Where have all the stars gone?
Is it just me, or does it seem that the college women's graduating class of 2005 was especially talented? In compiling information for the regional preview articles for IC Ultimate, I realized that there are very few current players on top teams who have been the main leaders or big names for their teams for multiple seasons.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely lots of great players at lots of different schools spread out across the country. But the question is: how many people have heard of them? I would think that most followers of the women's college ultimate scene would have heard of players like Nancy Sun, Rebecca Simon, Chelsea Dengler, Miranda Roth, Jenny Burney, Cara Crouch, and Molly Doyle (to name a few) BEFORE last season when they got lots of hype. Each of them earned a name for themselves by being major leaders for multiple years on teams that traveled across the country and played at the highest levels. It's hard to tell who the equivalent players are right now.
There are exceptions, of course: Alex Snyder and Caroline Matthews (Colorado) and Lauren Casey, Hannah Griego, and Enessa Janes (Stanford) are all still playing college ultimate and have been major names associated with top programs for at least a season now (i.e. most would have heard of them BEFORE 2005 nationals). There are also top players whose teams haven't made nationals recently, but still have name recognition: Lindsey Hack (UNC) and Katherine Wooten (Georgia). But, off of the top of my head, that's pretty much it.
Everyone else that I can think of as a top college player has only emerged as such either during nationals last year or during the following club season. Plus, many of the traditionally powerhouse teams graduated a ton of players. Of teams at nationals, Iowa, Texas, UW, Brown, and NC State graduated nearly all of their top players.
What this mass graduation means to me is two-fold: (a) it makes pre-season rankings especially difficult and not all that reliable and (b) it is an exciting time for newer programs and younger players to fill the voids left behind.
Especially with more and more skilled juniors players coming into the college circuit, I have a feeling that in future years there will be lots of players with increased name recognition. But in the relative drought of big names for this year, it will be especially interesting to see who emerges as the top players.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely lots of great players at lots of different schools spread out across the country. But the question is: how many people have heard of them? I would think that most followers of the women's college ultimate scene would have heard of players like Nancy Sun, Rebecca Simon, Chelsea Dengler, Miranda Roth, Jenny Burney, Cara Crouch, and Molly Doyle (to name a few) BEFORE last season when they got lots of hype. Each of them earned a name for themselves by being major leaders for multiple years on teams that traveled across the country and played at the highest levels. It's hard to tell who the equivalent players are right now.
There are exceptions, of course: Alex Snyder and Caroline Matthews (Colorado) and Lauren Casey, Hannah Griego, and Enessa Janes (Stanford) are all still playing college ultimate and have been major names associated with top programs for at least a season now (i.e. most would have heard of them BEFORE 2005 nationals). There are also top players whose teams haven't made nationals recently, but still have name recognition: Lindsey Hack (UNC) and Katherine Wooten (Georgia). But, off of the top of my head, that's pretty much it.
Everyone else that I can think of as a top college player has only emerged as such either during nationals last year or during the following club season. Plus, many of the traditionally powerhouse teams graduated a ton of players. Of teams at nationals, Iowa, Texas, UW, Brown, and NC State graduated nearly all of their top players.
What this mass graduation means to me is two-fold: (a) it makes pre-season rankings especially difficult and not all that reliable and (b) it is an exciting time for newer programs and younger players to fill the voids left behind.
Especially with more and more skilled juniors players coming into the college circuit, I have a feeling that in future years there will be lots of players with increased name recognition. But in the relative drought of big names for this year, it will be especially interesting to see who emerges as the top players.
posted by Gambler at 5:10 PM
13 Comments:
I think Alex Snyder is probably the only true star playing this year; she's been at Colorado for what, five years now? And she's played with Rare Air for a few seasons too, as a starter (and a key for them on offense and defense).
I agree that this makes preseason rankings difficult. I also think it means more new faces in Columbus.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, before we know anything at all, and say that of the eight quarterfinalists last year, at most three will return: Stanford, Colorado, and one other. I don't think Texas, Iowa, or NC State will make it back; Brown, Washington, and Berkeley are toss-ups (but I'm saying only one of the three will make quarters).
Neva:
Maybe just semantics - but why aren't Wooten and Hack "true stars?"
They're well known from both college and playing on top club teams.
In other news - anyone have a status on Lindsey's knee?
aj
Gwen was talking about last year's stars - Miranda Roth, Chelsea Dengler, Nancy Sun, etc. Those three were the best players on their college teams, by far, and it's clear that their teams would not have performed nearly so well without them.
The "star" part comes in when you consider their club experience - all three of these players were also extremely valuable to their club teams. So much so that you can make the same argument - their club teams would not have gotten nearly so far without them.
