Here we go, I know everyone has been waiting for this, the history of magnUM according to me. What you will get today is a brief overview of my 5 years there and over the next couple of months, I will attempt to give more details and give my thoughts on how to build a semi-successful college team.
We have gone through 2 phases. Phase 1 starts basically in 95/96ish, we were not yet magnUM and practices were filled with a lot of non-college Ann Arbor club players. Out of the mix of AA locals and grad students, a small team of grad students got more and more undergrads to participate. Basically, magnUM comes out of this mix in fall 97 (epic game, definitely to be discussed).
Phase 1 ends/Phase 2 begins after Boulder '99. The core of the team over the past 3 years either graduated (undergrad or grad) or ran out of elgibility. We would transform from a grad student heavy team to a team of less than 20% grad schools (I know, I know all you little liberal arts college guys are thinking, grad students are unspirited. I laugh at you.)
Phase 2 continues today with mainly undergrads, sprinkle in some grad students, but the core seems to be youngsters.
So what have I learned about forming a team, since we did it basically twice when I was there.
There are many important things, but if you want to be a team that can succeed, you need a lot of one thing: athletes. Throwers are way overrated (or kids who can only throw). There were plenty of guys who could throw, but were not very fast, not very determined, and not very athletic. But they could throw. I am pretty sure not a one of those guys ever made our team (here is a good time to make fun of Brix, but I feel he was semi-athletic).
By the end, guys would show up that had played in high school. Now there are some schools that have sweet ultimate programs. I got to see some of that this summer. ANd I have played with some of the best out of these programs. Unfortunately, none of these guys ever came to Michigan. My take was if they played ultimate in high school, there were not good enough to play other sports (I know, there are plenty counter examples, but again they did not go to Michigan). Even looking at the Minneapolis high school league, it still appears there are not many good athletes playing.
So, I wanted guys who had played other high school sports. My preference was soccer or basketball or football. Some track or cross country background was good too. But if you played a sport, I wanted you out there.
We took are lumps early. My first 2 years, we were not a good throwing team. If we stayed close with you, it was with our athleticism. If your team is made up of good athletes, they will learn how to throw. That is partly what makes them a good athlete. Look throwing is not the easiest thing to learn, but if you put in time and effort over a year, you can become a solid thrower who is reliable. Eventually, we were able to be competitive at the highest level.
The hardest part is getting the athletes. To get them, you have to make sure they know you are around. Some guys go to school and want to be competitive still. Ultimate is getting more popular, but not many know how fun and competitive it can be. You have to find them.
1. You need to have free clinics teaching people how to play (oh, co-ed clinics help out for both teams. College guys want to be somewhere with college girls. ANd vice versa. Huge bonus. Trust me on this one.) Have like 3 or 4 of these clinics in your usual practice time. Another funny trick we would do was if you gave us your name and e-mail, you would be entered into a raffle for free discs. We would take the names and then "draw" the names. And by draw, we would make sure the people we wanted to come back won the discs.
2. You need to play pick up ultimate on main drags of campus. We used to play right on Palmer field early in the semester. A crappy field, but within 50 yards of 5 dorms. Everyone is welcome. Also, you need to be throwing the disc on your "mall" or "diag" area as much as possible. There was always magnUM guys on campus throwing if the temp was above 40 or 50. The more frisbees people see, the more they get interested.
3. Flyer the dorms. Put as many flyers in as many dorms as possible. Tell them when you are playing.
4. Ad in the newspaper or ad in any welcome magazine or any freshman publication.
5. Have a party, show the kids you can have a fun time. Make sure there are girls.
I hope you learned something today. Very soon, you will get more details about individual years and players. GOod stuff.
We have gone through 2 phases. Phase 1 starts basically in 95/96ish, we were not yet magnUM and practices were filled with a lot of non-college Ann Arbor club players. Out of the mix of AA locals and grad students, a small team of grad students got more and more undergrads to participate. Basically, magnUM comes out of this mix in fall 97 (epic game, definitely to be discussed).
