January 23, 2013 by Charlie Eisenhood in Livewire, Opinion
Readers offered some interesting comments on yesterday’s piece about the dominance of the West Coast in women’s ultimate. Meg had this to say:
[quote]As someone who played with a women’s college team as a grad student in New England, I would say that weather and space has a much larger impact on us than people elsewhere consider. [/quote]
[quote]Example: I knew someone who moved to the area in early fall from the southwest. When we played in the spring, she said for the first time in her life she felt out of shape. We are limited not only by field space, but also gym floor time. You’re competing with the “real” sports for time on the gym floor, as well as class schedules, and you’re lucky if you can get half your team to a mid-February practice from 10-12 pm.
In both college and grad school, there were seasons where I didn’t see the grass until late March (and we had a sectionals shortened due to snow one year). It’s amazing how much that can affect your ability to get a team to click, particularly one that may have freshmen who’ve never played. I know Carleton has its share of snow, too, but the difference is the depth of the community at a single school. In New England, particularly in Boston, there are so many schools and not as much talent located in one particular college.[/quote]
