Jack at Nationals

Let me take a break from my Yosemite trip recap and talk about where I've been recently. I have been completely consumed with Jack's rampage through nationals! Jack plays for UNC Wilmington's ultimate frisbee team. Derrick and I encouraged him to play his freshman year and he wasn't even sure if he was going to play the A team because of the level of commitment. It takes a ton of time and dedication to play on a college ultimate team. He ended up making and playing on the A team last year and got to play a few points per game. His team went to Nationals last year and he was lucky to get any playing time at all. As a freshman you typically become more and more of a bench warmer as the season progresses.

Fast forward to this year and this is what you can read about Jack from this nationals:

"UNCW's Jack Williams led the tournament in goals. He didn't have any goals counted in the 1st game because he had a different jersey on (we cleared this with observers/staff beforehand) so there were 5 missed. That's 25 goals. He's 18 years old."
(http://www.reddit.com/r/ultimate/comments/26mju0/thoughts_from_the_mason_sidelines_uncw_coach_greg/)

Sophomore Jack Williams (#11) got past Pitt deep several times. Pitt had shown vulnerability deep and UNC-W knew it.
(http://ultiworld.com/2014/05/25/unc-wilmington-stuns-pittsburgh-quarterfinals-thriller/)

With Harvard just yards away from a victory, UNCW sophomore Jack Williams made an unbelievable shoulder-high layout D near the endzone. After taking a timeout, Wilmington’s Xavier Maxstadt, on the first throw, ripped a massive 70-yard backhand huck to Williams, who came down with a great sky to win the game.
(http://ultiworld.com/2014/05/24/unc-wilmington-edges-past-harvard-wild-finish/)

 Fans flooded the only remaining game still in action to see #11 Jack Williams for UNC-W get an unpredictably massive layout block on the end zone line. The Wilmington sideline erupted again like they had all weekend in support for their team, and the players seemed to feed off of it even more than before. Two throws later, Williams once again came through with a skying catch just in front of the end zone. 
(http://skydmagazine.com/2014/05/open-day-2-just-patient/)

If that wasn't awesome enough, Jack was also named MVP of their pre-quarters game against Harvard by Skyd Magazine.

And to top it all off, Jack was named by USA Ultimate as one of the tournaments Top 7 performers:

"Jack Williams – North Carolina-Wilmington – The Seamen standout was directly involved in every one of UNC-W’s three consecutive double-game (break) winning points leading up to the semifinals. From his goal-line layout D against Harvard to his hockey assist on the Seamen winning goal against Pitt, Williams rose to the occasion when Wilmington needed it. Oh, and this sophomore led the tournament in goals (20)."
(http://www.usaultimate.org/news/colorado-mamabird-wins-the-2014-college-mens-championship/)

My parents were there watching and giving us a steady stream of updates. We had a few scares because Mom and Dad are still learning the frisbee lingo (a break is VERY different then a turn-over :) but it was absolutely awesome to be able to follow along.

Wilmington made it to semis which meant they faced UNC and it would be broadcast on ESPN 3. Seriously!! Jack was on ESPN 3. We got a group of friends together to watch and it crashed. ESPN 3 crashed and it was devastating. I wanted to see him play so badly!! Thank goodness for awesome friends that come to the rescue. Julie was there observing nationals and happened to be in the stands. She used most of her data plan and skyped with us from the stands. She even used her hand to shield the sun glare. It was far away and grainy but it was so much better than twitter updates. She would point out when Jack had the disc and when he scored.

You can watch the actual ESPN3 coverage from their archives here: here: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/1791648/USA-Ultimate-College-Championships-(Mens-Semifinal-2) 
Jack is all over the coverage and it was so awesome to watch.  I may or may not have taken a few pictures of the screen....

Can you tell how much I was freaking out?? I'm so proud and it was so amazing to see him at Nationals doing so well. He seriously had the experience of a lifetime. Most college teams don't make it to Nationals. Most ultimate players have not been to college Nationals. Only 16 teams a year make it (and a lot of those are repeat teams that make it every year) and when you are a college player you only have 4 (5 at most) seasons to qualify for one of those remaining spots. I never went to college Nationals and Derrick went once. Making Nationals is a goal for most teams. Making Nationals is THE big moment of the season for most teams. Just making it to Nationals. Jack got to experience making it to Nationals and then playing one of the best tournaments of his life and ended his incredible season on ESPN 3. That is really special. I couldn't be more proud!!