2011 Preview – University of Rhode Island RIWUT

[stextbox id=”alert” color=”050505″ bcolor=”6cc3f8″ bgcolor=”ffffff” big=”true” image=”null”] School Name: University of Rhode Island
Team Name: RIWUT
Captain: Erica DeMichele and Melanie Leary
Year Founded: 2006
Jersey Colors: White and Navy
2010 Record: 13-18
Score Reporter

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How did your team do last year? What was the highlight of your season?
Erica and Melanie: Last year our team had its best season yet, we made it to regionals with only 9 girls for the first time in URI womens ultimate history. We were sponsored by Five Ultimate as an upcoming team. Making it to regionals with only 9 girls was a great accomplishment, especially when the other teams had many more players then us. All season, because we were such a small team, we learned how to play with each other and knew the advantages and disadvantages of each other so we had amazing dynamics.

Tell us about your captains. What do they bring to your team?
Erica and Melanie: Our captains: We are only juniors and we had to step up this year, due to the fact that our only senior went abroad for the semester, and we had a lot of graduating players. As juniors we only had 2 years of playing under our belt, but since we are a small team, we have a lot of experience and playing time. We use that, along with the rulebook to instruct or teach our new players. Being captains has helped us as individual players, and made us play harder knowing that we are the ones our team mates look to for guidance.

What player is most likely to make a huge play as a thrower? As a receiver? On D?
Erica and Melanie: Because we are such a small team, everyone is forced to play every position. We have our handlers: Erica, Melanie, and Alyssa that have great throws and decisions. Our top cutter is Christina who is small and gets by her defenders. Kristin is sneaky and makes huge D’s. Our freshman Sarah is great reading the disc and getting open, Gabby is tall, fast, and can catch anything, Louise is eager to learn and asks a lot of questions, DJ is great at staying with her offender on D, Alyssa Z has good throws from playing in high school, Brianna, a sophomore, recently joined and is having a great time learning the game.

Without giving too much away, what does your team like to do on offense and on defense?
Erica and Melanie: On offense we like to huck it deep, and swing to the break side. On defense we like to sky biddies.

Has your team set any goals for this season? What are they?
Erica and Melanie: Our goals for our season is to build. We want to get as many girls as possible to come out and play ultimate and show them what an awesome sport it is. We want our girls to be able to make cuts, catch, and throw with out any hesitation or approval from us. We also want to raise money for our team for the upcoming years, and more sustainable.

What has your team been doing this fall to prepare for the spring season?
Erica and Melanie: This fall we have been practicing 3 days a week and playing in tournaments in our area. We are having a home tournament with our mens team to raise money, and play more. We are playing as much as we can to get our girls to understand the sport and to love it as much we do. We will be having practice during the winter inside, because of the cold new england weather, to condition us for the spring season. We also scrimmage with the mens team to get more playing time.

What does your team do to get pumped up for a big game?
Erica and Melanie: To get pumped up we have silly cheers, and use our URI fight song, to remind us who we are representing. Because we are so small, we can individually raise each other to the level we want to play at. We can have a motto: If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.

What song would you pick for the soundtrack to your team’s 2011 highlight video?
Erica and Melanie: The song we would choose is Strong Will Continue by NAS and Damian Marley.