Hot Saucers Ultimate

June 8, 2016

Inside this Issue

• Spring Season (Women’s)

• Spring Season (Men’s)

• Ultimate Abroad

• Alumni Weekend: 40th Anniversary

Brooks Rozelle ‘16 skys a Cortland player to score in thesemi-finalsofRegionals

Volume 1, Issue 3 Spring 2016

ArticlesonthispagewrittenbyMollyApril‘17andJeffGreenwald‘17

Spring Season (Men’s)After several years of being stuck in

frustrating regional mediocrity, the Men’s team was finally able to produce results that matched all of their hard work and growth. A spring break trip to the sanctioned Rip Tide tournament before the team’s traditional High Tide week gave them a chance to play some top DIII teams. Highlights included a narrow 7-9 loss to eventual DIII champions Georgia College and a nail-biting win over a very strong Messiah team. A hungry, but patient, Saucers team rode their system through the sectional tournament, beating rival Colgate in the finals to take their first Sectional title in years. Having secured the #1 seed for Regionals spirits were high, but

Day 1 of Regionals was anything but easy. The Saucers went 4-1 with no less than 3 universe victories. Day 2 was postponed due to rain, and after a desperate search for adequate fields the final rounds were played on Hamilton’s very own turfs. Plagued by upperclassman injuries, the Saucers rode the energy of the home crowd and a fiery freshman D line to a thrilling 16-15 victory over Cortland in the semis. A very disciplined and deep Connecticut College team was able to secure the lone bid to Nationals in the final though, ending the Saucers’ season a few weeks earlier than they would have liked. The team could do nothing but smile after such a successful season and the prospect of growing even more next year.

Spring Season (Women’s) The ‘Hers grew together through

endless hours of off-season mini games, late night practices, bonding sleepovers, and hang outs. The team meshed so well and we couldn’t wait to see this chemistry manifested on the field. We got the opportunity to increase on-field and off-field bonding and chemistry at High Tide in South Carolina over spring break. Though we had only a few subs, we played three days of good and gritty ultimate, ultimately fighting our way to the semifinals. By the time Sectionals rolled around we were prepared and ready to see what our full team could do. We went home Saturday

undefeated (4-0) and with the knowledge that we had secured a bid to Regionals. On Sunday we found ourselves in the final playing against our toughest competitors, Oneonta. Despite defeating Oneonta on Saturday 12-8, their zone defense prevailed and they won. At Regionals, we came equipped with a handler clinic and a drive to win. We played six incredible games of ultimate through sun and rain, going 5-1. Despite a season-ending loss to Wesleyan, we played beautiful ultimate and saw layouts from players old and new. Regionals ended with a sentimental final score from our two seniors (Jessi to Zoe) that resulted in a triumphant win over Oneonta.

Past and current captains of Hamilton Ultimate cometogetherduringAlumniWeekendtocollectivelyform40

yearsofleadership(1976-2016)

Bryce Lupoli, Zoe Tessler, Brooks Rozelle, Nick Lucchesi, BrianJung,andJessiCrowley(lefttoright)areourgraduating

SaucersfromtheClassof2016

Ultimate Abroad Some of our Hot Saucers who

spent the spring semester abroad got a chance to immerse themselves in the Ultimate community at their respective locations. They write: Chris: I was playing with the Quijotes in Spain this semester. I played pickup with the players on Saturdays and afterwards all the Americans on the team went out together. On the first day, a girl from UMass and I both showed up in our High Tide t-shirts from the hat tournament! Kateri: Connecting with the Quito ultimate community in Ecuador was one of my favorite parts of my abroad experience. I went to a pick-up game at least once

a week, and even when I couldn’t play I still loved hanging on the sideline. I met and played with people from all over South and North America and discovered, once again, the crazy way a piece of plastic can bring all sorts of people together. Logan: I played indoor pick up with a club team called the Stockholm Syndromes in Stockholm, Sweden. The first day we got there we immediately did a drill practicing hammers and blades. Indoor ultimate is weird. Our club team played in a tournament called “Hello Stockholm” and we played against teams from around the world like Norway, Germany, Scotland, and Latvia. I also joined up with an older guy who essentially coordinates all ultimate related things in Stockholm,

and helped him run ultimate frisbee gym classes/clinics at elementary schools around the city. Curt: ^Ditto. Except I didn’t get invited to the tournament. But, the kids liked me way better. Jon: I played on a mixed team called D.U.D.E. (Dunedin Ultimate Disc Experience) in Dunedin, NZ. The team varied widely in skill level, but everyone was all about having a ton of fun and getting to know each other. I had the unique opportunity to play with some absolutely legendary veterans, who had been playing at the international level for 25+ years. I met and played with international students from all around the world, including good old kiwis.

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Article on this page written by Chris Powell ‘17, Kateri Boucher ‘17, Curt Lyon ‘17, Logan Yu ‘17, and Jon Shapiro ‘17

Chris Powell, Spain

Kateri Boucher,Ecuador

Curt Lyon and Logan Yu, Sweden

Jonathan Shapiro,New Zealand

DennisBoni‘80defendsGeorgeShaler‘84atthe Alumni Weekend tournament

Allattendeesofour2016AlumniWeekendcelebratingthe40thAnniversaryofHamiltonUltimateposetogetherafterthedaytournament

Article on this page written by Jonah Boucher ‘17

Alumni Weekend In the spring of 2015, Nick

Lucchesi ’16 was digging through some Hamilton archives when he found mention of an Ultimate frisbee team on The Hill as early as the 80s. With a little more investigation, he pinned down the year 1976 as the first time a group got together with a Wham-O and called themselves a team. We realized that this would make this spring season technically the 40th anniversary of the program, and excitedly decided

that we should at the very least make some commemorative discs or gear. Thankfully, the celebration plans did not stop there. We decided that we would make our normal alumni reunion weekend, which has historically just been a single alumni vs. current players game and a party that night, into a 40th Anniversary Reunion. We didn’t know exactly what that would entail, but we figured it would just be a slightly bigger, slightly more organized version of what usually happened.

Once we learned that we could expect around 15 alumni from the early years, including the founders of the first iteration of the women’s team, 25 or so alumni from the 2000s, and the 50+ current members of the team, we sprang into action to put together a meet-and-greet, a tournament, catered meals, and a party. Though it seems unlikely that the team would have accrued much positive Karma over the years with the school, somehow all the pieces fell into place just in time.

The weekend’s festivities included a multi-generational celebration of our shared history and our friendships new and old in the Pub, a round-robin tournament and barbeque, a banquet complete with speeches and a slideshow, and a “reliving of the glory days” party that went long into the night. The alumni couldn’t stop thanking the current players, and the current players couldn’t stop thanking the alumni. The weekend was capped off with a big brunch Sunday morning in the dining hall. Our talkative tables certainly drew some

attention, as each passerby likely wondered how the frisbee team all had such cool parents. The most incredible part of the breakfast was that it just felt like we were eating with our team as usual. In two days, 40 years’ worth of frisbee players came together to celebrate how long we’ve been tossing around a piece of plastic on a small little Hill in the middle of New York. It’s that silly little game that initially got us all together, but it is the people and the atmosphere that will always keep us coming back. We are so grateful to everybody who has been a part of it!

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