State of Patrol

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David Baer

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Jan 20, 2015, 1:38:52 PM1/20/15

to philly-o...@googlegroups.com, citywide...@googlegroups.com

Philly Ultimate,

The leadership wanted to send out a <not so> brief message catching everyone up. Below is a recap of some things we did well as a program in 2014, as well as some things that the captains and coaches are working towards improving for next season.

The things we did really well this year include the team attitude. Our goal was to be an extremely positive team that everyone wants to be a part of and everyone felt comfortable playing with. The leadership (Patrol captains, CityWide captains, and coaches) and I really feel like every single person on this team contributed to making that goal a success. While we may have had some growing pains as a team, we always really had each other’s backs and made sure that everything was kept light and upbeat. No matter what the score of a game was I really never saw anyone getting down on themselves or on their teammates and that is a really positive thing that we can take going forward. Reading the survey responses that you guys gave made it seem like everyone else felt the same way and I do not believe anyone on this team ended the season feeling like they regretted their decision to play with us. We want to continue that mentality and feeling going forward and make sure that future Patrol and Citywide teams are the same way. Another thing that a lot of people said they felt really good about how well our team performed, especially early in the season. We really came out as a new team and proved that we can play with almost anybody when we were playing our best. If we can continue that confidence and mental strength going forward it will continue to help us grow both individually and as a team. The other area I felt that we really improved and did well as a team was individual growth. As a team our average age was really young and I’m extremely proud to see how much better everyone was at the end of the season compared to the beginning. That is especially true of the entire Citywide team, who performed extremely well at Regionals. They showed that the future of this program is extremely bright. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for all the young talent in Philadelphia.

Like any young team we definitely had things that we can improve on for the future. For many of the leadership group this was the first time leading a team with such high goals. And for many players it was the first time being on an extremely high level club team. One regret that seems to be on most people's minds, as shown by the end of season review, was our attendance and attitude at practices. The fault for this can be set exclusively on the leadership. We did not set a good precedent and a high enough bar at the beginning of the season. Our goal moving forward is to combine high level and high intensity practices with that same enthusiasm, high spirit, and fun atmosphere. Two universe point losses to Pittsburgh shows me that with a harder work throughout the year we would be the ones going to nationals and showing what Philadelphia is all about. The talent is in close, it is up to each of us to bring our individual levels up and up to the leadership to put players in the correct position to succeed. There is much to be learned from this past season, but there is an extremely good foundation that we have created going forward to be a force to be reckoned with. However, next season everyone should expect the level of competitiveness to be much higher from the beginning. If we want to be a top tier team, we will need to start working like one.

The captains and coaches have already had one meeting where we discuss things that we can improve on for next season. We looked through your survey responses to find where we let you guys down and where we can improve to make next year even better. We are already working on fixing some of those problems, including field locations that are easier for everyone and also better quality. If you know of any field locations that may be able to be used for either spring tryouts for summer practices, please don't hesitate to let the captains know and we will do what we can to get away from the Ballfields. We have also selected Jesse Gormley to be our social captain. While it was great to see a bunch of people come out to Esser’s Farm, we want that to be only the beginning of our party season. Jesse has been, and will continue to, plan social events. We are working to having more social gatherings outside of ultimate throughout the calendar year. If you have any suggestions of things you would like to see, again do not hesitate to say so.

The other big focus for this offseason and next year is continuing the growth of our second team. Citywide had a great run through sectionals and regionals, and we want to continue that success for the future. We have brought in Darryl Stanley to be the head coach of Citywide for next year, and he will give us a lot of experience as well as a set of eyes specifically focused on young player and team development. That being said, we are always looking for players that would be a good fit. We have begun recruiting efforts on some players that will help out on Patrol, as well as both experienced talent to help Citywide and young talent for the future of the program. Expect the level of tryouts to be higher next year, and come prepared. If you know anyone you would like to see at tryouts for either team, let the captains know. The only way this program will continue to grow is with the help of each and every person involved.

2014 was a great year for Philadelphia ultimate. Green Means Go earned their first trip to nationals, AMP once again went to The Show, and we did a great job setting the stage for future success. Philadelphia deserves a high-level mens team, and I am proud of what we accomplished this year. I can only anxiously anticipate what 2015 Club season will bring for this program. A schedule will be sent out soon of events and tryout information, but we are aiming for an informal start to the season in April, with tryouts being at the beginning of May. In the meantime I wish everyone good luck with your college seasons, and I'm glad to have seen a bunch of you at Spinners and Phoenix events.