Regionals Recap

The weather of both Saturday and Sunday of Regionals at Devens was really windy with gusts of wind. Hatch had a first round against Middlebury. My muscles were really tired throughout the entire first game and I seemed really out of breath all the time. I was really worried because I skipped a week of track workouts and agility workouts and I don't know if that really affected me or not. Basically I didn't do any physical activity except for serious dance partying at our wedding. =P We worked on our man defense for the first half and zone/clam for the second half, came out 13-2 at the end.

Next game was against Brute Squad, a really fun game. I think my adrenaline kicked in during this game so I was breathing better and my legs felt fine during this game. I remember throwing/cutting well during this game and just being really excited for the team. Hatch was just really pumped during this game, we had nothing to lose so we played all out, trying to set the tone for the next game against Storm. Final score 13-6 Brute.

Next game was against Storm. Both teams had a lot of drops and it was a really messy game in general. We went down 7-2 at half. I remember throwing a upwind backhand huck to Jenny in the endzone for one of the scores; that was pretty exciting. Storm poached off the sideline handlers a lot which messed up our downfield flow, and even though we practiced this situation last week during practice, it took us a while to remember how to play against it. They kept the disc moving quickly, used the break-side very well, and had really accurate I/O breaks. They had one cutter that kept moving (I think #11) and it was really tiring trying to cover her. Final score 13-4 Storm.

We had a bye where we watched Mixed Nuts play against (and beat) Sucker Punch. They looked pretty good except for some miscommunications between cutters and handlers and messy endzones.

Last game was against Chaos Theory, won 13-0.

On Sunday we had a first round "bye" because one of the college teams dropped out. So we started off playing Missconnduct. We traded for the first three points, dictated mostly by upwind/downwind. At 3-3, I got put on the line that scored the first upwind point! And I got my first layout D ever!! I was defending a downfield cutter and she was cutting in on the open side, about 5 yards away from the sideline. It's been one of my frisbee goals to get a layout D all season and I finally did it! I've been visualizing it happening for like over a year now and when it came down to it, I didn't even know I had laid out until I was on the ground and my girl didn't have the disc in her hands. Yesssss

So we scored the upwind break and then traded some more and then got another upwind break, so the score at halftime was 8-6. In the second half, we didn't let up and finally won the game 15-8. It was a really satisfying win and everyone on Hatch played really well :)

Our next game was the game-to-go for the 4th and last bid to Regionals. We played Storm who we lost to the previous day 13-4. There were a lot of drops and misthrows/turfs because everyone's nerves were all out of whack. Both teams played a messy game and there were plenty of turnovers for both teams so we definitely had our chances. Even though the final score was 15-4, I felt like the game was much closer.

There were a lot of silly and unfortunate drops in the endzones. In my mind I can remember three of them distinctly: 1) We had called a timeout literally a yard from our endzone line and we had Doris cutting in from the second from the back. She was wide open, like 5 yards in front of her girl, and the disc was put to her but she fumbled and dropped it. 2) I hucked to Suzanne in the endzone and she was milking it for more distance because there was NO ONE on her. I guess she got too excited because she fumbled and dropped it as well. 3) Maya was alone in the endzone, back corner and was going up for a huck that was easily well-within her reach. But then at the last second, a gust of wind took the disc and made it fly waaaay over her head and it flew out the back of the endzone. I know these are all silly, small things, and I'm not pinning blame on anyone, I know I have done my share of mistakes in this game and in my frisbee life in general, and I know the score ultimately doesn't matter that much, I don't think we could've won the game, but I believe the score could've been a lot closer. Oh well. =P

All in all, I think Hatch played really amazingly this weekend and everyone did something out of the ordinary that she could feel proud of. I had a great time this season and I've been enjoying seeing all the pictures that get posted on facebook and sentimental emails this week.

But for now, I'm really glad, scratch that... I am overwhelmingly ecstatic!!! that this club season is over. I feel physically, mentally, and emotionally burnt out. I have literally played frisbee for 3 years straight, overlapping seasons of college and club since the fall of 2007. And even though I loved every season and developed long-lasting friendships that will continue through my non-frisbee life, I'm really really glad to be done with frisbee for now. It just takes so much effort to be so invested in a team (two teams!) and personal development over such a long period of time without breaks. I'm ready for a real off-season, to sit on my butt a lot, get my weekends back, let my muscles recover and get fat. hehe.

Yess!! Weekends!! How I have forgotten what it's like to have weekends! It feels amazing to answer the question "What are you doing this weekend?" with "I don't know! Nothing?!" Ahhh how joyous and carefree :) Don't get me wrong, I loved playing in tournaments, and practices were alright (I mean, I like tournaments more and practices are definitely necessary) but it just feels so great to have free weekends now ;)

Ook, I think in the next several weeks, I'm going to have a series of posts on 1) how to be a better handler, and 2) write a few wedding recaps once I get the pro pics back. I think writing will help me find closure to this hectic year of frisbee and wedding craziness. Bye!! :)