 |
|
 |
Lakshmi Narayan was one of the impact players on her college team that won the New England region in 2005. She is now the captain of the Dartmouth team and will be helping lead her team back to Nationals. This fall she has been playing with the women's club team Lady Godiva and will be seen competing at the UPA Club Championships in Sarasota, FL. 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? |  Narayan laying out against Colorado at Nationals 2005 |
| I played soccer from about first grade until sophomore year of high school. I also played varsity badminton throughout high-school. | |
| Where and when did you first learn to play ultimate? | |
| I started playing ultimate my freshman fall with the women's team at Dartmouth. | |
| What about the sport has made you continue to play since then? | |
| The learning curve, and the people. | |
| Who would you describe as your main mentor(s)? | |
| My teammates on Godiva, and Mikey Lee, who advises the Dartmouth women's team. | |
| Ultimate History: | |
| What teams have you played on? |  Lady Godiva in 2005 |
|
|
| What has been your greatest ultimate achievement/memory? | |
| I think my greatest achievement has been making Godiva, and putting in all the work it takes to play with that team. My greatest memory is of making College Nationals in 2004-the first time ever for Princess. | |
| What has been your worst (most heartbreaking, most challenging, or most embarrassing, etc.) ultimate memory? | |
| Having to tell my teammates that I forgot to bring my light jersey to nationals last spring. | |
| What type of recognition/honors/awards (if any) have you received for your ultimate play? | |
| At Dartmouth: Wookie of the Year, MVP, the Ambiguously Gay Duo Award, and the Expando-Ass(hole) Memorial Award. |
 |
Ultimate Skills/Profile: |
| What position do you play? Has this differed on different teams you may have played for? | |
| Lately, I've been playing mid. Between club and college, though, I've rotated through most positions. | |
| What do you view as your strengths on the field? | |
| Not sure. Maybe that I'm always very excited to be on the field. | |
| What are you working on most to improve? | |
| Throws: quicker faking and releasing, deep throws that stay in the air longer, pulls. | |
| What is your role on your college team (include leadership roles on and off the field)? | |
| I'm currently captaining Princess Layout. | |
| What type of pre-game or pre-tournament rituals (if any) do you have? | |
| An embarrassing one: listening to Guns 'n' Roses' "Appetite for Destruction" album on the way to practice or tournaments. |
| College Season: | |
| Describe your experience at Nationals this year. How did that compare to previous tournaments of the season? | |
| Our team peaked at regionals, so nationals was pretty disappointing. It was nice to get some new competition, though. The highlight for me was playing a pre-quarter game against Stanford, since they were such a skilled, spirited, and complete team. | |
| How did that compare to previous years that you have been on the team? | |
| It was very different to go into the tournament with a goal (to make semis), instead of just being blown away by the fact that our team was at nationals. | |
| How strong do you think your college team will be this year? | |
| I think our team is going to be very strong by the spring. We lost about 7 of our 14-person roster from last year, but have picked up some amazing talent and enthusiasm in the incoming freshman class. | |
| What are your personal and team goals for the season? |  Narayan v. UC-Berkeley |
| My personal playing goal for this spring is to take care of the disc, and not fall into the trap that some captains do: trying to make huge plays or every other cut when the team gets into a slump. I'm also hoping to get through they year without making anyone cry, but the freshmen tell me that this is unlikely. For the team, this is pretty general, but I would like to build a team where the whole is more than just the sum of the parts-both by using people's special skills strategically, and really learning to play with each other, getting the team to click. Also, I want our b-team to beat other a-teams. |
|
| What tournament are you most look forward to during the upcoming season? | |
| Right now, Huck a Hunk o Burning Pumpkin in two weeks. It'll be my first tournament with Princess this fall. | |
Return to top of the page
