Brute Squad and Showdown compete at the highest level of the club women’s division, and we pride ourselves on taking a leadership role in the women’s ultimate community. In conjunction with our friends on Phoenix, we are very proud to be running a skills clinic for the college players at Philly Fusion so that we can pass along some of our experience and knowledge to the next generation of ballers. The skills clinic will serve as a pilot event for USA Ultimate’s college developmental efforts.
Our skills clinic instructors are not only some of the best players in the women’s game, but we also give back to the ultimate community by serving as college coaches, leading local skills clinics, and coaching at special women’s ultimate events such as the Midwest Throwdown Roundup Division.
The tournament and skills clinic will also serve as the kickoff event for Without Limits, through which we hope to foster relationships within the women’s ultimate community at the youth, college, and club levels, as well as promote and further the sport of women’s ultimate.
Registration opens Tuesday, September, 7 for college players on college teams and Thursday, September 9th for college players on club teams. An email with a registration link will be sent to each college’s team email address. There are spots for 340 college women to attend the skills clinic. Registration may open to non-tournament players depending on space available. Please contact phillyfusion.2010@gmail.com if your team ISN’T attending the tournament but would attend the skills clinic on Saturday.
Philly Fusion will offer the following stations:
Throwing for Distance
In this station, you’ll learn how to get your big throws to go further.
Instructor: Leila Tunnell
Club: captain of Phoenix (Triangle Area, NC), formerly Backhoe, Brute Squad, and Ozone
College: captain of University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Pleiades, formerly captain of Connecticut College Redi$culous, Callahan Runner-Up 2010, All-Region 2007-2010
Other: member of Team USA Juniors 2006, NUTC Coach, Jordan High School Coach, TYUL Girls’ YCC Coach
24/7 – How to Get Open
We’ll go over cutting basics, technique and body mechanics of different types of cuts, and tricks to use to get open on someone one on one.
Instructor: Cara Crouch
Club: Texas Showdown (Austin, TX), formerly Ozone
College: University of Texas Melee, Callahan Winner 2005,
All-Region 2003-2005
Other: member of Team USA 2009, UT Melee Coach 2007-2009,
USA Ultimate Certified Level 1 Coach
Breakin’ Ankles
The goal of this cutting station is geared toward selling your cut. We’ll talk about some tricks of the trade for cutting and making your defender believe your jukes/cuts.
Instructor: Sarah “Slider” Blyth
Club: Texas Showdown (Austin, TX)
College: University of Texas Melee, All-Region 2007
Other: University of Texas Mayhem (Women’s B Team) Coach 2010
In The Zone
In this clinic, we will go over how to run an effective cup/ front wall in a zone defense. Which throws should I allow? How do I best recover if broken?
Instructors: Sheila Ogden and Rebecca Shelton
Sheila
Club: Texas Showdown (Austin, TX)
College: University of Texas Melee
Rebecca
Club: Texas Showdown (Austin, TX)
College: University of Texas Melee, All-Region 2009
Other: Frisbee Motto- “Just close your eyes and pray.”
To Huck or Not to Huck
In this clinic, we will learn the mechanics of hucking, and how to make good decisions about when to throw deep.
Instructor: Christina Choffel
Club: Texas Showdown (Austin, TX), formerly Zanzara
College: Texas A&M University SkyU, All-Region 2004-2005
Other: Paganello Champion 2008
Marking and Taking (on) a Dump
In this clinic, we will focus on marking and dump defense. Often overlooked, these are two of the most important skills you can hone to cause some key turns in a game.
Instructor: Mia Iseman
Club: Texas Showdown (Austin, TX), formerly Chewbacca Defense
College: New York University Violet Femmes, All-Region 2006-2007
Other: Bowie High School Coach
Breaking The Mark
This clinic explores the techniques and strategies to breaking any mark. Learn how to make your mark seem non-existent.
