Informational Meeting and Scrimmage

The opening pull of this 2014 season is still a month and a half away but the new look Maple Grove squad has begun early preparations.




For the first time Maple Grove Ultimate will be hosting an informational meeting Wednesday February 19th at the Senior High presumably at 6pm. The informational meeting will be a great opportunity for all of the potential players and their parents to come together in one place. This hopes to be an event for students to meet the leadership, and get involved with Maple Grove Ultimate during the spring and summer seasons.




The second source of excitement is a scheduled scrimmage between Maple Grove and Edina in mid-March. This will be a great opportunity for Maple Grove to gauge its skills against a perennial state championship contender. Edina was runner-up to Hopkins in the 2013 state tournament, and will look to take the next step in their 2014 campaign. Maple Grove has already played a scrimmage against Wayzata in the fall, and their hoping to build upon their improvements in this matchup with Edina.

Coming out of Hibernation

A long and cold winter is on its waning weeks and the whisperings of MNYU Ultimate has begun. The season kickoff meeting has just concluded a day ago and there is something different with Maple Grove Ultimate this year. Last year no one represented the team at the meeting, and the responsibilities of starting the team rested solely on Captain DJ's shoulders. This year Coach Mark and DJ along with Captains Trey, Dylan and sophomore standout Milo were all in attendance.


After a lengthy meeting that covered anything a team would need to know we have a few major takeaways: parents are going to be more involved, the team is looking for a new sense of legitimacy, and the program is going to be more involved then it ever has before. In the coming weeks we can look for the team to be registered online with USAUltimate, players to begin to be added to the roster, and hopefully a parent's informational meeting where they can come and see exactly how great this sport can be.


The biggest news coming out of the meeting is that former captain DJ will be taking over for Spencer as the new North Suburban Conference Coordinator. This is an absolute dream job for him as he will look to make the most of his responsibilities and no doubt go the extra mile in a few different ways. Rumor has it that he is also looking to join the MNYU competition committee, furthering Maple Grove's involvement in the sport.


The parent's informational meeting at the senior high still is to be determined, but look for that to big the next big announcement in the coming week as Maple Grove looks to take on a new identity following their 2013 North Suburban Conference Title.

Winter Season Begins

Today marks the first day of the winter season. The boys of spring closed out their fall campaign with a win against Wayzata in an exhibition game. With a year of competitive play under their belt the team looks to repeat the gains it saw last season during the winter. Current team captains Sam and Treyton were regulars last year and catapulted themselves from the fall season practice squad to the varsity team. Dylan saw his role change too as he developed a strong forehand and became a starting handler.

For these reasons and more, this winter season is going to get very interesting. First off is the personnel. This year they are operating on Maple Grove dome time not Osseo's so there will be more than the 10 or so Maple Grove kids that consistently came last year, meaning more improvement for more players. Dylan will return to the field this year after an exciting season with the football team. Look for him to lead effectively lead the team and make some strides in his own game.  However with the excitement of improving players comes the disappointment of losing some key fall contributors.

Returning to the pool Captain Nate will be unable to come to most practices and it's unfortunate to have to wait until spring to have him back. Nate did a great job handling the team this fall picking right up where DJ left off handling administration, recruiting, and field space. Also returning conference rookie of the year Mitchell will be gone for basketball. Hopefully he and Timmy will have successful seasons and return to the field this spring.

All in all this new team is very exciting. There's something to be said for knowing what you have to do, and the experience from last year's team did just that. They lost all but seven players-that played at least one game last season-to graduation, but now have the pedigree and credibility to recruit some more players that may have been on the fence before. This team is going to be fun to watch this spring.

Weekend Update

Hallowinona and Wayzata

 

Monday marks the end of a fantastic weekend of Maple Grove Ultimate. Friday saw the new look Crimsanity roster head down for a fall season scrimmage against Wayzata. Throughout the game the wind played a significant factor altering throws on both sides and extended points to several posessions apiece. Crimsanity would go on to win a close one 11-10. Finishing was a weakness for the boys as they moved the disc well, but were unable to punch it in for the score. This led to turnovers that Wayzata was able to take advantage of as they had several counter attack scores. Look for this to improve as the team works to replace last year's two leading goal scorers.

