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Haley McNabb is one of the founding members of her college team, Artemis, which participated in the UPA College Series for the first time in 2005. As the new school year starts, Haley can be an example for others trying to start an ultimate team at their schools. Additionally, Haley is playing with Portland club team, Schwa, this fall. Read below to find out more information about her ultimate beginnings, history, skills/profile, and college season.
| Ultimate Beginnings: | ||
| What other sports do you have a background in and when did you play them? | ||
| I was a swimmer for 10 years - up until I came to college and discovered ultimate. | ||
| Where and when did you first learn to play ultimate? |  Lewis & Clark Artemis 2005 |
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| On our men’s team (Bacchus) at Lewis and Clark. | ||
| What about the sport has made you continue to play since then? | ||
| It keeps me in shape, keeps me outside in the Northwest rain, and that’s where I’ve met most of my closest friends. | ||
| Who would you describe as your main mentor(s)? | ||
| Courtney Dale: he taught me how to play ultimate. Tracey Satterfield and Anna Neraas; they taught me how to play the women's game. | ||
| Ultimate History: |
| What teams have you played on? |
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| What has been your greatest ultimate achievement/memory? |
| Getting the women's team started last year at LC. |
| What has been your worst (most heartbreaking, most challenging, or most embarrassing, etc.) ultimate memory? |
| I got a disc to the face, which broke my nose, and bled all over the field...that was kind of embarrassing. |
| What type of recognition/honors/awards (if any) have you received for your ultimate play? |
| Nothing official; captaining my college team and earning their respect as a person and a player is really important to me, however. |
| Ultimate Skills/Profile: |
| What position do you play? Has this differed on different teams you may have played for? |
| I handle on Artemis, but I'm downfield on Schwa. |
| What do you view as your strengths on the field? |
| Comfort with the disc. |
| What are you working on most to improve? |
| Inside-out scubers to the end zone...and maybe quickness on defense. |
| What is your role on your college team (include leadership roles on and off the field)? |
| Founder and captain (with friend and teammate Nikki Zimmerman), general organizer/motivator, and, you know, team mom. |
| What type of pre-game or pre-tournament rituals (if any) do you have? |
| This is very important: Madonna; specifically "Like a Prayer" |
| College Season: | |
| Describe your team's experience playing in the College Series for the first time last year. How did that compare to your expectations? | |
| We had kind of a rough time at Sectionals, but won the game to go during a hailstorm. We played some great teams at Regionals, but didn't win that many games. It was a great experience for our team. I was just really proud that we made it so far our first year. | |
| What were the biggest obstacles you and your team had to overcome during the season? | |
| I think the biggest challenge was having 3 experienced players and 20 rookies on the team. However, everyone really stepped it up throughout the year. Numbers were always good at practice and people seemed to have the general attitude of wanting to work hard as a team and improve. It is really awesome to watch players develop, knowing that you and your team have so much to do with it. | |
| What are your personal and team goals for the season?> | |
| Personal goal- I just want to be a good leader and role model on and off the field and hopefully show some new ladies why ultimate is worth so much time and energy. Team goals: To finish higher in the series this year, qualify for the Stanford Invitational, and continue to develop on and off the field, as we’re such as young team. | |
| How strong do you think your team will be next season? |  McNabb playing with Scuber Du |
| We’ve got a lot of potential. We’re an eager, young team, with a TON of returners and experienced incoming freshman. It’ll be good. | |
| What advice do you have to offer other fledgling teams? | |
| First of all, it doesn't take that many experienced players to get a team going- so don't shy away from it. Desire can't be taught. Keep frustration levels down, because teammates do not learn well from frustrated leaders. Conditioning DOES make a difference, and most importantly: Patience is a virtue. | |
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