Monday, November 19, 2007
BUDA Open YCC Blog has moved
the new blog is located at neycc.wordpress.com; stay tuned for updates.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Youth Club Championships - Day 1
After spending Friday traveling out to Minnesota and visiting the sights (Mall of America, the water park in our hotel), it was nice to finally arrive at the fields on Saturday morning and finally get to take the field in a game that meant something.
It'd been a whirlwind two months for the team... in that time 40 players had applied for a spot on the squad, two weeks of tryouts narrowed down the candidates, and the final roster had been able to get together for practice only twice before heading west. Of course, we had the added pressure of everyone getting to know each other and learning to play together against some of the best juniors players in the country. So, when warmups started for our round one match up against New Jersey there was a lot of nervous energy as nobody (including the coaches) really had any idea how we'd look but any nerves certainly were overcome by excitement to finally get started.
Seeing the New Jersey team was a nice way to start as many of the players on both teams have played each other a number of times with Columbia, Needham, and Amherst sending many players to their respective YCC teams. We came out with a few points of man defense and forced a couple turns but the defense's offense was entirely too excited to be effective and would quickly return the disc to Garden State. Later in the first half, we came out with a 1-3-3 zone and it seemed to pressure them into more turns, a number of which came on stalls or high stall turnovers. The highlight of the first half came when Andrew Hollingworth jumped over a New Jersey handler and intercepted a floating pass in the endzone for a callahan goal. At the beginning of the second half and not to be outdone by his junior worlds teammate, Alex Kapinos nabbed a callahan for himself with a point-block followed by a catch for the team's second callahan of the game. The second half was similar to the first and BUDA was able to open up the subbing and get the entire roster a good amount of playing time and all members of the team contributed to the win. Final score was 15-9, New England over New Jersey.
Round two was a matchup with the fourth seed in Pool B, Madison. The team from Wisconsin had a couple of players they looked to isolate as receivers and throwers but had a difficult time gaining separation from our defenders. Also, in a similar storyline as round 1, we played a number of defensive points during the first half in a 1-3-3 zone. While a number of players stood out with strong defensive play, the zones were anchored by aggressive marking by Misha Herscu, Matt Guild, Russel Wallack, and Andrew Kiefer. Max Gillett continued the team's callahan streak by grabbing a swing pass during the first half against Madison and Andrew Lunetta provided the game's offensive highlight with a huge endzone to endzone backhand to David Baecher for the goal. Madison did begin to connect on some of their deep looks late into the second half, but at that point the game was heavily in favor of New England and ended with a 15-7 score.
In the last round, New England matched up with the Colorado open team - "Cutthroat". Featuring a number of tall and athletic receivers, BUDA knew that our offense would have to limit turnovers and not force the disc downfield and into the Denver athletes. Once again, New England played a number of defensive points in 1-3-3 and were able to cause quick turns, setting up easy scoring chances. It was evident that the team was beginning to gel together as BUDA held Cutthroat to the lowest opponent score total of the day and really pushed the opponent out of their gameplans. Final score: 15-5, New England.
Finishing the pool 3-0, BUDA secured the second seed into quarter finals and would play the 4th place team from pool A to start the day on Sunday.
It'd been a whirlwind two months for the team... in that time 40 players had applied for a spot on the squad, two weeks of tryouts narrowed down the candidates, and the final roster had been able to get together for practice only twice before heading west. Of course, we had the added pressure of everyone getting to know each other and learning to play together against some of the best juniors players in the country. So, when warmups started for our round one match up against New Jersey there was a lot of nervous energy as nobody (including the coaches) really had any idea how we'd look but any nerves certainly were overcome by excitement to finally get started.
Seeing the New Jersey team was a nice way to start as many of the players on both teams have played each other a number of times with Columbia, Needham, and Amherst sending many players to their respective YCC teams. We came out with a few points of man defense and forced a couple turns but the defense's offense was entirely too excited to be effective and would quickly return the disc to Garden State. Later in the first half, we came out with a 1-3-3 zone and it seemed to pressure them into more turns, a number of which came on stalls or high stall turnovers. The highlight of the first half came when Andrew Hollingworth jumped over a New Jersey handler and intercepted a floating pass in the endzone for a callahan goal. At the beginning of the second half and not to be outdone by his junior worlds teammate, Alex Kapinos nabbed a callahan for himself with a point-block followed by a catch for the team's second callahan of the game. The second half was similar to the first and BUDA was able to open up the subbing and get the entire roster a good amount of playing time and all members of the team contributed to the win. Final score was 15-9, New England over New Jersey.
