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Claire Suver was one of the players leading her team to victory at the UPA Youth Club Championships this month in Blaine, MN. She and her twin sister, Molly Suver, will be incoming freshman at the University of Washington this year. They both add experience and disc skills to the team that came in second at the 2005 UPA College Championships. Read below to find out more information about her ultimate beginnings, history, skills/profile, and upcoming college season.
| Ultimate Beginnings: | ||
| What other sports do you have a background in and when did you play them? | ||
| I played soccer from sixth to ninth grade, but only for school teams and was never very good. It was always something to do when I couldn't play Ultimate. | ||
| Where and when did you first learn to play ultimate? | ||
| The first team I played for was my middle school, New Options Middle School (NOMS) – I think we were the NOMS Bombs, and/or the Panthers. | ||
| What about the sport has made you continue to play since then? | ||
| I just love the sport – being on successful teams helps, too. It's so fast and full of action that it's fun even when I'm on the sidelines. In soccer, I was always begging for playtime because it was boring being on the sideline, but in ultimate it's not like that at all. | ||
| Who would you describe as your main mentor(s)? | ||
| Ben Wiggins and Miranda Roth. | ||
| Ultimate History: | |
| What teams have you played on? |  Claire at the Amherst Invitational 2005 |
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| What has been your greatest ultimate achievement/memory? | |
| The success of the Nathan Hale girls team. After only two years in existence, we won two city championships, two state championships, a western championship and a part in a national championship, as well as two spirit awards. My Senior year our record was 17-1, with our single loss to Amherst Regional HS at the Amherst invite in the finals 11-17. | |
| What has been your worst (most heartbreaking, most challenging, or most embarrassing, etc.) ultimate memory? | |
| My worst ultimate memory was not making the Junior National team in '04 – not even alternate. I was devastated, but it served to push me into becoming a much better player. | |
| What type of recognition/honors/awards (if any) have you received for your ultimate play? |  Claire Suver |
| I've only received two that I can remember – a varsity letter and the Scholar Athlete Award from NHHS for my 4.0 GPA. Both of these were a BIG deal – Molly, Shannon O'Malley, Alyssa Weatherford and I battled for four years with the Nathan Hale administration for fields, PE waivers and finally full Varsity status for our teams (but still without funding). We went from being booed at the Spring Sports assembly to getting more applause than any other team at the Spring Sports Banquet. | |
| Describe the experience of playing ultimate with your twin sister. What type of rivalry (if any) do you two have on and off the field? | |
| We realized early on that we could not guard each other without it turning into a fight. In general, Molly and I avoid direct competition at all costs, for fear of one winning over the other. We do tend to be nit-picky about each other's playing, although more so me than her. Even with all that, we work very well together as teammates – probably because we get over being mad or annoyed in a matter of seconds. | |
 Claire at Westerns '05 |
Ultimate Skills/Profile: |
| What position do you play? Has this differed on different teams you may have played for? | |
| I almost always play as a handler, but not by choice. It's a role I've been forced into. On Shazam, I play almost exclusively as a D-line handler, but on most other teams I've been stuck as O-line, or playing most points. I think it's mostly because I've always been good with the disc, and at 5' 3" I'm not an obvious deep threat. | |
| What do you view as your strengths on the field? | |
| My speed and my throws, and secondarily my knowledge of the game and rules. | |
| What are you working on most to improve? | |
| My defense, my pulls, and moving away from being a handler – I want to be a threat from any position. |
| Upcoming College Season: | |
| How much did ultimate factor into your decisions on where to attend college? | |
| Not a huge amount, but it did keep me from trying really hard to get into another school. | |
| What are you looking forward to most about playing ultimate with UW? | |
| Being coached by Britta Steele and Miranda Roth of Riot. | |
| How do you think playing college ultimate will compare to playing juniors ultimate with your high school and/or youth club teams? | |
| I think it will be a lot harder, especially for me. I haven't had much experience with really competitive women's ultimate, and I'm excited for it. | |
| What are your personal goals for the upcoming season? |  Claire at Solstice 2005 |
| I want to improve my game as much as I can, and I'm hoping to be a starting defender. | |
| How strong do you think Element will be this season? Any preseason predictions? | |
| This will probably be a building year, with something like ten returning players but I think that we can remain a force in the NW Region. | |
| What do you think it will be like to be playing against former juniors teammates who are now playing for other college teams? | |
| I think it will be great! It will be interesting to see how we all develop as players and teammates on our respective teams, and it will be fun marking up against each other. | |
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