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Cara Crouch has been an integral part of her team, Melee, for the past four years, leading the team to the semifinals of the UPA College Championships. Additionally, Cara was voted as winner of the 2005 Callahan Award, the MVP of college ultimate. Read below to find out more information about her ultimate beginnings, history, skills/profile, college season, and other insights.
| Ultimate Beginnings: | ||
| What other sports do you have a background in and when did you play them? | ||
| Mainly soccer (age 4-15); cross country in 9th and 10th grade; track and volleyball in middle school, but that was pretty low tech | ||
| Where and when did you first learn to play ultimate? | ||
| I played swilltimate with friends in high school, but really learned the game at UT practice and at Houston pickup and club practices the summer after my freshman year. | ||
| What about the sport has made you continue to play since then? |  Crouch in the semifinals at the College Championships |
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| The community, the respect for the game and ones opponents, etc. I don't really have a choice anymore...I'm addicted. | ||
| Who would you describe as your main mentor(s)? | ||
| There are so many people that I consider my mentors, but I think the most influential one is Mike Natenberg, or "Tank", as most ultimate players know him. He was, is, and will continue to be my greatest ultimate role model. His effort, heart, positive attitude, drive, and confidence are constant on and off the field…not to mention he's got some mad ultimate skills. Besides Mike, my teammates are my mentors. I’ve played college and club with Amanda Berens (formerly Gayle) since we both started together in the fall of 2000. No single person has pushed me harder to become a better or more competitive player. I guess that just happens after 5 years of guarding each other at practices. | ||
| Ultimate History: |
| What teams have you played on? |
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| What has been your greatest ultimate achievement/memory? |
| Even though we didn't reach our ultimate goal of winning, placing so well at College Nationals this year is fresh in my memory as my favorite ultimate achievement. It was the culmination of a 5-year journey with a team of amazing women (on and off the field) doing the best the team has ever done at Nationals. When it comes down to it, 3rd/4th place is amazing. |
| What has been your worst (most heartbreaking, most challenging, or most embarrassing, etc.) ultimate memory? |
| Actually, not winning College Nationals this year was pretty painful. Not because I thought we were the best team and should have won…just because we had been working for it, believing in it, and dreaming of it for so long. It always stings a bit to not reach your own goals and expectations. |
| What type of recognition/honors/awards (if any) have you received for your ultimate play? |
| Back in 2001, UT women received the team spirit award at College Nationals; that was awesome even though we lost every game. I’ve personally received a lot of support from coaches, teammates, mentors, and my parents whether it be in the form of praise, advice, or words of encouragement; I consider that the most important honor/recognition in shaping my ultimate game. |
 Crouch's D block against UC-Berkeley at Centex |
Ultimate Skills/Profile: |
| What position do you play? Has this differed on different teams you may have played for? | |
| I played handler the last few years in college and on Ozone, but I started out as a receiver on Buttercup. I'd rather go in on a defensive line any day than an offensive one, no matter what team I'm on. | |
| What do you view as your strengths on the field? | |
| Defense and relatively solid throws. | |
| What are you working on most to improve? | |
| Throws, specifically over the top throws in windy situations and my forehand huck. Also, I need to drop a couple of seconds off my shotgun time. | |
| What is your role on your college team (include leadership roles on and off the field)? | |
| Off the field, I served on the GB (Governing Board) and captained Melee for 2 years ('03 and '04). On the field, I try to lead by example, but mainly I just yell and point a lot. | |
| What type of pre-game or pre-tournament rituals (if any) do you have? | |
| I have three pairs of special underwear that I call Mr. Winky. They’re pretty popular with the ladies. Unfortunately, after almost 5 years, they are in pretty sad shape. |
| 2005 College Season: | |
| Describe your experience at Nationals this year. How did that compare to previous tournaments of the season? | |
| See above. Before semis at Nationals, we had only lost 5 games, 4 games by one point and one game by 3 points. It was a great season for us, despite our early struggles with closing out close games at ultimate point. Losing those games just stoked the fire. | |
| How did that compare to previous years that you have been to on the team? | |
| We performed and placed better this year than any previous year by making it to semis. 2003 Nationals in Austin was a great year for Melee when we surpassed all expectations by making it to quarters. | |
| Now that it's over, what was your favorite memory from the season? |  Crouch in the semifinals against Stanford |
| Almost all of my favorites actually occurred off the field with the Meleedies. One from President's Day stands out and involves eating some "vegetarian" late night taquitos and a bag of cookies in 2 minutes outside of our host's house in the pouring rain. It's things like that when you had to be there. Talking about poo is a close second and favorite pastime of our team. | |
| What do you think was the most valuable thing you learned this season? | |
| That it really is, “all about Melee”, or whichever team you play for. It’s all about the team. | |
| Miscellaneous Ultimate Thoughts: | |
| What was your reaction to winning the Callahan award this year? | |
| Shock, really. It made me feel warm and fuzzy to think that my opponents and especially my teammates think that I am worthy of an award like that. | |
| What are your plans for the summer and beyond as far as playing ultimate is concerned? | |
| I'm moving back to Atlanta for the fall season to play with Ozone and hoping to go to Worlds in '06. Meanwhile, I plan to play as much ultimate as I can afford to play. | |
 Crouch bids on D in the semifinals | What plans to you have (if any) to stay involved with women's college ultimate after graduation? |
| I would love to coach a women’s college team in the future. For now though, I’d like to focus on strengthening the youth programs (middle/high school age) in Texas, which are slowly on the rise. I think right now that’s a great way to ensure the strength of the Texas college programs since so many kids stay in state for college here. | |
| What piece of advice would you offer to other women ultimate players? | |
| Play as much ultimate as you can, always play with spirit and passion, and always believe...even when it doesn't work out. It's cliche, but it's worked for me so far. | |
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