The UCLA program made a name for itself with its meteoric rise
to the top of college ultimate. Since its A team was founded in Fall 2003, UCLA has
consistently played at the highest level of college ultimate, including
a finals appearance in 2006, semifinals appearances in 2007 and 2008, and a
quarterfinals appearance in 2009. UCLA is comprised of an A team (BLU)
and a B team (Midas), both of whom have enjoyed great success. In its short history, UCLA has produced a number of Callahan Top 5 finishers, including Jamie Nuwer (2004), Pooja Shah (2006), Anna "Maddog" Nazarov (2007), and Angie "Taz" Sanan (2008). UCLA alums and current players play on a number of top level club teams including Bay Area Zeitgeist, Bay Area Mischief, New York Bent, and the new LA-area women's team LAW. We are fortunate to have 2007 Callahan Winner, Anna Nazarov, share her thoughts about the UCLA program. Nazarov was the Southwest Region FOTY in 2004 and received All-Region honors in both 2006 and 2007. She also captained BLU in both 2006 and 2007. She now plays with Bay Area Zeitgeist, where she showcases her outstanding defense and beautiful throws at the highest level of club women's ultimate. Nazarov is well-respected by everyone who knows her as a fantastic leader and as someone who never stops working. She is a part of the core of players that brought UCLA to the forefront of college women's ultimate in just a few short years. UCLA's story is one that should give young teams hope. BLU is proof that hard work gets you far. (See Anna's advice to a first time captain of a young team). Feature program: UCLA BLU Year established: Fall 2003 Years you played: Fall 2003 - Spring 2007 What made you stay after that first practice: For me, I
wanted to try a team sport,
never having played one, but soccer seemed too intimidating because
everyone had played since they were kids. I liked
frisbee because no one knew how to play when we started and it was a
brand new program. I liked the challenge and the learning curve and
that we decided early on we wanted to be top 3 at Regionals. Also, I took a casual poll of past and current BLU kids who were accessible on Gchat. Here are some answers: Best team fundraiser you've been a part of:
Since
the first time BLU made Nationals in 2006, the team has been holding an
annual beach hat tournament called Deep BLU Something. Holding a hat
tournament is one the simplest ways to get the community involved with
the team, especially if you don't have to pay to reserve fields. This
past spring, DBS had over 100 participants with a day of ultimate for
just $15/person. The only expense for BLU was water and bananas (bagels
were donated by local cafes) so the rest of the profit was used to
offset tournament bid fees and flights."Definitely the people seemed nice and fun and welcoming" "I have a competitive nature and seeing how much I had to learn about the sport and how much room for improvement i had, I wanted to challenge myself" "As crazy as this sounds, I think it was the sprints/ab workout at the end. It showed me that you guys were serious and it wasn't a joke. I'm sure I had fun, and the people were cool. Otherwise I wouldn't have really been interested at all, But I think that sealed the deal." "It seemed competitive like I would get a workout and we would try to be sucessful/it was organized" "I was thinking about doing waterpolo, but Ultimate seemed more competitive and the girls seemed like they were super good friends...so I liked that" "I guess at first it was just supposed to fill the void that track left" "The vets were so nice to me... I liked the instant friends when I knew so few people at school. And they were older and invited me to eat with them in the dining halls. They reminded me of some of my friends from home and I instantly liked them. And i felt cooler being friends with older kids." "I liked how i felt like I got a good workout (we did sprints at the end)." "My most vivid memory from the first practice was the vets doing a hucking drill for the rookies. They would just jack it and we would run it down and I thought it was the most amazing feeling chasing down that disc." "Because I wanted to play a sport. Because I liked the people." "I liked having something I wasn't good at yet and wanted to become great. The challenge is fun." "I had never played a sport before and this one seemed different and fun.""I was a freshman and just starting college. Very few of my close high school friends went to school with me. I had gone to a few other extra curricular activity meetings but ultimate seemed to fit me best." "I wanted to get better and the people were cool, but mostly i was impressed with your guys' mad skillz." "I already knew I wanted to be on the team...I knew what type of team it was...I knew it was competitive and that's what I was looking for so the practice was more to see that 1. the team was cool and I could