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Kath was chosen to be featured in IC Ultimate's May Player Profile because of her team's unexpectedly strong showing at the Northwest College Regionals. UC-Berkeley went into the tournament ranked 7th, and came out with the number 2 spot in the region and a bid to the UPA College Championships. Kath was an integral part of Berkeley's offense and defense during the team's upset of Oregon and victories over Washington and UC-Davis. Read below to find out more information about her ultimate beginnings, history, skills/profile, and college season.
| Ultimate Beginnings: |  Ratcliff v. Kara Marlatt (Carleton) at College Nationals 2004 |
| What other sports do you have a background in and when did you play them? | |
| I played badminton in HS, soccer growing up. | |
| Where and when did you first learn to play ultimate? | |
| I think we played it a little in gym in high school. Mainly, i learned while playing IM's freshman/soph years of college. | |
| What about the sport has made you continue to play since then? | |
| Catching is the funnest thing ever. | |
| Who would you describe as your main mentor(s)? | |
| Jamie Nuwer is my forehand mentor. |
| Ultimate History: |
| What teams have you played on? |
| Gung-Ho (Northwestern) 2000-02 Pie Queens (UC-Berkeley) 2002-2005 Heroine 2002-2004 Skyline 2005 Numerous teams at co-ed tournaments |
| What has been your greatest ultimate achievement/memory? |
| Making Nationals 5/5 years of college ultimate. Making Nationals this year. Getting a D in double game point last year in the game-to-go. Playing sunday of regionals with a broken thumb on my throwing hand this year. |
| What has been your worst (most heartbreaking, most challenging, or most embarrassing, etc.) ultimate memory? |
| Breaking my collarbone the first time (regionals in ohio 2002). Actually, that wasn't the worst. The worst was driving across ohio and indiana at 1 am, discovering that I don't, in fact, tolerate percocet, and then throwing up in gas station bathrooms. With the pain meds wearing off. and a drastically broken collarbone. that was awful. Don't ever break your collarbone. |
| What type of recognition/honors/awards (if any) have you received for your ultimate play? |
| Women's ultimate sports club 'athlete of the year' and nominated for the Callahan award this year |
 Ratcliff at NW Regionals 2005 |
Ultimate Skills/Profile: |
| What position do you play? Has this differed on different teams you may have played for? | |
| Handler. I have tried to play upfield sometimes for club, which is fun, but fundamentally, I'm a thrower. | |
| What do you view as your strengths on the field? | |
| Throwing. Breaking the mark. Backhands. Catching, especially in the air. | |
| What are you working on most to improve? | |
| Speed. Being fast is fun, and D is so much easier. | |
| What is your role on your college team (include leadership roles on and off the field)? | |
| I pretty much pick up the disc most of the time. I play deep in zone d, and I talk with the coaches about strategy a lot. I have no actual authority, though. | |
| What type of pre-game or pre-tournament rituals (if any) do you have? | |
| I really like thai food. For big games, red bull. For all games, advil. Eating an orange makes me feel like i can catch better cause it makes my hands sticky. |
| Upcoming College Season: |
| Describe your team's experience at Regionals this year. How did that compare to previous tournaments of the season? |
| Wow! We finally managed to bring all the elements of our game together. We didn't just beat teams, we won convincingly. It was amazing. I think the only other time we were as fired up was during a few of our double-game-point type games at centex. The moment that someone told me our score in our semi (game to go) was 15-4, I flipped out. Incredible. Mind-boggling. Words don't describe it. |
| How strong do you think your college team is this year? How does this compare to previous years that you have been on the team? |
| Based on last weekend, I think we have the ability to beat anyone out there. Going from what everyone called a "rebuilding" year to where we are now is pretty amazing. We're significantly younger as a team (not me :). Playing key points at regionals with 5 people who were in their second year or lower was great - we have a huge core of young players for the future. I think personally, I've taken much more of a leadership role on the field than before, and really have the chance to make things happen with my throws. |
| What are your personal and team goals for the season? |
| Well, my personal and team goal was to make it to nationals. Hmm, now, maybe win nationals? I think we could do it... :) |
| What do you most look forward to competiting at the UPA College Championships? b> |
| Two words: Media Exposure. |
 Ratcliff v. Chelsea Dengler (Oregon) at NW Regionals 2005 |
 Ratcliff v. Claremont at College Nationals 2004 |
 Ratcliff at College Nationals 2004 |
 Ratcliff at Sectionals 2005 |
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