Phase 1 ends/Phase 2 begins after Boulder '99. The core of the team over the past 3 years either graduated (undergrad or grad) or ran out of elgibility. We would transform from a grad student heavy team to a team of less than 20% grad schools (I know, I know all you little liberal arts college guys are thinking, grad students are unspirited. I laugh at you.)
Phase 2 continues today with mainly undergrads, sprinkle in some grad students, but the core seems to be youngsters.
So what have I learned about forming a team, since we did it basically twice when I was there.
There are many important things, but if you want to be a team that can succeed, you need a lot of one thing: athletes. Throwers are way overrated (or kids who can only throw). There were plenty of guys who could throw, but were not very fast, not very determined, and not very athletic. But they could throw. I am pretty sure not a one of those guys ever made our team (here is a good time to make fun of Brix, but I feel he was semi-athletic).
By the end, guys would show up that had played in high school. Now there are some schools that have sweet ultimate programs. I got to see some of that this summer. ANd I have played with some of the best out of these programs. Unfortunately, none of these guys ever came to Michigan. My take was if they played ultimate in high school, there were not good enough to play other sports (I know, there are plenty counter examples, but again they did not go to Michigan). Even looking at the Minneapolis high school league, it still appears there are not many good athletes playing.
So, I wanted guys who had played other high school sports. My preference was soccer or basketball or football. Some track or cross country background was good too. But if you played a sport, I wanted you out there.
We took are lumps early. My first 2 years, we were not a good throwing team. If we stayed close with you, it was with our athleticism. If your team is made up of good athletes, they will learn how to throw. That is partly what makes them a good athlete. Look throwing is not the easiest thing to learn, but if you put in time and effort over a year, you can become a solid thrower who is reliable. Eventually, we were able to be competitive at the highest level.
The hardest part is getting the athletes. To get them, you have to make sure they know you are around. Some guys go to school and want to be competitive still. Ultimate is getting more popular, but not many know how fun and competitive it can be. You have to find them.
1. You need to have free clinics teaching people how to play (oh, co-ed clinics help out for both teams. College guys want to be somewhere with college girls. ANd vice versa. Huge bonus. Trust me on this one.) Have like 3 or 4 of these clinics in your usual practice time. Another funny trick we would do was if you gave us your name and e-mail, you would be entered into a raffle for free discs. We would take the names and then "draw" the names. And by draw, we would make sure the people we wanted to come back won the discs.
2. You need to play pick up ultimate on main drags of campus. We used to play right on Palmer field early in the semester. A crappy field, but within 50 yards of 5 dorms. Everyone is welcome. Also, you need to be throwing the disc on your "mall" or "diag" area as much as possible. There was always magnUM guys on campus throwing if the temp was above 40 or 50. The more frisbees people see, the more they get interested.
3. Flyer the dorms. Put as many flyers in as many dorms as possible. Tell them when you are playing.
4. Ad in the newspaper or ad in any welcome magazine or any freshman publication.
5. Have a party, show the kids you can have a fun time. Make sure there are girls.
I hope you learned something today. Very soon, you will get more details about individual years and players. GOod stuff.
posted by sometallskinnykid at 10:43 PM
3 Comments:
Brendan- definitely a lot of the early years. Now, about the "lose regularly to Oberlin" comment, I do not believe I have ever lost to Oberlin. I can confirm this. My first year (the only year we could have lost to them), we played them at an indoor tourney and I believe we won.
I do think they beat us on Sunday at Notre Dame, but I did not stay for Sunday. So technically, I have never lost to Oberlin.
But after 97, I do not think we lost to those walking donkeychickens!
I could be wrong, Phil?
Hales- I still remember you and Graves riding your bikes together. That was cute.
Sorry Brendan, I don't see how "Throw it deep to Boardman" is going to help out Oberlin. Just migrate to the Metro East.
I like the part talking about athletes and "throwers" (non-athletes). But I would split up each group into two subsets, game players and non-game players. Your throwers could still be valuable players if they can play a good game of ping-pong or hit a 3 pointer, while your athletes can still suck if they always run to the wrong place or continue to make bad decisions. I would go so far as to say that I'd take a less athletic "player" over someone who is faster but looks lost out there.
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