#BETEAMS Headed to D1 USA College Nationals

The peak of the college season is here. #BETEAMS will be battling for gold this weekend. We had the pleasure of talking with some of the team leaders about their teams and expectations going into nationals

UCSD Psychos

Regionals is always the best weekend of the season to me. It's when I really get the chance to see how much each player, especially rookies, have grown over the course of the season. I felt really happy about the way regionals went because it felt wholesome. The team wanted to play, laugh, and be together.

My goal at Nationals is to leave it all on the field. It's cliche but this is my last chance to play with this group of Psychos and I get an adrenaline rush every time I think about it.

We love making up random team cheers! At sectionals, we came up with a cheer that involved and cheering "utensil" then naming a different utensil several times.

Our team focuses on helping each other be happy and positive no matter what the situation is through something we call UPRF (Unconditional Positive Regard and Family) and Joytivity.

-Stacy Tran

Cal Poly Slocore

Regionals was great. Felt great to come out and execute the whole weekend like we had prepared all season to do. Our closest game was one where it felt like everything went the other teams way and it finished 15-11 in our favor. Really showed our focus and determination to not fall into a similar regional trap from last year, all of which came from the hard practices and workouts done this season.

Nationals goals are to not die of heat stroke, play all of our games without getting hit by lightning, and to keep winning. We have only lost 4 games this season, and we are going to do our best to keep it that way.

We are still pretty new to the nationals scene. If you had told me my freshmen year we would be top of a pool at nationals, I never would have believed you. We have learned to play as the favorite the past couple years, even as we know deep down we are a bunch of scrubs who can't run our plays right or remember the force. With that knowledge that we are dumb, every game this year has been an opportunity to go have fun with our friends, to outplay our internal expectations, and have more fun than the last time we took the field. It may not make us unique, but it is certainly something that defines CORE.

All year, it has been CORE Goin Up. Just helps us stay steady and focused, whether it was after our early season success where we had the opportunity to get some big heads, or after late-season failures, where we didn't execute but needed to not get down on ourselves. Has kept us working and building all year, so we can peak at Nationals and play our best ultimate yet.

-Caleb Merriam

Rutgers Machine

I was in a complete state of euphoria that I started to laugh when we beat UCONN 15-14 on universe. Seeing many of many teammates moved to tears I simply did not know what to do. This was a moment in my life that I will never forget. Regionals were quite hectic however though. Being that Day 1 was canceled and moved to Sunday meant that we would have to come back to Connecticut to finish out the tournament. Going into the tournament I knew we would be in the finals game but I just did not know who we would play. Even though we were the number 1 seed, I and the rest of the team still saw UCONN as top dog in the regional

Our goals at Nationals are to play all of our games competitively. Coming in as the 20th seed we know we have our hands full but with the right preparation and work ethic, we can certainly win some games.

I have never seen more individuals working so hard to accomplish one goal. We have set the tone early for what we want to accomplish and so many individuals have bought into the program. Our team spends so much time together, whether it be eating, practicing, doing homework, or simply just hanging out with each other. I can fully say that Rutgers Machine has become my family. There are people I can look to no matter what and they will help me with anything. I would do the same for anyone else on the team. It is simply just so much fun to play with a family like Rutgers Machine

Believe. Believe in the process of hard work. Believe in our coaches gameplan. Believe in your teammates to do the right thing. I started playing on Rutgers Machine in 2015 as freshmen with a class that had over 10 freshmen make the A team. We have all worked really hard over the years and we can thank our previous captains, coaches, and alumni for all of their help. They believed in us so we just had to believe in ourselves.

-Dean Klimek

UCSB Burning Skirts

We knew going into Regionals that we needed to win our rematches against SLO and UCLA and we were hungry to go back to Nationals this year. We knew that even though we earned a Southwest bid it was not going to be an easy feat to hold on to that bid. We knew we would have to play our best and we came ready to fight for our spot. Playing in the semifinal game against SLO was all too familiar. As always it was a hard-fought and high-spirited game. In my opinion, it was the most fun game we played all season.

Execution in the red zone has been a goal of ours all year long and going into Nationals we want to make sure we are constantly running our endzone system efficiently. Another important goal we have is having a positive and spirited mentality throughout Natties. We want to make sure we are always lifting up our teammates, being loud on the sidelines, and having a great time. We have been working extremely hard since the fall to build a program of strong athletes who are passionate about this sport and love playing with each other and we want to make sure we are cherishing every game and every point of our final tournament of the season. Our positivity and intensity is what got us here and we want to make sure we carry that all the way through to the end.

