YCC, New Cleats, Updates... Whatever.

So about a couple of weeks ago, I tried out for the NJHS YCC team. For those who don't know what that is, its the Youth Club Championships. During those tryouts, I feel like I played horribly, and I still think I made the team due to pure luck or due to my current status of junior captain.

Anyhow, training for YCC starts immediately once I get back from Canada, which is tomorrow.

My medical condition is off, there's no longer anything wrong with me. My registration got through to NUTC, and I will be attending Session D. Also, I'm on the White team for Skylands again, but haven't been able to attend any of the scrimmages yet due to... well my current location.

New cleats? Hell yeah, new cleats.


These are my new cleats. Nike Vapor Jet, FG. I bought them off of Ebay for about 53, including shipping is around 60. Sure it's a bit pricey, but hey, the store price is pretty much 100.
The cleat pattern is really nice, allows you to cut at ease and gives you complete control over the ground. However, while I wouldn't describe the weight as heavy, I wouldn't say they're too light either. They're not bad, they're lighter than my previous cleats, but... well let's just say they're no Mercurial Vapors. (Which cost 312 in Canada, in case anyone wants to know, heh.)

Oh yeah, while I'm at it, I might as well write a review for my previous cleats. Nike Air Zoom VT.

I can't even find a picture... because they suck so much. Okay, they look like the Nike Air Zoom's, but the cleats on the bottom are turf cleats. So basically, if you try to cut with them on any other surface, you WILL slide, and you WILL fall. And they're heavy as hell. So... don't buy them. In fact, don't buy any of the Nike Zoom series.

I recommend:
Speed TD
Vapor JET
Mercurial Talarias
Mercurial Vapors

They're all from NIKE.

Banquet + Captain?

So the Watchung Hills Ultimate banquet was last night at Shogun 22 on well... Rt. 22. The restaruant didn't exactly have a banquet hall, but fortunately the section that our team took over had more than enough space and tables. The waiters, waitresses, and the managers showed us great hospitality and helped us out whenever we need them.

The seniors are leaving, and with them, they'll be taking a huge amount of gifts and memories from the team. Along with an awesome framed photo made by my mom, haha.

So Lu and Growney left the captain positions with me, Kahyee, and Teddy. I really don't know what to say, but I'm going to do whatever's in my power to make sure that we're not losing any skill in this team, and like the past couple of years has gone, next year will be better than the last.

Now what I can do for myself has been put on hold as of now. Due to my "medical condition" and my parents' paranoia, I have been restricted from registering to NUTC and Skylands for now. I have also been restricted from doing any excercise with my legs, AKA Air Alert and Plyometric Bible.

It's going to be a long 1-3 weeks.

Summer Training

My parents have ruined any chance I have of going to NUTC. Because of my "medical condition" which is having absolutely no symptoms on me whatever and might just possibly be a huge waste of time and money, I have to get "cleared" by the doctor before my parents agree to make any registration. Little did they know that registration opened in early February, and by now registrations have probably ended or are filled.

Which leaves me to Skylands. Skylands won't really teach you anything, it'll just keep you in shape and in tact with your throws and stuff. I was really looking forward to NUTC. I'm considering going to JEM for summre 2008.

I've started a modified Air Alert. My version increases the variety of excercises, and decreases the number of reps. I must say, it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. Halfway through the excercise, I realized that there was a huge amount of stress on my knees and ankles. I stopped for a while, and started again, this time increasing the number of weights I was using.

Keeping in shape over the summer is hard stuff.

End of Season

So the Ultimate season is over. I can't say that it ended the way I wanted to, even though we got 3rd in NJ States. In complete honesty, I think we could've taken Princeton, if given the chance to play for 2nd. We were unable to play Princeton, and once again we beat JP Stevens on universal point for 3rd.

But did the season end like I wanted it to? No. We ended alot sooner and the season was alot shorter than I expected it to be. I would have loved to play some more Ultimate with the team before alot of the seniors go to their diverse colleges.

But summer is looking good. I've sent in my application for NUTC, which although is only 5 days, I think I'm going to learn alot from those 5 days. It appears I'm going to be the only one going, but it's going to be great meeting other Ultimate players from the East. I'm really looking forward to playing with great players from Amherst, Needham, and Longmeadow.

Also, Skylands registrations are open. I don't remember much from last year's Skyland's league. The majority of my time at Skyland's was spent hanging out on the sideline with Ktae and Kim. This year, I've gotten alot better and I think I'll actually be able to contribute something to my team. I'm not going to make a Watchung team this year, despite how fun it may be. I want to get better, so I think that playing with some college kids and perhaps even some players from CHS will make me a better player.

2007 Fall?
I'm going to have to get accustomed to not have the seniors around, telling me what to do. I realize that me, Jacob Price, Kahyee, and Wes are going to be running the majority of the show around here. It's going to take a while to get used to it, but we can make it happen with the oh-so dedicated freshmen (to be sophomores :D).

Summer is going to be hard, so I'm garuanteed to be in shape for the fall season, unlike this year. The first couple of games and tournaments are going to be tough, but if alot of us step up, we're not going to lose anything that we didn't have this year, and maybe in the process, we'll get even better.