, and Maine, and went into bracket play seeded third in their pool. This meant a place in
the fifth play bracket and a first round game at 8:30 am against Texas Tango.
Glory went into the game a bit overconfident, making some simple mistakes, and it was close
from the beginning. While Glory moved the disc more effectively, Texas’ deep game proved a challenge
for the Glory defense and the game was close and hotly contested from the get-go. The Glory girls got
down on themselves a bit and struggled to really click; after an injury delaying the game almost to cap,
Oregon had no chance to come back and lost 8-10, putting us into the seventh place game against Devyl.
Glory went into their last game looking for
fun, but also eager for a win to end the weekend.
While the game began with traded points, Glory soon
pulled ahead to win 13 to 5. It was a fun, well-spirited
game, and ended with a long spirit circle and lots of
fun spirit games.
Besides having an incredibly fun experience,
the girls of Glory agreed that they learned a lot of
lessons in Minnesota. How to stay up through tough
games. How to play with different people.
Adaptability, through a variety of zones and offenses.
Every player came away from the weekend wiser and more experienced, and also aware that they could
compete at the national level and make their home state proud.
Throughout the weekend, the most cherished memories were the bonds formed between teams
from opposite ends of the country. Girls who’d never even visited each others’ home states were chatting
on the sidelines, learning about each others’ Ultimate experiences and trading jerseys. It’s amazing to see
how wonderful the ultimate community is wherever you go; open, friendly, inclusive, and easy to laugh.
We’re competitors on the field, maybe, but friends off of it, bonded by mutual passion for a wonderful
sport.