Round two was a matchup with the fourth seed in Pool B, Madison. The team from Wisconsin had a couple of players they looked to isolate as receivers and throwers but had a difficult time gaining separation from our defenders. Also, in a similar storyline as round 1, we played a number of defensive points during the first half in a 1-3-3 zone. While a number of players stood out with strong defensive play, the zones were anchored by aggressive marking by Misha Herscu, Matt Guild, Russel Wallack, and Andrew Kiefer. Max Gillett continued the team's callahan streak by grabbing a swing pass during the first half against Madison and Andrew Lunetta provided the game's offensive highlight with a huge endzone to endzone backhand to David Baecher for the goal. Madison did begin to connect on some of their deep looks late into the second half, but at that point the game was heavily in favor of New England and ended with a 15-7 score.
In the last round, New England matched up with the Colorado open team - "Cutthroat". Featuring a number of tall and athletic receivers, BUDA knew that our offense would have to limit turnovers and not force the disc downfield and into the Denver athletes. Once again, New England played a number of defensive points in 1-3-3 and were able to cause quick turns, setting up easy scoring chances. It was evident that the team was beginning to gel together as BUDA held Cutthroat to the lowest opponent score total of the day and really pushed the opponent out of their gameplans. Final score: 15-5, New England.
Finishing the pool 3-0, BUDA secured the second seed into quarter finals and would play the 4th place team from pool A to start the day on Sunday.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Preparing to leave for Blaine
It's been a very, very hectic schedule but the team finally is getting ready to head out to Blaine at the end of this week and spent the last two putting the finishing touches on the team and making final plans for the trip.
Two weeks ago, the team had it's second practice together. Once again it was in Amherst, but this time the team was met by an oppressive heat that forced players to very closely monitor their health and pushed the lunch break later into the day to try and avoid the hottest parts of the afternoon. The practice itself was very similar to the session from a week before, the coaches reviewed some concepts and introduced some new ones and there was a large amount of scrimmaging to get all of it into practice. The day ended with another game against Amherst locals... this time however, the "ringers" took it to the young guys made the game a decidedly one-sided affair.
This past Friday, the team had originally planned to head down to New Jersey to participate in Nucci's Cup, but after failing to secure a spot in the tournament Tiina Booth was kind enough to arrange a scrimmage under the lights at Amherst High School against the local club team, Club Team X. The YCC team was greeted with an early surprise as the uniforms from Breakmark arrived in time for the game and the squad finally took the field as a fully-formed and uniformed team. CTX was bolstered by a number of local players both home from college and pulled from other area teams, making the friday night squad deep and very, very talented. That talent showed early as CTX jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and took half 8-2. After a delay for lightning, the YCC team pulled it together a put a number of beautiful offensive points together and played a much better second half, with CTX winning the half 9-7. The final score was CTX 17-9.
With the schedule finally announced for the weekend, New England will see Colorado, New Jersey, and Madison on the first day. All three teams will offer tough challenges and hopefully the depth of the BUDA squad will pay dividends late into the day.
Two weeks ago, the team had it's second practice together. Once again it was in Amherst, but this time the team was met by an oppressive heat that forced players to very closely monitor their health and pushed the lunch break later into the day to try and avoid the hottest parts of the afternoon. The practice itself was very similar to the session from a week before, the coaches reviewed some concepts and introduced some new ones and there was a large amount of scrimmaging to get all of it into practice. The day ended with another game against Amherst locals... this time however, the "ringers" took it to the young guys made the game a decidedly one-sided affair.
This past Friday, the team had originally planned to head down to New Jersey to participate in Nucci's Cup, but after failing to secure a spot in the tournament Tiina Booth was kind enough to arrange a scrimmage under the lights at Amherst High School against the local club team, Club Team X. The YCC team was greeted with an early surprise as the uniforms from Breakmark arrived in time for the game and the squad finally took the field as a fully-formed and uniformed team. CTX was bolstered by a number of local players both home from college and pulled from other area teams, making the friday night squad deep and very, very talented. That talent showed early as CTX jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and took half 8-2. After a delay for lightning, the YCC team pulled it together a put a number of beautiful offensive points together and played a much better second half, with CTX winning the half 9-7. The final score was CTX 17-9.
With the schedule finally announced for the weekend, New England will see Colorado, New Jersey, and Madison on the first day. All three teams will offer tough challenges and hopefully the depth of the BUDA squad will pay dividends late into the day.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Practice #1
The BUDA Open YCC team held it's first practice since the announcement of the team this past Friday in Amherst. 3 players were missing and one was sidelined with an injury, but it was good to see the squad together nearly in full.
The day started out with a warm-up followed by a long cutting and conditioning drill. Then the team spent some time talking about defensive positioning and running a few drills to focus on what the coaches had just demonstrated. The morning session was ended with a scrimmage that was close throughout and had no one team or player dominating the action.
