BY: Jason Chow
April 21, 2008
Now that the College Series has just gotten underway, everyone on the region is gearing up for something. Whether it be defending a regional title, finally beating a perennial rival when it counts, finally establishing your team on a big stage, or gunning for that big upset, each contender in the New England region has something to prove.
For the past few years, Dartmouth and Tufts have been the ones to beat. Not only did they both consistently win and make finals of the tournaments they played in, but they developed a rivalry that has carried strongly into this season. For the past two years, both teams have qualified for the UPA College Championships, and have established their programs at the top of the game.
In the broad scheme of things, many people have been asking the question “What happened to New England?” Since the Championships in 2003, where Brown made the semifinals and MIT made their run to the finals, there has not been a New England team in the final four. Last year, Tufts finished tied for 11th, and Dartmouth tied for 15th place. What does this mean? Is New England falling behind? Leah Rapalee, co-captain of Brown’s Disco Inferno, believes that the growth of the sport over the past few years plays a big role. “As ultimate has become more popular, and more of a legitimate sport, New England schools are beginning to lose their competitive edge as they do in many sports. We simply cannot compete with large schools that have huge pools of potential players to choose from. Schools in warm climates like California and Texas both have more time to practice and the quality of their practice is better because they aren't battling high winds and snow.”
Leah pointed out that when Brown travelled to the Stanford Invite at the beginning of March, many of the teams they played were on their fourth or fifth tournament of the season compared to Brown’s first. Her co-captain Carla Thacker agreed and included that in addition to the smaller pools of student athletes to attract to the game, Brown’s program took a particularly large hit in 2005 when all but four of the team graduated.
Tuft’s captain Shira Stothoff believes that since most New England programs are not Division 1, the student body lacks the athletic oriented atmosphere of the larger schools. “A large part of this is that most of the New England schools are small and not necessarily DI. Now that ultimate has become more popular across the country, the larger DI schools can attract better athletes and support a larger program.”
Since 2003, the Tufts University Ewo have benefitted from the coaching of Sangwha Hong, who believes that presently there are two factors that can really push a team to the top, elite level in college ultimate; having players who play for top club teams and gaining top junior level players to your program.
"If you look at the teams that are consistently playing at regionals in the past five years or so, they are Brown, MIT, Tufts, Dartmouth, Yale, Williams. You are looking at colleges that are some of the hardest schools to get into in the country," says Hong. "Even if you are a really good juniors level player that is interested in going to school in New England, what are the chances that you're going to get into these schools?" New England has some of the toughest schools to get into in the country.
"Ultimate everywhere in the world is experiencing a CRAZY growth spurt. The sport just hit puberty. It is experiencing growing pains. Some regions are hurting more than others, and I think that over time it will begin to grow more proportionately," says Rohre Titcomb of Darthmouth’s Princess Layout. In addition to the growth of the sport, she believes that the club influence also plays into the seemingly west-coast dominated sport. “As a Seattle-ite, I can confidently say that Riot has an amazingly positive influence on women's ultimate in the Seattle area. Top players coach at the college, high school, and even middle school level. On the east coast, many of the NE teams are in isolated areas, and thus lack the 'development' a good club team can bring to a program.”
Another factor that seems to be a consensus across the board is the weather factor. Though it can seem negligible, many teams in New England that are much smaller than bigger schools with more facilities and do not even get outside till the end of March. In her experience, Rohre adds that “Dartmouth has to battle an army of other club sports to get indoor time in our field house, for example, meaning that we can only (if we're lucky) practice once a week, and at awful times--10pm to midnight…I have no doubt that other NE teams face the same challenges in trying to prepare for the spring season.”
While some players feel that New England has either been dropping off, or being overtaken by bigger programs, others believe it is a cyclical process that happens to everyone. “It’s the typical waning and waxing that occurs in sports at all levels over time. Top players graduate, powerhouses fluctuate, and right now New England teams are on the downswing while others are on the upswing. I think it's just natural. If you look at where the women are now who composed those top teams, Brown, MIT, etc, the women who have dominated the east coast are now all graduated and playing on club teams,” says Boston University captain Sara Jacobi. “I don't think it's necessary to look too much into the fact that New England may not be a "powerhouse" region this year, because we had our runs in the last few years and the balance of power is swinging.”
Whether it is the size of the school or the swinging balance of power, there are some who are questioning the question to begin with. George Cooke, coach of the Wellesley Whiptales, views the history of New England ultimate as a cyclical process with ups and downs. “It depends upon a short term or a long term view of history. NE had a good go of it in the 02-04 range. For some reason, we had a very talented influx of players around that time. The core of Brute Squad is made up of NE players from that time frame.”
