Psycaughtit News 1998

Alumni Festivities!

Last year was Psycaughtit’s first ever alumni day!  It was a lot of fun seeing some old faces back on the field again!  Many crazy games were enjoyed such as “Three legged ultimate” and “iron couple” (2 on 2 ultimate!).  Congrats to Dave Denks and Beth Lewis (then Phillips) who took the title of “iron couple.”  The day ended with a fulfilling dinner at El Torito in La Jolla.  This year’s Alumni Day is expected to be exponentially better than last year’s so plan for if to come in May or June!  Alumni, you can help us by keeping us updated on your current address, and if you know of other ex-UCSD women’s ultimate players!

Team Camping Trip

by Sara Working

In the fall, Psycaughtit took a 2 day backpacking trip into the desert.  After several delays, the team made it to camp around 11 p.m. for a mac and cheese dinner and much needed sleep.  Come morning, Mara showed up with less than perfect knees.  Together the team came up with a gurney-type contraption, and using incredible teamwork carried her up the mountain.  In addition to this challenge was guiding blindfolded Beth and Erica up as well.  Although several unexpected events altered the original trip, everyone agreed that the trip was a success.

Psycaughtit Ranked 12th in Nation

by Erin Hashimoto

The final collegiate rankings by the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) for the 1997 season placed UC San Diego’s Psycaughtit 12 in the nation among women’s teams.  Only teams that played at least 5 games during the season were ranked, making 72 women’s teams total.  Among the teams were a few Canadian teams as well.

Of the 11 teams ahead of UC San Diego, 6 of them were from the same region, with Superfly of Stanford ranked number 1.  It is clear that the Western Region is the most competitive of all the regions, making it quite a challenge to get a bid for nationals.  Yet this is a challenge Psycaughtit is ready to step up to this season.

The UPA currently updates their rankings throughout the season, and has ranked Psycaughtit 6th in the nation so far.  With more games ahead, Psycaughtit intends to continue to move up the scale, putting more teams under its belt along the way.

New Season, New Coach

by Jennifer Wilkes

The year Psycaughtit had a new addition, coach Kris Hill.  Kris has done a wonderful job fulfilling her coaching duties.  Kris is a 27 year old teacher at a junior high by day, and by night she joins us on the field to add her insight to our game of ultimate.  Kris began officially playing ultimate at UC Davis in 1989.  Unofficially, she began carrying around a disc with her in high school.  After graduating from UCD, she played with a pickup team in Colorado, and then on both of the women’s open teams in San Diego, Discosaurus and Safari.

Being a coach is not always fun and games, though.  For Kris, the hardest thing about coaching Psycaughtit has been learning how to challenge each player at their own level.  Once that has been accomplished, the rewards start to pile in, with our team playing at their ultimate best.  For Kris, the best part of being a coach is how “inspiring it is to be around such an incredible groups of dedicated athletes.”  Psycaughtit has been blessed with Kris as a coach, and we are hoping with all that we learn from her, we will be on our way to Nationals!

Ultimately Captain

by Erica Clark

Who would have thought that two years after discovering a new sport, I would be asked to be captain of the team?  Two years ago, I would have thought, “I could never be that good,” but now I have over two years of “Ultimate Fever” affecting my every thought, while I still learn how to play, teach, and experience ultimate.

Psycaughtit has 13 returnees and 14 rookies who play together 4 times a week.  Everyday I think about how awesome these women are, and how lucky I am to have such great teammates.

Another aspect of Psycaughtit is the leadership.  Being a new captain I am able to add a new look at things while still keeping to the values that our team’s spirit and aspirations are based upon.  I join in this leadership with our coach, Kris Hill, and other dedicated team leaders, including the devout and inspirational co-captain, Corinne Ginsberg.

Since I accepted the role last Spring, I went through self-doubt and worries that I wouldn’t have a clue as to what I was doing.  But I had the confidence of my teammates and friends to build within me the beliefs and tools they could already see existed.  I now know that being a leader is not about “being the best,” but believing and listening to yourself and others.  It is about joining and inspiring a group to take on a common interest and goal.

