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School Name: Calvin College
Team Name: Calvin Ultimate
Captains: David Danks, Dan Roelofs, Matt Slater, Mike Zaagman, Mike Valk
Year Founded: 2005
Jersey Colors: Maroon and White
2010 Record: 12-9
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Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get involved with Ultimate at your school?
David Danks: My orientation leader freshmen year was the captain of the team and I mentioned to him that I played Ultimate in high school and wanted to know if Calvin had a team and if they did how to join it. He told me he was the captain and when and where try outs where.
How did your team do last year? What was the highlight of your season?
David: Last year we tied for 22nd in D3 but did not make Regionals or Nationals. The highlight of my season was beating our rivals (Hope College) at sectionals!
Who is your favorite team to play against? Tell us about a memorable game.
David: My favorite team to play against is Hope College. The most memorable game for me was the championship at Huckfest 2010. Huckfest is a tournament around Grand Rapids that happens the weekend of Halloween every year and for 4 years in a row 2006-2009 Calvin finished in 2nd place at this tourney so we always wanted to win really bad and we finally did in 2010.
Tell us about your captains. What do they bring to your team?
Dan Roelofs – He is a Handler and brings the best beard, best huck, the best pull, and some of the best defense to the team.
Matt Slater – Handler/mid he brings a great attitude and handles the money for the team also another solid player always in the right place for defense
Mike Valk – also a Handler and a very solid player and he organizes the majority of our practices and gets us into shape, has a great huck and plays very good defense.
Mike Zaagman – Handler, Probably the most fit person on the team, brings the most love for ultimate on the team (even more than he likes women) Brings amazing hands and great ability to come down with the jump discs
David Danks – Handler (do you notice a trend?) Brings the most experience on the team, the most consistent player on the team always taking the easy throw and not hucking often.
Are there players on your team who deserve consideration for Callahan, All-Region, or Freshman of the Year? Tell us about them.
David: Callahan – I think we have one person on the team who could make a run at the Callahan or All-Region on our team: Dan Roelofs, he is our best player in my opinion with the best huck, incredible hands on both offense and defense he comes down with discs that seem impossible to get. He plays monster defense easily skying people a few inches taller than him. If there’s a throw that 5-6 people have a chance at jumping for he always seems to be the one coming down with it. Most importantly when we need a big play he always delivers whether its on offense or defense or both.
Our best player for freshmen of the year would be Karl Larsen, he played in high school and is our best freshmen with great potential to be one of the best players to ever play Calvin Ultimate so far. He plays handler and cutter very well and plays very good defense. He loves Ultimate and is very motivated and pushes himself very hard to improve and be the best he can be.
What player is most likely to make a huge play as a thrower? As a receiver? On D?
David: Dan Roelofs as a thrower, receiver, and on D.
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 they are to your team?
David: David Danks – doesn’t make the huge play often but very consistent very small amount of turn overs and good positioning on defense.
How does your team bring new players up to speed?
David: We train our freshmen to play as cutters first and continuously work on their throws during practice to eventually train some handlers. We do our best to quickly teach freshmen our offenses and defenses and then we go to a few tournaments in the fall that are lower intensity and try and bring as many freshmen as possible about it and let them learn by playing while having the captains coach from the sideline.
What does your team like to do on offense and on defense?
David: We like to play a man defense and a special zone defense that I believe I have only seen our team do, and on offense we like to play a H-stack with some specific plays.
Has your team set any goals for this season? What are they?
David: The first goal was to win Huckfest this fall and we accomplished that and now our big goal is to go to D3 Nationals this year.
What has your team been doing this fall to prepare for the spring season?
David: There is some high level indoor pick up in grand rapids during the winter that many players have been going to prepare for the spring.
What tournaments do you plan to attend in the spring? Which one are you most looking forward to?
David: We are planning on attending the Chicago Invite, Sectionals, and Double Down (at CMU) as of now and I am looking forward to Sectionals this year and seeing how things have changed with the new restructuring of our section.
What do you think about the USA Ultimate College restructuring?
David: I like it because it separates D1 and D3 so it should make the new sections more competitive.
Which team has the best shot at winning the 2011 USA Ultimate College Championships?
David: Carleton or Wisconsin
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