TC made the trek to the west coast for the first time this season to play in Flowerbowl. The weather was beautiful and so was our team. Unfortunately, not everyone could attend this weekend giving us a shortened roster of 17 players. After the long weekend training camp in Ottawa we knew our plan and had our goals in mind.
We were there to build confidence in ourselves, our pods and our team, develop on field connections, and refine strategies along the way. We focused on bringing suffocating defenses and opening the game up on offense to find those connections within our pods.
We were up and at the fields early Saturday morning to a brisk air and damp fields. For our Ontario contingent this was the opposite to what they were experiencing back home. Komez did a great job at giving us a solid warm up to start the day off right both mentally and physically. We also had help from some sweet tunes - unfortunately 'Wally', our boom box, died shortly after so we were stuck with this song in our heads.
We were up and at the fields early Saturday morning to a brisk air and damp fields. For our Ontario contingent this was the opposite to what they were experiencing back home. Komez did a great job at giving us a solid warm up to start the day off right both mentally and physically. We also had help from some sweet tunes - unfortunately 'Wally', our boom box, died shortly after so we were stuck with this song in our heads.
Saturday
GAME 1: TC vs Battlecats
Meow, this game was played on a turf field that was sheltered from the wind allowing both teams the opportunity to play mostly a man to man game. The Battlecats are a young athletic team who have a lot of heart, love the long game, and never give up on a disc with their fur-ocious D. Quite a purrrfect combination of skills. They really do battle, as they had some solid bids and layout catches all game. TC scored the first point of the game but the cats were able to score and break TC to get the early lead 2-1. Meow, TC battled back to tie it up and never really looked back after that point, taking half 8-4. The second half saw the same trend with TC playing hard D and smart O, to finish out the game 15-6.
Highlight: (please note the term highlight is used loosely) Rooks managed to get position on a huck and slapped the disc awkwardly out of the air to have it land in a the hands of a cat in the endzone for a point. She claims the sun is to blame.
GAME 1: TC vs Battlecats
Meow, this game was played on a turf field that was sheltered from the wind allowing both teams the opportunity to play mostly a man to man game. The Battlecats are a young athletic team who have a lot of heart, love the long game, and never give up on a disc with their fur-ocious D. Quite a purrrfect combination of skills. They really do battle, as they had some solid bids and layout catches all game. TC scored the first point of the game but the cats were able to score and break TC to get the early lead 2-1. Meow, TC battled back to tie it up and never really looked back after that point, taking half 8-4. The second half saw the same trend with TC playing hard D and smart O, to finish out the game 15-6.
Highlight: (please note the term highlight is used loosely) Rooks managed to get position on a huck and slapped the disc awkwardly out of the air to have it land in a the hands of a cat in the endzone for a point. She claims the sun is to blame.
GAME 2: TC vs Zephyr
We moved locations, to a grass field that was not as hidden from the wind. It was a good test for us to adjust to the speed of our cuts in the dense long grass, as well as to get to know the swirly wind with our throws. Zephyr came out of the gates ready to play. They used zone for the first two points in which they got turns, and move the disc down the field with some chilly O, taking an early 2-0 lead. TC clamped down, and found the holes in the zone to break back and tie the game up. We found our groove and managed to go on a nice run to take half 8-3. The second half saw more zone defences from both teams, however, TC was able to break through with smart calm offensive play to finish off the game 15-7.
Highlight (an actual frisbee highlight) : Lurkowitz was able to get a hand block and a solid run through D, and threw for the score in the same point.
GAME 3: TC vs Riot
TC moved back to a turf playing surface in an outfield of a baseball diamond where the wind seemed to vary from non-existent to a gusty crosswind. The variance in wind gave way to a nice mix of zone and man defences. The turf diamond also provided an opportunity for TC to practice their acting, batting, and base running skills during warm-up. Faking our ball game, we were able to witness interesting things, such as, Kate Werry demonstrating how to be an on-deck batter, and Ashlee Davison throwing down some mean fastballs. In the end, we realized running around an ultimate frisbee field is where we`d rather be.
We moved locations, to a grass field that was not as hidden from the wind. It was a good test for us to adjust to the speed of our cuts in the dense long grass, as well as to get to know the swirly wind with our throws. Zephyr came out of the gates ready to play. They used zone for the first two points in which they got turns, and move the disc down the field with some chilly O, taking an early 2-0 lead. TC clamped down, and found the holes in the zone to break back and tie the game up. We found our groove and managed to go on a nice run to take half 8-3. The second half saw more zone defences from both teams, however, TC was able to break through with smart calm offensive play to finish off the game 15-7.
Highlight (an actual frisbee highlight) : Lurkowitz was able to get a hand block and a solid run through D, and threw for the score in the same point.
GAME 3: TC vs Riot
TC moved back to a turf playing surface in an outfield of a baseball diamond where the wind seemed to vary from non-existent to a gusty crosswind. The variance in wind gave way to a nice mix of zone and man defences. The turf diamond also provided an opportunity for TC to practice their acting, batting, and base running skills during warm-up. Faking our ball game, we were able to witness interesting things, such as, Kate Werry demonstrating how to be an on-deck batter, and Ashlee Davison throwing down some mean fastballs. In the end, we realized running around an ultimate frisbee field is where we`d rather be.