I am seeing that it can be a lot of fun, also!  It is so rewarding to see a new player become dedicated to the sport, and see her smile when she completes a forehand.  Then I know that I make a difference.  Then I know that all the running around, phone calls, reserving fields, planning practice, all finally make some sense.

I am excited to see what the season brings as we evolve and grow.  It is in this unique game and group of women, that I find my niche.  I am challenged, rewarded, frustrated, inspired, and given room to express myself.

I am so happy to be playing ultimate.  This year is the best yet for us.  Placing 3rd in our first tournament shows that we have a level of dedication and team spirit like ever before.  Our team is the biggest it has ever been… this year we make a name for UCSD in Women’s Ultimate.  Psycaughtit is hot, you don’t want to pass up an opportunity to see us play!

Thoughts of a Freshman

by Bryn Martyna

My 18th birthday began with a midnight rendition of “happy birthday” sung by 20 tired, cold women who are also ultimate disc players.  My birthday dinner fat-free cheese and noodles.  This weekend trip to the Annsaborago desert was my first with my new team.

I’m a first year player.  I had been planning on playing ultimate in college, and had been attempting to prepare myself by throwing with my friends on the beach over the summer.  At my first college practice, I realized ultimate was more than just an interlude between lying in the sun and playing in the water.  I had no clue what a stack was and what that had to do with me.  From my experience being a freshman on other teams in high school, I was prepared to feel out of it for a while.  But it was nothing like that.  Everyone was genuinely excited to see new people out and I felt included from the very start.

In the past months, ultimate has become a big part of my life.  Of all the teams I’ve been on, I look forward to going to ultimate practices more than anything because I love the atmosphere.  My friend asked me how strict our coach was, and it struck me that we play our hardest and kill ourselves to get to the disc and to finish the last sprint because we actually enjoy it and we want to be good for ourselves and our teammates… not for some coach yelling from the sidelines.  I have the utmost faith in our team, and if the next three (or four!) years are anything like my first year has been so far, I know there is so much to look forward to.

You’re My Inspiration

by JP Lu

It’s August 28th and after hours of waiting and flying, we are finally together in Indiana, Beth’s home and where she was about to get married.  Our Beth, our Captain, the queen of sports caps was getting married.

Nine of us from Psycaughtit were there to see the wedding, to wish our teammate good fortune, and of course to play some disc.  Friday, before the BIG day, we scrimmaged with some of the other guests in the fields of America’s Midwest.  But it wasn’t until the wedding day that we realized what this trip meant.  We weren’t simply nine more guests to sign the guest book.  We were the team… we were Psycaughtit.  That’s what makes our team so rad.  We are a team because we love to play ultimate, but more importantly because we share a special kind of spirit.l  I t is a spirit that was instilled when Psycaughtit was first created.  Our first coach, Laine, planted the seed for such spirit and even today it contunies to be what we build on.

What is this spirit?  It’s a feeling that you can experience only being a part of Psycaughtit.  You can call it a love for ultimate, or maybe friendship among teammates, or maybe the spirit of the game because it is all of these.  I will call it “inspiration.”  Inspiration… because when I feel it, my love for the sport and my teammates is rekindled.  Suddenly, a hand wave means “I’m glad to see you” and school isn’t so bad and long flights aren’t so long.  Inspiration makes the good things great and the bad things not so bad.  Psycaughtit happens to be an ultimate source of it.  That what I really mean when I say Psycaughtit’s rad.  That what I mean when I say I love my team.

So, on the BIG day, Beth married Butch.  She made a beautiful bride and danced her first dance to “You’re the Inspiration” by Chicago.  And I don’t even need to say that, Psycaughtit, you’ve been one too.

