[stextbox id=”alert” color=”050505″ bcolor=”6cc3f8″ bgcolor=”ffffff” big=”true” image=”null”]School Name: Brandeis University
Team Name: Banshee
Captains: Lauren ‘Topanga’ Reibstein, Vicky ‘Crayo’ Negus
Coaches: Greg Connelly, Julia Echterhoff
Year Founded: 2002
Jersey Colors: Royal Blue and White
Website: http://brandeisjudges.com/recreation/clubsports/wultimate/in
2010 Record: 19-10
Score Reporter
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How did you get involved with Ultimate at Brandeis?
Brianna Spatz, Sofya Bronshvayg, and Lauren Reibstein: We were all incited to play by the flyers that were posted inviting girls to come check out the team. We went to the first informational meeting where they taught us to throw after and we were hooked!
How did your team do last year? What was the highlight of your season?
BSL: Last year we had a very solid season. We made it to Regionals for the 2nd time in Banshee history, and ended up 9th in the New England Region.
Tell us about your coaches. What do they bring to your team?
BSL: Greg and Julia are awesome coaches. They add great perspectives of the game and have really developed our team. Having them has really improved the way our team thinks about offense and defense.
It’s easy to see when someone throws a huge huck or gets a layout D. Who’s a player you have to watch more carefully to see how valuable she is to your team?
BSL: Tracie ‘Jedi’ Shing is a player that is so valuable to our team. She is a great asset to our Zone Defense obtaining many hand blocks in the cup. After dominating on D she quickly transitions to O and often ends up open.
How does your team bring new players up to speed?
BSL: We take the first few weeks of the semester to go over the basics of Ultimate and try to attend local tournaments that act as “learning” tournaments for our new players. We move through the basics somewhat quickly and we really count on our returners to teach ultimate by example. We also assign throwing buddies that are a returner paired with a few new players and they are expected to meet up and practice throwing and catching, just to get the repetitions in and build relationships on the team.
What does your team do to get pumped up for a big game?
BSL: We love listening to “Africa” by Toto and a few Dixie Chicks songs to get ourselves pumped. We really love singing loud cheers and dancing before games.
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
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