Scobel Wiggins Photography

I knew going into the weekend at Roundup Division that it would be a great opportunity to teach Women's Ultimate. But I wasn't expecting it to be one of the coolest weekends I've ever had related to College Women's Ultimate. I walked away feeling so proud to be a female Ultimate player.

I was assigned to coach the girls from Mississippi State, and it turned out to be a perfect match. They showed up with only eight girls, but they were eager to learn, had great attitudes, and were so much fun to work with. The setup for the Roundup Division was fantastic with six games in two days, four drill sessions, and ample time for strategy talks. It allowed for so much learning and numerous teachable moments throughout the weekend. I, along with the rest of the coaches, packed in what most college teams would cover in a month or two of practice.

I conversed with my team's captain ahead of time through email to figure out the areas their team needed the most support with. Over the course of the weekend, I taught the girls how to run a horizontal offense, defensive positioning strategy, down field cutting technique, some zone O strategy, an active warm-up, and end zone offense. One of the best parts about the weekend was watching the girls actually apply the information and use it on the field. It was incredible. We ended up winning four games and losing two, but I promise you it felt like we had won the tournament. One of my favorite moments was the first time my team scored upwind. I literally rushed the field, with my one sub, peed my pants a little, and jumped on all my players. I was so proud of their accomplishments throughout the weekend, not to mention how much fun we had together off the field.

It was such a joy to be able to give back to the College Women's Ultimate community. It is something that I absolutely love about this sport. I don't know anyone who was excellent at every part of Ultimate when they first started playing. We all had many people help us along the way, sharing their knowledge. I was certainly blessed to have amazing mentors. If it weren't for Ben Wiggins, Tracey Satterfield, Anna Neraas, and so many others I know I would not be the player I am today. Now, having been in this sport for 10 years, I have learned from others and from experience to be able to see things on the field and analyze them. It was so rewarding to be able to tell one of my girls something simple like, "if you turn your shoulders and cut square to your thrower, it will be a much easier cut for her to throw to" and watch a light bulb go off in their head. Being able to have the entire weekend to work with my players, I felt like I was really able to focus on individual feedback as well as team concepts. This was a great balance.

If I could find a way to make a living going around the country coaching College Women's Ultimate like this, I would quit my day job (and that's saying a lot because 5th graders are rad). It was that fun. It was that rewarding. It was exactly why I feel so proud to be an Ultimate player. I know that my girls will take what they learned and bring it back to Mississippi and teach other girls, and that is why our sport has a future. Because as competitive as Ultimate can be, we are all just trying to learn how to get better at this game. The Roundup Division was such a cool experience. It was an absolute honor to be a part of, and I am truly impressed with Anna Nararov, Michelle Ng, and Holly Greunke for their vision and execution of this amazing weekend!

Chelsea Putnam, 2003 Callahan winner, former University of Oregon Fugue captain, former Portland Schwa captain