Recent History
Columbus, OH has seen a recent growth in a deranged beast by the name of Madcow. This rising power has seen success in the last two years representing the Central Region in Sarasota. With a 13th place finish in ’09 and 16th in ’10, they look to continue their presence at Nationals as they seek their first Club Championship.
Roster Turnover
Madcow looks to “be a deeper and faster team in 2011”, says captain Rodger Oakes. And from their recent successes as a split squad, it looks like there’s enough athleticism to provide some strong competition. This year has shown the deepest pool of talent that Madcow has had in contention for roster spots.
Strategy, Leadership, and Philosophy
Madcow approaches tournaments as a whole rather than focusing on the individual teams they face. As per their captains, their “biggest strength is [their] depth.” Every game is a learning experience as different aspects of the team’s game are monitored and tweaked until optimized. Madcow relies heavily on their stingy defense to keep them in games.
Spring Results & Regular Season Schedule
Madcow showed some initial promise as a split squad with their highest squad reaching the quarters in the Elite division at Monkeybowl, placing second at SCINNY and Hoosier Hoedown, and winning No Surf. Such success as a split squad has given this club a lot of excitement as they look to see what damage can be done as a final squad.
This summer, Madcow attended Terminus and NY Invite, making it to the semis in both tournaments. They also hosted the first Cowabunga tournament in Columbus at the end of July, and Chesapeake Open and CHCs still lie ahead. Despite the busy schedule, the experience will prove crucial to the development of the team as a whole as they look to work in the contributions of the new players to their core.
Season Goals
The last few years have given this team some spark. They look to build upon their previous successes and continue to improve at an elite level to work up to an eventual Club Championship. Getting back to Nationals is a goal, but they won’t be satisfied with just making it back to Sarasota. Though they approach each year with a new mindset, each returner has a strong drive to prove that they belong as a constant at the elite club level.
Community Involvement
Off the field, Madcow has done a lot of work to grow the sport of Ultimate in the Central Ohio area. With the proximity of schools such as Ohio State and Ohio University among many others, Madcow has been an outlet for Elite players to continue their play during the summer. New this year for Madcow is the addition of a B-team to continue the growth and development of the ultimate community for those that don’t make the cut. They will continue to practice with the team and will travel to most of the same tournaments in order to maintain a high level of play for as many people as possible. Also, in the last couple of years, many of the members of Madcow have helped to start a High School league in the greater Columbus, OH area to foster an appreciation for the sport. The eleven participating schools in the area have seen growth of the sport due to Madcow’s involvement and the support of other members of the ultimate community. Continued growth of this league shows promise for increased involvement for years down the road.
2011 Outlook
One big key to success for this year’s Madcow will be how they handle the disc on offense. A major weakness of last year was the inability to control the disc, which led to opposing teams getting strings of breaks and leaving the D-line to play in a hole. From what has been shown and from speculation of the rosters, there will be some shifting of players on each line as they look to tune up their weaponry and do what they can to cement some consistency with the O-line.
Stop by Madcow’s website (www.madcowultimate.com) and follow them on Twitter (@madcowultimate).
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