Okay, last thread for me. I'm going to continue to talk about mental toughness, this time through the context of my experience captaining and coaching. It'll mostly be a story about @VoodooUltimate 's improvement over the past three seasons.
I've been lucky enough to be placed in leadership roles throughout my career in frisbee. Bragging - I'm a very outgoing person and I believe that I'm charismatic. More importantly, I'm intentional with what I do & how I do it, particularly with communication. I'm detail oriented.
I captained @gehultimate from 2009-2011 in my junior, senior, and fifth years. In 2012, I coached the team. Quick lesson from that experience - were we able to have strong success, but I should've had some time away from the team.
After three years of captaining, the team was ready for a new voice. I was close friends with a lot of the team, especially the leadership group and upperclassmen. They were ready to take the reins for the first time, but my presence frequently got in the way.
I think what Nick Kaczmarek did for Pittsburgh - he graduated in 2009 (I think) and then started coaching in 2012. I think two years of space would've been an adequate amount of "breathing room" for me and GEH.
In 2012 I captained Zebra Muscles out of Rochester, NY. In 2014, I coached the University of @RochesterEZs ...it was a wonderful experience. One lesson that I learned fairly early was related to my tone of voice.
I've always had a pretty intense presence on the field, especially when I was younger. At Buffalo I would communicate information in a loud voice - but it probably came off with a lot of edge. When I tried to bring that to the Rochester women's team, I got push-back right away.
It was an important lesson to learn - it didn't matter what I was saying, even if it was true. My tone of voice created an uncomfortable environment, one that didn't promote learning and potentially lowered self-confidence.
When I got this feedback, I felt myself reflexively get defensive. "But that's what I meant" or "that's obviously not what I was trying to do" are typical lines of thought that come in those moments.
At my current job we have this job coach - his role is mostly to help the leadership build and maintain the company culture. One of the ways he does this is by creating a common vernacular for all of us to communicate with. Remember, I'm an engineer and most of us aren't social.
His name is Larry and he talks a lot about "Impact vs. Intent" and "Taking Ownership". Sure, my intent was to be helpful to the women on Rochester, but the impact of my tone of voice did not help to create the required environment.
In order to move forward, I can recognize that even though it was unintentional, I played some role in the breakdown of communication. I can own that, accept the feedback that has been given, and work towards a better environment for everyone.
I learned to acknowledge their concerns and to be open to their feedback. I always perfect and made plenty of mistakes, but I believe that we all learned a lot that year. And I'm so thankful for the continued friendship of so many of them.
At the end of the season, rookies on the EZs get a button to attach to their cleats. I still have my button, which has seen the field during my PoNY and Sockeye seasons, including the national final. People always ask me about it, and plenty have thought it was a condom - what?! 
After the 2015 club season, I decided to get involved with the amazing youth scene in Seattle. I coached middle school boys varsity (I know right?) at University Prep in north Seattle. Main lesson that I learned there: I don't love working with boys in that age group.
Also it was too hard for me as someone who works 8 AM - 5 PM. Middle school gets out at 2, so I would have to be at work at 6 AM in order to be there for practices. I typically take on one thing too many every year, and in 2016 that was it.
This past fall I was an assistant coach for @alyk47 at @GHSUltimate . It was an awesome time, but again probably one thing too many. Their season started just as Voodoo was starting to click.
I was responsible for teaching the offense and pretty much just took what we used for Voodoo. The reality of starting over was a little too much for me right away, in part because I would leave Garfield practices to captain Voodoo. I definitely felt burned out by the end.
I had a lot of fun, but I'll have to think hard about whether I want to do it again next year. Everything about it is awesome, it just may be one thing too much. I'll make that decision on a clearer and more rested head.
During 2016 Sockeye tryouts, I played on the Cascades with a variety of guys that would end up on Voodoo. I had a strong relationship with Robbie Farwell. In one game, Robbie made a couple of ridiculous defensive bids but to no avail. We ended up getting scored on in a tight one.
Robbie was 18 and screamed some expletives before getting off the field. Similar to how Spencer had helped me, I wanted to be there for Robbie. I ran over and told him : "You can be as pissed as you like, but that stays here. You never, ever let them [our opponents] see it".
