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.

The Rival System

Or what I'd like to call it.

On the ultimate team, there are many situations where two or more players become "rivals". It's sort of like a buddy system.

For example:
Lu and Growney.
Lu is a good handler, nice layouts, and has mad ups when he skies. Growney on the other hand, has a monstrous forehand, his backhand does the job, when he lays out he usually comes down with the disc, and although he may not have as much ups as Lu, his height makes up for that.

Although these two may not be proving the point I'm trying to make, a partner system or "rival" encourages one player to surpass the other, and vice versa. With this in mind, each player will strive to increase his or her skill so he or she can become better than the other. Of course, if the system is successful, then neither of them will surpass each other and the skill will just continue to increase.

Next example:
Me and Jacob Price
My throws? I'd like to call them decent. Not my backhand though. Hucks? My forehand put is 60% good. My backhand? It's only 40% accurate, but when it is, it's really good. Skying ability? None. I have mad ups and height, but in terms of reading the disc and the actual ability of skying, I'm a lost cause. Layouts? I'd give myself a 89%.

Jacob Price? Throws are pretty good, but sometimes he turfs it. His forehand huck is not great, but his backhand huck usually does the job. Skying ability >>>>> mine. Layouts? He doesn't do it much. Jacob Price is also alot faster than me.

Most of the times I compare myself to him and I think he's better. I don't know if he thinks the same way, but it encourages me to be better than him. And when I am better than him, I think he'll strive to be better than me.

Tips for the Froshies

1. Work on your throws everday. If you're at home, watching TV, doing your homework, kicking the dog, just work on your throws and catches. By that I mean you can just take the disc and pop it back and forth to yourself when you have nothing to do or a free hand. Also, practice catching all ways. Pancake the disc, two hands grab, one hand grab, and I stress practice catching with your right hand and your left hand.

2. Don't be intimidated. When you're on the field, it's good to be calm. Calm, but not relaxed. It's a paradox, I know. But when you're on the field, the best mentality is to be calm, but yet you're still aware of the field and where the disc/or your man is at all times. Don't be intimidated by your opponent, don't hesitate to make those cuts

3. Just like the previous statement, don't hesitate to make those cuts. It is always a possibility your defender may outrun you and either you won't be able to get the disc or you'll get D'ed, but when you stand at the top of the stack, deciding whether you should make that cut or not, it screws up the entire process. Because if you don't make that cut, someone more experienced is going to think, "Man, this guy is taking way too long. I'll just make the cut for him." and coincidentally, that's when you decide to make the cut and you two end up screwing each other over.

4. If you doubt your throws, dump it. You really shouldn't be doubting your throws in the first place, but if you're really unconfident about your upfield throws, simply dump it off to another handler. But I really recommend that you have confidence in your throws more.

5. Work your ass off. Show determination. Show that you want to play this game, and that you want to be good. If you joined Ultimate just for the opt-out, then get the hell off the team. If you joined Ultimate because it sounded fun, stick around and see if it's the sport that you might want to spend time to learn. And if it turns out that you find a liking to this sport, take it and work until you're one of the best.

Other Thoughts:
I heard someone (not mentioning any names) left practice yesterday. First off, I would like to admonish anyone who gave this kid a hard time; nobody deserves humiliation on the team, no matter what level of skill he or she is at. If they're working hard, give them your respect. If they fail or make a mistake, encourage them to learn from that mistake instead of laughing at them.

On the other side, I heard that "someone" complaining that he doesn't get enough respect on the team. You deserve more respect, but I think that if you really want the respect, don't act so cocky and obnoxious. Respect goes to not only someone with skill, but someone who is humble and has a good personality. If you're really good at something but you're an asshole, you're still not going to get that respect.

And by the way, if you're going to quit Ultimate, just know you'll never get that respect that you actually wanted and it'll show that you're too weak to actually work for it.

Peace~
Brian Li 09'

Is 2nd Place Good Enough?

Middletown Invitational

Recap:
The WH Varsity met at the school at a bright and early 6:30 AM, setting off with the designated drivers of Jacob Katzen, Lu Wang, and Mrs. Wang. After getting tricked by a decietful highway sign, we wasted about 15 minutes, but eventually got back on track. We arrived at the Middletown school sometime before 10, and our first game was against Columbia Highschool B.

Columbia Highschool B was not a team that we would have to worry about, but for some reason, we weren't playing up to par. Compared to our performance at Longmeadow Invitational, this game was nothing close to stellar, even with the win of 11-2, and another spectacular (or perhaps gratuitous) layout by Lu Wang on the first point.

Our next game was against Chase Collegiate. This team was full of very athletic and tall players, and we still had bad mentality and sloppy errors, along with some messy zone offense, which lost us the game 10-5. At one point in the game, two players from Chase were injured badly, and instead of taking their players off the field, they decided to stall out the time limit for almost a good ten minutes.

The following game was against Amity Highschool, a really new and scrubby team that we clearly did not take seriously, and because of that, we let them score six points before we took the game at 11.

Then we had a rematch against Chase. We started playing great and scored the first couple of points, but soon with some sloppy playing on zone offense they quickly took the lead again. Afterwards, they came back with some faulty calls and such and beat us 11-6.

The final game would determine the 2nd place winners in this tournament. Our game was against Fieldston. We came out strong, taking the first two points, but we soon exchanged points over and over and soon enough, they had taken the lead at 10-7. During the first point of this game, Teddy Ku made a catch that was stripped and fouled and nearly suffered a concussion. He sat out for the remainder of the game to heal up. Watchung Hills quickly took the game back and moved up quickly to 10-10, universal point. The final point ended with an amazing sky from Jacob Price, then a Brian Li to Alex Growney (sky) huck for the 2nd place win.

Thoughts (Take Em' Or Leave Em'):
We still need to work on zone offense, there were so many holes in the cup, but if the poppers aren't there, then we've got a huge problem, because the cup from Chase was cheating in on the handlers the entire time.

If your man is going up the line, BODY HIM OUT. Its not a foul if you box him out from moving up the line.

Chase Collegiate spirit score? 0? Yeah? Assholes.

At one point I made an amazing layout catch in the endzone but the disc was stripped from my hands when I landed. There goes my chance to make an epic universal point.

We should definately pay Mrs. Wang back for amazing Mongolian BBQ. SO GOOD.