hang out with them and 2. the team wasn't lazy and was willing to push hard." Favorite recruiting activity: Club sports would let us play a quick showcase game at the activities fair in the fall, full uniform and all. I liked being able to show the sport after having explained it to people who came by the ultimate table to grab a flyer. Also, holding an informational meeting on campus is the perfect way to talk to potential players one on one and make them feel like they could really contribute to the program. Favorite college tournament: I really loved the fall tournaments (SoCal Warm Up, Sean Ryan) because of the teaching. Rushing the field after a rookie gets their first layout score is maybe the best feeling in the world. Your advice to a first time captain of a young team:
Do
whatever it takes to get your team throwing outside of practice. There
is just not enough time during scheduled practices to throw enough to
make a true, game-changing impact. The first year BLU was in existence,
one of our girls threw for something like 90 days in a row so now every
year the captains encourage people to try to break her record. Two
years ago they started the Rookie Challenge: each rookie has to throw
with each vet for at least 30 mins and the vet then signs off on their
sheet. Prizes were given out for top finishers (a vet donated Five Ulti
shorts for 1st place).
What makes your college program stand out:
I think we got really really lucky with our coaches. And while a coach
is key, I don't think it's impossible to have a great program without
one, if the captains are willing to put in the time and effort and
willing to really push people at practice. Any tips for practice planning:
Thinking
more about the overarching view, our coaches always teach offense
before introducing defense, especially with a rookie-heavy team. This
doesn't mean scrimmage without defense for an entire week, but don't
formally introduce the force until the team understands cutting from a
stack. New players will have more fun if they can get open and complete
a few throws. [Sidenote, other coaches prefer to teach the stack as a
response to a one-way force, so it's up to you to figure out what works
best.] As far as individual practice tips go, making sure you have a
practice plan with allotted times for each drill and scrimmage is
important as it will limit downtime and keep people feeling engaged and
challenged. If you want to retain the athletes, you have to convince
them that ultimate is a real and challenging sport. Throw in some
sprints for good measure, especially ladders/suicides where teammates
can cheer for each other.A short anecdote / memory of your time playing college ultimate: When we were a young team, for the last scrimmage before Regionals we would be split up into two teams we really admired, complete with wearing the teams' colors and cheering their cheers. My favorite was when we played Superfly vs Kali my sophomore year. There's something about the confidence that comes with pretending to be great players that makes you play like great players. If you could go back and do it over again, one thing you'd change: Delegate more seemilgly midless tasks to teammates to give everyone ownership of the team. Things like compiling UPA #s for rostering, researching/booking hotel rooms, figuring out rental cars, etc. It'll take extra planning ahead on your part, but will be worth the effort. About Midas: Midas started BLU's 2nd season (2004-2005). There were only about 10 people who came regularly so it was hard for them to practice and, in the interest of full disclosure, there was some tension that year about being "the B team." The following year we recruited extra hard and Midas suddenly had 40 people interested. That gave the coaches the option of setting some ground rules (ie: you must make this many practices to travel) and developing as their own competitive program (Midas' top finish is 5th at Regionals). Because my rookie class was so huge we only took one or two from Midas and one or two true freshmen every year. After we graduated, BLU took 8 from Midas. Those 8 were undoubtly key to BLU's continued success and their run to the semis of Natties. Likewise, Midas is key for UCLA ultimate in that it provides a slightly less demanding option while still giving players the competitive venue and the opportunity to work their way onto BLU. Other: One thing to think about if you can't get a coach to commit full time: ask local club players to guest-coach one or two practices. If you saw someone at summer league with an amazing low flick, ask them to stop by for an hour to talk about throwing. If you know someone has coached in the past, ask them to come by and talk about zone. You don't have to do it all yourself! Use whatever resources you can get your hands on. For another perspective on BLU, check out this article written by Alex Korb and Jamie Nuwer in 2004. |