IMO the biggest thing for mental toughness is controlling the energy battle. You never give your energy to your opponents. It might feel good in the moment to let out anger or frustration, but you're just helping them out.
Anyway, I get the call from Sockeye that I wouldn't be on the 2016 roster and I'm absolutely crushed. I'm probably a zombie at work and then my phone buzzes. It's an email notification from Robbie, this time he was reaching out to check in on me.
He had also been cut, but he knew that I wasn't feeling great. He reached out to let me know that he appreciated our time playing together and the support that I had given him, particularly in that moment. That email was the first and probably only email I've gotten like that.
Robbie's email also talked about playing together on Voodoo. In 2014, Voodoo had come it's closest to making nationals - beating Furious at some point in the series - I think the sectional final. In a three bid region, sans Revolver, they felt like the could finally do it.
It wasn't to be - Voodoo would lose to Powerhogs in the game to go to the game-to-go. Many people would walk away from the team, either retiring or choosing different playing options. In 2015, Voodoo was significantly worse and from what I've been told, incredibly toxic.
Many of us who got cut from Sockeye in 2016 didn't know what to do. Voodoo felt like a significant step down from the team we had almost just made (or had been part of).
Adam "Chicken" Simon was part of that group. Ben Snell was another cut, and he had recently won a title with Darkside, along with seasons on Truck and Bravo. We, among others, were actively being recruited to play for a brand new mixed team that would eventually become BFG.
The guys who were the last out from Sockeye were all exchanging emails. I think Snell was the first one to say that he was going to play for the most competitive open team, and that was Voodoo. I followed in his footsteps and we'd both make the team.
For the past 3 seasons, Voodoo has operated in a similar way. Most of the people who would be selected for leadership had a desire to tryout for what they believed to be the more elite teams. Thus, Voodoo's first order of business after making final cuts was to elect captains.
During that first meeting, Robbie was apparently one of the loudest supporting voices for me to be elected as one of the team captains. And so it was that I'd be teamed up with Will Herold to lead the 2016 campaign.
We did okay in 2016 - took first at a talent depleted Solstice and made semis at Ski Town. In both tournaments we sent really short rosters and everyone was playing a ridiculous amount of points. That was tough, especially with the elevation and high temps in Utah.
We also took second at CBR, a memorial tournament for Chris Beach-Rehner, a Portland Stags player that sadly took his own life in 2015. You can read more about Chris here, courtesy of @RhinoUltimate : rhinoultimate.com/cbr-memorial-t…
That second place finish was behind the Condors, who had merged with the top talent of Streetgang. Voodoo performed well in all three of those lower level tournaments, which was certainly a step up from 2015.
We would take second at sectionals, suffering a blowout loss to Furious George. We'd then take 6th at regionals, losing to Rhino in the backdoor quarters in a two bid region. Supposedly good enough for the Select Flight, but I think we got listed as Classic for 2017.
It was a step up from 2015 for sure, but not without snags. Again, I'm an intense person, and I brought too much negative energy to the team, particularly during warm-ups. Voodoo 2016 was at times distracted and lackadaisical during warm-ups, and I would react poorly.
When captains were selected in 2017, I was almost not re-elected. I was told that the team took issue with my aggressiveness and that they'd have me back as captain if I agreed to change that attitude, as well as give up the responsibility of running warm-ups.
Again, didn't intend to be a jerk, just wanted the team to be successful and ran it how I knew how. But intention didn't match impact and I had to learn from that and accept their feedback, or not be a captain again. Put up or shut up.
Voodoo 2017 was an even further improvement - the added benefit that we had player-coach Ben Wiggins on the team that year. Man what a teammate that guy is - outside of his frisbee knowledge, he's an incredible teacher and an even better hype-machine.
Voodoo attended pre-series two tournaments in 2017, San Diego Slammer and the CBR Memorial. We placed second at both tournaments, losing finals to Sprawl and Dark Star, respectively. We would win a Furious-less sectionals.
We felt really good about regionals, not about making nationals but about doing well enough to challenge for top select. On Saturday we faced off against Furious in pool play, losing 8-13 without forcing a single turnover on their offensive line.
