Hellgate Ultimate
http://groups.google.com/group/hellgate-ultimate
Pickup Games at Astoria Park
Saturdays at 11am
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm

Henry has gotten me into playing Ultimate. At first casually when the summer came around and we tossed the disc around in Central Park. Then he started finding groups that were more organized so we could play with more people. The first group at Central Park was okay but we found an even more organized, bigger, friendlier group at a better, closer location in Hellgate Ultimate in Astoria Park.

Indoor Ultimate in Colorado – 2/12/08, 2/6/09

The first and second time I’ve ever played Ultimate in my life occurred when Henry and I went on trips to Colorado the last two years. My first game was on 2/12/2008 in an indoor soccer field where the Ultimate rules were adjusted due to the location. It kicked my butt. I did not have the lung capacity for that game (at that altitude!). But it was fun nevertheless. We played for a few days in that trip and again for a day on 2/6/2009 when I got my first Ultimate injury. I hurt my back or hip or something and learned to stretch out my hips and my back every time I play sports or do something active.

Central Park, Great Hill Ultimate – 6/16/09

Around June, Henry started getting our friends to go to Ultimate. Here’s his recap of one of those days (6/16/09):

Michelle & I arrived @ GreatHill around 10:45am and they were already in the midst of 4v4 with 3 people subbing. I warmed up & tossed with Michelle, then Chris arrived and joined us in warming up & stretching.

The field was mostly grass except for the patch of dirt in the middle (of course). Luckily it didn’t rain on Friday so it wasn’t muddy.

After about 20 minutes, the game grew to 6v6, with 6 subs forming a 3rd team for quick 1st-to-score-2 point games -winning team stays. The 3 of us were quickly recruited to play on the 3rd team.

All guys except for michelle and 2 other girls. One of the other girls was decent, the other was barefoot so ineffectual. Our team wound up winning 3 straight before a picnic group who purchased a permit for our space forced us to relocate to the backup field 2 blocks away @ MorningSide park. Norman joined us just in time to relocate haha. We lost some people due to the relocation, but had 6v6 1-2 subs until we finished at 2pm. Even the slight drizzle was refreshing!

Here’s their house rules: 2 cones at each end to score in between, but no back boundary & no side boundaries. no stall count. i think it caters well to casual players with limited space. i would say 90% of the players had fair to decent flicks. there were 5 guys that play club (they also wore cleats).

I prefer this group WAY more than Dust Bowl. Better field, no dust, slightly higher level of play. So when it comes to playing in Central Park, this meetup.com group is definitely my pick from now on. Afterward they all went to a cafe to eat, but our group of 4 decided to go to Chipotle =)

Astoria Park, Hellgate Ultimate – 6/27/09

We started playing at Astoria Park on 6/27/2009. The people were very welcoming to Henry and me as newcomers. Henry also had a high school friend who introduced him to the group, Nathan, who I re-met a few weeks later. Henry’s impression of Astoria Park after the first visit: “Astoria Park Pick Up: Better field, better organized, better players, and they observe all the rules (ie. stalls)!” We went again for three Saturdays in July – 7/11, 7/18 (our birthday weekend) and 7/24. Towards the end of the month, Henry started going on Thursdays as well.

Henry’s 8/4 recap:

So in preparation for White Mountain Tourney, the women were holding a special ultimate clinic 11am! I wanted Michelle to take part despite her reluctance, so as soon as Chris arrived we immediately drove out to get there on time.

Sure enough, at the earliest i’ve ever seen, people were already tossing and warming up @ 11am! Apparently not just the women were asked to arrive for clinic, but the men on the roster were asked to arrive early to prep for the upcoming tourney too!

After warming up, michelle chris & i started tossing, but shortly after, all the women were gathering to start the clinic. Michelle didn’t wanna go, but after some encouragement, she reluctantly left us to go to the far end of the field with the 11 other girls while Chris & I continued tossing.

I couldn’t help feeling like a dad leaving their kid to preschool for the first time haha, because after an hour of clinic, Michelle was like a new Ultimate player!! and she said it was really helpful!

I don’t know what they did, but it worked… later in-game, Michelle had a krzy diving interception, caught a high float jumper in the air with 2 hands (not a clap catch), had 2 give&go’s that led to her scoring! it was pretty sweet watching from the sidelines =)

All our sessions on offense & defense strategy also paid off cuz she seemed much more comfortable in the stack, timing her breaks, and better covering her mark on defense. way to go Michelle.

We had 3 teams of 7 round robin to 3pts, 4 guys, 3 girls per team. Chris did pretty well too, getting the hang of the zones I reviewed with him during warmups using my cones as marks hehe. Hopefully Chris gets his cleats soon b/c it def makes a huge difference! Michelle was happy breaking in her new cleats!!

I’m really seeing a huge difference in my conditioning. I was able to run much faster for longer periods of time! My vertical jump has started returning too! it’s been helping me grab discs earlier in the air! I had a couple nice back breaks that led to some scores, plus some good handler cuts that made one guy come over and compliment me on making him really work to keep up haha.

Plus it’s been great to start getting to know more people. they’re starting to see that i’m serious about coming regularly =)

Looking fwd to playing again this week! can’t wait!!

We kept going every Saturday – 8/8, 8/15, 8/22. I’ve also started going on Thursdays. The last few weeks I’ve been leaving the field on such a high. I started feeling like I wasn’t such a noob anymore. I can run faster now and have higher endurance. It came at a price though. Because my cardiovascular system has caught up to my activities, my heart and lungs can take more but my body isn’t used to going as fast as I was running so I started getting shin splits last week. I didn’t ice it or take care of it enough so I started icing it this week so that it could heal better. The injury still lingers a bit but I’m hoping it will go away over time (and maybe with enough icing). I keep telling myself the pain is worth it for the joy and exercise I get from playing.

So the last few times I went to play, I felt like I was growing and getting better. Getting to play, catching a disc, scoring a goal seemed more like a normal thing instead of a huge success anymore. This was just telling me that I’ve gotten to the next level. I knew that Tuesdays and Thursdays are more hardcore and my high streak couldn’t stay high forever so today I felt the effects of my lack of experience and my not doing my homework. I didn’t do as well as I wanted to. I still scored a goal. I still was able to defend and catch up with the people I defended. I was able to block a disc throw. But I was off my game. I felt lost in the field. Didn’t know where to go on defense or offense. I didn’t have a good handle on how to play zone. I felt like I just needed to study more. I sat out of a few games and people noticed and they were very encouraging. They said not to take Ultimate too seriously and to have fun with it. I noted that I just needed to learn more. I do realize that a lot of this comes with experience but I want to supplement that with just knowing more about the game. I need to read up on this stuff.

Resources to draw from (mostly c/o Henry):

• http://www.kelownaultimate.com/content/5/the_ultimate_lingo_dictionary.php
• http://www.upa.org/ultimate/rules/11th
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFYwfvFJ2qM
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZw2gJRDSNU
• http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/
• http://groups.google.com/group/hellgate-ultimate/files