Goals for the Summer/Next College Season

I've been thinking a lot recently about the different roles I've taken on for Columbia for four years and for Stanford this past year, and how that will change next year. There will definitely be a vastly different team dynamic next year as we lose 10 players, including many that have been with the team for the last five years. This year five rookies joined 18 returners, and only two of us had never played college ultimate before. I anticipate that being vastly different next year, as only 6 returning players will have had 3 years of A-team experience. We will likely bring in at least 11 rookies, and unless Will Neff is miraculously one of the 20 transfers who got accepted to Stanford for next year, there will be a large baptism by fire for all of them as they get their first tastes of high-level college ultimate in Santa Barbara.

So where does this leave me? This year for Stanford I was very happy with my role on the team. I played primarily on defense, often as a D handler later in the year, and my matchup was frequently with the other team's second-best handler. I got very few blocks, but I feel like I did a good job of denying my man the disc, especially when I played on downfield cutters. Against Oregon in the Stanford Invite semifinals, I played eight or nine points before I had to put a mark on. I think that it was a great freshman year overall, and I got a chance to acquit myself on defense against some very good players (although Dylan did break me with a forehand huck ...).

But it's also left me hungry for more. There were points this year when we'd get the turn as a D team and I didn't care if I didn't get the disc in my hands. There were O points I played where we worked it up the field ... but I didn't touch the disc. I know that I can get open against good defenders, but I had too great of a fear of "getting in the way." I know that we have great cutters on the team, and I can anticipate their cuts and that they'll get open. So I spent most of my time trying to make continue cuts for them, opportunity cuts to the break side, and abusing the occasional poach. But at times it frustrated me that cuts I wanted to make were cut off by the more assertive veteran cutter - players who need the disc in their hands every third throw and will punish the other team for letting them have it.

Having players like Sherwood, Robbie, Nan, and Tom provides a lot of comfort and relief for the thrower, who always knows that one of them will get open, especially on D team offense. They are *the* guys who will make plays. We have plenty of other great cutters, but they have the combination of cutting, great breaks, veteran savvy, club experience, and assertiveness that makes them the go-to guys. Their names are at the top of the stat sheet, and while taking stats at Nationals when I was injured, I saw firsthand from the sideline the impact they have on the game - Sherwood played 17 straight points against Carleton in the second half. Robbie was phenomenal against Georgia.

But, at the same time, having my open deep look called off in favor of Robbie's second-later deep cut was somewhat grating and altogether too common. Oftentimes at practice I found myself going through the motions of the offense and cutting downfield passively. I think that more and more playing time as a handler was exactly what I needed, because it *mattered* if I didn't get open or get the disc. I was forced to focus on every cut and demand the disc. Evan, one of our coaches, astutely recognized my occasional lapses of focus and called me out on it. It made me wake up again, and when I went downfield I cut with more authority. And, deep down, I want the disc in my hands. A lot.

My junior year of high school I was almost exclusively a D player. My assignment was to mark the best handlers on the other team and take away their hucks. I relished the chance to be in and testing myself against the best juniors players in the country, with my teammates counting on my mark to deny the deep look. Especially after a sophomore year where I played hard but sparingly. Junior year was a very similar situation to this past year. We had studs too, players who were undeniably among the best in the country, and they ran the offense. My job was to play defense, and once we got the turn, I was supposed to run the other team's handler into the ground. I scored a lot of goals and got a lot of D's, but my touches were still limited.

Over that summer, I played summer league for the first time. I found myself stuck on a team of old, not-very-good vets and inexperienced young players. Summer league was the first time that I handled in earnest, the first time that I needed to be *the guy* for our team. We came into the playoffs seeded third to last, upset the third-ranked team, and then I went to ultimate camp. Then I realized that not only was I able to be *the guy* on my summer league team, but I could do it while playing with and against elite juniors players too. I got that feeling and held onto it for the rest of my senior year. I literally had every third touch playing as a receiver against Pennsbury in our pool play game at Fall Brawl, a 12-11 win for us. I was matching up against the other team's best player, be he a handler or receiver, and getting D's and still getting open on the other end. It felt great.

Fast forward to this summer. I'm going to be playing on the New Jersey YCC team, which means I'll be playing with and against high schoolers again. While that will be fun, getting open at will against high schoolers means nothing for my college game. I need to play against higher-level, more athletic, and more physical competition. I need to find the Wisconsins of the area (Ring is a little far) and play against them. I know it was at Fools Fest, but taking deep, skying, and breaking for the assist a Ring player shows me that I can compete at higher levels of ultimate. I want to come back to Stanford injury-free and with the confidence that I can play a bigger role in games against good teams.

Ultimately, my goal for the summer and fall is to prepare myself mentally and physically to step into the shoes left by our graduating players. I'm not going to come back and be to the team what Robbie or Tom was this year, but my goal is to be to the team next year what Sherwood was his junior year. I can see myself draped on Dusty like Wood was on Tim Gehret (although probably not as fouly). I know it's ambitious, but there will be a void left from our 10 departures, and I will not be shy about filling it. I just need to buckle down and focus. It starts next weekend with the Boston Invite.