After a break for lunch (most of the players headed to one of the Amherst guys' house to raid the pantry), the coaches went over zone defense and some quick defensive play calls. The guys then scrimmaged for a second time with the opposite team winning than had during the morning session, and it was time for the main event of the day: a scrimmage with a team of local ringers who included 4 former junior worlds players and a number of NUTC counselors in town for the week. The ringers jumped out to a quick lead, but the YCC team answered back and was able to pull out a 7-5 win.
The team finished off with some group core strength exercises and sprints and headed to the swimming hole next to the fields to finish the day.
This upcoming Friday the team will be back in Amherst for another practice and scrimmage with more locals, but unfortunately will not be heading to any tournaments before going to Blaine as they were not offered a bid to the Nucci's cup in New Jersey.
The day started out with a warm-up followed by a long cutting and conditioning drill. Then the team spent some time talking about defensive positioning and running a few drills to focus on what the coaches had just demonstrated. The morning session was ended with a scrimmage that was close throughout and had no one team or player dominating the action.
After a break for lunch (most of the players headed to one of the Amherst guys' house to raid the pantry), the coaches went over zone defense and some quick defensive play calls. The guys then scrimmaged for a second time with the opposite team winning than had during the morning session, and it was time for the main event of the day: a scrimmage with a team of local ringers who included 4 former junior worlds players and a number of NUTC counselors in town for the week. The ringers jumped out to a quick lead, but the YCC team answered back and was able to pull out a 7-5 win.
The team finished off with some group core strength exercises and sprints and headed to the swimming hole next to the fields to finish the day.
This upcoming Friday the team will be back in Amherst for another practice and scrimmage with more locals, but unfortunately will not be heading to any tournaments before going to Blaine as they were not offered a bid to the Nucci's cup in New Jersey.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
BUDA Open YCC - Roster Selected
Even though a number of players were out of town on family vacations, the second day of tryouts for BUDA's Open YCC team went very well with 17 players in attendance at the Mitre fields in Burlington, MA.
After arriving early and throwing around (it was nice as a coach to get to the fields 15 minutes early and be the last one to arrive out of the whole group), the team got together to talk over how the horizontal stack will work. Almost none of the players have any experience with the H-stack offense and it was certainly a challenge at first. After a few scrimmages and a couple of marking/throwing drills to get a final look at individual player's skills, the final tryout was over and the coaches had a bunch of tough decisions to make in getting the roster finalized.
In the end, the following 19 players were offered a spot on the 2007 YCC Open roster:
David Baecher (Amherst)
Andrew Hollingworth (Tufts University)
Corey Mindlin (Needham)
Andrew Lunetta (Needham)
Branden Steinberg (Needham)
Tom Bassett (Needham)
Ryan Rzepka (Longmeadow)
Alex Kapinos (Longmeadow)
Matt Guild (Amherst)
Julian Summa (Amherst)
Jonah Herscu (Amherst)
Tommy Li (Longmeadow)
Misha Herscu (Amherst)
Patrick Roberts (Amherst)
Kellen Corkill (Amherst)
Russel Wallack (Amherst)
Andrew Kiefer (Amherst)
Ben Nelson (Andover)
Max Gillett (Lexington)
The schedule will be tight as the team will only come together for 3, maybe 4 practices before leaving for Blaine in August.
After arriving early and throwing around (it was nice as a coach to get to the fields 15 minutes early and be the last one to arrive out of the whole group), the team got together to talk over how the horizontal stack will work. Almost none of the players have any experience with the H-stack offense and it was certainly a challenge at first. After a few scrimmages and a couple of marking/throwing drills to get a final look at individual player's skills, the final tryout was over and the coaches had a bunch of tough decisions to make in getting the roster finalized.
In the end, the following 19 players were offered a spot on the 2007 YCC Open roster:
David Baecher (Amherst)
Andrew Hollingworth (Tufts University)
Corey Mindlin (Needham)
Andrew Lunetta (Needham)
Branden Steinberg (Needham)
Tom Bassett (Needham)
Ryan Rzepka (Longmeadow)
Alex Kapinos (Longmeadow)
Matt Guild (Amherst)
Julian Summa (Amherst)
Jonah Herscu (Amherst)
Tommy Li (Longmeadow)
Misha Herscu (Amherst)
Patrick Roberts (Amherst)
Kellen Corkill (Amherst)
Russel Wallack (Amherst)
Andrew Kiefer (Amherst)
Ben Nelson (Andover)
Max Gillett (Lexington)
The schedule will be tight as the team will only come together for 3, maybe 4 practices before leaving for Blaine in August.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
BUDA Open YCC Tryouts #1
In the month since we opened applications for BUDA's Open YCC team the first big date in the team's calendar had been June 16th, the"Open Tryout" day. Interest had been great, 40 players signed up online knowing that only 18 will make the final cut and trip with the team to Blaine in August.
