TEAM CANADA Women’s Results
1 - USA 2 - JAPAN 3 - CANADA
Team Canada Open > Mike Chura
Representing Canada on the U23 Open Ultimate Team was an experience of a lifetime. I have great memories of the off field shenanigans and the coaching I received will benefit me for years to come. The only rival of the fun was the work effort and focus each player brought to the team. It is crazy to believe where this journey all started.
Back at CUC 2012 I can remember meeting and discussing the prospect of trying out for the U23 squad and making challenges with many hopefuls and a few soon to be teammates. This year, Ultimate Canada decided to try a new system of selection. Starting the tryouts early in the fall allowed players to take the excitement of summer and for many the preparation for USAU Club season and apply it to the tryouts. I remember playing on a frigid Saturday night in November. For six hours we all fought to prove our worth. Our ulti brothers in the east had just finished doing the same not even a month earlier in Toronto. Even here the bonds that make a championship team started forming.
Another advantage of starting the selection process so early was the tournaments could start as early as March for us. The Coaches brought us to Las Vegas. If that isn’t a place to make new friends then I don’t know what is. Although the city of sin had many attractions that could derail the focus of our crew of young men, we managed to keep our wits about up. Keeping in mind that we had come for one purpose: to build our team’s identity. We continued building the teams focus throughout the season at every event
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we attended. Even while we were miles apart, back at home, we used “pod workouts” inflicted by T-1000 (Alex Davis). Having the ability to see what all of your teammates were doing not only was motivation to help get yourself off the couch, but also help push you through to the end of a workout. You never wanted to compare stats and end up at the bottom.
When we did get the chance to spend time with teammates away from the Ultimate field, we made sure to have an awesome time. We could be marveling at the wonders of bagged milk or watching our captain Dave “Butters” Hochhalter reveal his inner cowboy at the Roxy in Vancouver. Never a dull moment was had. Even when players were too exhausted after playing to go out with the rest, they always managed to find a good movie to watch. Spider-Man was a real hit down at Solstice.
After spending the better part of a year training and sharpening our focus, the U23 World Championships were upon us. Our team took all of the work we did all year and put it into action. Even back in the dorms the competition was high. We kept the energy level up by playing endless rounds of golf, mini stick hockey and even an adapted version of volleyball. Even though the games we used to pass the time, everyone knew their reasons why they were in Toronto wearing the maple leaf on their chest.
Although there is much I could say I about the teachings each player received from the coaches I think there was one stand out lesson head coach Patrick Mooney tried to instill into us. To have some self-respect.
Open Results 1 - USA
2 - CANADA 3 - AUSTRALIA Ultimate Canada Magazine -
www.canadianultimate.com
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