In a must-win game to end the day, we ended up losing to Dark Star on universe. It was a really crushing defeat. That loss forced us into a quarterfinal against Rhino, which we lost 9-15.
It was a really tough loss to cap off a very disappointing performance at regionals. But we weren't done yet. We knew that we had to win out our final two games in order to get 5th and select flight. Our first game would be against @GhostTrainUlti .
Ghost Train is one of the most fun teams to be around - they're a super inclusive group and are a huge source of community-togetherness and positivity. In a competitive situation, they're also incredibly hard to play against.
They have a really good shtick that works for them. They wear jeggings on Sundays and take off a piece of clothing whenever someone makes a "strip" call. They also drink beer at competitive tournaments and in 2018 ate an enormous amount of corndogs.
I think they got sponsored by Foster Farms this season, which is incredible. They also like to shotgun for pull and offer La Croix if you're not trying to drink. It's pretty much everything that looks like a party team, except that they also have skilled and athletic players.
And they also play a style that's totally unconventional. I talked about one of the things that makes me a good defender is that I have a good understanding of throwing and cutting progressions.
For the most part, people do similar things in certain situations - it's all about recognizing the patterns. To me, this is an application of "Common Knowledge" in Game Theory. Everyone is aware of the rules (progressions) and they know that their opponents know the rules.
Well Ghost Train's offensive system defies conventional wisdom and it works at a pretty decent percentage. It's really hard to beat them and you find yourself frustrated when top defenders all of the sudden are not effective.
This team frequently finds itself in the mix in late games against elite teams like Furious. It's pretty awesome to watch as a spectator, but infuriating as an opposing player. So here we are after losing to Rhino, knowing that this is what we would have to beat.
It's a super had switch to flip - it's easy to get up to play against Furious, Rhino, or Sockeye - it's a lot harder to get to max speed and effort against a team that you think you're better than.
I think that's why teams get frustrated - "how are they scoring, we should be crushing them!"
Again, expectations are linked to uncontrollables. You can't control the skill, talent, or anything about your opponents. It's all about you and your team.
Again, expectations are linked to uncontrollables. You can't control the skill, talent, or anything about your opponents. It's all about you and your team.
It was a grind and it wasn't pleasant, but we pulled it out. We also won our last game, an absolute battle against Powerhogs for fifth. But we did it, we qualified for select flight.
And I think that afternoon, those two games, are the reason Voodoo was so successful in 2018. After some time off and reflection, some of the returners got together to talk about planning for 2018. We knew that we had to recruit.
Seattle has a wealth of talented players, especially those who have a gamut of throws. What we lacked was the ability to play high level defense. We knew that after that Furious game.
So though I had every intention of playing for Sockeye, I spent my summer having recruitment conversations for Voodoo. I didn't try and convince people to make Voodoo their top option, that would be completely & obviously hypocritical. I just asked them to consider it an option.
We'd get help from some other teams around the nation. Through teams folding or declining invites to tournaments, Voodoo would be invited to two Triple Crown Tour events, the Select Flight Invite in Utah and the Elite Select Classic in Ohio.
Voodoo had gone to relatively non-competitive tournaments for the prior 2-3 seasons and had always dreamed of making nationals. Well, ESC would have elite level competition - we didn't have to qualify to play against the best teams - that tournament could be our nationals.
That was one of the messages early and I think one of the biggest recruitment tools we had. Though we'd suffer a setback at the end of Sockeye tryouts. Sockeye would gain former 2017 Voodoo players Derek Mourad, John Randolph, Tony Venneri, Xander Cuizon Tice, and Zach Goulson.
Voodoo would also lose players to injury and taking seasons off. Guys like Alex Olson and Daniel Mah wouldn't be available for the 2018 season. It was a big loss to recover from, but that's how these things work sometimes.
In the end those recruitment conversations paid off - we added: Chris Vandervoort, Dennis Casio, Jake Ritmire, Justin Ting, Louis Cohen, Micah Jo, Nick Roberts, Noah Kregenow, Robby Perkins-High, Spencer Lofink, and William Coffin.