Applications had come in from all over Massachusetts and even from a few players in other New England states but two schools are strongly represented by the tryouts: Amherst Regional High School (2nd place finisher at Easterns, Massachusetts State Champion) and Needham High School (3rd place finisher at Easterns, runner-up at Mass State Championships).
Players arrived at 9:30 on the morning of the 16th at Groff Park in Amherst to fill out paperwork and to start meeting the other players in attendance. After everything was in order, the group came together to go over the schedule for the day an outline some of the goals. Shortly thereafter, players split up into their teams for the day (there would be three), met their coaches, and took off on a jog to start the warmup.
It was a full day with each team playing 6 scrimmages to 5 or 7; while each scrimmage was happening the team that was off the field was either learning a new skill the coaches wanted to see implemented, running a drill, or measuring quickness with a timed shuttle run.
The end of the day was cut a bit short by a thunderstorm looming over the horizon so the players missed out on a timed distance run, but nobody seemed to mind! The team brought it in for one last cheer, coaches fielded questions, and the group was told what to expect before the next tryout (on June 30th).
Players at Open Tryout:
Amos Adams (Amherst Regional)
Kellen Corkill (Amherst Regional)
Rafer Dannenhauer (Amherst Regional)
Kyle Deaver (Four Rivers Charter School)
Thomas Georgevits (Needham High School)
Max Gillett (Lexington High School)
Matt Guild (Amherst Regional)
Misha Herscu (Amherst Regional)
Jonah Herscu (Amherst Regional)
Andrew Hollingworth (Amherst Regional/Tufts University)
Alex Kapinos (The Gow School)
Andrew Kiefer (Amherst Regional)
Michael Lawlor (Amherst Regional)
Tommy Li (Longmeadow High School)
Andrew Lunetta (Needham High School)
Corey Mindlin (Needham High School)
Matthew Mitchell (UMass)
Ben Nelson (Andover High School)
Kevin Norton (Amherst Regional)
Pat Roberts (Amherst Regional)
Gain Robinson (The Greely School)
Ryan Rzepka (Longmeadow High School)
Alex Soper (The Greely School)
Jeffery Steeves (Needham High School)
Branden Steinberg (Needham High School)
Julian Summa (Amherst Regional)
Mike Virginio (Needham High School)
Russel Wallack (Amherst Regional)
Applications had come in from all over Massachusetts and even from a few players in other New England states but two schools are strongly represented by the tryouts: Amherst Regional High School (2nd place finisher at Easterns, Massachusetts State Champion) and Needham High School (3rd place finisher at Easterns, runner-up at Mass State Championships).
Players arrived at 9:30 on the morning of the 16th at Groff Park in Amherst to fill out paperwork and to start meeting the other players in attendance. After everything was in order, the group came together to go over the schedule for the day an outline some of the goals. Shortly thereafter, players split up into their teams for the day (there would be three), met their coaches, and took off on a jog to start the warmup.
It was a full day with each team playing 6 scrimmages to 5 or 7; while each scrimmage was happening the team that was off the field was either learning a new skill the coaches wanted to see implemented, running a drill, or measuring quickness with a timed shuttle run.
The end of the day was cut a bit short by a thunderstorm looming over the horizon so the players missed out on a timed distance run, but nobody seemed to mind! The team brought it in for one last cheer, coaches fielded questions, and the group was told what to expect before the next tryout (on June 30th).
Players at Open Tryout:
Amos Adams (Amherst Regional)
Kellen Corkill (Amherst Regional)
Rafer Dannenhauer (Amherst Regional)
Kyle Deaver (Four Rivers Charter School)
Thomas Georgevits (Needham High School)
Max Gillett (Lexington High School)
Matt Guild (Amherst Regional)
Misha Herscu (Amherst Regional)
Jonah Herscu (Amherst Regional)
Andrew Hollingworth (Amherst Regional/Tufts University)
Alex Kapinos (The Gow School)
Andrew Kiefer (Amherst Regional)
Michael Lawlor (Amherst Regional)
Tommy Li (Longmeadow High School)
Andrew Lunetta (Needham High School)
Corey Mindlin (Needham High School)
Matthew Mitchell (UMass)
Ben Nelson (Andover High School)
Kevin Norton (Amherst Regional)
Pat Roberts (Amherst Regional)
Gain Robinson (The Greely School)
Ryan Rzepka (Longmeadow High School)
Alex Soper (The Greely School)
Jeffery Steeves (Needham High School)
Branden Steinberg (Needham High School)
Julian Summa (Amherst Regional)
Mike Virginio (Needham High School)
Russel Wallack (Amherst Regional)
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