I confess ignorance when it comes to Lindsey and Katherine; their college teams did not make Nationals in Corvallis, so I didn't see them there. I was at Club Nationals in 2004 and I think both were playing then, but they didn't have the impact on their respective teams that Alex Snyder did on Rare Air (she won the prequarters for them, when they were down, with a layout D and some chilly offense).
The Stanford players are also incredibly talented, but because their team is so good overall, it's hard to pick a standout player, the kind a team truly relies on. Hannah had the game of her life in the finals last year, so for me she has the highest profile; but Lauren Casey has the throws, what would you do without her? And Enessa may be the best athlete of the three. Hard to pick an MVP out of that group.
Star status could certainly be conferred this year, particularly as both women have a chance to get to Nationals and strut their stuff. As a sidenote, my teammate Johanna Neumann came extremely close to winning the Callahan her sophomore year; but because we weren't able to make Nationals, her profile was lower than it might have been otherwise. The next year, we did make it, and she won overwhelmingly.
To be a star I don't think you have to be far-and-away the best player on a great team (although it helps). To qualify, I do think a talented player has to fall into one of two categories:
(1) She plays for a team that isn't that deep and relies on her to step up time and time again in order to win games. As a result of her contributions, the team wins enough games to at least be on the radar screen of teams outside the region.
(2) She plays for an elite team that consistently competes at the highest national level and despite the depth of talent on the roster, she is one of the players that her team depends on to perform.
I think Lindsey and Katherine both fall more or less into category (1) on their college teams and in (2) on their club teams. So, yes, I think they would count as "true stars."
I would argue that Alex falls into category (2) for both college and club, although Colorado relies on her more than Rare does because of differences in team depth.
Hannah, Casey, and Enessa are all in category (2) for college. They haven't had as much club experience (essentially a year each), although Casey and Enessa were both playing important roles for their teams at Club Nationals this past fall.
To be a college star, club experience helps as far as increasing a player's level of play and general exposure, but I don't think it is necessary.
For instance, even without their club experience, I think the fact that Enessa, Casey, and Hannah have been starting seven, clutch players for Stanford for the past three years would qualify them as college stars. Anyone who was at Nationals in Austin in 2003 would remember that Enessa caught a ridiculous number of goals all weekend, Casey's breaks were the reason Colorado stopped playing a trapping zone on Stanford in semis, and Hannah got a crucial endzone D-block on Nancy Sun during Stanford's comeback in finals. And they've been making that kind of impact on Stanford for the past three seasons...
But AJ's right, this is all a bit of a semantic argument. What I really want to know about is who ELSE is expected to break-out this year?
One glorious day, Neva will actually, for the first time in her life, think a southeast women's program/player can run with a west coast program/player. Mabye she might even think a southeast player/team can win a game. gasp! when that day comes, I will be hosting a party at Sweet Bay and you all are invited. keg on me.
**of note, i realize that since the glory days of UGA (lord, what was that, four years ago??) the southeast has not made an impact on the college scene like the west coast.
**of another note, i think that can be somewhat thrown out the door if we are talking about the club division as it stands this past year.
**last note, i claim no responsibility for AC/MA results prior to club 2004 or college 2005. i did not live here.
**for real last note, tina mcdowell won that prequarters game for rare. anyone who thinks differently should have their head examined.
knee, not star, status update coming soon....
It seems to me that teams are traveling more and more during the season, increasing the likelihood that bicoastal match-ups get to happen before Nationals. This is really exciting because then hopefully it's not just all hyperbole that will go into seedings and the Callahan watch come May.
I can't wait for Trouble in Vegas, the Stanford Invite, and Centex!
I'm also glad that multiple regions are represented on this blog so that it's not entirely NW-biased...
Gwen:
Can’t really speak for the rest of the country, but here are the players that I think people will be talking about this year in the AC (excluding the ones they already talk about a lot):
Erin Brown, Florida – In 2004, I thought she was the third best player in the region (behind Oppenheimer, UVA, and Doyle, NCST) before she blew out her knee. Her team improved steadily behind her throws last year, but she seemed a little bit more cautious as a receiver. She seems to be finally regaining the explosiveness that made her such a complete player in 2004.
Lucia Derks Wake Forest – She reminds me a lot of Laura Gold – very quick with strong throws and makes good decisions. Strong in the air despite being small.
Elie Bola, UNC –strong thrower – most likely to step up and fill void left by loss of Stanley.
Shanye Crawford and Maggie Jackson Georgia – Both have been solid contributors for Ozone for a while now – along with Wooten form scariest top 3 in AC – I expect a break out year from both of them.
