CUC 2011- Women's Division Preview

Nation,

I am happy to present my women`s preview.

Let me say this first... CUC lost some very strong teams to regional competition this year. Lotus and Zephyr, and even spunky Lily will not be at CUC. Two of these teams went to worlds last year! It is great that the fight for bids is tight, but it sucks for those teams. The lessons learned is simple: pressure your region`s strongest teams to attend CUC annually instead of showing up in a worlds year and "stealing" other`s bids.

2011 CUC Preview- Women's

The Favorites

Two teams stand out as finals candidates- Traffic of Vancouver and Capitals of Ottawa/ Toronto

What everyone really wants to know is... Can the Capitals seal the deal this time? In 2007, they dominated all summer, and in the CUC final suffered a match up issue that they could not rectify ( Does anyone else remember that tall blonde from Traffic running deep early and often) and had some disappointing uncharacteristic performances from key players.

A lot has happened since that failure for Capitals. They have finished 2nd at USA championships last year, and they have used the club and university systems to add new talent and experience to their roster.

Traffic will be no slouch either. They still have the swagger, and they have a great talent pool in the Vancouver area as well.

The goal for both teams- Use their depth to get through the first three days, stay injury free and rested for finals.

The Challengers

PPF (Kitchener Waterloo)

Watching their final at No Borders versus Capitals, I saw leadership, skill, and athletic talent. More than previous years. I also saw more potential than what has been shown. This team should aim to be in the semis and give Capitals and Traffic lots of trouble. That will mean they need to be better with the disc and fight the mental barriers that come with trying to upset.

Dame (Ottawa)

You gotta love a local story. Made up of Stella, Capitals, and Fuse leaders/stars of the past, this will be a very talented squad.

Cohesive, talented, and blessed with some speedsters like Sue Sallaj Ginn and Jamie Collins , Dame prefers the humble "awh shucks" vibe and it works for them.

The core of team leadership is really savvy, and given the talent at their disposal, they might make things interesting all weekend.

Storm (Montreal)

Losing many players to coed, we are reminded that Storm was the 2010 CUC champ, is always a presence at CUC semis, and will be a force in 2011.

Enough said. :)

Fusion (Winnipeg)

Stable leadership, good juniors program, and no coed teams to sap their talent pool means Fusion could look to strike into quarters and semis.

QUB (Quebec City)

This program has continually been working on making the jump to the top level. It will be very interesting to see if this is the year that next step is taken

Wild Rose (Alberta)

Really unsure what to expect from this squad.

Vintage (Montreal)

Like Dame, a collection of former local stars that made up past Storm and other squads.

If the weather is rough, expect strong handling teams like this to benefit and compliment their talent base.

Stella (Ottawa)

One of the proudest names in ultimate, they were roughed up at regionals this year. There is no denying it.

However, the team has strong talent to rely on, and will welcome the local support which is sure to follow them every time they play.

Salty (Halifax)

Always a bubble challenger, Salty has the same development issues as Red Circus (Players coming and leaving the city often based on school), but a full squad for Halifax's team means they can play spoiler this year.

EXO (Sherbrooke)

I saw this young team play last year at No Borders. It looked like the makings of a very good program. No doubt, one that needed some experience and skill development, but gave a glimpse of better things to come in the future (Think PPF in 2008).