A Definitive Ranking Of Women’s Team’s Twitters At Nationals

The only pre-Nationals rankings that actually matter.

May 25, 2017 by in Opinion with 0 comments
Notre Dame always appear to be having fun, whether on the field or on social media. Photo: Scott Houghtaling — UltiPhotos.com

So your team got kicked out of the race for Nationals. No songs will be written about your exploits, no livestream of your game will be narrated by the sultry voices of the Sin The Fields duo. Yet there’s just enough time before club season that you don’t have your ultimate fix yet and deep down you still care about who wins Nationals.

But you’re not ready to support the team that knocked you out of contention and you don’t know enough about the other teams to really throw your full support behind anyone.

You could just find a team with obvious talent and a disciplined offense to commit to, but we all know that’s a cop out.

At Nationals, Ultiworld will do its best to cover as much of the women’s division as possible. But if you’re looking for the best Twitter experience this weekend, add the teams below to your stream. These are the teams that have put the most effort into making it fun to follow them. This list isn’t about on-field talent or winning potential, it’s about the teams that don’t just want your support, they reward it.

Without further ado, here are our Top 5 College Women’s Twitter accounts to follow for Nationals.

1. UCLA BLU (@BLUltimate)

BLU’s Twitter stands out for a few reasons. For a start, they maintain the crucial balance of humor/actual reporting. While ultimate Twitter accounts in general have made a move towards this approach, BLU continues to be new and refreshing with their commentary:

BLU also earns their no. 1 spot by coupling their actual ultimate reporting with banter and camaraderie. It’s easy to feel included in their antics and like you’re part of the team from the comfort of your own Twitter feed. It also helps that their coach has a PhD, and can drop these dimes:

This is the type of quote you can retweet and seem wise and considerate for doing so. If Alex Korb brought that out at Regionals, imagine what he’s saving for Nationals.

Speaking of wise and considerate, don’t you want to follow a team that spends their off time just looking like they’re reflecting deeply on ultimate? Perfecting their poses in this photo shows poise and discipline which could serve them well on the field at Nationals.

Finally, UCLA has good spelling in their tweets (which may or may not matter depending on your personality) and they consistently report their games. The last thing you want is to follow a team that forgets or does not prioritize keeping their fans updated.

This factor kept a lot of excellent teams’ Twitter accounts from cracking the Top 5. UCLA maintains this with style, although rumor has it that in the past they may have outsourced this job to certain alumni who won’t be joining them at Nationals, so we’ll see if they can keep their no. 1 spot. Stay tuned.

Bonus points: +1 for this gif. No context necessary, but look for #11 Sylvia “Arrow” Liang this weekend.

2. Notre Dame Womb (@ndultimate)

Notre Dame almost didn’t make this list because of a special quirk to their account. Their men’s and women’s teams share one Twitter handle, which can make tracking their games very perplexing. Think ‘Ultiworld Live’ but with indecipherable nicknames creating a lot more confusion. Luckily (or unluckily?) only one team will be entering the fray in Ohio, which will remove a lot of the chaos and make Notre Dame a much easier follow this weekend.

The real reason they earned the no. 2 spot is their excellent use of inflatable pool toys:

Notre Dame’s account also highlights one of the university’s most famous attributes: their hype. The spirit and jovial nature of their men’s and women’s teams playing and supporting each other equally gives a real sense of companionship and presents a really inviting team culture that is eager for any Twitter fans to feel a part of the festivities. Did we mention the pool toys?

But just to assure you that Notre Dame is not only an account for aquatic inflatable plastic, here’s one of their more straightforward tweets to cement their status as reliable reporters:

This tweet illustrates another reason why ND is such a fun follow. The women’s team is known for going on ridiculous runs, which are undeniably fun to read. Womb players get pumped, then their sideline gets more pumped, their Twitter game goes crazy, and the cycle continues. There’s nothing quite like seeing a team go on a 4-0 run, but getting to read about it can come pretty close.

While following Notre Dame in the regular season can be confusing, it should not detract from the value of their account going forward. The men of ND may not have made Nationals, but that just allows the Twitter account to hold its sole focus on their feisty women. Also, even though they didn’t qualify, don’t be surprised to see their men’s team joining along in the festivities from the sideline or at home. As a Womb fan, you’d be joining ranks with a huge contingent of players, parents, and friends who are excited to see their women on the big stage, the perfect place for Notre Dame’s notorious skits and dance parties to progress to the next level.

Bonus Points: Did we mention pool toys? And Dance parties? They get +3 for the dance parties.

3. Colorado Kali (@Kaliultimate)

With only 26 letters in the alphabet, it’s miraculous the combinations that are put together by the Kali women. Few teams can convey their passion and pride like Colorado can. They don’t view Twitter as an obligation, it’s second nature to them. Kali may not have started the women’s Twitter game, but they are well on their way to perfecting it.

As with most sports, there is a clear and definite path to becoming better at ultimate. Twitter, on the other hand, is still uncharted territory for many. I’m not saying laser tag is the secret to Kali’s success, but it must help. The Kali captains clearly have their priorities in order and they’re eager to share their adventures with fans.

Sometimes context is necessary. Sometimes it isn’t. Regardless of whether or not you understood this tweet, it does show Kali’s balance between fun and actual reporting. They track their scores so closely that there have been rumors that observers have relied on the Kali Twitter to keep score. While the above tweet may not be a perfect example of a factual score update, they have plenty of more “normal” tweets in their feed. But is that truly what you’re here for?