Anyway, back to the game we all know and love...We were excited for the game against Riot because they are always a solid group of women to play against. They were still in tryouts and didn`t let us down, giving us the challenging intense game we were anticipating. Riot was able to take the early lead by securing the first two points with some solid offensive plays. TC came back with some gritty play of our own tying the game up at 2-2. The rest of the first half saw intense play on both sides of the disc from both teams. TC was able to get a few more turns for break scores and took half 8-5. Riot closed the gap after half by taking the first point, however, TC's array of defences and chilly offence proved too much for Riot in the second half. TC pulled away and closed out the game 15-8.
Highlight (the best thing that happened all weekend although please never do that again Betsy): BinBin getting an incredible sky D on a huck in the endzone, only to throw it immediately into a Riot girl's hands for a callahan.
GAME 4: TC vs BYE
The last game of the day brought TC back to a turf field where the wind appeared to be less of a factor in the game. BYE was in a similar position to Riot as they were in tryouts during Flowerbowl. TC was determined to get a better start to the game to break the trend of falling behind early, and that we did. We came out strong and capitalized on turns to create a 4-0 lead. TC had all cylinders running in the first half, utilizing the connections created within our pods and proving to be gritty on defence with both zone and man defences. TC built a 6 point lead heading into the second half with a score of 8-2. BYE came out strong in the second half and found their groove on offence, but TC was able to maintain the lead for the rest of the game making the final score 15-7.
Highlight: CanCan getting a crazy huge layout D on a throw into the endzone. She managed to knock the wind out of herself. That's what happens when you fly in the sky at such large heights and land on your stomach. Great D CanCan!
GAME 4: TC vs BYE
The last game of the day brought TC back to a turf field where the wind appeared to be less of a factor in the game. BYE was in a similar position to Riot as they were in tryouts during Flowerbowl. TC was determined to get a better start to the game to break the trend of falling behind early, and that we did. We came out strong and capitalized on turns to create a 4-0 lead. TC had all cylinders running in the first half, utilizing the connections created within our pods and proving to be gritty on defence with both zone and man defences. TC built a 6 point lead heading into the second half with a score of 8-2. BYE came out strong in the second half and found their groove on offence, but TC was able to maintain the lead for the rest of the game making the final score 15-7.
Highlight: CanCan getting a crazy huge layout D on a throw into the endzone. She managed to knock the wind out of herself. That's what happens when you fly in the sky at such large heights and land on your stomach. Great D CanCan!
Saturday night - Sushi + Nightmarket
The Vancouver ladies took us out to a crazy awesome sushi place. While we couldn't really see each other's faces, we could luckily see parts of the menu from the glare of the black lights. An interesting set up for a restaurant - with crazy character sculptures and, as mentioned, black lights - it was a great spot to introduce us to good sushi in Vancouver and to prepare us for our eats in Japan. We wished Kate Cavallaro a very happy birthday with a whipped cream shot of delight.
After Sushi, a few of us hit up the Richmond Night Market (Richmond Represent!) - more food for growing girls! This is a Chinese style night market and had AMAZING dim sum, Xinjiang skewers, sweet corn, coconut juice...basically, anything you could ever want at a night market. The $2 noodle special at the end of the night really hit the spot. We walked around the market and checked out some other stands - crazy things happen in Richmond
Sunday
Semi Finals: TC vs Easy Bake Oven
TC finished 1st in pool play giving us a bye into the semi-finals against Easy Bake Oven, a team made up of B.C. players, mostly from Traffic and TC Mixed. The game was played on turf in the T-Bird stadium and the wind was swirly and gusty, much like the rest of the tournament. This game was a tough encounter as Easy Bake had a challenging poachy defence and their offence was fierce with speed, skill and athleticism. Both teams had key D's throughout the game that enabled the momentum to switch hands several times. The score went back and forth with tying scores of 2-2 and 3-3. TC broke free and capitalized on opportunities to take an 8-5 lead at halftime. The second half saw more of the same intense focused play from both teams. There was a lot of action from end to end and TC remained poised and confident in closing out the game 15-10.
The Vancouver ladies took us out to a crazy awesome sushi place. While we couldn't really see each other's faces, we could luckily see parts of the menu from the glare of the black lights. An interesting set up for a restaurant - with crazy character sculptures and, as mentioned, black lights - it was a great spot to introduce us to good sushi in Vancouver and to prepare us for our eats in Japan. We wished Kate Cavallaro a very happy birthday with a whipped cream shot of delight.
