Showdown emerged in the spring of 2006 after a small group of players from Austin and Houston came together with the same burning desire to play ultimate at an elite level. This reaction stemmed from the Austin, Houston, and Dallas women’s club teams’ inability to do well at Nationals, if they made it at all. The decision was made to form an elite all-Texas women’s team. Ever since the first tryouts in the spring of 2006, we have been selecting top-tier women’s ultimate players from all around Texas to join the Showdown force.
Our team’s biggest success occurred last season (Fall ’09) when we not only won our region but also proved our strength as a team by coming in 5th place at Nationals. As a team comprised of players from all over the 2nd largest state in the US, getting practice time together is difficult. It’s 1000 miles to the closest competitive women’s teams, so we play in tournaments and scrimmages against mixed and open teams to develop the intensity needed to take it to the world’s best. Weekly, team members spend a few days in our respective cities across Texas at the track, on the field, and in the gym. We have weekday scrimmages and skills practices in our “pods,” in addition our weekend practices, when we travel to practice as a full team.
While our D line regularly threatens mutiny and claims that someday they’ll start a new team called “Showup” (where the primary focus will be on tapering for Harvest Moon), the O line clings to these three major points:
1) Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching. Throw like there’s no wind.
2) Close your eyes and pray (usually in reference to breaking the mark).
3) Turnovers are always receiver error.
Seriously though, above and beyond our abilities on the field, we pride ourselves on being a team that gives back to the ultimate community. Our players:
* Serve as Ultimate Players League of Austin (UPLA) / Houston Ultimate Community (HUC) / Dallas Ultimate Association (DUA) board members
* Coach local college / high school / middle school teams (University of Texas Melee, University of Texas Mayhem, Rice University Miss Red, Bowie High School, Kealing Middle School)
* Run youth clinics
* Volunteer within the USA Ultimate structure as Sectional Coordinators, Regional Coordinators, and Observers, as well as on task forces
* Coordinate college and club tournaments around the United States (Midwest Warmup, Midwest Throwdown, Philly Classic, Women’s College Centex, Club Centex, Shootout, Philly Fusion)
We embrace this as our responsibility, and our privilege, as an elite club team. In short, we love frisbee and we love all of the people who make up this wonderful community. For more information about our team, check out our website at: http://showdownultimate.com
