The morning of October 13th dawned cold and misty. Looking out my window at the steel-gray sky, my alarm clock ringing in my ears, I cursed myself for deciding to play in the Coffee Cup Ultimate Tournament. Nonetheless, I dragged myself out of bed and down to Bagel Gourmet, where my teammates were already huddled in the parking lot. Veterans and fall captains Sarah Ross-Viles ('02) and Rachel Weston ('03) were there, along with returning players Lindsey Wong ('03), Rebecca Traub ('02), and Shirley Wu ('04). Far outnumbering them, though, were the new players, like '05-ers Cate Brown, Caroline Castelli, and Krissy Loening; '04-ers Abigail Bookman and Celinda Gourd; and even newcomers from the class of '02, myself and Cortney Stewart.
The tournament, which was hosted by Yale University, took place at Hammonassett Beach State Park, about half an hour outside of New Haven. After a brisk two-hour drive, we arrived at Hammonasset and were immediately greeted by the sights and sounds of a car show. With golden oldies blaring and the smell of kettle corn wafting though the air, we stretched and jogged around the field.
Our first game was against Boston College/Boston University. Disco played a strong game, defeating BU/BC with a score of 10-4. We were feeling great as we sat down to write them a cheer and devour bagels and fruit. Our next game, against Princess Layout (Dartmouth) was not as successful (a 2-13 loss), but their ultimate frisbee ability and Peter Pan costumes were truly inspirational. For many of us, this was the first time we had encountered the zone defense, and although we were slightly fazed at first, by the end of the game we had all learned about cups, wings, deeps and handlers. Winning our next game against Williams B (5-1), however, put us in the semifinals, which was very exciting for a team of mostly new players. Although we lost in the semis against Williams A (2-11), it was impressive to see how much we were improving with every point.
We finished our fifth and final game against Yale (2-6) just as the sun was setting. Cold and sore, but infused with that special glow that comes from playing [Ultimate], we jogged our last warm down lap. For many people, myself included, this was their first time playing in a tournament. New and old players alike had played strongly throughout the day, helping one another out and constantly learning from each other and from other teams. All in all, Coffee Cup was a great experience and Disco Inferno made an impressive showing. - Karen Knee '02 and Shirley Wu '04