Nottingham Women’s Break In (NBWin) 2015
Day 1 team
Back row: Humaira, Eleanor, Yuwei, Becca, Tasha.
Front row: Kathryn, May, Sarah, Louise, Christiane.
Day 2 team
Back row: Becca, Tasha, Yuwei, Humaira, Katie.
Front row: May, Kathryn, Sarah, Emilie, Lynn.
In October, for the third year running, we took a team of beginners to the amazing Nottingham Women's Break In tournament (NBWin). This year, it was fantastic to see several of our beginners from last year returning to play as experienced players. The rules had changed slightly since last year, with experienced players no longer allowed to score. This was a welcome alteration as it meant the tournament this year felt more like a beginners' tournament.
Our first match was against Nottingham Gold and our beginners got off to a very strong start. Louise and Sarah both had some fantastic scores, and Kathryn made several fantastic D's. The experienced players got off to a good start too, with Tasha getting a hand block. We ended up winning the match 5-3.
Next, we played Sheffield Hallam, drawing the match 3-3. Christiane did a fantastic job of putting pressure on their main point scorer, getting several D's in the end zone. Sarah's footwork in this match was excellent, with several of Sheffield Hallam's more experienced ladies commenting on how good her up-the-line cuts were. This led to them voting her as our MVP for this match.
We then played the other Nottingham team, Nottingham Green. There were some incredibly long points in this match with good play from both teams, and the spirit was fantastic. Our up-the-line movement was working well and we had several beginner-to-beginner scores! Cambridge won this match 4-0.
Our fourth match was against Leeds, a very friendly team with lots of beginners. Cambridge's beginners played really well against their zone, despite this being the first zone a few of them had seen. Sarah managed to score against a wall zone and there was a great 'trust throw' from May to Sarah for another score. We won the match 6-2 with Leeds voting Kathryn as our MVP for some fantastic handling.
Finally on Saturday, we played Warwick, winning the match 6-2. Both teams were tired and there were some very, very long points, but both teams were still playing incredible Ultimate. On the Cambridge team, there was great passing between Louise and Sarah, and a fantastic catch from May. Warwick voted Sarah as our MVP.
Almost all of our team stayed over on Saturday night. Highlights included a science-themed bar serving cocktails in test-tubes and conical flasks.
First up on Sunday, we had a match against York. New additions to the team Emilie, Katie and Lynn fitted into the team well with a score from Emilie. Sarah and Kathryn had some fantastic up-the-line connections and we played well against York's zone. Unfortunately York was a more experienced team and we ended up losing the match 2-5.
Our second match was against Birmingham 2, a very strong and athletic team with lots of deep threats. The Cambridge team rose to the challenge and kept on running to keep up with them, with some fantastic catching from May. The final score was 2-7 to Cambridge.
The next match, against Sheffield, was incredibly close, with Cambridge eventually losing 3-4. Both teams were of similar ability and the match was well spirited, making it really enjoyable to play. There was a fantastic score from Emilie and Sarah's patience with the disc meant that Sheffield voted her our MVP.
Next up was a match against Haze. Although the scoreline was even for a long time, Haze pulled away to win the match 7-1. There was a great score from Sarah and Humaira, Katie and Tasha all played really well against their experienced GB player.
Our final game of the weekend was against Warwick again. Both teams had clearly improved over the course of the weekend and although Warwick took this game 6-3, there was some lovely play from both teams. Kathryn had a fantastic D right in front of the end zone and we did a good job of marking Warwick's deep threats, with Lynn in particular keeping up with her opponent really well. The beginners were also doing a great job of keeping the disc moving, with one point in particular where the pull was picked up by a beginner and passed entirely by beginners down the pitch, with no turnovers, for a score.
MVP for the weekend was Sarah, MIP was May and MSP was Kathryn. All in all, it was a really fun weekend and NBWin continues to be a great opportunity for our beginners to develop. We'd also like to thank Eleanor for coaching the team and providing a fantastic sideline on Saturday.