While ‘Best Headgear’ isn’t a fixture of USAU award ceremonies yet (maybe a new Ultiworld College Award?), Kali is already trying to win. These tweets are but a taste of the peculiarities that Kali is famous for. For those who enjoy some abstract humor with their ultimate, Kali certainly knows how to keep a crowd interested.

Bonus points: +∞ For their parents. Seriously.

4. British Columbia Thunderbirds (@UBCwomensulti)

UBC has a high-energy Twitter account, and they make good use of hashtags.1 They deliver quirky commentary and while they have not been as consistent in their coverage over the season, they’ve really ramped it up in the postseason.

UBC is also the only Canadian team to qualify on the women’s side, which gives them the advantage of having the entire nation’s support. And if you’re looking for a team to support but you’re intimidated by the indiscernible nicknames endemic to ultimate, the Thunderbirds have you covered:

Late season player bios are incredibly useful for new converts. Don’t know who Iggy is? You’ll find out. Want to know why they keep teasing someone about their love of condiments on vegetables? Now you too can know all the inside jokes. They recently finished tweeting their entire roster and it’s a fantastic way to generate enthusiasm and interest in the lull before Nationals. Great move by the Thunderbirds.

They’re answering the question you should have been asking but never thought to: Could my team beat another in a planking contest? UBC knows they could, but they may have also opened themselves up for challengers in Cincinnati. Could a planking contest be used instead of a disc flip?

UBC is also liable to drop incredible insights such as these at random. Really, it’d be worth following UBC at Natties just to find out what other fun facts “Zhubabe” has up her sleeve.

UBC may not be as consistent in their tweets as others on this list, but they are a great follow. They have a reputation for being an active account outside of tournaments and concurrently are on a roll after emerging from a tough NW region. Expect them to raise their Twitter game at Nationals, too. They have a proven record of showing up strong in big games, both on and off the field.

Bonus points: +1 for capturing this incredible play.

5. Florida FUEL (@FUELenfuego)

Florida FUEL personifies the word “spunky.” Not only does the FUEL Twitter have a penchant for theatrics, but they also rarely spell ‘break’ without adding at least four more K’s to the end of the word. Their energy is apparent in their feed, and they go out of their way to impress fans:

While Photoshop is the logical explanation here, there’s also a 0.001% chance that Danielle Cordes actually owns Thor’s hammer — and do you really want to bet against those odds?! Norse gods or not, Florida still finds ways to entertain and entice their fans:

No updates yet on whether Courtney Testa has shaved her head or not, but that’s all the more reason to follow them on Twitter. (Shout-out to the UConn women who also committed to shaving the back of their heads, it looks amazing).

Most importantly of all, Florida is a great follow because this is their first Nationals in half a decade, and they are appropriately excited to be there. This gives their Twitter a heavy advantage over the Nationals stalwarts, for whom Nationals tweeting is old news.

While we’ve featured a lot of humor-based Twitters here, sometimes it’s nice to be reminded that 140 characters can still make you feel something. FUEL may be excited to make Nationals, but they’re also proud of their work to get there and will continue to display that both on the field and through their Twitter account.

Bonus Points: +2 for the enthusiastic use of the flames emoji scattered throughout their tweets. Being called FUEL allows them to use it frequently without seeming tacky.

Honorable Mention: Carleton Syzygy (@SyzygyUltimate)

Carleton makes this spot not because of their consistent Twitter brilliance but rather for pockets of pure magic. Case in point:

Carleton is a small liberal arts college, and they’re putting those Liberal Arts degrees to use. Don’t you want to follow a team that challenges the patriarchal capitalist bourgeoisie? It should at least be a factor in your decision-making.

Another great example of Syzygy’s inherent tweeting ability when they have the impulse to unleash it.

If regarding just pure Twitter spectacle, this account could be a dark horse contender. While their regular tweets have been very perfunctory during the season, they may have simply been biding their time. Also, Ultiworld2 has learnt its lesson on betting against Carleton.

Best of the Rest

Just because the rest of the field did not make this list doesn’t mean they’re not also great Twitter follows. If our picks for the top six teams didn’t quite hit your niche or you just want to revel in the abundance of quality tweets from all the teams, here are the best tweets we’ve found from all the Nationals-bound teams:

Michigan Flywheel (@UMichFlywheel):

UNC Pleiades (@UNC_Pleiades):

Ohio State Fever (@FeverUltimate):

Oregon Fugue (@OregonFugue):

Pittsburgh Danger (@PittUltimateW):

Stanford Superfly (@SuperflyUlti):

Texas Melee (@txmelee):

Tufts EWO (@ewonews):

Virginia Hydra (@HydraNFriends):

California Pie-Queens (@piequeens):

UCSD Psychos (@psychoultimate):

UConn Huskies (@UCWUltimate):

Dartmouth Princess Layout (@PrincessLayout):

Delaware Sideshow (@UDSideshow):

  1. This is Twitter, after all. ↩

  2. Well, at least Deep Look. ↩

  1. Graham Gerhart
    Graham Gerhart

    Graham Gerhart is a Senior Staff Writer at Ultiworld, focusing primarily on the Women's and Mixed divisions. Graham graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa after playing 4 years with the UCT Flying Tigers. He now lives and works full time in San Diego. Follow him on twitter @JustGrahamG

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