Scobel Wiggins Photography

The Huddle
The handling team of Alex Snyder, Deb Cussen, and Lauren Casey makes for some dangerous offense, particularly if you've got the unstoppable Kate Wilson and Sachiko Sameshima (the top goal scorer at World games) partnered with the ever so graceful Manu and the gravity defying Slap (I was on her team at Potlatch and she some how managed to layout while elevating her injured right elbow in the air, catch the disc, and stand up like it was no big deal). Add in the leftiness of Slap and the chemistry between teammates Snyder, Argili, Casey, Wilson and Slap to make one scary offensive dream team.

On defence, The Huddle has some extremely speedy people on their line (Cree, Jess) as well as block generator extraordinaire Liz Penny (see the Finals in '06 or '07 for a reminder). Katherine, Cree, Drew and Liz bring some height that would be dominating in zone coverage. I know less about the D-line handlers so I'll leave it to others to comment.

Michelle Ng
This is an well balanced offensive squad composing of members of rival teams from the NW and NE region: Fury and Riot, and Brutesquad and Godiva. Nancy, Dom and Mo handling form a powerhouse of current/former eastsiders (insert hand gesture here) who have had much experience playing with and against each other. Mo's perfectly placed full field pulls will go wasted on the O-line, but the trio make for a very dynamic handler set who can really open up the field (Nancy sees the field better than pretty much everyone). Dom will also dominate you in the air and brings a crazy amount of experience. The cutting quartet of Miranda, Shmi, Enessa and Rana are fast, accurate, and lethal, and the versatility of Mir and Rana's handling capabilities means this O-line will see a lot of 2 pass completions with Enessa and Shmi scoring in the endzone.

I loved watching Cara Crouch handle on the Team USA World Games clips, and after losing to her team in the top 8 play-in at Sarasota last year, I am painfully aware of her capabilities. Angela Lin, in addition to being an absolutely amazing person, in combination with her teammate Cara will help deliver a dynamic sharp one two punch once they get the turn. I'm not as familiar with Sarah or Anne, but the speed of Shannon and Shanye and the smarts and calm of VY is also a great combo.

I'm not familiar with Noriko Nakamura, but I'm going to assume she's awesome like all the ladies on this list. The combination of Vivian Zayas and Jenn Wilson behind the disc is a nice combo of Viv's wily experience (stall 8 hammer to win our final against Brute at No Borders on Universe point...dang!) and variety (not to mention her hucks) with Jenn's physical, unstoppable play. I also think these two are former teammates, which will add to the chemistry of this team. Add in some more Riot ladies with mad speed (the talented and I think underrated Liz Duffy, Kate Kingery), the height of Becky LeDonne and the handling of awesome awesome awesome Swiss Mel (led the women in goals/assists at Worlds with a mind-boggling 44 assists), a fantastic all around player who will also get who will get the D if this team happens to get turned. You are going to have to work hard on defence to get a break on these ladies.

The west coast power of the D-team with Val, Kira, Surge, Molly, Skyla and Loriana is a force to be reckoned with. Kira is one of the most dynamic handlers out there and makes big defensive plays, Val makes things happen and Surge runs really really frickin' fast. Burning Skirts star Kaela Jorgenson and Riot teammate Loriana Berman round this team out nicely. How can we get Skyla to play womens??

Underground
Georgia is a rockstar, and will make big plays on O of course, and get it back if this team happens to turn. Gwen is a legend and has such an insane level of knowledge about the game. I'm not sure who will be handling on this team with the inclusion of the international talent and players who can go either way, but I expect someone to be throwing big bombs to Kathy Dobson and Viv Krauchek.

On D, again, this team has many players who can cut or get behind the disc. Leslie Calder belongs in the Ultimate hall of fame, Cate Foster turned heads at World Games (see her bid on offence, tip the disc, and manage to read it better than the two male defenders that ran past her and make the grab). Maddy Frey scored so so many times in last year's UPA final. Tasia Balding is a tall, dominating force. I haven't played as much versus the west coast teams hailing from the east, but I have definitely heard good things about Andrea and the two Annas.

Five Ultimate
Now, I'm going to admit as the sole Canadian 'expert', I'm a tiny bit biased, but I think that this is one hot team, particularly on defense.

Katey Forth does not get enough props. I got the chance to play with her when I lived in England, and it was both a pleasure and a privilege. She is a ridiculously smart defensive player and creates opportunities on offence. She also is mom to one of the cutest babies I have ever seen in my whole life, and was rocking out at Paga while 5 months pregnant and destroying other cutters. Julie Baker scares the living s*** out of me as an offensive player. She is AMAZING. Eri Hirai is so so so fast and her quick release is a dangerous offensive weapon. Jen Kwok, equally fast, so dangerous in the endzone and wears the best number, 77. Sanako Inomata led the Japanese women in stats at Worlds, finishing 2nd with a total of 41 points, and the Zeitgeist combination of Jamie Nuwer and Kath Ratcliff behind the disc with Julie will be very, very scary indeed.

The D team features a lot of key and very strong offensive players, such as Backhoe superstar Lindsey Hack, Storm/Team Canada Genevieve Dufresne and Alyson Walker (Traffic, Capitals, Lotus and Team Canada star, second in goal scoring at World Games and first amongst the Canadian women for goals/assists). Anne-Marie is known to blow past dudes when she plays coed and lays it all on the line, both literally and figuratively. If you don't know who Anne Mercier is you've been living in a cave for the past few years... Ridiculous bids, ridiculous throws, leading an unknown team to an appearance at College Nats and Callahan runner up, all before she turned 21. Alicia White is an outstanding cutter and defender, and Chelsea's spirit, energy, and outstanding play make me want to simultaneously squat til my legs burn and dance. This D-line WILL make you turn it and you will not get it back.

Seeing as defence wins games, my overall best team vote goes to Ultivillage. If you turn on this D team, you will not get it back, and their O-line will put it away. I put the Huddle team as a close second.

My Votes
Best Offensive Line: The Huddle (followed closely by Ultivillage)
Best Defensive Line: Ultivillage
Best Overall: Ultivillage, followed by the Huddle

Thank you so much to the Huddle for allowing me to be a part of this experiment. It was a great chance to learn more about players I didn't know through the banter of the team selectors, and the women on these teams are all absolutely outstanding and inspiring players. I have been lucky enough to play with quite a few of these individuals and played against and learned from others and respect them opponents. Even more amazing is that I can easily think of many other talented women who would be equally deserving of making this list, which says a lot about the state of women's ultimate (Claudia Strehler of Switzerland, Kaitlyn Lovatt of Lotus/Capitals, Jessi Witt of Nemesis, Jody Dozono of Fury, Pooja Shah of Bent, Caro Cadotte of Storm, and Amber Sinicrop of Brutesquad to name a few).

One interesting aspect I noticed during the process is that many people I would have put on one line versus another were put on different lines by the selectors, which also speaks to the versatility of the players and the importance of a well rounded game. I hope the Huddle will make this an annual feature of the magazine, and now I've got a new goal to aspire to when I hit the gym.

Hadiya 'Dee' Roderique has played for Lotus, Capitals, and Downtown Brown, and is a devoted fan of The Huddle.