After Sushi, a few of us hit up the Richmond Night Market (Richmond Represent!) - more food for growing girls! This is a Chinese style night market and had AMAZING dim sum, Xinjiang skewers, sweet corn, coconut juice...basically, anything you could ever want at a night market. The $2 noodle special at the end of the night really hit the spot. We walked around the market and checked out some other stands - crazy things happen in Richmond
Sunday
Semi Finals: TC vs Easy Bake Oven
TC finished 1st in pool play giving us a bye into the semi-finals against Easy Bake Oven, a team made up of B.C. players, mostly from Traffic and TC Mixed. The game was played on turf in the T-Bird stadium and the wind was swirly and gusty, much like the rest of the tournament. This game was a tough encounter as Easy Bake had a challenging poachy defence and their offence was fierce with speed, skill and athleticism. Both teams had key D's throughout the game that enabled the momentum to switch hands several times. The score went back and forth with tying scores of 2-2 and 3-3. TC broke free and capitalized on opportunities to take an 8-5 lead at halftime. The second half saw more of the same intense focused play from both teams. There was a lot of action from end to end and TC remained poised and confident in closing out the game 15-10.
Highlight: To answer the question a fellow male TC Open player asks, "what happens when an unstoppable force runs into an immoveable object?", we answer: she falls, cuts her lip open, and let's out a little belt of pain, but keeps all her teeth intact. Yes, our little unstoppable JarJar took a hard collision but came back into the game with the same domination in the cutting lanes.
FINALS: TC vs Riot
A rematch from day 1 gave us Riot in the finals on a grass field, in what seemed to be a wind tunnel that created a drop in temperature too. Both teams brought more fire and hunger to the finals, proving itself to be another solid battle for the entire match. The game was back and forth for the first 4 points bringing the score to 2-2. However, TC stepped up the defensive pressure stifling Riot's offense and allowing a couple breaks to occur in the first half. The defensive focus paid off and resulted in a score of 8-4 at half. Riot regrouped at halftime and came out hard, taking the first two points and closing the gap to 8-6. This is as close as the game would get. TC continued to create and complete offensive flow while managing to frustrate and freeze Riot's offense with gritty defence. The final score was 15-10.
Highlight : Speedy Terri Whitehead busted deep and tracked down a huck near the back of the endzone. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for her to put the breaks on before crashing into the crowd, in particular, a pregnant woman.*
From game 1 to game 6, TC grew as a unified entity and were successful in building connections and confidence. By playing different opponents throughout the weekend we were able to see areas of our game that are strong and also where refinement is needed. TC has been working hard since Flowerbowl and we are looking forward to building on our successes at Solstice this upcoming weekend in Eugene Oregon. The entire team will be together for our final tune up tournament before we travel to Japan to represent our country on the world stage. Follow us on twitter for regular updates and check back here for a full recap of the games.
Team awards
Crowd Pleaser - see highlight from finals -Terri
Perfect Pistons - for having solid cuts throughout the tournament - Josee and Cav
Grade 2 Award - (aka -Bounces off of me and sticks to you award) for trying to pull back a huck too late and the disc bouncing of her mark and back to her- Laurel
Callahan - see Saturday's highlight from the Riot game - Betsy
Toothless BunBun - see semi-final highlight - JarJar
Consistent Kira - The award says it all - She was solid all weekend
Udow & Darcy
*No babies were hurt at Flowerbowl 2012.
A rematch from day 1 gave us Riot in the finals on a grass field, in what seemed to be a wind tunnel that created a drop in temperature too. Both teams brought more fire and hunger to the finals, proving itself to be another solid battle for the entire match. The game was back and forth for the first 4 points bringing the score to 2-2. However, TC stepped up the defensive pressure stifling Riot's offense and allowing a couple breaks to occur in the first half. The defensive focus paid off and resulted in a score of 8-4 at half. Riot regrouped at halftime and came out hard, taking the first two points and closing the gap to 8-6. This is as close as the game would get. TC continued to create and complete offensive flow while managing to frustrate and freeze Riot's offense with gritty defence. The final score was 15-10.
Highlight : Speedy Terri Whitehead busted deep and tracked down a huck near the back of the endzone. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for her to put the breaks on before crashing into the crowd, in particular, a pregnant woman.*
From game 1 to game 6, TC grew as a unified entity and were successful in building connections and confidence. By playing different opponents throughout the weekend we were able to see areas of our game that are strong and also where refinement is needed. TC has been working hard since Flowerbowl and we are looking forward to building on our successes at Solstice this upcoming weekend in Eugene Oregon. The entire team will be together for our final tune up tournament before we travel to Japan to represent our country on the world stage. Follow us on twitter for regular updates and check back here for a full recap of the games.
Team awards
Crowd Pleaser - see highlight from finals -Terri
Perfect Pistons - for having solid cuts throughout the tournament - Josee and Cav
Grade 2 Award - (aka -Bounces off of me and sticks to you award) for trying to pull back a huck too late and the disc bouncing of her mark and back to her- Laurel
Callahan - see Saturday's highlight from the Riot game - Betsy
Toothless BunBun - see semi-final highlight - JarJar
Consistent Kira - The award says it all - She was solid all weekend
Udow & Darcy
*No babies were hurt at Flowerbowl 2012.