Today, I'm privileged to share stories from two of my dear friends from college ultimate. I was privileged to watch Maddy lead UCLA to the finals of College Nationals in the team's third year of existence and to see her win the Callahan Award a year later. Since that time, Maddy has been a trusted friend and one of the first people I have gone to with any ultimate or leadership related question. She now coaches the first team I ever played for! Surge was one of my first supporters and collaborators in bringing about the changes we wanted to see in the college women's division. When I had the crazy idea of creating Midwest Throwdown 14 hours away from where I lived, I called Surge. She put Flywheel's support on the line and has supported many of my projects since. Both Maddy and Surge will represent our country on the Women's National Team this year. They are amazing players, but more importantly, amazing people.
The best part about Centex was that we'd always get to see teams we had only read about and then get to make friends with them on 6th street Saturday night. The worst part about Centex was getting stuck driving endless loops on those damn frontage roads of Austin.
To be honest, I was so pleasantly surprised when the B team made the decision to attend Centex this year. This shows the growth of the Cal women's ultimate program and our captains' dedication to making sure every woman that wants to play gets an opportunity to do so. In fact, we have more women headed to Centex than we had at any LOCAL tournament last season! Plus, it's an incredibly rare opportunity for both halves of the Cal women's program to travel and compete at the same tournament and get a chance to cheer for and support each other. Let's just hope for no snake mud this year, eh?
Anna "Maddog" Nazarov
Current Team: San Francisco Fury Captain, UC Berkeley Tarts Coach, WUGC Women's Team
College Team Attended With: UCLA
Years Attended: Player 2006-2007
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I have both played and coached at Centex. As a player, I remember the epic travel complications that the Michigan winters dealt us, but loving the opportunity to escape for a weekend of heat, friends, frisbee, and fun. Tournaments like this were often the only opportunities we got to play west coast teams, so it was hugely exciting for us to be there. In fact, competing against my now good friend and Riot teammate Alyssa Weatherford at Centex is the earliest memory that she and I have of each other!
Last year, Michelle allowed the HS girls club team that I was coaching to attend the tournament, and it was the highlight of our season by far. There's just nothing like getting to travel together and compete against great competition. The time we got to spend together and the challenges they faced at the tournament helped them to grow not just as players but as teammates and people. We are so grateful to Michelle for going out of her way to include us.
Sarah "Surge" Griffith
Current Team: Seattle Riot, WUGC Women's Team
Current Team: Seattle Riot, WUGC Women's Team
Teams Attended With: University of Michigan Flywheel, Seattle Fryz
Years Attended: Player 2006-2008, Coach 2015
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