Fall 2017 draft and league announcement

Post date: Aug 23, 2017 4:33:11 AM

Four captains and your humble commissioner gathered in beautiful bucolic New Paltz to conduct the draft for our imminent Fall season. For an irreverent recap of the draft action, follow @EFUltiLeague on Twitter.

Fall rosters are posted on our Teams page.

The Fall season starts on Monday, August 28. The schedule is posted here.

This season, we are trying out a change in our rules. Dating back to the 1980s, there have been talented ladies playing in this league, but we have always been an open league, not following a ratio for mixed play. Given the increasing number of ladies who are playing in the league, we're planning to enforce at least 6-1 this Fall. All four teams have at least four ladies on the roster, though as usual with rec leagues we know not everyone will be able to make every game. If teams are short-handed, we can go to offense dictates or open play, but we hope to avoid all male or male dominated teams. As our rules state, it should still be up to ladies from different teams to discuss how they'd like to play but we hope this change inspires even more fun no matter your gender.

Draft musings:

Based on the point values ascribed to each player in the signup, these four teams came out surprisingly close on paper though I don't think any of the captains consciously looked at their total points as they drafted.

Chris and team Blue - with 1177 points, just a hair below the other three teams, but also one less player on the roster (18 players to the other three teams' 19). Taking the Jimi / London baggage with his first pick, Chris clearly has his sights set on FUN, big hucks, and perhaps even a dance contest on the sidelines. Past all-stars Bri, Willard, Corey and Ian plus some veteran rec and college players should give Blue some talent to go with that fun too.

Zac and team Red - with 1198 points, the Zac / Keegs baggage is enough to scare off many other teams before the flip for pull even occurs. Zac's summer squad was cutter heavy and handler light. Not so this time. With best handler of Summer 2017 Keegs, Gary Chasteen, Brian Funicelli, Brian Lowell & Peri all able to distribute the disc, Cheyenne and Waldie open all day in the middle, and plenty of depth at cutter, Zac won't even need to touch the disc until he skies the entire opposing team for scores in the endzone. Don't take my word for it. Just ask PoNY.

Cody and team White - with 1187 points, the Cody / Justin baggage brings athleticism and familiarity with each other's play. White has the most experienced group of ladies in the league this fall with Bent teammates Luisa and Jess, former Bent and Metro North sensation Kerry Beyrer, and Monica Rose. However, depth may be an issue with Kerry coming back from an injury and Jess not expecting to make many games. But, we all know that Cody drafts for talent and doesn't worry about depth until the playoffs. White team players are fit enough to play without subs anyway. Speaking of depth - Tyler Wilcha, Jason Raeburn, and Trevor Thomas can make this the tallest starting seven in the league if they are all at a game together. Tom Manner, Squid and others round out a very talented squad that will keep us from engraving Zac's name on the Fall trophy just yet...

Frank and team Black - with 1209 points, the Frank / Sarah combo is joined by a talented group that boasts the most skill points of all four teams, but only by a hair. The scary part is the limited availability of the team's dynamic duo for a chunk of the season. With that in mind, Frank brought in veteran commissioner, sometimes captain and team mascot Jim Ground to co-captain the team and hold down the fort while he and Sarah are away. The team features two of the league's most tireless cutters in Matt Stewart and Tom Santiago. Talented handlers include Dr B Smiles and Sean Kelleher. The team also features emerging talents and depth players at every position, including Cortland players and summer all stars Kenzie Meldrim and Rob Hoffman.