BY: Miranda Roth
November, 2006
Alyssa Weatherford (#69) clearly raises the level of play for Western Washington women's ultimate and brings both leadership and experience to her team. Alyssa wears multiple championship rings that she won before she even got to college. Growing up in the Seattle hotbed of ultimate and choosing to help a new team grow, Alyssa is serving her sport's growth by adding her knowledge to WWU Chaos. Their powerful horizontal stack offense runs primarily through her, using her long forehand alternately with her strong disc reading skills and great hands. WWU is climbing the northwest regional ladder - keep reading to find out more about their journey and Alyssa's part in it.
What other sports have you played and when did you play them?
I haven't really stayed with any other sport. I did one season of soccer and softball in 6th grade and one season of swimming senior year in high school.
Where and when did you first play ultimate?
My first time playing ultimate was in 8th grade fall season at New Options Middle School (NOMS).
What about the sport made you continue to play since then?
I continued to play ultimate because it was the only sport I was good at and once I started all my friends were on the team, and now it's a huge part of my life and I love it.
Who would you describe as your main mentor(s) and/or role models?
I would probably have to say all my coaches in high school, which include Ben Wiggins, Miranda Roth, Sammy C-K, Chase S-B, and my first real coach James Evens.
What teams have you played on?
I have played on my 8th grade NOMS team, Nathan Hale from 9-12th grade, Seattle Moho from the end of 10th grade till I came to college, Seattle Hyak for Youth Club Championships in 2005, Chaos at WWU, and I also played on Big for coed club regionals this year.
What has been your greatest ultimate achievement/memory?
My favorite memory of my ultimate career so far was 2004 high school state and nationals. At the very last minute Nathan Hale decided to put in a women's bid for state, all 8 of us came in thinking we would just have fun and play some ultimate, but we ended up being undefeated and winning state. Then the people in charge wanted us to have a bid at nationals but it was to late so our top 5 girls joined Yale Secondary School from Canada. Once again we came in thinking we were just going to have fun and play ultimate, we were seeded last. On Saturday we lost to Amherst and Lillith by a lot, in fact Amherst beat us 11-0. Then we amazingly got to the semis and we had to play Amherst, we all came in thinking we were going to get smashed but then we scored the first point, we were so excited, we just kept up our intensity and played really hard. It was close all game it came down to universe point and we scored it. They hadn't lost a game in years it was amazing and then we went on to win the finals 15-5 against Lilth.
What has been your worst (most heartbreaking, most challenging, or most embarrassing, etc.) ultimate memory?
This would be the day I got my email from the coaches of the 2006 world's team telling me that I didn't make the team. I came into try outs not thinking I would make the team but after having what I thought was a really good try out I felt really good about myself. And it was probably one of the only times that I have been really disappointed in my ultimate career because of how hard I worked before and during try outs.
What has been the biggest challenge/decision you have faced in playing ultimate?
My biggest challenge was going from a very competitive, well known team to a "let's have some fun and maybe we will win a few" college team. I now love my college team but it was really hard to leave my high school team last year.
What type of recognition/honors/awards (if any) have you received for your ultimate play?
Our team received varsity letters our senior year. Nathan Hale was the first public school in our area to give varsity letters to an ultimate team.
What was it like to come into a college program as an experienced player?
This will be WWU women's team 7th year as a team and last year was only our 3rd time going to regionals. Last year was a huge improvement for the team from years before, WWU was actually starting to get noticed by the school and other teams in our region.
It was really hard to switch from high school ultimate to college for me. I had been playing with Claire and Molly Suver for the last 5 years and Shannon O'Malley for the last 4, and many others for most of high school. I didn't know anybody at WWU when I first got here, but once I got to know everybody I really like playing with the girls up here a lot now.
How did Western's season end up last year?
Last year WWU got 10th in our region and had the best season so far in WWU women's ultimate history.
What is the biggest difference between high school and college ultimate?
I feel like the biggest difference from high school and college ultimate is for some reason I feel like it is easier to get better faster, I don't really know why.
What do you see in your ultimate future near and far?
For WWU I see great things for this season, already our team is awesome and I think we have already showed the teams around us that we are now not a push over team anymore. I eventually want to play elite women's ultimate but until I get there I just want to play as much as I can.
What position do you play? Has this differed on teams you may have played for?
In high school I was mostly a mid cutter and at the end of my high school career I was a back up handler as well. But now in college I am mostly a handler, I like handling but I really love cutting. Since I have lots of experience I know where I should be and now that I had to handle last year my throws have gotten a lot better.
What do you view as your strengths on the field?
I think my strengths are seeing the entire field when I am playing, I am faster than I used to be but most of high school I was not that fast so I had to learn other ways to get open and defend my opponent. Also I think I have a good mark and defense.
What are you working on most to improve?
I am really working on quickness and jumping ability. Also I am really working on remembering that I have more then just a regular forehand, I always forget that I have other throws during games.
Do you consider yourself more of an offensive or defensive player? Why?
I consider myself more of a defensive player. I love getting Ds. The feeling you get after getting a sweet D is like nothing else, those are the things that I remember most after games.
What is your role on your college team (include leadership roles on and off the field)?
My role on my college team is a leader and core player.
What is it like to be a young leader on a team?
I love it but it can also be frustrating at times. I am not good at keeping my mouth shut and sometimes that doesn't work as a freshman or a sophomore.
What are your goals for this year - for yourself and your team?
My goals this year are just to keep improving my skills while helping the rest of the team, our team is very new to the sport, we only have 9 returners this year. Our team wants to get top 5 in our region this year and at the rate we are improving this year I think its very possible.
What do you anticipate being the biggest obstacle to overcoming those goals?
Becoming a team and getting experience. Almost all our players are first years and they will be amazing they just need to play and learn the game, so if they are quick learners I think we can make our goals for this year.
How would you describe your team's biggest strengths?
Our teams biggest strength is defense, we rock at defense.
