Nationals 2010

So. Nationals. Sadly not as awesome as I wanted it to be. Mixed Nats still wins for awesomeness. However, Nationals definitely had its awesome parts, a major one being, of course, the high level that everyone on Indies had gotten to - and the new high level we reached during the tournament.


Indies talk tactics. Or party costumes.

Before the tournament I wrote down some goals, so let's see how I did.
Play well. Heh, debatable, but I'm going to say yes. I could've played better in parts, but overall I was fine, and in parts I was better than that.
Cut in such a manner as to result in someone saying "You cut SO WELL in that game." Well I certainly didn't do it for a whole game, unlike at Regionals, which wins for me playing my best. However there were exactly two occasions when I cut perfectly. So yes, again.
Don't be lazy. I have to admit that I was pretty lazy in one game in particular, but I realised what I was doing, asked for help, and picked it up in the next game, and the one after that even more. That's almost a no.
Anticipate better on D. Hmm, I don't know. Defence in general, I find it hard to gauge if I'm doing it well enough. But I did get a nice D when I was in the wall because I anticipated the throw. That's a yes.
Don't throw anything away. Wow, I was being a bit ambitious there, wasn't I? I did throw a bad pass that resulted in a drop after I'd just finished telling myself how I should throw that throw, so that was dumb. But the work we did on dump-type passes was useful and I think it paid off.
Cut from the right front corner of the end zone to the back middle to the left front for the swing pass, catch and score. Meh, I'm over that one. I don't think my cutting in the end zone was as good as it was at Regionals, so we're going to work on that. On the other hand, I didn't do my horror cut and drop it - AGAIN - so that was nice. And I did catch it in the end zone a bit, which is even better.
For Indies to be ultimate. Well, OF COURSE WE WERE.


Indies and fACTory Girls practicing their dance moves.

Game 1: Indies vs Honey. There was a sweet long pass from Kaz, I got some space on my defender, jumped, caught it, and landed just in the end zone.

Game 2: Indies vs Sugar Mags. The first example of me cutting perfectly. I decided that someone was going to pass to Alex and then she would pass it to me over there. So I did that cut, Alex got it, passed it me - in the end zone, catch and score, just as I planned it. Awesome feeling.


The two best coaches that anyone ever had.

Game 3: Indies d Kaos! By far my worst game. But Indies won it, so yay! I don't even think I played that badly, I just got ridiculously emotional, started hyperventilating on the sideline, and required way more looking after than should be necessary. There is exactly one shot of me in the highlights video, and it's me sooking off the field, crashing into some poor girl, after not getting a handblock. Like, who gets so upset they can't breathe cos they didn't get a handblock? Like I said, ridiculous.

Game 4: Indies vs fACTory Girls. Indies were down 4-8, but came back to 10-all. Unfortunately, FG scored the next two to take game but I feel like this was our best game (best half?) as a team. Such a good effort.


The only shot I've seen with me on the field. I'm awesome at standing around.

Game 5: Indies vs Southside. I forgot to write any notes on this game, so clearly nothing amazingly good or bad happened. Southside caned us? Yeah, that happened.

Game 6: Indies vs Wildcard Spades. My second perfect cut! I kind of hate plays where one person is singled out, because it not working is the worst. (On the other hand, if I did get called for Superstar and then scored, that would be the best feeling ever.) Anyway, America isn't quite as pressure-laden, but you still have a job to do if you're the one I was and guess what? I did it! I did a fake out, hard cut in, got the disc AND did a successful pass upfield so yay.

Game 6.5: Party Time!


Game 7: Indies vs fACTory Girls for 9th/10th. I feel like this was my best game of the tournament. Not as many things were against me. We had less people. They played man. We got off some long throws. I was cutting harder. All this did not add up to a win for the Indies but I caught a goal off some nice flow, and caught a long pass for an assist-assist.


The traditional EmVic #4 spinning a disc shot.

So, what have we learned from Nationals? As ever, I have a lot to work on. First thing will be my in-cuts. It frustrated me that I couldn't adjust when I didn't get the disc long. In-cuts means I have to work on my dump/short passes some more. And the rest of my throws. And on the off-chance I still get it long, I need to work on catching the disc in the air. And low to the ground. And in case I drop it I should work on defence. I want to get lots of handblocks. And Ds in the field. Hmm, looks like I have a bit to work on.

Apart from all that! Mostly we learned that WE'RE FIT AND WE'RE FAST AND NOTHING CAN STOP US!

INDIES!!!