Over the past four years, I’ve had the pleasure of watching Robyn Fennig develop from a clueless rookie to one of the most dominant women that I’ve seen on the college ultimate fields. I have been her friend, teammate, and coach at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire (UWEC). Robyn has been very influential in making me the ultimate player and leader that I am today by challenging my previous approach to the game. Her overwhelming intensity, focus and skill makes her a clear standout at tournaments and makes her a prime candidate for the Callahan award.
Robyn has the field awareness and abilities of a player who began in high school, and she’s learned it all in five short years in college. Her pulls are insane, her man defense is fearsome, and I wouldn’t ever recommend hucking when she’s playing the deep in a zone. Her offense is cool and collected. Robyn can get open at-will, and once she has the disc, she’ll unleash a barrage of I/O forehand breaks and deep hucks. Anybody that has played against her knows that she is a force to be reckoned with. Her abilities were part of the reason that a very, very young UWEC SOL team (founded in 2005) was noticed nationwide and was knocking on the door of college nationals in their first few years of existence. I could go on and on about her being the best woman on the playing field, which is what the Callahan award is known for, but it also honors sportsmanship, leadership and outreach.
As a coach and teammate I’ve not only been inspired by Robyn’s dedication to improving her own skills, knowledge and spirit, but especially her commitment to helping grow the women’s ultimate community. For example, after talking about ultimate with a non-traditional student, Robyn asked if he would like his daughters to learn how to play. This led to the UWEC team teaching a local Girl Scout troop the basics of throwing, catching and marking. The following year the workshop was repeated with the same troop and their new recruits, and they all had their throws down and were able to play with Sol in combined scrimmage game. It is this dedication to the sport that will continue to spread ultimate throughout new areas and to more youth athletes.
The enthusiasm that Robyn exudes when she gets to talk about ultimate is extremely contagious. She makes everyone around her want to learn more and push themselves; luckily for them, she’s willing to spend the time to teach. In her time at UWEC, I can’t express how valuable she was at spreading her understanding of skills and strategy. Robyn truly made work as a coach a lot easier with her uncanny ability to re-explain things that I didn’t present clearly. She’d constantly be thinking about ways to improve offensive and defensive strategy, develop drills, and promote team camaraderie.
Robyn, being the overachiever that she is, didn’t limit the spread of ultimate knowledge and support to our own team. In her years at UWEC, she spent a great amount of time discussing the hurdles that a new team must overcome with other University of Wisconsin school leaders. She discussed strategy, drills, and recruiting techniques with captains and coaches at other small schools to assist with getting their programs off the ground.
In my mind, it is clear that the Callahan winner for 2011 should be none other than Robyn Fennig. She displays all of the characteristics of a great ultimate player and leader. It has been a wonderful four years watching her develop the skills, personality, and respect for this game that any top player would strive for. Please consider Robyn when you place your vote.
Pat Niles
Four year Coach of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire SOL
World Champion - CLX 2010
Club Teammate - ACS, Drag’n Thrust 2008-2010
And sadly, as I write this, I’m also having to game plan against her for Regionals this weekend….
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