The Sneetches, Bryn Mawr and Haverford’s women’s ultimate Frisbee team, travelled to
Trenton New Jersey on February 21 for their first official tournament of the 2016 spring season,
the Jersey Devil.
The Sneetches were seeded first going into the tournament and took second place, beating
Skidmore 12-1, Temple 12-2, and SUNY-Albany 11-8. The Sneetches fell to a deep and talented
West Chester 11-2 in a spirited championship game.
The Jersey Devil is unique from most other tournaments. It was a series of four games
played indoors from 12:20 to 7 A.M. In Captain Rosemary Ventura’s opinion, “the tournament's
structure made for an unconventional, yet thrilling start to the season.”
The indoor fields were narrower than full-sized outdoor fields, forcing the teams to play
different strategies and make the use of down-movement. Frisbee flight is also affected by the
slightest amount of wind, so the indoor environment allowed for more controlled and technical
throws. Ventura took full advantage of the opportunity to release full-field throws - called
“hucks” - to frequent scorers Zoe Lewis ’17, Nava Kidon ’18, and Marilee Oldstone-Moore ’18.
Kidon had an instrumental goal in the game against SUNY-Albany, diving with full-body
extension, called a “layout.” “I was really pumped because I have been trying to lay out since I
started playing ultimate last fall,” said Kidon.
The compounding sleep factor could have been used as an excuse for low-intensity play,
but Captain Larkin Johnson ’17 didn’t see a dip in the Sneetches’ competitive nature: “I was
really proud of our team for maintaining spirit and intensity even though we were playing at
crazy hours.”
This tournament saw the return of Lewis who was abroad in Italyfor the Sneetches fall
2015 season. For Lewis, “ultimate has been such a positive experience for me that I just wanted
any and every chance to start playing ultimate again with the sneetches after coming back from
abroad.” Lewis was a star on offense, outrunning her defenders to be a reliable receiver
throughout the tournament. She even had a complicated trick throw, an upside-down reverse
forehand called a “hammer,” to win the SUNY-Albany game.
This season the Sneetches are also Five Ultimate – a Frisbee apparel company –
“Funbassadors” for the Ohio Valley region. “As the name suggests, we are ambassadors of fun,
goofy, spirited ultimate Frisbee,” said Ventura. “As such, we organize "spirit circles" after each
game in order to formally recognize the accomplishments of the other team and to award prizes
to their two most spirited players.”
These spirit circles are representative of the Sneetches, whose signature “funtensity” –
fun and intensity – will carry them to more victories as they advance in their spring season.