Instructor: Tina Woodings
Club: captain of Texas Showdown (Austin, TX)
College: University of Texas Melee
Other: Ultimate Players League of Austin President
One-on-one: Gaining the Edge on Defense
This clinic will focus on how to dictate on defense and neutralize the advantage the offense has of choosing where to cut. We will talk about positioning and microcharging.
Instructors: Kim Breese and Alyssa Ricker
Kim
Club: Texas Showdown (Austin, TX), formerly Hooray
College: Penn State University Isis
Other: Rice University Miss Red Coach
Alyssa
Club: Texas Showdown (Austin, TX), formerly Tandem
College: Brown University Disco Inferno
Endzone Offense: Getting open in small spaces
This clinic will show you how to use the spaces the defense is giving you and create new ones.
Instructors: Peri Kurshan and Kathy Dobson
Peri:
Club: captain of Brute Squad (Boston, MA), formerly Lady Godiva
College: Brown University Disco Inferno
Other: USA Ultimate Board of Directors President
Kathy:
Club: Brute Squad (Boston, MA)
College: MIT Smite. All region 2002-2004
Other: Coach of BU Lady Pilots 2006 to 2009, Team USA 2009
“Two Hands” And Other Useless Cliches
Instructor: Tully Beatty
Here we’ll revisit what NOT to say and run through a handful of drills that focus on one-handed catch / catch and release coordination.
Club: coach of Phoenix (Triangle Area, NC), formerly coach of Backhoe and captain of Ring of Fire
College: UNCW
Other: member of Team USA 2005, UNCW Open Coach 2010 (Coach of the Year and Nationals Quarterfinalist), USA Ultimate Junior Nationals Team Selection Coach – East Tryout 2010, USA Ultimate Nationals Team Selection Coach – East Tryout 2009
Defense for Deeps
This station will teach you the best way to defend deep cutters, all the way from dictating on defense, to what to do when you (hopefully) hear that dreaded “UP!” call.
Instructor: Sara Jacobi
Club: Brute Squad (Boston, MA)
College: Boston University Lady Ozone Pilots, All-region 2008
Other: Boston University Lady Ozone Pilots Coach, Metro Boston College Women’s Sectionals Coordinator, USA Ultimate Women’s Leadership Task Force
Damn, She’s Money: Throwing Accurately
Good receivers can “save” a thrower’s errant throw, but throwers can throw the disc in such a way as to increase the chance that receivers can catch the disc. In this clinic, we’ll go over how to throw with touch, throw into space, throw to areas that the D is unable to defend, and throw using your friend, the wind.
Instructor: Vivian Zayas
Club: Brute Squad (past teams: Riot, Women on the Verge; UPA champ 04, 05; WUCC champ 97, 99, 02)
College: Cornell University Wild Roses
The Pull
The goal of this station is to learn how to pull or refine your pull to stay higher, go further, and float. We will also practice roll pulls, pulling up and downwind, and the mechanics of a 360 pull.
Instructor: Rana Suh Kannan
Club: Brute Squad, Boston, MA
College: Williams College
Other: Northeastern University (Women’s) Coach 2005-2007; Williams College (Women’s) Coach 2008
The Art of Laying Out
Good form can go a long way in getting you off your feet and getting the disc into your hands. This station will cover the tricks and tips to get your bids bigger and safer.
Instructors: Cate Foster and Teresa Rouse
Cate
Club: Phoenix (Triangle Area, NC), formerly Backhoe
College: College of Charleston
Other: member of Team USA 2009, USA Ultimate Junior Nationals Team Selection Coach– East Tryout 2010, Southern Lee HS Coach
Teresa
Club: Phoenix (Triangle Area, NC)
College: Southern Lee HS Coach
The Art of Shut-Down Defense
How turn an offensive cutter invisible with positioning and footwork.
Instructor: Jessica Blanton
Club: Brute Squad (Boston, MA); formerly Lady Godiva
College: Amherst College, All-Region 2005
Other: Harvard University’s Quasar (Women)– Coach 2009-2011
Mo:
Club: Brute Squad, formerly captain of Godiva
A Brute Squad-Showdown Collaboration 