WELCOME TO THE 2023 CLUB ULTIMATE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!
I could barely sleep last night awaiting the first day of Nationals. I tossed and turned and what do I do when I can’t fall asleep (thank you menopause!), I pray. I prayed for the boys to do well, no injuries, no big disagreements, and a lot of fun!
The LOML wanted to show off my matching fingernail polish. My favorite blue!
And here we go!! The LOML videotapes every game so, sadly, when the team watches the videos later to critique their play, they also hear a crazy mom yelling, screaming, and clapping. Yes, that’s me! This is the offensive line and #10 is Son #4 and #21 (the one that’s turned around) is Son #3. But I cheer for all of them the same. They are all my boys! The first game was against PoNY (Pride of New York) who is really talented and were seeded #2. We were seeded #12. It was supposed to be a game where our team just warms up. They anticipated not winning this game so they were not going to play too hard so they can focus their effort on the next two games which they wanted to win. That’s not how it ended up. They really showed up for this game and made the other team work hard for every point. We were so proud of how well they played! In Ultiworld, an ultimate frisbee website that covers frisbee news around the world, it stated, “RDU played up a level and gave PoNY a lot to think about it, pushing in goals to tie the game as late as 10-10.”
This is Son #4 bidding for a catch and scoring. On the original video you can hear me scream, ” Dive Jacob!” One of his teammates said that after Son #4’s catch, the team’s mindset changed to “Hey we can win this!!” It was so exciting!!
Of course, Mom had to congratulate him and see if he hurt anything on his body!! My boys say it’s usually not worth hurting yourself for the disc. It’s always fun to watch though!
This great team ended up winning one of three games the first day. They really should have won both of the last two games but it wasn’t to be! So proud of all of these guys!
The team went out to celebrate their successful day and we went to a great Italian restaurant near our hotel called Cicciotti’s in Cardiff. It was a tiny hole in the wall but the food was delizioso and the service was fantastico!! I had the Ravioli d’Aragasta & Gamberi which was lobster and shrimp ravioli and the LOML had a stuffed sea bass over mashed sweet potatoes. I ate it so fast, I forgot to take a picture of it. You’re gonna have to believe me that it was the best ravioli I have ever tasted!!! For a starter, they served warm bread with fresh marinara and we ate that like we hadn’t eaten in days! We finished the great meal off by sharing a wonderful tiramisu for dessert!! (Didn’t get a picture of that either) Blogger fail!!
We headed back to the hotel where we watched some television and went to bed. All we do at these tournaments is walk, sit and cheer and we’re exhausted. I don’t know how the boys do it. They play three games a day for two or three days. I’m tired just saying it!
Come back and see how San Diego, California Day #4 goes.
Love y’all,
Linda