We also made some changes from a culture standpoint. During the 2017-18 offseason, we had sent out a survey asking for feedback. It covered topics like tournaments, number of practices, and whether or not we'd add a coach.
For the 2018 season we'd add two coaches: Candace "Ace" Hoefert and Mason Hollis. They'd join me and Chris Bubernak as captains for the 2018 campaign.
We agreed to added a pod workout per week, in addition to two practices. We would avoid double weekend practices and would take all holiday weekends off (Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day). We also had a team retreat for the first time in recent team history.
Another major change was that we had a plan to teach our offensive system. The leadership developed video analysis articles to show how the system worked, released in pieces to match up with practice plans constructed to teach that offense.
The idea came to me from Chris Kosednar, 2018 Sockeye captain. During tryouts he had said that a major lesson he learned from playing Revolver was that it didn't really matter what system the team played on O or D, it just mattered that everyone was trying to do the same thing.
Voodoo wanted to score, but it didn't know how it wanted to do it. As a leadership group, we strove to be intentional about everything this past season, especially in teaching our offensive set.
Pod workouts were also designed in an intentional way, with a specific footwork and throwing focus. The latter frequently led into whatever drill we'd do before a conditioning drill. Everything had a specific reason for being done.
We also were intentional about the way we talked about things, especially related to mental toughness. The first shift was making the mental shift that we'd view ourselves as an elite team full of elite players.
We wanted to make that shift early in the season & not have to wait for results to justify that line of thinking. During our retreat, we set aside a couple of hours to talk about mental toughness. I led the session, talking about what I'd learned from my job coach & therapist.
In a forum setting we talked about our fears. We also learned about uncontrollables and how we can cope with them both internally (inside ourselves) and externally (helping out a teammate).
Internally we can do things like taking a deep breath, minimizing our "catastrophizing" (AKA blowing things out of proportion), managing our expectations, developing outcome independence, compartmentalizing, utilizing mental warm-ups, and reframing our reaction to problems.
Here's an awesome video to exemplify the last one:
Externally we talked about our hype posses (small feedback groups), using "I Statements", and how to be there for someone else (having empathy).
Overall the team was way more together this year and felt reminiscent of a college team, just like how Sockeye felt in '15. We were good, we were organized, and we cared about one another. We even had 2-3 individuals designated as the "funta", who'd organize team events.
Later in the season, when talking about goal setting, we acknowledged how many desired to qualify for nationals. But we also talked about how that was an outcome goal related to performance at a specific game (or games) at a specific tournament.
We could attempt to achieve that goal, fine, but it would be stronger to create a deeper vision for our team. A plan for what the future Voodoo could look like, where all of our individual and team decisions could feed into.
This is from "Start With Why", a TED talk by Simon Sinek: ted.com/talks/simon_si…
Voodoo used this as a conversation tool at another team meeting. The outcome of that was our 2020 vision, which we feel very proud of.
We'd perform well at both the Select Flight Invite and the Elite Select Classic and we'd finish the season ranked 21st by USA Ultimate and 23rd on Ultiworld's power rankings. We'd lose the sectional final by one to Furious and the regional backdoor game-to-go to Rhino by two.
That's three years in a row that Rhino has ended our season, which is fuel to the fire for next year. It was one hell of a spirited game - they were competitive and classy.
But the fun doesn't stop there. For the first time since I've been in Seattle, Voodoo has a culture that has extended beyond the end of the club season. We've already gotten together for Brazilian Steak Night and a Team Roast. There's also talk of an ugly sweater holiday party!
We've also got 20+ guys signed up with @gameptperform - we just finished our first month! Big ups to @WobblyTuff @chrisbubernak @Goose00Helton and @WicusStrength for getting that all started and set up.
Last - Voodoo is going to have it's leadership conversation on its own, before the tryout season begins. The team will have committed leadership by sometime in January or February.
It'll force some players to make a decision about their 2019 club season - either to be a captain for Voodoo or tryout for the many other elite teams in the city. For me, I'm throwing my name in the hat again. Regardless of being a captain or not, I'm all in for Voodoo 2019.