We pride ourselves on having the loudest sideline at every tournament. No matter what the score is, you can be sure that we are celebrating every single score, high-fiving our teammates after long points, and being as loud and as fired up as possible. Additionally, we are known for our defensive intensity. Every time we step on the field, we push ourselves to play shutdown defense. We fight for every disc, always willing to put our bodies on the line for our teammates. We play for each other and trust each other to make up any turnovers with our defensive pressure. High energy and defensive intensity are Burning Skirts trademarks.

Every point we play is a 0-0 game to 1.

-Felicia Cruz

Oregon Fugue

We felt really good about how we were able to bring it together at regionals, beating the #1 ranked team in the region twice, the second time to knock them out of Nationals.

Our goal at Natties is to find our best level of success and make it to quarters.

As a team, we follow a philosophy we call Clown Tent, which basically means trusting that our teammates are working as hard as they can to better themselves and that we are also doing that. We also put every player in a leadership role, regardless of what that role entails, but we try to foster a sense of leadership throughout the whole team.

-Ella Hanson

Pittsburgh Danger

While we weren’t able to secure the 1st spot in the region, we learned a lot and worked through our system and we are very excited to have earned another chance to play at Nationals.

Early in the year, we decided as a team to set the goal of winning nationals. We are looking to build on the success we achieved from last year and have been preparing all season with that goal in mind.

Our team is special because we create a space where everyone is celebrated for being themselves. We continuously have open and honest discussions with one another and help each other through difficult times and celebrate with each other in happy times. We’re also pretty weird and find a way to make almost every situation fun. We also have an amazing support system ranging from coaches, alumni, family members, the Pittsburgh ultimate community, and many others that enable us to be able to play the sport we love together.

Since finding out Nationals was in Texas we’ve been heard saying a few different quotes such as: “Pee clear, win hard” and “Hydrate or die-drate”. All jokes aside, I would say although we don’t necessarily have a clear cut mantra, one thing that is repeated throughout our team a lot is “Trust the system” which spans from trusting we’ve created a culture where everyone can thrive individually to trusting the different defenses and offenses we run to ensure the most possible success. (Also “When I say yee you say haw” of course)

-Hannah Blizzard

UVIC Vikes

We felt really good about regionals. During the regular season we played well against most of the Northwest competition, so had some confidence heading into the weekend. However, UBC had beaten us handily twice during the regular season, and the Douglas Bowl, and Conferences. At the end of day one, we found ourselves in a position to knock UBC out of contention on day one, as they had lost their first few pool play games. The UVic squad seized the opportunity and confidently took the game 13-7. It was a big confidence boost heading into day 2. On day 2 we had the goal of making it to Nationals. Unfortunately a poor showing against Oregon meant we had to take the back door route to the third place game to go. Next 2 games ended up being against Montana, and Utah, both of whom we had beaten in pool play the day before. The Vikes played with confidence, and wine both games 15-8 and 14-7, to make it back to Nationals for the second year in a row.

In 2018, we went to the show having not been together or practiced as a unit for a full month. As a result, we did not play our best and failed to win a game. This year’s goal is to put our best effort on the field. We had a training camp this past weekend, and the team put in hard work to refocus on the Vikes systems and mentality. We finished the weekend with strong games against local competition from Victoria, and against Furious George. With that extra effort to make sure we are playing at our best, we anticipate a strong showing in Round Rock!

Our program is unique because of the lack of players who have touched a disc before university. While there is a strong youth ultimate scene in Vancouver, there is very little in the way of ultimate for high school age children in Victoria. The majority of players who have come through the UVic program learn to throw and play in September of their first year with the team. In the fall we work hard to get these new athletes up to a level to compete with all the college teams that get talent who have been playing throughout high school. Growing and learning the sport together creates a special bond throughout the team.

A common phrase we use on the team is “keep it loose, keep it tight”. We strive to maintain a high level of play, focus, and hard work while fostering a fun relaxed atmosphere that comes naturally to the current roster.

-David Whitney-Brown

Texas Melee

We were extremely happy and proud of the outcome. We played the best we have all season, every single player made a difference for the team, and we ultimately won the region!

All season we’ve been talking about peaking at natties, and that’s what we plan to do.
We want to go out there, play our best, have fun, and end the season on a high note

Our biggest strength is the fact that everyone on this team is useful and can be trusted on the field. We focus more now than we ever have in the past on developing our new players, and the sheer talent of our rookies at this point in the season is an incredible accomplishment

“It’s all about Melee” -Cara Crouch

-Caroline and Ivy (Melee Captains)