Grinnell...in brief

So I don't know if very many of the Woman Scorned players have blogs so I feel obligated to metnion it here (those dozen people that check my blog may have an interest). Given that I had to TRY to finish the trailer work & attend a baptism, I only saw the final against Truman State, but heard some other tidbits as well.

When Jon & I arrived, ISUC was playing IHUC and having a lot of trouble breaking their zone. The defense looked pretty good: I saw some bigs lays & mighty effort. There were a few miscues on D, mostly from new players, but I think the future of ISUC looks bright. To any ISUC guys that read this: you can own any zone. Handlers, have confidence and keep the disc swinging. Poppers, move AGAINST the cup, or get ahead of them. Deeps, don't STAND by your defense- take them deep, bring them in, move from side to side! Switches are the best time to get open; if you keep moving, sooner or later either you will be double-covered, allowing your teammate to get open, or you will find a hole created by another teammate. If you receive the disc from one side of the field, try to continue it (like receiving a swing & looking continue). While in a person-to-person D you need to move down the field with the stack, the easiest way to get open after one throw through or around the cup is to cut IN towards that person- counter to the defensive movement. Okay, I could talk forever about zone strategy, but it can be difficult to implement, especially for people used to getting open through athleticism. Besides, you've got a good coach in Jakerz.

On Saturday, Scorned had outscored their 4 opponents 52-6, with the most points scored by one team being 3 by Iowa. The first 2 games on Sunday weren't much different, from what I heard. I was looking forward to the final b/c TSU has one current player for Rackages (or 2, I don't know if Noelle just wasn't there) & they have a similar team attitude: scrappy, fun, partilicious. They also qualified for Nationals last year, which is amazing given that they are a 3rd year team. Stu Jack is no longer coaching them, which I think will be a bit of a blow. He is a great strategist & teacher on top of being a terrific handler himself. They have a coach, but he seems less purposeful than Stu. Anyway, the game starts off with lots of turns (it IS fall college), but it looks like both teams are using their full lines, playing a lot of rookies. TSUnami has 3 or 4 standouts, Duh & Mona handling, a cutter I don't know but who cuts hard and soccery. Scorned doesn't take what the defense gives, but battles to get open, and usually does. There are nice plays from both teams, but Scorned starts to pull away. The second half looks cleaner, especially from Scorned & they are using a handler dominator to get the disc moving, which works well for them. Jaz has a sick grab against the good Truman cutter, Sarah has a couple nice rescues. Meghan Solo is of course getting Ds, especially after a few adjustments against the soccery cutter. Jenny Dobson is an absolute machine, cutting, cutting, cutting. I think she got frustrated with throws, but they'll come, especially with her amazing work ethic. Overall, the group looks like a great bunch of ladies to work with. Mikey is getting the basics under their belts, and I'll officially take over this spring.

Last night was a bit of a silly practice at times, but we got a lot done in the end. I think MIke gets annoyed in a brotherly way at the girls' lack of focus. I am sometimes not helpful b/c I am trying not to laugh (unsuccessfully), but I think have a speical knack for being silly one moment, then totally focused the next. The girls get the first part, but not the second. Seems like we've got plenty to work on, but plenty to work with. I am excited to be coaching again & have already started drawing up ideas for practices, discussions, and drills for next spring.