It's Tournament Time!

Good Morning!

Yesterday the teams made their final preparations for the tournament in the morning and then proceeded to play the first round of pool play in the afternoon. The Disc Olympics took place right after lunch along with the team and all camp photos. The Disc Olympics are a series of challenges where each team sends players to compete in the different events. The events include disc golf (where there are two player teams in a best disc format), distance (where everyone in the camp participates and the winners of each age group gains points for their team), MTA (maximum time aloft - where one teammate throws the disc up in the air while the other has to catch it with one hand and a stopwatch is used to time how long the disc is in the air for) and Spinning (where each team sends a representative and they have to spin a disc on their ginnier while performing various other tasks such as sit-ups, closing their eyes, hop on one foot, etc. and the last one to survive wins). The second round of pool play is about to get underway so it is time for me to be heading down to the fields but take a look at this morning's newsletter and photos from yesterday.

Enjoy!
-Brian

Photos

Yesterday Morning: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624600973086/

Yesterday Afternoon: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624600987128/

Today's Newsletter: http://www.nutc.net/bringitin/nutc_2010b_4.pdf

Monday Madness!

 (Thrown into double coverage and he still snags the disc!)

Good Morning Everyone!

Yesterday was packed full of fun, the campers: learned horizontal offense, scrimmaged, threw for distance (pulling), scrimmaged more, played in the camper v counselor game, and lastly ate some delicious ice cream sundaes. In the morning was the first time the teams began practicing together on the fields and by the end of the afternoon all of the teams seemed to be gelling really well together. There seemed to be bunch of good nervous energy at dinner as campers began to mentally prepare for the toughest challenge they would face at camp, taking on the counselors in the camper vs. counselor game, first one to 21, winner takes all battle. The campers put up a great fight but in the end it was the counselors who still remain undefeated for the last ten years strong winning 21-5 (for those who don't know getting 5 points against the counselors is quite an accomplishment) but who knows maybe they will be taken off their pedestal in the future. As soon as everyone arrived back at the dorms the ice cream sundae station was ready for us to indulge in. The campers are now in heading towards the fields for another amazing day of ultimate, here are the photos from yesterday along with this morning's newsletter.

Enjoy!
-Brian

Photos

Morning: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624593264844/

Afternoon: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624468582745/

Camper v Counselor Game (photos by guest photographer Wesley Chow): http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624593297634/

Today's Newsletter: http://www.nutc.net/bringitin/nutc_2010b_3.pdf

Day 1 Done, Day 2 Has Just Begun...

(A camper and Surge work on proper throwing form.)

Good Morning!

Yesterday was full of great fun both on a off the fields. On the fields we saw plenty of fierce action as all the teams where fighting for each point during the scrimmages. The morning started off with the campers working on perfecting their throwing and cutting through various drills. After lunch the campers went through three different instructional stations to work on various aspects of their game including becoming a more active mark, how to properly chop their feet in order to improve their cutting ability and to change direction easier, and working on downfield flow. After the stations concluded the campers scrimmaged to take what they learned and put it right to use. The players playing ability has continued to improved and each time they step on they seem to have a better field sense. After the cleats had been hung up many went to the pool (which I was told was cold but quite refreshing) before heading to dinner. After dinner, the campers found out what team (and counselors as their coaches) they will be with for the rest of the week including tournament Wednesday. The teams began to bond immediately through various activities and the teams competed in the four different competitions with the team with the most points being the one who received their first choice on shirt color for their team uniform. The campers right now are slowly getting ready for another day of ultimate having just eaten breakfast and are collecting their things to head down to the fields. So until later, here is today's newsletters along with yesterday's photos.

Enjoy!
-Brian

Photos

Yesterday Morning: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624460521303/

Yesterday Afternoon/Evening: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624585215930/

Newsletter: http://www.nutc.net/bringitin/nutc_2010b_2.pdf

Welcome to NUTC 2010 Session B!

This afternoon campers arrived eager and ready to play. There were some familiar faces with plenty of new ones in the mix. After the campers found their rooms, got all settled in, they headed down to the fields to play some pick up ultimate. Pick up this evening allowed the campers to get their feet under them, and allowed them to start warming up and getting familiar to the fields where we will be playing all week. Once pick up ended we all headed to dinner at Amherst College's Valentine Hall. The evening activity was an all camp welcoming meeting followed by campers breaking into smaller groups to begin to learn about each others ultimate and personal backgrounds through various fun activities and games. Right now, the campers are currently in their first floor meeting of the week before heading to bed in a little while.

