Women in Ultimate: Katey Forth
Our latest instalment in the 'Women in Ultimate' series. This time, we asked Katey Forth to share her experience playing for a new team, Scandal. If you have a story you'd like to share or know someone who does, send us an email at adriana@vcultimate.com – we are always looking for new content!
Katey Forth has represented a plethora of teams in her career, including Eurostars, Team USA, and now Scandal. Photo: Marshall Goff — UltiPhotos.com
The Women’s division is very deep now and the many veterans of the game who returned for the USA Ultimate 50th anniversary had their pick of great games to watch. The excitement and interesting stories of Women’s teams at Nationals have always been present, but the added fans, media, filming, and attention this year helped to create a buzz that was noticeably greater than previous years.
“What jersey are you wearing?” was a common question I heard at Nationals this year. I just smiled and said “Scandal, you know!” I felt strongly connected to my new team and teammates, despite the limited amount of time we had together to prepare. Scandal felt exceptionally united, in their broad commitment to strategy, willingness to listen to each other and the coaches, and of course social time.
The culture is as healthy as I’ve seen on any team across a 24-year career. Credit to the coaches (Dutchy and Dombro) and captains (Franke, Amy Zhou, Keila) for creating this environment and making it easy for every member of the team to belong. I was impressed by the amount of trust that existed between players and of the coaches. Trust wasn’t mentioned once – it is simply deeply embedded in the culture and really shines through in close games. Standing on the sideline of our Molly Brown pool play game, Jess Shofner and I chatted about our shared experience of joining Scandal. We agreed, it was a very welcoming team and a wonderful experience.
It is a delicate task to add a player to a top team at such a late stage in the season. I focused on being additive with my play and creating value within the system. The team culture and trust helped streamline and speed my integration into the team, allowing me to quickly feel comfortable in some critical positions. It felt effortless. It was a wonderful experience to get to know and go to battle with the players and coaches of Scandal. I would like to thank them for including me in their family.