"I actually think things are great in the NE. Lots of parity, great competition. It is quite wide open. Dartmouth and Tufts have been consistently good programs since 03. However, teams like BU, Williams, Yale, MIT, Vermont, and Northeastern are all poised to do some real damage this spring. One can say that Brown is rebuilding as they lost something like 14 seniors 2 years ago, but even that year, they made Sunday at Regionals (something my program has only done 3 times). We have good athletes and coaches that work hard. Who knows? Maybe this is the start of another up cycle…"
Former MIT player Nancy Sun, who was a member of the last New England team to play for a national title in 2003, feels like the assumption that New England has fallen off the radar is unmerited. “The question sounds like there's been a drought in NE ultimate for the past few years, when really the results indicate otherwise. 2007 was a bit of a downer as teams placed 11th and 15th, but in both 2005 and 2006, NE teams made it into the quarters and lowest placing team was 11th. So I think to say that New England women's ultimate has disappeared off of the radar would be inaccurate.”
Nancy submits that the lack of hype and headlines could be attributed to a change in playing style. “I do think teams in the NE the past few years have favored a more team-oriented play and as a result there are fewer superstars to write about, which may be one reason why there is less hype coming out than in previous years.”
Results and championships aside, there is a definite overarching sentiment that the state of the game in New England is on the rise. “College teams in the region are really benefiting from the club scene and many college teams are now coached, which was not the case 2-3 years ago. Already it's clear that the fundamental skill level of players has increased and I think coaching can only bode well for the future of college ultimate in the region. More emphasis is being placed on growing college programs and setting the foundations for future years and I think these efforts will go a long way towards building sustainable programs, even in smaller schools,” says Nancy.
From George Cooke’s perspective, teams in NE shouldn't be too concerned about how they are perceived nationally. “None of us are in control of what folks say on RSD or how they vote in the NUMP polls. The real day to day concerns are increasing participation, getting enough support from our schools, building a stable foundation, continuing to develop a sense of community, and enjoying playing Ultimate. Women's Ultimate, be it Club or College, has faced and will continue to face many challenges. The majority of teams never make it to Regionals. I think a general sense of inclusion and positive contribution is of greater importance than our sense of stature within the community.”
With all the sectional tournaments now complete, everyone’s focus will be on that elusive bid to nationals. In West New England, Williams (2) took the first bid in the championship game over Vermont (1) 15-6. Massachusetts (3) posted an impressive 13-5 win over Vermont in the 2nd place game to take the second bid which gave Vermont the automatic 3rd bid. Amherst College overcame Middlebury 15-6 in the game for fourth place; however, Williams B was not eligible to be included in the team count, reducing the section’s bid count from four to three. Amherst just barely missed out.
West New England
1) Williams
2) Massachusetts
3) Vermont
In the East New England Sectionals, tournament favorite Dartmouth (1) sealed the first bid to regionals with a 14-4 win over Maine-Farmington (2) in the finals. In the 2nd place game, Maine-Farmington came back after their loss in the finals to secure their spot 11-4 over the third regional qualifier, Bowdoin (4). The final bid saw Bowdoin-B (6) over New Hampshire (5) with a comfortable 15-6 win.
East New England
1) Dartmouth
2) Maine-Farmington
3) Bowdoin
4) Bowdoin-B
South New England saw Wesleyan (1) over Brown (4) in the finals 15-6. Brown then rebounded from the finals, overwhelming Connecticut College (2) 15-4 in the backdoor game. Connecticut College earned the third bid to regionals with a solid performance just prior, with a 15-4 victory over Yale (3). Yale clinched the fourth and final bid by beating Clark 15-7 in the back-door game.
South New England
1) Wesleyan
2) Brown
3) Connecticut College
4) Yale
One of the bigger upsets this weekend happened in Metro Boston when Northeastern (2) marched to a convincing victory over Tufts (1) 15-8. Tufts took the second bid over MIT (4) by the same score, 15-8, which gave MIT the third bid. Boston University (6) secured the fourth bid while Wellesley (3) battled Boston College (7) for the fifth and final bid, coming out on top 15-5.
Metro Boston
1) Northeastern
2) Tufts
3) MIT
4) Boston University
5) Wellesley
Like in every other region, ultimately only time will tell who goes to Boulder in May, but with the depth and improved consistency in New England this season, there are a lot of teams who believe that this is their year.