So until tomorrow evening here's are a few photos from today along with a sneak peek at tomorrow morning's newsletter.

Enjoy!
-Brian

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624574612620/

Newsletter: http://www.nutc.net/bringitin/nutc_2010b_1.pdf

NUTC Gold = Mission Complete and Successful!

 (Some of the NUTC graduates getting recognized by the counselors and directors.)

Hi Everyone,

The first ever NUTC Gold session has ended this morning and it was fresh, new and fun. I have been able to get all the photos from yesterday (morning, afternoon and even the scavenger hunt!) and this morning's finals. The finals featured Wolf Pack (Lavender) vs. Team Red (Green). The Wolf Pack started off strong against Red going up 2-0 but the tide quickly changed as Red went on a very impressive 11 point run to win the championship 11-2. The game did not seem as lopsided as the score would lead you to believe. Each point was long and hard fought which led to being very interesting for all of the spectators. After the finals the campers packed up their rooms and we had an Award Ceremony for them as a way to wrap up the session and to honor players on all of the teams for hardest-worker, most improved and team leader. We also acknowledged those campers who have been with us many years but have now become too old to return next year, most of which who are heading off to college to play ultimate (and study?). We wish them the best of luck with their future endeavors and will surely see them on the fields, possibly even lined up against us in the fall. Here are the last sets of photos from NUTC Gold, Enjoy and we look forward to seeing more of you at NUTC Gold next year.

Photos

Wednesday AM: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624560368498/

Wednesday PM: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624435638731/

Scavenger Hunt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624436526605/

Thursday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624560405114/

Session B is starting Saturday afternoon so continue to check back here for all the latest NUTC news and media.

Thanks,
-Brian

Tournament Wednesday and Scavenger Hunt!

Good Evening All,

Today was awesome! There were four rounds of pool play today before a thunderstorm brought us heading for the hills. The Red (actually wearing Green shirts) team is currently in the top of the standings while the Wolf Pack (Lavender) and Ke$ha (the Pink team and yes there is unfortunately a team named Ke$ha) are both tied for third. All the teams worked really hard and and stepped up when needed. In the afternoon team Ke$ha was put in the position where they had to win their game against Wolf Pack in order to have a chance to stay alive in the tournament. Ke$ha was able to pull it out after being defeated by them (7-2) in the morning. The final score of the afternoon Ke$ha v Wolf Pack game was 7-3. It just goes to show you that absolutely anything can happen during the NUTC tournament!

After dinner the weather turned nice and we were able to reveal the surprise of a scavenger hunt! The scavenger hunt turned out to be a HUGE success and we had campers running all around, throughout town with their teams collecting things, asking questions and taking pictures with their phones (which they then texted to me and will be online in a few days once I transfer all the pictures to my computer). The winners were team Ke$ha (again I apologize for such a poor team name) who were handsomely rewarded with a caked that said Congratulations!, glasses of lemonade and were waited on hand and foot during pizza. Tomorrow morning, we are finishing the last round of pool play then having the finals before we say our goodbyes.

Goodnight and there will be plenty more tomorrow...
-Brian

Trade Night and more...

 (photo of the first ever NUTC Gold!)

Good Evening Everyone,

We had some very intense scrimmages today as teams got ready to play in tomorrow's tournament. Three teams enter, one team leaves victorious… well on Thursday they will be crowned the first ever champions of NUTC Gold! This morning right before lunch we had a distance contest where local Mass natives Cody and Zoe were both able beat out all their competition. After lunch each team got their uniforms and we took an all camp photo followed by more scrimmages! This evening we had Trade Night where campers were able to pick up some sweet gear from all over the U.S. and even some parts of the world. There were some sick  NUTC shorts for sale, which I myself was even able to purchase a fly pair. After trade night the teams met one more time to finalize their strategy for tomorrow then had their nightly floor meetings. The have just headed to bed now trying to get some rest before the real challenge begins. I'll be writing more about the tomorrow tomorrow and the special surprise evening activity but until then… more pictures!

Enjoy!
-Brian

Photos

This morning: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624548203416/

This afternoon: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutc/sets/72157624548213904/