Q&A with the 2016 WUGC Head Coaches
Posted: February 11, 2016 10:52 AM
Colorado Springs, Colo. (Feb. 11, 2016) – Earlier today, the men’s, mixed and women’s national teams that will represent the U.S. at the 2016 World Ultimate & Guts Championships (WUGC) were announced. 2016 marks the first time the U.S. has held open tryouts to select teams to represent the nation at WUGC – the event many consider to be the pinnacle of international ultimate competition. The 71 athletes selected to the three U.S. National Teams represent arguably the greatest collection of ultimate talent ever assembled.
With the move to select national teams comes additional interest in the process, so we asked the head coaches of each team a few questions to provide some insight into the selection process and what the summers ahead will look like for their teams.
Alex Ghesquiere – Men’s Head Coach
Q: A lot of attention is being placed on these teams, with references to them as potentially the greatest conglomeration of ultimate talent in history. Have the expectations at all affected your process or how you are working to build your team? Do think the expectations and hype are justified?
A: I believe the talent level across the team is indeed unprecedented, and the expectations are deservedly very high. But we also know there is much more to winning than talent level and that championships are never won on paper. We will have to use the hype to our advantage by keeping the pressure on our opponents while rejecting any feelings of overconfidence or complacency.
Q: How did you and the other coaches work together to divide talent and create three cohesive national teams that each have a chance to win gold?
A: We decided the best process was full transparency, and we stuck to that. The discussions between the coaches were open and honest about the players' skills and attributes, as they were about the needs of each team.
Q: Were there any situations in which you and the other coaches had to work out compromises around selecting athletes?
A: Yes, these were worked out through open discussion and effort to build consensus.
Q: What are your plans – workouts, team building, practice weekends, etc. – over the course of the summer to help bring your team together and get them ready for WUGC?
A: We will have to pack a full season of team building into just three weekends, so we plan on having as much as possible packed into those practices together. The trip to Colombia will be both very fun and very productive for coming closer as a team and getting on the same page on the field. We'll also plan to grow during the course of week in London, so we can deliver our best games at the end of the tournament.
Jake Henderson – Mixed Head Coach
Q: A lot of attention is being placed on these teams, with references to them as potentially the greatest conglomeration of ultimate talent in history. Have the expectations at all affected your process or how you are working to build your team? Do think the expectations and hype are justified?
A: Both the east and west coast tryouts had an abundance of great talent. All great teams have talented players. Our goal during this tryout process was to choose a group of talented players that would play as a cohesive unit and fit together. We are excited about the team chosen and look forward to creating new relationships, learning new ideas about ultimate and competing.
Q: How did you and the other coaches work together to divide talent and create three cohesive national teams that each have a chance to win gold?
A: [Assistant Coach] Nancy [Sun] said it best, "We are one U.S. National Team delegation." We wanted to make the best three teams possible. We worked together with honesty and full disclosure. It was actually a really good process. We wanted to place players where they might fit best as well as create teams that would work together well and play off each other's strengths.
Q: Were there any situations in which you and the other coaches had to work out compromises around selecting athletes?
A: We didn't make compromises. We really tried to see the perspective of the other coaches and find players that would fit roles for all teams. Obviously, there were players that could fit on both teams, but we worked together to make sure that every team’s needs were met. We even sought advice from each other in the selection process, trying to figure out the best fits.
Q: What are your plans – workouts, team building, practice weekends, etc. – over the course of the summer to help bring your team together and get them ready for WUGC?
A: We have been focused on the tryout process and getting ready for the next steps. We will build off a player's current workout/fitness plan or provide opportunities to enroll in a program. We have three practice weekends planned, locations TBD (April 2-3, April 23-24, and May 28-30). We recognize team building is very important and that we have little time in which to do it, so we will utilize practice weekends and plan activities to grow relationships and build team buy in. We will also attempt to utilize technology to connect players throughout the country.
Matty Tsang – Women’s Head Coach
Q: A lot of attention is being placed on these teams, with references to them as potentially the greatest conglomeration of ultimate talent in history. Have the expectations at all affected your process or how you are working to build your team? Do think the expectations and hype are justified?
A: I agree that the pool of talent is remarkable, and the rosters of these teams are historically impressive. However the process of building this team will be largely unremarkable. It will be the same as any other team that wants to be successful. We will have to build trust in our teammates, compete at the highest level at practice, be physically fit, focus on executing the small things and be mentally resilient to deal with any adversity that comes our way. We will embrace the high expectations for our team and pay heed to the great American philosopher William Drayton Jr. who said "Don't believe the hype!" Right now, we are a group of talented individuals; we won't take any shortcuts on the way to becoming a great team.
Q: How did you and the other coaches work together to divide talent and create three cohesive national teams that each have a chance to win gold?
A: We decided early on to be as open as possible and to collaborate in creating competitive teams in all divisions. Understanding what each of our teams needed as well as the criteria that the coaches were basing their decisions on was helpful in creating a smooth process that could have been marred with contention and gamesmanship.
Q: Were there any situations in which you and the other coaches had to work out compromises around selecting athletes?
A: There was a lot of overlap in the athletes that the mixed and women's team wanted. And while the compromises were challenging, I would say the process was largely enjoyable because we had developed a good level of trust and understanding.
Q: What are your plans – workouts, team building, practice weekends, etc. – over the course of the summer to help bring your team together and get them ready for WUGC?
A: We will have three practice weekends leading up to the competition in London. One of our practice weekends will be up in Seattle during the big youth tournament, Spring Reign. We have invited Team Canada to come down for the weekend to practice and scrimmage. With such a limited time, [Assistant Coach] Andy Lovseth and I will be working with the players to come up with other strategies for team bonding and preparation.
In all, five teams will represent the U.S. at the 14th World Ultimate & Guts Championships, hosted by the World Flying Disc Federation and UK Ultimate, June 18-25, in London: the three select national teams as well as the reigning national champions in the men’s and women’s masters divisions.
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