Sectionals Sweep

The Psycaughtit A team swept their section on April 12, 1998.  For the first time, Psycaughtit took first place in a tournament, and also for the first time beat their longtime rival UC Santa Barbara at Sectionals.  Psycaughtit A won all four of their games.  This has set the tone for how the team is planning of performing at Regionals in Santa Cruz.

This was the debut for the Psycaughtit B team, captained by Mary Hoover.  Many of the players were forced to step up their level of play in the competition.  They had a tight game with Redland University only to come up a few points short at the end.

Both teams are looking forward to competing in Regionals and doing the best that their teams can.

Potlatch Extravaganza

by Meg Parker

Last summer i had the opportunity to attend the largest co-ed ultimate tourney in the world.  It was held in Seattle, Washington on a gigantic field nicknamed, “1000 acres.”  There were 15 pools and about 80 teams.  Although play was competitive, the spirit of the game was the dominant theme at Potlatch.  Each team had a spot in Sunday’s play.  Several teams dressed to the occasion; including the Rockstars, the Redheads, and team “I do” (most wore wedding dresses!).  There were even some who didn’t wear any clothes at all!  To conclude the tournament, several hot air balloons landed at the playing fields with discs galore.

I played on a team called “Caliente” composed of players from San Diego, the Bay Area, Canada, Seattle, and New Zealand.  Since our primary goal was simply to have fun, our mix-matched team quickly bonded.  We wore skirts and greed and red t-shirts an shook tambourines and maracas.  At the end of every game each teams give the other a present.  Caliente gave stuffed pinatas, which the other teams destroyed with discs.  Potlatch was the most spirited and eccentric tournament I have ever been to.  I enjoyed the people I met and the crazy atmosphere more than the playing itself.

East Meets West

During spring break, 15 women (along with 17 from the men’s teams) headed out to the East Coast for 9 days of ultimate and site-seeing.  Their first appearance was in the University of Maryland tournament where Psycaughtit endured freezing temperatures, rain, wind, a lagoon in the endzone.  UCSD ended up taking 3rd place there.

Throughout the week, the women had a great time seeing some East Coast schools such as Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and Rutgers and also spending time as tourists in D.C. and Manhattan.  Laine Shapiro, Psycaughtit’s former coach, met up with the team for the first 3/4 of the trip.  It was an unforgettable time of experiences both on and off the field, and is hoped to be an annual excursion.

Psycaughtit Split

With such a large number of players, Psycaughtit has finally gotten large enough to split into two teams!  Too large for one team, Psycaughtit now has an A and B squad.  Their first appearance in their respective teams was at the Southwestern Collegiate Sectionals.  This is quite a turning point for Psycaughtit, and everyone is excitedly anticipating the future of the UCSD women’s ultimate disc team as they continue to become a larger, stronger entity.

D.U.D.E. 1997 – Summer League Under the Sea

by Marisa “Pumpkin” Alvarado

At the end of the school year I had been concerned about how I was to spend the summer without playing ultimate!  I had become addicted to the sport!  So, when I heard about D.U.D.E. (Diego Ultimate Disc Experience), I signed up.  There were twelve teams made up of men and women with a mixture of experience.  In the beginning I felt a bit uncomfortable because I only knew one person on my team, and I was the youngest.  However, none of that made any difference, I was treated as an equal and we all became friends.

D.U.D.E., and the players who participated, personified the attitude of ultimate disc; which is just the right mix of camaraderie, sportsmanship, and competitiveness.  Everyone was there to have fun, meet some new people, and play.

Personally, summer league offered me an opportunity to work on my skills,  I had the chance to play different positions, and try out new ways of cutting and throwing.  I have definitely improved from participating.  It was a good experience playing with people other than my Psycaughtit teammates.  Not only did I meet some great people, but I gained a lot of confidence in not only my game, but also in myself.  I’d like to than my parents for putting up with me and allowing me to make the hour and a half drive to UCSD.

Everyone should play in a summer ultimate disc league!  The result can only be a good time and a lot of fun.  And if you are in the San Diego area (or close to) this summer, I highly recommend D.U.D.E.  Hope to see you there!

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