Scobel Wiggins Photography

Applying to the next Worlds team will justify your reasons for playing the sport. It's a win/win situation really. If you get in, your life will have been made remarkably different for reason I can't get into here, plus the conditioning, the competition, and, of course, you will have been selected to a National Team.

For the '09 team, I hope to be involved in the selection process in the event that there are actual tryouts and practices. And once a team is selected, I'd like to serve as a sort of organizer to set up scrimmages or practice sites along the East Coast or in the Southeast. In 2005, we were never able to spend more than a weekend together (save for the actual Worlds event), and that was also getting in late on a Friday and departing quickly on a Sunday evening. For 2009, I'm working on a possible week with housing provided and access to first class fields.

I really don't think any prospective applicant should wait. It's best to be pro-active about this endeavor; so my advice is email or phone the UPA and find out what you need to know. Obviously, getting yourself in super-sick stupid-crazy condition is one way you an prepare. You should also just go ahead and figure that you will indeed survive the cut and go ahead and iron out your calendar and get your finances in order.

If I was "forced" to hold a tryout weekend, I can safely say the tryout weekend would be fairly brutal and the separation would be more or less immediate.

Tully Beatty was one of four alternates on the 2005 National Team (along with Alex Nord, Scott Conway, and Ron Kubalanza). Tully has played with Ring of Fire, the Slickers, the Raliegh Llama, and NY Cojones, to name a few, after playing in college at UNC-W.