Early Saturday morning DJ, Cullen and Dylan made their way down to Winona for the 19th Hallowinona Ultimate tournament. Dylan joined up with DJ on Ugly Ducking and Cullen continued his strong Freshman campaign with Blue Skunk. Both teams went 1-3 in pool play and the three did not stay for Sunday's bracket play.

Dylan had a strong showing for Duckling as the captains quickly put him in at Cutter, and he was a primary option for most of points he played. He did a great job getting open downfield for the handlers, and was DJ's favorite target. This weekend DJ continued his transition to playing Handler nearly full time, but did fill in for spot points at Cutter.

Dylan and DJ's chemistry was evident from the get go when DJ hit Dylan on an early huck over the Drag n Thrust defenders. The day would go well for both of them. They each played well on both sides of the field, and had their share of big plays. Notably, late in the final game DJ chased down an errant throw in the back of the endzone, leapt for the grab and toed the line for a highlight reel goal.

It'll be interesting to see if they are any new developments as this fall season nears it close, but so far things are going well for boys of the Grove.

MGDC in Utah

The Maple Grove Disc Club has one of its own playing intramural Ultimate at BYU. Nathan (Graduated 2013) has played several times at Disc Club, but did not play for Crimsanity. Nathan and former captain DJ were co-captains of the JV Crimson Tennis team in 2011 which proved to be there last season in the Maple Grove Tennis program.

After leaving tennis the two former captains parted ways, as DJ and Cullen teamed up to start the MGDC and Nathan joined the Maple Grove Lacrosse team. When the spring of 2013 came about the two captains were unable to woo Nathan away from Lacrosse, and he went on to another successful Lax season.

This year in Provo Nathan is looking good early, and will be another exciting player to watch next summer for the MGDC.

College Ultimate Debut

This weekend marks the College Ultimate debut for former Maple Grove captains Cullen and DJ. DJ will be playing for Minnesota Y against Iowa State, Grinnell and St. Thomas, while Cullen will be playing for Mankato State against Platteville, Northern Michigan and Green Bay. DJ has started his Minnesota Ultimate career with a position change to Cutter, passed the first round of cuts, and will know early next week whether or not he makes the Grey Duck roster. Cullen has started off his Mankato career playing Handler and is excited to show his new skills. Ultimate fans in Maple Grove should be very excited for this weekend, and we'll see if we can get the dream matchup.

Captain's Bio

2014 Captains
 

Treyton, a frequent club member, made huge strides playing in the winter as he slowly moved up from the Fall season practice squad to as high as a first round pick in the dome. He started off the Spring Ultimate season in Track but quit to join the ultimate late in the regular season. Struggling to return to form, he got off to a slow start in the regular season but was back to his elite deep threat game in the state tournament, scoring against Hopkins.

Dylan, an ultimate player since junior high has been preparing to take the reigns from his brother since fall 2012. A late football injury kept Dylan out 6 weeks. Missing most of the late fall and early winter Ultimate. He returned in Early January struggling to find his forehand coming off his injured right hand. By the time the season came around he and older brother Cullen were the primary weapons on Maple Grove's Dualan Ultimate line. Key moments for him came in the Cooper and Armstrong conference tournament games. Against Cooper he facilitated late game scores with Cullen and DJ clinching a huge win, and had a massive layout catch to save a momentum changing possession. In Summer club he has been primarily matching up with DJ. Over the summer he has shown great defense and the ability to make massive throws under pressure. Good things from him to come.

Nate, is the only returning senior to the varsity team except for Charlie whom made one late season appearance. Nate early on has been showing dedication and motivation in setting up ultimate activities and recruiting players. Above all returners Nate is a student of the game and is the most improved player since the season ended. With throws that continue to impress Nate has emerged as a likely candidate to be the primary handler on the 2014 team. A dire contrast to the cut and dump style of play he adopted during his rookie. Nate is a player who knows how to get the disc, and will be exciting to watch in 2014.

Lastly, Sam started the 2013 campaign as the last player to make the Fall Team. However, Sam along with Treyton emerged during the winter club season. The only lefty on the team, Sam's bullet forehand carved up defenses during club. Always seeming to be in the right place, Sam has the ability to get open in the mid-range, turn, and hit the streaking cutter for the goal. Sam is another returner who may partner with Nate as the team's primary handlers. With the two captains being switched hands (Nate righty, Sam lefty) look for them to cause headaches on opposing teams unable to hold a consistent force. They will be able to huck at will.