Also, here are a couple of the best players in the region who are unlikely to get much press due to the relative inexperience of their teammates.
Cate Foster – College of Charleston
Kate Wilson – Georgia Tech
aj
Mir: I’m not buying this “homegrown AC” baloney from any of you disappearing Paideians. I will, however, give you some credit for your Whale experience.
Some of the top, under-hyped players to watch for this year in the NW and SW:
Megan O'Brien (UBC) - veteran, fifth year athlete who's played with Prime and Rough Riders
Sarah Pittiglio (UC-Davis) - experienced handler who runs Davis' offense with poise and composure; overshadowed by Julie Baker in the finals of 2004, but was a major contributor
Lillian Berla (UC-Santa Cruz) - overshadowed in name, but not play, by the McPike twins and Claire last season; will be THE go-to player on the team now
Anna "Maddog" Nazarov (UCLA) - she played a major role on her club team Skyline; great breakmark forehand and tenacious D.
Kelly "Muff" Jarvis (UC-San Diego) - an impact player for Safari for a few seasons now; workhorse player with skills
It's also exciting to see a number of really great juniors players entering the fray this year too. Here are some players to keep an eye out for the next four years:
Tory Hislop (UBC) and Jenny Abbeg (UW) both played for the Canadian juniors national team that won in Finland.
Molly Suver (Oregon), Claire Suver (UW), and Emily Damon (Stanford) were all playing the finals of the YCC this past summer with their high school teams.
Mir--in terms of pure size, the NW had about the same number of women's college teams as the AC, GL, and CN last season (and less than either the ME or NE). Only if you think about the NW and SW together are there more teams out west than any other single region. Traditionally there have been more highly ranked teams in the NW than any other region, though...
Oops, turns out Jenny Abbeg is a transfer student at UW, not a freshman. She did play for the Canadian juniors team, although competed in Latvia in 2002, not in Finland.
Aww Lindsey cut me some slack. After all, my last college season Georgia totally dominated everyone and we couldn't even compete. The Ogburn twins kicked ass, not to mention Katherine Kidd-Shipley and Angela Lin. So much talent on that team. I was also in college for the tail end of UNCW's dominance. And man was I a NW-non-believer in college, just ask JD.
In fact, it's hard to remember stars from my time in college from the NW. The big names were Liz Penney (Carleton), Johanna, Angela Lin, Katherine Kidd-Shipley, Shana Cook (Brown), Jessi Witt (Smith) etc. Back in the dark days of freshmen year people would talk about AJ from Stanford, who was apparently an incredible ultimate player, but otherwise we didn't bother with the NW.
It's not regional bias, just my own ignorance, having not made it to Club Nationals in 2005. If I hadn't been in 2004, Molly Doyle wouldn't even have been on my radar screen, but after watching her play against Fury in the quarters it was obvious she was going to be a force during the college season.
I always get myself in trouble - I should have just agreed that it's all semantics. Let's leave it at this: Alex is the only one I've had the pleasure of watching that seems to be at the same level as Miranda, Chelsea, etc. The two AC ladies I haven't seen play in over a year at least; as for Stanford, I stand by my earlier argument that it's hard to pick one over the others as an MVP.
Joggles from Tufts will have a breakout season. Also, Claremont has another really good player that hasn't been mentioned, Lindsay, whom Claire and Syd would argue is the best on their team. She was sidelined with a knee injury all last season.
Gwen,
Is Megan going to be eligible this year for UBC? That would be huge for them, as she is definitely an impact player. I know they missed her for the series last year, but I wasn't sure if her eligibility status was changing. There are a couple of other players from UBC that I found really impressive to watch at Sectionals, though names escape me at the moment.
I think the lot of us '02-'03 grads are getting older and because we are not currently playing the college season it seems harder to recognize the younger talent through our old (maybe more experienced) eyes then it was when we competed against the top college players a few years ago. I'm sure the all-stars are out there and it's great to collect some names to look for.
Hack,
If Neva has a west coast bias, its a more recent development. I have memories of thinking she used to be very east coast centric when I was at UCSD. I guess it's all about what you're exposed to. :)
I am just giving Neva crap (and, truly, i am just poking fun people) because of what I have read in the past year and a half.
Other notes of interest:
1) Cate Foster is a ridiculously sick defender for Backhoe...so, I can only imagine what she will be like at the collegiate level. I have offered her $20 to not guard me this year.
2) Ellie Bolas (that is how you spell her name)
3) Sharon Tucker (Backhoe/UNC-G) - also will not get the exposure she deserves because UNC-G is a developing team...but, there is a chance that both Tucker and Foster will end up at UNC-Ch for grad school. Wouldnt that be fun?
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